New Star Makes Capital Investment
A multi-million capital investment in U.S. Metals & Supply, a division of New Star Metals Inc., will significantly boost output and productivity while expanding the range of products available from the company’s St. Louis, Mo., plant.
“Since its founding in the spring of 2010, New Star Metals has been evaluating capital investments to accelerate growth within our family of businesses and expand our participation in the North American steel service center industry. Our investment in U.S. Metals & Supply is another step in accomplishing this growth goal,” said Patrick J. Murley, New Star Metals CEO.
The cornerstone of the expansion is the installation of a 0.135-inch by 72-inch stretcher leveler with multi-blanking capabilities and a 0.250-inch by 72-inch tension slitter. In addition, overhead crane capacity will be increased to accommodate coils up to 30 tons. This new equipment, to be fully operational by Jan. 1, will double U.S. Metals & Supply’s annual capability to 150,000 tons, Murley said.
U.S. Metals & Supply, which has been in operation since 1992, will also benefit from the implementation of the New Star Metals’ enterprise resource planning system. Completion of this ERP project will be a milestone for New Star Metals in converting all its subsidiary companies onto a single information technology platform, which will fully integrate the flow of information across the divisions and among customers.
“The new equipment will allow us to broaden our product offerings to the marketplace. The expanded products will include additional hot-rolled capabilities and will enhance our current flat-rolled product base, which includes a variety of cold-rolled and coated products. We expect to improve our productivity, expand our gauge range and provide better information to our customers. We look forward to expanding into new markets and products with our valued current and future customer base,” said Perry Bumpus, president of U.S. Metals & Supply.
New Star Metals, with headquarters in suburban Chicago, currently has about 500,000 tons of processing capacity serving customers across a variety of end markets in the Midwest. The company is composed of four divisions including Miami Valley Steel Service, Premier Resource Group, Electric Coating Technology and U.S. Metals & Supply.