• Steel Dynamics to Add
  600,000 Tons of Capacity
• AK Tube Launches Capacity
  Expansion Project in Ohio
• National Tube Sees Results from
  Sizable Expansion Project
• Kaiser Aluminum Reaches
  Pact with Teamsters
• Alcoa JV to Produce
  Brazing Sheet in China
• Advice for Dealing with
  New Hexavalent Chromium Standards
• Roll Coater to Expand
  Coil Coating Operations
• Briefs
• People

Steel Dynamics to Add
600,000 Tons of Capacity
Steel Dynamics Inc., Fort Wayne, Ind., will add production capacity at its Columbia City, Ind., minimill allowing the plant to produce a higher volume of rail products and to add lighter structural shapes and merchant bars to its offerings. The mill’s current primary product is wide-flange beams.

When in full operation, the mill expansion is expected to add capacity of about 600,000 tons per year and bring Columbia City’s annual finished steel production capacity to about 1.6 million tons.

SDI expects construction to begin in the spring and take about 18 months to complete, with the first shipments from the plant in the second half of 2007. Cost of the project is estimated at $200 million.

“While this investment will expand the capacity of the Columbia City facility, we are not appreciably increasing production capacity for wide-flange beams. We are further diversifying the mill, allowing us to produce new structural shapes while at the same time increasing the time available on the existing mill for the production of high-quality rail,” says Keith Busse, president and CEO.

Steel Dynamics also completed its acquisition of Roanoke Electric Steel Corp. The combined companies will now operate five electric-furnace minimills with annual production capacity of approximately 5 million tons. Products will include flat-rolled, merchant bar, engineered bar and light structural steels as well as wide-flange beams and rail.

In addition, the company will now operate five facilities that fabricate steel joists and decking used in nonresidential construction and two scrap-metal processing facilities.

AK Tube Launches
Capacity Expansion Project in Ohio
AK Tube LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of AK Steel, Middletown, Ohio, has selected its Walbridge plant for a previously announced $8.5 million capital investment to increase production capacity.

The investment will allow AK Tube to produce large-diameter stainless tubing that will help heavy-duty truck manufacturers meet new standards for diesel vehicle emissions. The new U.S. Environmental Protection Agency standards become effective Jan. 1, 2007, and are designed to lower particulate matter emissions from diesel trucks.

The capital investment includes a resistance-weld tube mill and associated equipment. It will be housed in AK Tube’s existing 330,000-square-foot facility in Walbridge, near Toledo. The company expects installation of the new equipment to be completed by late July, with tube production beginning in the third quarter.

AK Steel’s board also approved a capital investment of $14 million for the second phase of a project to increase production capacity for high-quality, grain-oriented electrical sheet steels. The expansion project is aimed at helping AK Steel meet strong market demand for electrical steel products. The newly approved capital funds will be used to upgrade existing production equipment at the company’s Butler, Pa., plant.

The first phase of the expansion project, already under way, included investments for equipment upgrades at AK Steel’s Butler and Zanesville, Ohio, plants. The first phase is expected to be completed by the end of 2006 and the second phase by early 2007.

Completion of the first two project phases will increase AK Steel’s total annual grain-oriented electrical steel production by about 50,000 tons, or 20 percent, to more than 300,000 tons a year.

National Tube Sees Results
from Sizable Expansion Project
National Tube Supply is beginning to see the fruits of its extensive expansion project in 2005.

NTS, University Park, Ill., began the year with 56 percent more warehouse and office space on its 25-acre site south of Chicago. This expansion led to a 10 percent increase in tonnage shipped and a 13.5 percent increase in items ordered through February, compared to the same period in 2005. The tube supplier’s active customer base is up 10 percent, including 55 new accounts.

“The new facilities and equipment have enhanced our capabilities and brought an assortment of new activities,” says Gary Chess, NTS president and CEO. “We are at full capacity space-wise, but not productivity wise. We can add a lot more business, specifically in our DOM order count.”

NTS ramped up its saw-cutting capacity in hot-finished seamless carbon and alloy by adding four new Amada band saws. Eight saws now run 24 hours a day, Monday through Friday, and 24 hours on the permanent, full-time weekend shift. The added cutting capabilities have improved the company’s responsiveness to customer demands, Chess says, as have the added shipping lanes and doubled shipping dock capacity.

“The shipping docks have allowed us to load more than one trailer at a time, reducing wait time for carriers picking up here,” Chess says. “The expanded shipping lanes have reduced our flatbed loading time significantly, and have allowed us to ‘express’ certain trucks through that are only picking up small items, making the overall flow-through much improved.”

The NTS workforce grew from 80 employees in June 2005 to 105 in February 2006, Chess adds.

Kaiser Aluminum Reaches Pact with Teamsters
Kaiser Aluminum, Foothill Ranch, Calif., and the International Brotherhood of Teamsters ratified a new three-year contract covering approximately 125 union members at the company’s Los Angeles facility. The agreement, which calls for typical industry-level wage increases, went into effect May 1.

“This contract is the last of several that have been ratified over the past year by hourly employees at Kaiser Aluminum union-affiliated facilities, leaving the company with no pending labor contract expirations until April 2007,” says Jack A. Hockema, president and CEO of Kaiser Aluminum. “It provides a strong foundation going forward and will be a key factor to our success as the company emerges from bankruptcy.”

Alcoa JV to Produce
Brazing Sheet in China
Alcoa formed a joint venture with Shanxi Yuncheng Engraving Group of China to produce aluminum brazing sheet in Kunshan City, China. The total investment is more than $95 million. Alcoa will be managing partner in the venture, holding a 70 percent interest with the remaining shares held by Shanxi Yuncheng Engraving Group.

Alcoa will be able to supply up to 50,000 metric tons per year of aluminum brazing sheet, primarily to automotive customers serving the Asian market. The capability will complement Alcoa’s existing brazing sheet production centers in Lancaster, Pa., and Kofem, Hungary.

This is Alcoa’s third flat-rolled products facility in China. Last year, Alcoa and partner, China International Trust & Investment, inaugurated a new joint venture to produce value-added aluminum rolled products at Alcoa Bohai Aluminum Industries Company Ltd., in Qinghuangdao, China. Alcoa also took full ownership of Alcoa Aluminum Products Ltd. from its joint venture partner SLIEC.

In addition, the company’s Alcoa World Alumina and Chemicals affiliate has signed a memorandum of understanding with Vietnam National Coal-Minerals Industries Group under which the parties will explore the feasibility of creating a joint venture to develop a bauxite mine and alumina refinery in the Dak Nong Province of Vietnam.

Advice for Dealing with
New Hexavalent Chromium Standards
Service center processing operations are subject to new OSHA standards for worker exposure to airborne hexavalent chromium. Experts at 3M, St. Paul, Minn., offer the following advice to help companies understand the new requirements.

Common sources of exposure to chromium include inorganic pigment handling and manufacturing, spraying anticorrosion coatings, electroplating, stainless steel welding and stainless cutting.

The permissible exposure limit for all industries is 5 micrograms per cubic meter. The PEL, respiratory protection and engineering controls are slated to take effect on the following startup dates:

• Employers with more than 20 employees—Nov. 27, 2006;
  
• Employers with less than 20 employees—May 31, 2007;
  
• Feasible engineering controls—May 31, 2010.
  

The previous PEL was 52 micrograms per cubic meter. The new standard represents a substantial reduction in the PEL for hexavalent chromium. A primary reason for announcing the new standard is the determination that much lower levels of the substance than previously thought can have serious health implications, according to OSHA. Industry groups and associations such as the Stainless Steel Industry of North America and the Metals Service Center Institute dispute that claim.

Jonathan Snare, OSHA acting assistant secretary, says that the new PEL “is the lowest level that is feasible both technologically and economically.”

Respiratory protection is required in the following situations whenever exposure levels exceed the PEL:

• While engineering and work practice controls are under development;
  
• During maintenance and repair activities for which engineering and work practice controls are not feasible;
  
• When all feasible engineering and work practice controls are implemented, but are still not sufficient to reduce exposure to or below the PEL;
  
• When employees are exposed above the PEL for fewer than 30 days per year and the employer has elected not to implement engineering and work practice controls;
  
• Or in emergencies.
  

Roll Coater to Expand
Coil Coating Operations
Roll Coater Inc., Indianapolis, plans to expand its coil coating operations by constructing a new facility in Mississippi County in Northeast Arkansas. The plant, which will contain more than 220,000 square feet of floor space, will house a coil coating line and slitter.

The new location will allow Roll Coater to fully serve customers in its target markets. The new facility is expected to be in operation by mid-year 2007.

Roll Coater also announced plans to enhance coil coating operations and output at its Indiana facilities in Greenfield and Kingsbury. The enhancements involve installation of new tension levelers on its 48-inch and 72-inch coil coating lines. The installations are under way and will be operational this year. With the addition of the tension levelers to both lines, Roll Coater will be able to offer tension leveling services on each of the six coating lines that it operates, the company says.

Briefs
Allegheny Technologies Inc., Pittsburgh, increased its selling prices for most cold-rolled and hot-rolled stainless steel sheet and strip products, continuous-mill plate products, and duplex alloys, effective May 1. Most hot-rolled and cold-rolled stainless steel sheet and strip products increased approximately 6 percent; stainless steel continuous-mill-plate products increased 9 percent; and AL 2003 lean duplex alloy and AL 2005 duplex alloy sheet, strip and plate products increased 6 percent.

ADS Logistics LLC, Homewood, Ill., and its transportation division, AREA Transportation, have made significant changes to their driver recruiting, retention, incentive and compensation programs in an effort to attract more qualified metals haulers. AREA is a national supplier of specialized flatbed services to the metals industry, responsible for managing and operating a 500-unit fleet.

Representatives of Arcelor and Severstal recently inaugurated their joint galvanizing line, Severgal, located at Cherepovets, near Moscow. The joint venture produces high-end coated steel for the Russian automotive market. Severstal Group holds a 75 percent stake and Arcelor a 25 percent stake in Severgal, which, after ramp-up, will have an annual production capacity of more than 400,000 tons of galvanized steel.

Tarpon Industries Inc., Marysville, Mich., has purchased the assets of J & J Tube Inc. for approximately $5 million. J & J Tube, Russell Springs, Ky., is a manufacturer of mechanical steel tubing, primarily for the agricultural gate and fencing markets.

TRS Associates, Columbus, Ohio, a search firm serving the metals industry for 30 years, has launched a newly updated Web site at www.trsassociates.com. The new online site contains information serving the interests of both clients and candidates.

Pittsburgh Logistics Systems Inc. has established PLS Freight Solutions, a service designed to connect shippers with available carriers. PLS Freight Solutions will enable shippers to gain access to the PLS carrier network of over 3,000 qualified motor carriers throughout the United States.

Magnetek Inc., Menomonee Falls, Wis., will begin supplying sales, support and service to Cleveland-based Eaton Corp. for its direct DC drives to the crane and hoist industry. Magnetek will take over exclusive responsibility for design, manufacturing, sales and service of integrated DDC drive systems incorporating Eaton components under the Magnetek OmniPulse brand name. DDC control systems are expected to displace traditional DC technology in the overhead material handling and industrial process control markets. There are some 3,000 active cranes running in North America alone with traditional DC controls that could be retrofitted over time.

Automatic Feed Co. Inc., Napoleon, Ohio, a designer and manufacturer of coil-handling and press-feeding automation equipment, has entered a joint venture with Heinrich Georg GmbH Maschinenfabrik, Kreutzal, Germany, a manufacturer of coil-processing and finishing lines and machine tools. Georg Automatic Feed Ltd., Columbus, Ohio, will focus on providing coil processing equipment to the steel industry and service centers including responsibility for sales, engineering, product development, project management, installation, maintenance, controls and service needs.

Century Aluminum of Kentucky LLC has reached a tentative agreement with the United Steelworkers covering production and maintenance employees at its Hawesville, Ky., smelter. Terms of the three-year agreement were not disclosed pending ratification earlier this month. The plant is a wholly owned subsidiary of Century Aluminum Co., Monterey, Calif.

People
United States Steel Corp., Pittsburgh, has appointed Michael A. Fedorenko general manager-Granite City Works, U. S. Steel’s integrated steelmaking operation near St. Louis. Fedorenko succeeds Merle Stein who recently was named general manager-Fairfield Works. Fedorenko had been working as general director of U.S. Steel Serbia. He will be replaced by Douglas R. Matthews, who has worked as general manager of blast furnace engineering and technology at U.S. Steel headquarters since 2005.

Metl-Saw Systems, Benicia, Calif., has announced staff changes. Lisa Kvech is now general manager, Doug Jamieson recently joined the company as vice president of sales and marketing, and Harry Black has been promoted to service manager.

Walter T. Benecki has been appointed as a member of the board of Bunting Magnetics Co., headquartered in Newton, Kansas. He is president of Walter T. Benecki LLC, a consultancy serving the worldwide magnetics industry.

Trumpf Inc. has appointed Dan Hoff as the regional manager for Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, western Wisconsin and western Iowa. Hoff will manage the sales of Trumpf’s line of precision fabricating machinery, including laser cutting machines, punching machines, combination machines and press brakes.

Coe Press Equipment Corp. and Sesco Products Group, Sterling Heights, Mich., have hired Carlos Figarola as a service technician to provide service and support for all Coe and Sesco products in Mexico.