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Macsteel
Acquires Alpha Steel
Macsteel Service Centers USA Inc. announced April 19 that is has
acquired the business and assets of PHA Steel LLC, operating under
the name Alpha Steel, a privately owned steel service center in
Hammond, Ind. Terms of the purchase were not disclosed.
Alpha
Steel will operate under its existing name as part of Macsteel’s
Midwest Division. Its management will continue with the company.
Alpha Steel distributes hot-rolled coil and structural steel products
in the
Midwest,
and processes and distributes structural steel beams, shapes, plate,
sheet, tubing and pipe products. Alpha operates a complete in-house
processing center for hot-rolled steel coils.
Michael
Hoffman, Macsteel’s president and CEO, says that adding Alpha
Steel “greatly strengthens Macsteel Service Centers’ already
solid presence in the Midwest and offers us increased representation
in the region for structural steel products. It is a perfect complement
to our existing structural business and will enable us to take advantage
of greater operating efficiencies.”
Paul
Athens, Alpha Steel’s president and CEO, will remain with Macsteel
as president of its Midwest Division. “We feel this acquisition
is a perfect fit for Alpha Steel,” Athens says. “We will
be able to significantly expand and improve the products and services
to our customer base.”
Copper
and Brass Sales Buys Metalfast Services
Copper and Brass Sales, a unit of ThyssenKrupp Materials NA Inc.,
Southfield, Mich., purchased the assets of Metalfast Services LLC,
Las Vegas, on April 19. Metalfast will operate as Copper and Brass
Sales-Metalfast Division, with Metalfast owner Michael D. Sisco
continuing to oversee all sales and customer activity.
“This
acquisition provides our company with a strong entry into the architectural
metals industry in an area of the country that is seeing explosive
growth,” says William G. Sabol, president and COO of Copper
and Brass Sales. “The opportunities that this will provide
align perfectly with our long-term company strategic plans, and
work to bring significantly more Copper and Brass Sales product
and service offering to Las Vegas and surrounding areas. We are
looking forward to working closely with the Metalfast customers
and employees to grow our respective businesses.”
EMJ
Closes Initial Public Offering
Earle M. Jorgensen Co., Lynwood, Calif., closed its merger and financial
restructuring April 20, under which EMJ’s parent, Earle M.
Jorgensen Holding Co. Inc. was merged into a wholly owned subsidiary
of EMJ.
As
a result of the merger and financial restructuring, all outstanding
Holding notes were exchanged for 12,997,890 shares of EMJ common
stock and approximately $127.1 million in cash.
EMJ
also closed its initial public offering of 17.6 million shares of
EMJ common stock, at an opening price of $10 a share. All the shares
were sold by EMJ. The EMJ common stock began trading on The New
York Stock Exchange on April 15 under the ticker symbol JOR. The
trading price as of May 2 was $7.25 a share.
Net
proceeds to EMJ from the offering were approximately $164,120,000
and are being used to pay the cash portion of the merger and the
financial restructuring consideration to be received by the noteholder
and stockholders of the Holding company.
ADS
Logistics Inks Deal at Port of Shreveport
ADS Logistics LLC, Homewood, Ill., has signed an agreement with
the Port of Shreveport-Bossier, La., to provide metals distribution
and supply chain services through port facilities.
In
addition to water and highway access, the port is served by Union
Pacific Railway Co. The port’s infrastructure and equipment
allows for high-volume rail activity, as well as modal combinations
of barge, rail and truck.
The
port warehouses will be used to provide storage services for ADS
customers as needed, with capability to provide handling with overhead
cranes for open and covered rail cars, and forklifts for boxcars.
“The
need for metals distribution services in this market is growing.
The flexibility of the port to handle multiple modes of transport
efficiently, combined with warehousing, allows customers great cost-saving
options,” says Rich Doyle, ADS director of marketing and sales.
Customers
of the new facility will have the benefit of utilizing ADS Logistics’
supply chain management technology solutions via the Internet.
“Customers
will know exactly what material is on hand at the Shreveport-Bossier
Port facility, as well as what products are en route and their expected
arrival. An inventory position report provides the entire picture
of on-hand material plus product detail for en route material including
ETA information at one, two or X number of days out,” explains
Gordon Gustafson, chief commercial officer and vice president of
ADS Logistics’ Integrated Solutions Group. “This technology
simplifies the inventory management process.”
The
2,000-acre Port of Shreveport-Bossier operates as a Foreign Trade
Zone and is an inland multimodal transportation and distribution
center, linking customers throughout the Arkansas-Louisiana-Texas
region to domestic and international markets via the Mississippi
River and the Gulf Intra-coastal Waterway.
The
port has 10 miles of track linked to the Union Pacific main line.
The port provides all switching services and has two port-owned
locomotives available for immediate rail car switching.
Mitsui
Increases Stake in Acero Prime
Acero Prime, the Mexican steel processing joint venture of Feralloy
Mexico (a subsidiary of Feralloy Corp., Chicago) and United States
Steel Export Company de Mexico (a subsidiary of United States Steel
International Inc., Pittsburgh), reports that Mitsui Steel Development
Co. Inc. (a subsidiary of Mitsui & Co. USA Inc.) has made a
20 percent equity investment in Acero Prime. Feralloy, the managing
member, and U.S. Steel will each own 40 percent.
Mitsui’s
participation will provide additional opportunities to more fully
utilize the venture’s facilities and increase sales in Mexico.
Acero
Prime, with headquarters in San Luis Potosi, also operates plants
in Toluca and Ramos Arizpe. The business services the automotive
and appliance industries in Mexico with logistics services and processed
flat-rolled steel on a just-in-time basis.
Yarde
Metals Increases
Expertise in Marine Alloys
With the addition of John Westeyn, Mike Baselice, Rick Marcinczyk
and Jim Reeser to its sales team, multi-metals distributor Yarde
Metals Inc. expects to strengthen its market presence in the distribution
of Marine Alloys 5083 and 5086, extrusions, sheet and plate.
Westyn
heads up the marine alloys program at Yarde. Over the years, he
has been a partner and president of Production Supply Corp. of Florida,
corporate vice president of General Marine Materials in Miami, and
national vice president of marine products and sales at Transtar
Metals.
Baselice
was General Marine Materials’ inside sales manager, partner
and vice president at Production Supply, and sales manager at Transtar
Metals in Fort Lauderdale.
Marcinczyk’s
product expertise was developed during 19 years as an outside salesman
with Pierce Aluminum.
Before
joining Yarde Metals, Reeser worked at Strahs Aluminum, Davidson
Meyer Metals and Pierce Aluminum, where his sales responsibilities
included custom extrusions and the marine industry.
This
group will be based in Florida and Connecticut, while serving all
branch locations in New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania
and Ohio.
First
2005 Steel Shipment
Lands At Burns Harbor
On April 13, the Federal Mackinac became the first international
vessel to call on the Port of Indiana-Burns Harbor in 2005, wrapping
up its maiden Great Lakes voyage. Built in 2004, the Mackinac arrived
at the port carrying cargoes—including steel—from Belgium
and Germany.
This
was the Mackinac’s fifth voyage overall, four of which took
place this year. Federal Marine Terminals, the Burns Harbor port’s
general cargo stevedore, offloaded the ship’s 9,653 metric
tons of steel from Antwerp, and 3,398 metric tons of steel and general
cargoes from Bremen.
“Last
year was an excellent year for Federal Marine Terminals,” general
manager Ian Hirt says. “It will be challenging to repeat in
2005, yet barge tonnage in the first quarter was 50,000 metric tons
higher than in 2004, so we have gotten off to a good start.”
He
says the terminal was also expecting to handle an export shipment
of steel to Bangladesh this spring.
Briefs
Marmon/Keystone Corp. broke all its previous safety records when
11 branches were accident-free during 2004, the highest number of
locations ever to achieve this result. This accomplishment represents
more than 450,000 work hours without a recordable accident. The
previous record occurred in 2003, when 10 branches had a perfect
safety year.
Jerome
F. Henry Jr. has purchased Fort Wayne-based FabWeld Inc., a 55-year-old
steel fabrication company that specializes in bending, welding,
torching and shearing steel for the heavy manufacturing industry.
The purchase, which included FabWeld’s assets and real estate,
was finalized in March. Henry hired Don Ross to run day-to-day operations.
Ross has more than 30 years of experience in the steel fabrication
industry.
Obituary:
Herbert Kreitzer
Herbert Kreitzer, 84, co-founder and CEO of Prudential Stainless
Pipe, Avenel, N.J., died April 6 at home in Boyton Beach, Fla.
Prudential
Stainless Pipe was founded in 1948 as a distributor of surplus World
War II fittings. By 1968, Mr. Kreitzer discovered a niche as a stocking
distributor of stainless steel pipe, tube and fittings, and also
stocked exotic tubular products. In 1973, he added nickel alloy
pipe and tube.
A
farsighted figure, Mr. Kreitzer developed a market for imported
stainless steel pipe from Japan and originated the standard of 20-foot
exact lengths.
From the beginning, he was committed to selling exclusively to other
distributors, a policy the company strictly adheres to today.
In
1985, aluminum pipe and tube were added to Prudential’s inventory,
giving the company a product array of 6,500 items. In the ensuing
years, Mr. Kreitzer—aided by his son Joseph, president, and
son-in-law Frank Marino, vice president—increased Prudential’s
stocking items to 12,000, including stainless steel and nickel alloy
bar.
The
company relocated to Avenel in 1994, and Mr. Kreitzer became semi-retired.
He
studied engineering at the University of Michigan, was an avid pilot,
and enjoyed boating and skiing. Mr. Kreitzer is survived by three
children and five grandchildren.
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