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Ports of Houston,
New Orleans Reopen
The Port of Houston Authority reopened Sept. 27 for commercial trucks
assigned to transport cargo in or out of the facilities, but PHA
was waiting until the U.S. Coast Guard opened the Houston Ship Channel
before receiving commercial vessels and barges.
A
preliminary assessment shows the port facilities sustained minimal
damage from Hurricane Rita.
The
Port of New Orleans reopened Sept. 26, a day after the Mississippi
River was reopened following the latest Category 3 hurricane.
Several
ships carrying steel and aluminum cargo had arrived in New Orleans
the previous week and stayed in port during the storm. Port workers
began loading and unloading ship cargoes on Sept. 26.
“Hurricane
Rita caused us to lose a few days of work and some of the momentum
that we had gained since Hurricane Katrina,” Port President
and CEO Gary LaGrange says. “Despite this minor setback, we
are still on track to have this port operating at 80 to 100 percent
of our normal activity before March 2006.”
Gibraltar
Further Diversifies With
3 Major Acquisitions
Gibraltar Industries Inc. announced the purchase of two companies
and building product assets during September.
First,
the company spent $240 million to acquire Alabama Metal Industries
Corp. (Amico), a well-known manufacturer of products that go into
the industrial and building markets, from CGW Southeast Partners,
a private equity investment firm in Atlanta, and other investors.
The transaction closed Oct. 3.
Founded
in 1939, Amico had sales of $285 million last year. It operates
19 manufacturing and distribution facilities in 12 states and Canada,
and has 900 employees. Amico makes metal bar grating, expanded and
perforated metal, metal lathe, fiberglass and safety/plank grating,
and other products that are used in industrial and construction
applications.
Amico’s
senior managers will continue to run the company day to day as a
wholly owned Gibraltar subsidiary within its Building Products group.
“The
steel-based manufacturing technologies of Amico are directly linked
to our core manufacturing competencies, so we are confident in our
ability to integrate and manage Amico,” says Brian J. Lipke,
Gibraltar’s chairman and chief executive officer.
Second,
Gibraltar has acquired a manufacturing facility in Suzhou, China,
(about 60 miles west of Shanghai) that produces copper and copper
alloy-based powder metal products. The facility will operate as
part of Gibraltar’s SCM Metal Products affiliate. Terms of
the acquisition were withheld.
The
Suzhou facility, built only a year ago, will be able to support
sales of about $20 million by 2007. Its products are primarily sold
to the powder metallurgy and thermal management industries.
The
acquisition gives Gibraltar an “on-the-ground presence in the
center of the rapidly growing Chinese industrial market. It is an
excellent complement to our existing SCM operations,” says
Carl Spezio, group president, Gibraltar Thermal Processing.
Lastly,
Gibraltar acquired the Gutter Helmet product line from Hart &
Cooley, for an undisclosed price. It will become part of Gibraltar
Building Products. Gutter Helmet, whose sales reached $16 million
last year, complements Gibraltar’s Weather Guard products,
acquired in 1999.
Macsteel
USA Acquires
Alpha Processing
Macsteel Service Centers USA, Newport Beach, Calif., has purchased
the business and assets of Alpha Processing Inc., Chicago, from
Paul H. Athens and other investors. Terms of the sale were withheld.
Alpha
Processing gives Macsteel the ability to offer shot blasting and
cut-to-length services on heavy-gauge steels.
Macsteel
just purchased Alpha Steel, Hammond, Ind., also owned by then-President
and CEO Athens and his investor group, in April. Alpha Steel distributes
hot-rolled plate, structural shapes and pipe. When that acquisition
took place, Athens joined Macsteel as president of its Midwest Division.
Alpha
Processing retains its name and management team under the Midwest
Division.
“Adding
Alpha Processing to our Midwest operations rounds out our processing
capabilities in the region and moves the company to full service.
It is a perfect complement to our existing business and to Alpha
Steel,” says Michael Hoffman, president and CEO of Macsteel.
EMJ
Expands in Toronto
Earle M. Jorgensen Co., Lynwood, Calif., has completed the expansion
of its Toronto, Ontario, facility. The company determined that the
5-year-old warehouse and office facility was ready to support increased
operations.
The
original 62,000-square-foot warehouse was expanded by about 50 percent.
The finished 92,000-square-foot facility includes 87,000 square
feet of warehouse space.
William
Gertin, director of EMJ’s Canadian Operations, says Ontario
“is the center for half of all manufacturing activity in Canada,
and we are adding more than just extra space to serve its diversified
customer base. We are installing processing equipment and 60 percent
more racking at a cost of $1.5 million (Canadian).”
The
expanded facility and new equipment became fully operational Sept.
15.
Correction
PMP LLC, a joint venture between Heidtman Steel Products of Toledo,
Ohio, and The Material Works of Red Bud, Ill., is now operating
the industry’s first SCS coil line, housed in TMW’s Red
Bud plant. An item in MCN’s September issue erroneously stated
that Red Bud Industries had been contracted to build the line in
Toledo. SCS is a patented process developed by TMW that takes hot-rolled
black material through a simple brushing process to remove scale
and give the material a cold-rolled-like finish.
Briefs
Yarde Metals Inc., Southington, Conn., signed a promotional agreement
with Orange County Choppers Inc., builders of custom motorcycles.
Yarde will supply OCC with aluminum and stainless bar products for
its new precision machining center. The material will be stocked
in a custom-built rack designed by Yarde employees. “The Yarde”
has 35 slots to hold 17,500 pounds of product. It is adorned with
diamond plate, airbrushed flames and the new Yarde Metals corporate
logo. Orange County Choppers is the subject of “American Chopper,”
a show on the Discovery Channel.
Bohler-Uddeholm
Corp., a manufacture and distributor of tool steels, opened a Steel
Store in Santa Fe Springs, Calif., which sells premium and standard
tool, die and mold steels with a focus on cold work tool steels.
Steel Stores are located in areas with a high penetration of tool-and-die
customers. They fill small or large orders for same-day pickup or
shipped per customers’ preferred delivery method.
Marmon/Keystone
Corp. has signed a 10-year lease for a 150,000-square-foot industrial
distribution facility in Bucyrus, Ohio. “It’s the ideal
location for the distribution of material to our multi-plant U.S.
facilities,” says Bob Kaniecki, executive vice president. The
plant started up with 15 warehouse and clerical employees in September.
SteelSalvor,
a metals auction site, has added an “Instant Purchase”
option online. The feature gives buyers and sellers on the site
the opportunity to move quickly on desired lots of secondary and
excess steel and to lock out their competition. Every category of
steel possible is available from galvanized coils to rebar, from
stainless pipe to hot-rolled plate. Buyers at SteelSalvor can choose
the pre-set price and instantly take the desired lot off of auction,
or they can bid on the metal as they had done in the past.
Cleveland
Motion Controls Inc. has launched its newly designed Web site. The
site, www.cmccontrols.com, has updated design, navigation and content.
Visitors can search by brand, market or specific product, and can
locate datasheets, manuals and product news.
Millennium
Steel Service is using Northrop Grumman Corp.’s OpenTrac software
and e-commerce system to assist with its expansion to San Antonio,
Texas. Under a five-year contract, Northrop Grumman is providing
supply-chain management capabilities for better transaction communication
between Millennium’s suppliers and customers. Metal Express,
a nationwide cut-to-order metal distributor, recently relocated
one of its stores from Addison to Villa Park, Ill. Due to increased
demand in the Chicago area, Metal Express moved to a larger facility
in Villa Park. The new store has additional office and warehouse
space. Bernie McCallum, vice president of sales and marketing, says
the larger facility makes it possible to expand inventory.
Sandmeyer
Steel Co., Philadelphia, has added Alloy 330 to its line of heat-resistant
stainless steel and nickel alloy plate products. Alloy 330-an austenitic
nickel-iron-chromium alloy-resists carburizing and oxidizing atmospheres
at elevated temperatures. The addition of A330 will enable SSC to
better service the thermal processing, chemical and petrochemical,
and power generation industries.
Metals
USA Inc., Houston, will hold a special meeting of stockholders Oct.
19, to vote on a proposed merger with Flag Holdings Corp. and Flag
Acquisition Corp. The company filed a proxy statement with the Securities
and Exchange Commission.
Daymond
Aluminum, a supplier of extruded components and assemblies, has
ordered a Granco Clark PCS-824-21 precision sawing system for its
plant in Chatham, Ontario. The system will provide the company with
extremely close cutting tolerances and precision quality finishes,
as well as a high volume of capacity. The system will complement
the company’s existing services, such as mitering, notching,
piercing, forming, bending, drilling, tapping and mechanical assembly
and welding.
Marmon/Keystone
Corp. held its 14th annual Quality Renewal day in September, benefiting
employees who met safety, delivery and other goals. Through September,
the company had on-time deliveries at 99.1 percent, returned merchandise
of 0.2 percent, and exceeded all safety goals. Over the past five
years, employees have been awarded more than $500,000 for submitting
quality improvement suggestions.
Schuff
International Inc., a family of companies providing fully integrated
steel construction services, will sell its Schuff Steel-Pacific
fabrication facility in National City, Calif., and consolidate the
operations into expanded fabrication facilities near Phoenix, in
an effort to provide improved operational effectiveness. The move
should be completed during the fourth quarter. About 80 employees
will be laid off at National City. Schuff Steel will continue to
have a presence in the San Diego area, consisting of sales and marketing
teams as well as estimators and project managers for new and existing
projects, says Scott A. Schuff, president and CEO.
Obituary:
Carl V. Liebovich
Carl V. Liebovich, 88, founder of Liebovich Brothers Inc., Rockford,
Ill., died Sept. 3. Born Oct. 12, 1916, in Rockford, he married
Nelle Cassioppi in 1939, the same year he founded the steel scrap
company that would later become a highly successful service center.
In
1939, Liebovich Steel consisted of a city lot used to store scrap
iron. Mr. Liebovich was joined by his two brothers, Al and Joe,
in the mid-1940s, and after World War II, the company was renamed
Liebovich Brothers. By the late ‘40s, they began selling new
steel to customers throughout northern Illinois and southern Wisconsin.
Liebovich
Brothers built its first warehouse in 1952, consisting of 7,000
square feet with a saw, burning machine and storage racks. In 1958,
Liebovich began selling fabricated metal products. The first jobs
consisted of columns and roof beams for houses and garages. By the
1970s and ‘80s, the company was supplying fabricated structural
steel for projects as large as 22-story buildings and hangars to
house Boeing 747 jets for United Airlines at O’Hare Airport.
The
structural fabricating business was closed in the early 1990s, however,
based on declining long-range market conditions.
In
1981, Carl, Al and Joe transferred ownership of the business to
their sons, but until recently Carl could still frequently be found
in his office running a separate machinery business.
In
1999, Liebovich Bros. Inc. was acquired by Reliance Steel &
Aluminum Co., Los Angeles, but the operation is still run independently
by more than 500 employees in Rockford and Peoria; Grand Rapids,
Mich.; and Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
Mr.
Liebovich belonged to Ohave Shalom Synagogue. He was past president
and Man of the Year of West End Businessmen’s Association,
a past member of SwedishAmerican Health Systems’ board of directors,
a member of B’nai Brith, a member and past president of Mauh-Nah-Tee-See
Country Club and a past president of Philip Behr Jewish Community
Center. Last year, Mr. Liebovich received a National Founders award
from the Metals Service Center Institute.
An
avid golfer, Mr. Liebovich held the course record at Ingersoll Golf
Course for eight years with his score of 64. He also recorded eight
holes-in-one. He was a professional 3-cushion billiards player,
as well, and loved to fish.
He
is survived by his wife, Nelle; daughter, Carole (James) Levi; sons,
Gregory (Gail) Liebovich and Larry (Barbara) Liebovich; brother,
Theodore Liebovich, nine grandchildren, three great-grandchildren,
and many nieces and nephews. Mr. Liebovich was preceded in death
by his two brothers and a sister, Alice Maso.
People
Robert Mowry has been appointed vice president of purchasing for
Worthington Industries Inc. He spent nearly 20 years at Honda of
America Manufacturing in various corporate leadership roles, most
recently as assistant vice president-purchasing, North America.
James
Schumacher has been promoted to vice president of purchasing at
Howard Precision Metals Inc., Milwaukee. He joined the company in
1994 as an inside sales manager and was promoted to purchasing manager
in 1996. Before that, he worked at Carpenter Technologies, Banner
Service and Independent Metals. Also promoted was Kimberly A. Anderson
to vice president of sales and marketing. She joined the company
in 1996 as inside sales manager and was promoted to sales manger
in 1998. She previously worked in several sales positions at Ryerson
Tull Inc.
Wally
Walstrom has joined Chicago Tube and Iron Co. as assistant director
of marketing-pipe, valves and fittings. He will help to increase
PVF sales from CTI’s St. Paul office. Walstrom has more than
30 years of experience in the PVF industry, in product and account
management, as well as purchasing.
Almetals
Inc., Wixom, Mich., has promoted Sherri Hoover to customer service
manager. She has been with the company four years as an inside sales
agent.
Ferguson
Metals has hired three new employees: Mark Harrod as business analyst/developer;
Brandon Wiedeman as project engineer; and Michael Barker as a programming
intern. Harrod was manager of Java development at Rippe & Kingston
Systems. Wiedeman previously worked at Batesville Casket and Wash
Pro. Barker is a junior at Miami University, Oxford, Ohio.
Bryan
Danks has been appointed as an accountant and sales trainee at Specialty
Pipe & Tube Inc., Mineral Ridge, Ohio. Danks previously worked
at Astro Shapes, and as an accountant at a CPA firm.
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