Well, these are certainly interesting times. Since our last newsletter, the world has seemed to turn upside down. I urge everyone to remain calm, use common sense, and wash your hands. We have decided not to lose our place for our Golf Tournament by delaying it, however as we get closer to the date, we will be monitoring the situation and at that time move it if necessary, but for now business as usual. It would be nice if we could say business as usual for the industry, but we need to be patient and hang on.

Here we are in a new year and a new decade. The last few years have not been the best for our province, but I believe we are all looking forward to better times as we enter this new decade.

We are once again moving into trying times with the new Energy Code. At our next meeting, the board will discuss the possibility of another informative session on this subject.

I am pleased to announce that after your request at the AGM to have additional training available we were successful in getting Metl-Span to host a training course in Edmonton this summer. I believe in talking to Metl-Span this could become a regular thing if the interest is there. We need to ensure that we fill the class and the AMBA board will continue with ongoing discussions with Metl-Span.

Our current business outlook is not very optimistic with regard to new construction. The oil sector is in limbo and until we see a change in the current governments, both provincially and federally, I do not see this improving. We will continue to see projects being priced, as in the past, but the placing of orders will likely remain somewhat dormant until there is confidence in our newly elected officials. As well, the uncertainty of the market due to the fact that we are now facing dumping charges on imports of offshore steel products. I am sure that in order to gain favor with the electorate there will be a number of announcements of projects over the next while to try and sway voters (my personal views).

Our industry is still experiencing the volatility of the steel pricing war that is going on between the US and Canada. We, as an industry, need to continue to stand strong and protect ourselves from the market pricing. On another note, there is now one factory in China which is CSA A660 certified and is shipping buildings into Canada. I have been told that there is another one working on it as well. With the summer finally upon us, it’s time to recharge the batteries and get ready for the fall on slot of bidding and orders, or am I just dreaming again?

Our industry is in for a very interesting year in 2018. The volatility of the steel pricing could or will impact what we will be bidding on over the next while. With the US implementing dumping charges and the steel suppliers experiencing shortages, we will be in for a roller coaster ride. As in the past, it will soften over time but we need to be diligent in how we react to all of the different reports we will be seeing.