DEMONSTRATION PROTOTYPE — ALL POOLED ORDERS, QUANTITIES AND DATES ARE SAMPLE DATA
Find a pooled order

One exact specification. Many buyers. One mill run.

A tube mill may require a 10,000-foot minimum and price best around 40,000 feet. Plenty of legitimate manufacturers need 1,000–5,000 feet of that exact tube. Tight Steel lets those buyers participate in one pooled mill order, receive the quantity they actually need, and access economics closer to mill-direct pricing.

01

Find or post an exact requirement

Search open pools by size, wall, grade and standard. If nothing matches, post the specification you buy — it becomes seed demand for a new pool.

02

Commit the quantity you need

Full-length, full-bundle quantities, registered before the pool's published order cutoff. This is a non-binding expression of interest — pricing is still indicative.

03

Tight Steel combines compatible demand

Requirements that match exactly are consolidated. When the interest threshold is reached, supplier pricing is confirmed; each buyer approves it and issues a firm PO — the binding moment — before one consolidated order is placed at the mill. Near-matches go to engineering review, never silently merged.

04

The mill produces; each buyer receives its allocation

The full run is produced on the mill's schedule. Bundles are allocated to each buyer's commitment, with mill test reports and traceability where applicable, and freight quoted separately to your postal code.

“Steel tube” is not a specification

Pooling only works when material is genuinely identical. Two requirements that differ on any attribute below are different products, different pools, and different mill setups:

SHAPE & DIMENSIONSRound, square or rectangular — OD or width × height, to the thousandth.
WALL0.060 in and 0.065 in are different tubes.
GRADE, STANDARD & TYPEA513 Type 1 is not A513 Type 5, and neither is A500.
LENGTH & CONDITIONStandard length, surface, weld-flash treatment.
CERTIFICATIONMTR per heat, EN 10204 3.1, automotive documentation.
NOT SURE?Post the requirement anyway — an engineer normalizes it with you.

Three ways to buy

POOLMOST COMMON

Commit before the cutoff. Planned lead time on the mill's schedule. Lowest available price tier — because the mill runs one efficient campaign.

RESERVE

Commit to recurring releases. Tight Steel holds an agreed program quantity against your schedule — planned buying without re-quoting every quarter.

NOW

When allocated material becomes available, buy it for immediate shipment at a higher price tier. Availability is never guaranteed.

The ground rules, plainly

INDICATIVE VS CONFIRMEDWhile a pool forms, pricing is indicative — a tier estimate, not a quote. The sequence is fixed: 1. express interest (non-binding) · 2. supplier pricing confirmed · 3. you approve and issue a firm PO or deposit (binding) · 4. consolidated mill order placed · 5. production and allocation.
NON-CANCELLABLENothing binds until you issue a firm PO against confirmed pricing. Once the consolidated mill order is placed, those POs are non-cancellable — the mill is producing against them; that's what earns the pricing.
MTRs & TRACEABILITYMill test reports per heat where applicable; bundle tags trace your allocation back to the production run.
FREIGHT & DELIVERYFreight is quoted separately at allocation, based on your postal code and bundle count. Each pool serves one delivery region.
ENGINEERING REVIEWCoatings, special certifications, unusual tolerances and “not sure” specs all get a human engineer before joining any pool.
SOURCE DISCLOSUREThe supplier is disclosed before binding commitment where source approval, PPAP or certification requires it — otherwise the producing mill remains confidential.
A STRAIGHT ANSWERFor emergency quantities, custom processing or highly fragmented purchases, a conventional service center may still be the better source.

Ready to look?

Browse what's forming now, or post the exact material you buy.

Browse pooled ordersPost a requirement