| April 2007 |  |
| Service Center News | |
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Marmon/Keystone Acquires Victory Tube Victory Tube is a distributor of mechanical and structural steel tubular products serving the commercial construction, fabrication and heavy-duty trucking industries. In addition to its 54,000-square-foot Cleveland location, Victory Tube maintains a 54,000-square-foot service center in Hebron, Ky. Alan L. Wilkinson, regional vice president for Marmon/Keystone, will be responsible for coordinating the integration of Victory Tube. “The Victory Tube name is well respected in the Ohio and Kentucky region, and this acquisition will allow for increased growth and serviceability to our existing accounts in this region. The synergy of our two companies will allow for a smooth transition into the Marmon/Keystone family,” Wilkin son says. James Cassesa has been appointed district manager for both facilities. David Cassesa will remain branch manager in Kentucky, while Dean Skryp will oversee administrative functions at both locations. The new company will be called Victory Tube, a Marmon/Keystone company. Ryerson Delays Contentious Board Meeting Harbinger Capital Partners, which has announced plans to seat seven new members on Ryerson’s board, reportedly characterized the postponement of the company’s May 11 stockholders meeting as “a delay tactic.” Ryerson says its current board, with the assistance of management and financial advisers, needs the extra time to review strategic alternatives in response to Harbinger’s concerns. According to a release from Ryerson, the board believes it is in the best interests of the stockholders to conduct a “comprehensive and thorough process prior to holding the annual meeting.” Ryerson’s situation has generated speculation that the market-leading service center company may be for sale at some point. One possible suitor could emerge in steelmaking giant Mittal. According to several published reports from the March 19 Steel Business Briefings Conference in Chicago, Mittal’s Flat Products Americas CEO Lou Schorsch said Mittal might consider service center acquisitions, though the company hasn’t specifically targeted Ryerson. As of press time, Ryerson had not announced a new date and time for the annual meeting.
Worthington Suffers Slow Processing Quarter “As we anticipated, this was a difficult quarter,” John P. McConnell, chairman and CEO told investors during the company’s conference call last month. “Despite the challenges in steel processing and metal framing, we did have record earnings in pressure cylinders and our Worthington Armstrong joint venture.” Net sales for the third quarter of fiscal 2007 were $677.3 million, in line with sales of $681.5 million for the same period in 2005. For the nine-month period, net sales increased 5 percent to $2.18 billion compared to $2.08 billion for the first three quarters of fiscal 2006. Net earnings for the first nine months were $75.7 million, 12.5 percent behind the year-to-date earnings in fiscal 2006. “Both steel processing and metal framing are positioned to improve greatly during our seasonally strong fourth quarter,” McConnell added
A.M. Castle Tops $1 Billion in Sales Sales for the year totaled $1.17 billion, an increase of 22.8 percent over 2005. Net earnings were $54.2 million, 43 percent ahead of the previous year. “2006 marked several major milestones in the company’s 116-year history, which have positioned us for the next stage of development—growing A. M. Castle into a global specialty metals brand,” said Michael Goldberg, president and CEO. “Our revenues surpassed the $1 billion threshold for the first time, while earnings grew to a record $54.2 million.” For the fourth quarter, which included the acquisition of Transtar Metals, net sales totaled $322.0 million, an increase of 41.6 percent from the same three months of 2005. Net earnings were $9.0 million, up 190.3 percent from one year earlier. “Our long-term strategy is to increase our focus on higher-margin specialty products and complementary value-added services and expand our presence in targeted growth markets on a global basis. We took the first step in our new strategy with the acquisition of Transtar Metals, a leading global aluminum distributor to the aerospace and defense industry,” Goldberg said.
TW Opens Distribution, Sales Office in India TW Metals India will carry a full range of aluminum, stainless steel, The expansion of its operation in India reflects the company’s strategy of following the manufacturing bases of its customers, wherever they are located, in order to provide local materials expertise and supply. “This latest investment follows the success of TW Metals Polska, set up in 2004 in Rzeszów in Poland’s Aviation Valley,” says TW Metals European Managing Director Gail Thomas. “TW Metals is providing total supply chain support, which includes working closely with OEMs to provide customer dedicated stocks combined with local supply and processing. Our customers in India can now expect similar support.” TW Metals, based in Exton, Pa., is a division of O’Neal Steel, Birmingham, Ala.
Main Steel Adds Capacity A 10,000-square-foot addition will house Main’s new 96-inch by 300-inch buff line, which will double Bartlett’s capacity to provide mirrored aluminum plate to the market. In the fall, Main will add a new plate polishing line dedicated to serving the dairy market. Gibraltar Acquires Expanded Metals Maker Dramex manufactures standard and flattened expanded metal, structural grating, micro-mesh and decorative metal patterns. “The Dramex acquisition further strengthens Gibraltar’s global leadership position in the growing expanded metal market,” says Brian J. Lipke, Gibraltar’s chairman and CEO.
Briefs
Continental Alloys & Services, Spring, Texas, has acquired Alloy & Oilfield Pte. Ltd. in Singapore as part of its plan to build more value-added operations worldwide. Continental Alloys & Services is a materials management company focused on the distribution of pipe, tube, bar and the manufacturing of various tools designed for global energy service groups’ well-completion programs around the world. It maintains facilities in the U.S., United Kingdom and Canada.
Ulbrich Stainless Steels & Special Metals Inc., North Haven, Conn., has acquired Delta Precision Alloys, Montgomeryville, Pa. Delta will become part of the Ulbrich Specialty Wire Group, consisting of Ulbrich Shaped Wire and Precision Flat Wire in the United States and Ulbrich Precision Metals in Ireland.
Kane Steel, Millville, N.J., has chosen STRATIX software from Invera for its ERP solution. Kane Steel will implement a full complement of STRATIX features, including metal price book, saw and burning pricing, shop floor production recording and on-line shipping planning.
All Metals Service & Warehousing, Spartanburg, S.C., has placed an order for a Braner/Loopco 60,000-pound, 72- by 135-inch precision cassette leveler multi-blanking line for installation in its Spartanburg, S.C., facility. The line will expand All Metals’ coil slitting and cut-to-length toll processing capabilities into high-speed close-tolerance precision blanking for the appliance, automotive, electrical panel and building product markets. Superior Supply & Steel, Houston, will open a facility in Mobile, Ala., to stock a full range of plate products for the shipbuilding and offshore rig businesses. Superior now maintains 11 locations.
Singer Steel Co. has purchased a Red Bud half-inch cut-to-length line with a stretcher leveler and an SCS sheet cleaning line for its Streetsboro, Ohio, service center. This combination will give Singer Steel the ability to produce ultra-flat blanks from coils up to 75-inch wide with weights up to 80,000 pounds.
Altemp Alloys, Anaheim, Calif., has passed inspections and been awarded AS 9100B and ISO 9001:2000 certifications. Altemp is a supplier of high-temperature and super alloys, primarily to the aerospace and defense industries.
Rolled Alloys, Temperance, Mich., has announced the opening of Rolled Alloys Suzhou Co. Ltd., with a new warehousing and processing facility in the Suzhou Industrial Park, China. The 30,000-square-foot facility includes shearing, sawing and plasma cutting capabilities.
Globe Stainless Inc. has installed a 10-gauge precision blanking line from Red Bud Industries at its Los Angeles service center. The line is capable of running coils up to 60 inches wide with weights up to 23,000 pounds and comes equipped with a grip feed system delivering 0.005-inch length tolerances. Willbanks Metals, Fort Worth, Texas, will implement enterprise software from Verticent Inc. Willbanks opted for Verticent ERP software based on its flexibility and Verticent’s knowledge of the metals industry, the company claims.
H & D Steel Service Inc., Cleve land, has completed installation of a 14-gauge precision blanking line from Red Bud Industries. The line, which offers precision blanks with 0.005-inch length tolerances and production speeds up to 120 feet per minute, will be used to process mark-free stainless steel and aluminum blanks.
People
Kevin Cullen has been appointed vice president of operations at Gibraltar Industries Inc., Buffalo, N.Y. Cullen will oversee the company’s manufacturing operations and serve on the corporate executive council.
McNichols Co., Tampa, Fla., has made five appointments to management positions across its North American service centers. Michael Davidson has been named Atlanta district manager, while Joe Harner, Gary Metz, Maurice Roberts and Paul Neuman have been appointed operations managers in Chicago, Los Angeles, Minneapolis and Baltimore, respectively.
Dean Sturges has joined Cum ber land Diversified Metals, Cleve land, as vice president. He has more than 20 years of experience in the metals industry.
Scott Fishkind has been promoted to chairman of the board of Standard Tinsmith Supply, Brooklyn, N.Y. It’s 67 Years and Counting After abandoning his dream of a baseball career, Meyer went to work in the metals business for Crucible Steel in Pittsburgh. His family returned to Louisville, where Meyer became plant manager at Jones & Laughlin Steel. He worked for J&L for 20 years before retiring for the first time. Since that first failed effort to step away from the business, Meyer has worked as a consultant for Edgcomb Steel, Shelby Steel, O’Neal Steel, Neill-LaVeille Steel and his current position at American Metal Supply. Lynn Rhea, branch manager at AMS, says she pleaded with Meyer for months to return to the fold after his most recent retirement in 2004. He has been working part-time for the company for the past two years. Rhea says Meyer’s successful sales resume is a combination of his vast knowledge of the steel business coupled with his desire to “know something about the life of the person sitting at the front desk.” She says it’s common knowledge Meyer has hired many of the current salespeople working in Louisville. |
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