Embattled Ryerson Faces Board Vote
In apparent response to a lawsuit filed by a major shareholder, Ryerson Inc.’s board of directors has set Aug. 23 as the date for its annual stockholders meeting in Chicago.
According to various press reports, Harbinger Capital Partners, which holds 9.7 percent of Ryerson’s outstanding stock, filed the suit in a Delaware court to force Ryerson to reschedule the shareholders meeting, which it had postponed indefinitely from its original May 11 date.
Unsatisfied with Ryerson’s recent financial performance, Harbinger has been calling for the election of seven independent directors to replace the majority of Ryerson’s board. Ryerson management forestalled the vote by delaying the board meeting, saying it needed time to consider strategic alternatives, including a possible sale.
Terence Rogers, Ryerson vice president of finance and treasurer, said last month that the company continues to examine possible alternatives, but had nothing to report. He declined to speculate on the outcome of the board meeting.
“Obviously there will be a contest over the directors. Until the actual votes are cast and counted it will be very difficult to assess. We are optimistic shareholders will support the current board,” he said.
Ryerson is a leading North American distributor and processor of metals with 2006 revenues of $5.9 billion. The company services customers through a network of service centers across the United States and in Canada, Mexico, China and India.
Reliance to Acquire Clayton Metals
Reliance Steel & Aluminum Co., Los Angeles, has agreed to acquire the outstanding capital stock of Clayton Metals Inc., headquartered in Wood Dale, Ill.
Clayton Metals was founded in 1976 and specializes primarily in the processing and distribution of aluminum, stainless steel and red metal flat-rolled products, custom extrusions and aluminum circles through its service center locations in Wood Dale; Cerritos, Calif.; High Point, N.C.; and Parsippany, N.J. Clayton Metal’s 2006 net sales were about $123 million.
Terms of the transaction, expected to be completed this month, were not disclosed. Current management is expected to remain in place.
Norfolk to Expand
with New Iowa Distribution Center
Norfolk Iron & Metal Co., Norfolk, Neb., plans to construct a new full-service steel distribution center in Durant, Iowa.
“Construction will start immediately, and we expect to be delivering steel from the Durant facility within the next 10 to 12 months,” says Norfolk Iron President Richard Robinson.
“We are excited to be a part of this very progressive community and to be able to increase and improve the services we provide to our customers in this geographic area. With the addition of this facility, we will be able to broaden our services to the Wisconsin and Illinois areas, as well as expand our delivery capabilities in Minnesota, Iowa and Missouri,” he adds.
The Durant division of Norfolk Iron will be situated on 37 acres in the Durant Development Park and encompass approximately 250,000 square feet with an extensive inventory and full processing and delivery capabilities. The company initially estimates the division will employ 135 warehouse, office and delivery drivers over the next two to three years. Total investment will exceed $16 million.
Norfolk Iron & Metal Co. is a 99-year-old family-owned wholesale steel distribution company, operating steel service centers in Norfolk; Emporia, Kan.; and Greeley, Colo. The company also has ownership interest in a steel processing facility in Rock Island, Ill..
Norfolk Iron & Metal Co. provides its customers with a full line of carbon steel products, as well as first-stage processing services such as sawing, shearing, breaking, and laser and plasma cutting. The company operates its own delivery fleet of over 100 tractors, and currently serves customers in 12 states throughout the Midwest.
“Norfolk Iron has strong supply relationships with large domestic and international steel producers, receiving steel by rail, barge or truck, whichever reflects the best balance of cost and timeline,” says Robinson.
“The large volume buying power and ability to react quickly to market changes allows the company to keep costs as low as possible. Ranked one of the top 30 largest service centers in the United States, Norfolk has become one of the most competitively priced, quality driven, full-line steel service centers in the industry.”
Fulton County Processing Installs SCS Coil Line
Fulton County Processing recently began production on its newly installed Red Bud SCS Coil Line at its service center in Delta, Ohio. The service center is located in Northwest Ohio adjacent to the NorthStar/Bluescope mill.
The SCS Cleaning System gives hot-rolled black material a smooth, clean, rust-resistant finish that represents a cost effective and environmentally friendly alternative to pickled and oiled material, according to its developers, The Material Works and Red Bud Industries. The system works by “brushing away” all of the surface scale except for a micro-thin layer that provides corrosion resistance without oiling. SCS Cleaning Systems are available in both coil and sheet cleaning configurations.
Fulton County Processing’s line, which can handle 72-inch-wide by 0.250-inch-thick coils, consists of a coil stage and load system, uncoiler, heavy-gauge peeler breaker, crop shear, Butech leveler, heavy-gauge edge trimmer, Butech choppers, SCS cleaning unit, closed-loop water filtration system, air knives, drag tensioner, alignment system, tension-type traversing recoiler and coil band/inspection coil stage and load system.
Italian Aluminum Supplier
Opens U.S. Sales Office
Metalba Italy has opened a North American sales office in Seattle, Wash., to offer distributors and manufacturers aluminum extruded, drawn tube, bar and close-tolerance custom profile shapes from its mill in Italy.
Vertically integrated, Metalba offers all primary alloys including hard and aerospace to standard USA and European specifications. Metalba is ISO 9001:2000 and Boeing approved, among others.
Metalba is located in northern Italy and has been producing aluminum extrusions since 1956. Metalba also operates its own foundry, Metalba Nord.
BRIEFS
VSMPO-Tirus, U.S., has successfully implemented new ERP software from Verticent Inc., Tampa, Fla., at its Golden, Colo., Ontario, Calif., and Moon Township, Pa., service center facilities. VSMPO-Tirus, U.S. stocks titanium, magnesium and aluminum manufactured by its parent company in Russia. The service center distributes the products throughout North America and provides such additional services as cutting of plate, sheet, bar and billet, along with heat treating, precision grinding and machining to customer specifications.
Red Bud Industries, Red Bud, Ill., recently launched its new web site. It offers a modern look and feel with easier access to information such as new innovations, literature, press releases, newsletters, and testimonials. It also features an expanded library of photos of installations available for viewing, along with information about Red Bud’s complete line of processing equipment. Visit www.redbudindustries.com to view the new web site.
Steel Technologies Inc., Louisville, Ky., has completed its previously announced merger with Mitsui & Co. (U.S.A.) Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Mitsui & Co. Ltd. NASDAQ has suspended further trading of Steel Technologies’ common stock. Under the terms of the merger agreement, Steel Technologies’ shareholders will receive $30 per share in an all-cash transaction. “We are pleased to announce the successful completion of our merger with Mitsui. We are excited about the future of our company, especially with the backing and resources of a strong strategic owner like Mitsui and the opportunities it affords our customers, suppliers and employees,” says Steel Technologies’ CEO Bradford T. Ray.
Staub Metals Corp., a flat-rolled service center in Paramount, Calif., has selected the enterprise software STRATIX from Invera. This flat-rolled service center, with annual sales around $60 million, carries a large selection of cold-rolled, hot-rolled, galvanized, galvalume and aluminized sheet products. Their sites in Paramount and Fontana, Calif., contain 240,000 square feet of production capacity and include two leveling lines, a precision multi-blanking line and one slitting line. Staub will be implementing a full complement of STRATIX features such as shop floor production recording, WIFI functions, integrated CRM and on-line shipping planning. This will also include a comprehensive production system for the computerization of their flat-rolled production and additional functionality that automates the billing of customer owned material processing.
Specialty stainless supplier Rolled Alloys has purchased a Red Bud cut-to-length line for its Temperance, Mich., facility. The new line is scheduled to ship in February 2008. The line will be able to handle 20,000-pound coils 72 inches wide and one-half inch thick, and will feature an in-line coil stage and load system along with a dual stub uncoiler and peeler breaker specially designed to break the leading edge of heavy-gauge material.
PEOPLE
The Channel Corporation, Stamford, Conn., an independent master distributor of aluminum mill products, has named Clinton Blume to the position of Western Regional Sales Manager. Assuming management of the company’s western sales territory, spanning from the West Coast to western Texas, and northward into western Canada, Blume’s appointment will double the company’s existing sales efforts in the region. In addition to serving and increasing the customer base in that territory, he will be responsible for spearheading the company’s expansion into Mexico. The company also has appointed Raymond Perrotti to Northeast Regional Sales Manager, to manage Channel’s northeast regional sales territory serving New England and the Mid-Atlantic states. His appointment is an expansion of the company’s sales arm beyond its existing inside sales staff in that region.
Charles Maul has been named vice president of commercial for Greer Steel, Dover, Ohio. He will be responsible for business expansion and overall sales, including management of the sales force at the Dover facility and Greer’s service center in Ferndale, Mich.
Sandmeyer Steel Co., Philadelphia, has hired Adam N. Pottner as district sales manager in its Midwest sales territory. He replaces Robert G. Lundgren who is retiring after 28 years with the company. Pottner has 10 years of metals sales experience and will be responsible for the states of Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Mississippi, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wisconsin.
Marmon/Keystone Corp., Butler, Pa., has made four account manager appointments at various service centers. Aaron Kranz has been appointed in Chicago, Greg Suttmiller in Denver, Sandy Muller in Los Angeles and Stan Stompor in Southampton, Mass.
McNichols Co., Tampa, Fla., has appointed Rick Willauer as district manager at its New Brunswick, N.J., service center. Willauer will oversee all sales and plant operations at the New Brunswick district, as well as its satellite distribution center outside Baltimore.
Corrections
Specialty Steel Co., Cleveland, Ohio, was inadvertently omitted from June’s MCN Directory of Master Distributors. Specialty Steel, a distributor of various specialty bar and plate products in metric sizes, can be reached at 800-321-8500, or by e-mail at info@specialtysteel.com.
The toll-free number for Brown-Campbell Co., Bloomfield Hills, Mich., was incorrect in the Master Distributors listing. The correct number is 800-472-8464.
Also, two companies were omitted from the tool steel table. Good Metals Co., Wyoming, Mich., and Cincinnati Tool Steel Co., Rockford, Ill., both sell bar/rod/wire and plate.
