After two tumultuous years in the metals space, 2022 approached the more traditional conditions of the past. The past year was neither the unprecedented, pandemic-filled mess of 2020 nor the hyperinflationary metals environment of 2021, but it was not without its challenges for the metals supply chain.
While prices of most metal products ebbed last year, other input costs remained high, creating a different type of headache. Interest rates rose as the year went along, creating not just a higher cost to investment but a potential drain on business activity.
Supply chain issues remained, most notably in the still-constrained automotive industry. Logistics concerns were not as pronounced, but also continued to hamper delivery of goods both in and out of the plant.
At the mill level, progress continued on major projects that will ramp up capacity, with newer EAF technology being introduced across North America. In Canada, old integrated companies began their transition to minimill production, part of the ongoing decarbonization efforts around the globe.
For service centers, the growth story was found downstream. There were no outright acquisitions of one distribution giant by another in 2022, with Alro Steel’s acquisition of Klein Steel representing the largest acquisition of one distributor by another. Rather, companies such as Reliance Steel & Aluminum, Ryerson, O’Neal Steel and Majestic Steel looked to grow by welcoming manufacturing and fabrication companies into the fold.
By year’s end, the industry was cautiously optimistic about the year ahead, hopeful that a recession would be averted.
FIRST QUARTERNational Kwikmetal Service, Des Plaines, Ill., was acquired by MiddleGround Capital, which operates 10 portfolio distribution and manufacturing companies.
Reliance Steel & Aluminum made a push downstream with the acquisition of Nu-Tech Precision Metals Inc., Arnprior, Ontario. Nu-Tech is a custom manufacturer of specialty extruded metals, fabricated parts and welded components.
Through its subsidiary United Performance Metals, Birmingham, Ala.-based O’Neal Industries, Inc. acquired the assets of Cincinnati-based Slice of Stainless. SoS offers small quantities of stainless steel and nickel alloys, sheared to exact specifications.
Federal Steel Supply acquired Process Piping Materials. Based in Lafayette, La., PPM is a value-added distributor of industrial pipe, fittings, valves and flanges.
Alro Steel, Jackson, Mich., acquired Ace Steel, Roanoke, Va. The purchase allowed Alro to grow its customer base while providing improved service for cut-to-size metals and plastics.
Champagne Metals installed a new Precision Multi-Cut Blanking Line from Red Bud Industries at its Middlebury, Ind., facility. Champagne is an aluminum processor and distributor.
Gary, Ind.-based Alliance Steel expanded its slitting capacity with the addition of a Paxson/Braner 0.250-inch by 24-inch narrow slitting line. The line allows the company to supply narrow slit coils with tight width tolerances.
Nova Steel Inc. purchased a Heavy Gauge Slitting Line from Athader S.L., a member of The Bradbury Group. The line, targeted for the Nova Steel and Tube LLC plant in Delta, Ohio, will slit 0.500-inch by 74-inch by 80,000-pound coils.
Nucor Corp., Charlotte, acquired a majority ownership position in California Steel Industries, Inc. by purchasing a 50 percent equity interest from a subsidiary of Vale S.A. and a 1 percent equity ownership stake from JFE Steel Corporation. The company will be a joint venture between Nucor and JFE, pending regulatory approvals.
Charter Manufacturing acquired Aarrowcast, Inc., a Shawano, Wis.-based privately held company and a manufacturer of high-quality gray and ductile iron castings.
Algoma Steel Group Inc. announced plans to build two electric arc furnaces to replace its existing blast furnace and basic oxygen steelmaking operations. The change is designed to reduce the company’s carbon emissions by approximately 70 percent.
VORTEQ Coil Finishers, LLC, a leading provider of coil coating services for a wide range of metal products and multiple end-use markets, completed a management-led buyout. Collaborating with Shadowbriar Capital Partners, VORTEQ’s senior leadership team partnered with private investors to acquire VORTEQ from Los Angeles-based Peninsula Pacific.
Reliance Steel & Aluminum Co. made successive acquisitions of Admiral Metals Servicenter Company, a nonferrous distributor, and Rotax Metals, a Brooklyn, N.Y.-based service center.
Steel Technologies LLC, Louisville, Ky., acquired Calstrip Industries, Mira Loma, Calif. Calstrip is a flat-rolled metal processing business with operations in California, New Mexico, Texas and Arkansas.
Grand Steel began operations at its new facility in Clinton, Tenn. Grand Steel Products-Tennessee will serve as a toll processing and warehousing facility, featuring two slitting lines, plus de-canning and freight forwarding services for steel and aluminum.
The entire line of Mill Steel flat-rolled carbon steel products went online for purchase through its e-commerce website. The site features 65,000 tons of steel available for purchase with full physical and chemical certification provided for each coil.
Metal Supermarkets, headquartered in Toronto, was named to the 2021 Franchise Times’ Top 400 list. The metal supply franchise jumped 34 spots from the prior-year ranking due to continued revenue growth.
JM Steel installed a Heavy Gauge Slitting Line from Red Bud Industries at its new facility in Sinton, Texas on the SDI campus. The line is capable of processing material up to 0.500 inches thick by 84 inches wide, with a maximum coil weight of 105,000 pounds.
U.S. Steel Corp. announced plans to locate its next steel mill in Osceola, Ark., near its existing Big River Steel plant. The new mill will feature two electric arc furnaces with 3 million tons of capacity.
PTC Alliance agreed to purchase the business of Metal-Matic Inc., a producer of welded and drawn over mandrel carbon steel tubing for standard and specialty applications. Upon completion of the sale, the business will become part of PTC Alliance.
Nucor Corp. announced plans to build a new sheet mill in Mason County, W.Va. The West Virginia location on the Ohio River provides Nucor with important transportation and logistics advantages, and a strengthened ability to serve customers in the Midwest and Northeast.
The Wheatland Tube division of Zekelman Industries filed a request for the U.S. Department of Commerce to conduct an anticircumvention inquiry regarding circular welded pipe that is completed in Oman and the United Arab Emirates using hot-rolled steel manufactured in India.
Commercial Metals Company, Irving, Texas, announced plans to build a new micro mill in the Eastern United States. The mill will be constructed to serve the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic and Midwestern markets.
AZZ Inc., Fort Worth, Texas, acquired all of the assets of Steel Creek Galvanizing Company, LLC, a privately held hot-dip galvanizing company based in Blacksburg, S.C.
Ternium USA announced plans to add a second coil coating line at its facility in Shreveport, La. The project will increase Ternium’s production capacity in the United States by 53 percent.
Al Glick, founder, CEO and chairman of Alro Steel, passed away. The 2000 recipient of the Metal Center News’ Executive of the Year was 95.
Odyssey Specialized Logistics LLC opened a new metal logistics facility in Brooklyn, Ohio, dedicated to roll and hold warehousing and area transportation. The Brooklyn location joins roll and hold facilities in California, Indiana, Louisiana, Missouri and Texas offering flatbed trucking and warehousing.
Metal Supermarkets opened its first facility in Nebraska in early February. The new store will is near Interstate 80 at 13239 Portal Drive.
Steel Dynamics Inc., Fort Wayne, Ind., completed a major push downstream with the acquisition of minority equity interest in Houston’s New Process Steel. SDI acquired 45 percent of the service center company.
Nucor Corp., Charlotte, N.C., announced plans to invest $290 million to expand the product capabilities of its Crawfordsville, Ind., sheet mill. Nucor will add a construction grade continuous galvanizing line and prepaint line at the facility.
Sierra Aluminum, a division of Samuel, Son & Co. Ltd., announced plans for a greenfield facility in Mexicali, Mexico, to increase its extrusion, anodizing and painting capacity. The company will also make new investments in its existing California facilities.
SECOND QUARTERRyerson Holding Corporation expanded its downstream offerings with the acquisition of the assets of Apogee Steel Fabrication Inc., a sheet metal fabricator based in Mississauga, Ontario.
Steel Warehouse invested in a new 72-inch Braner slitter for its location at the Port of Indiana. The facility serves the automotive, lawn and garden, construction, agriculture, energy and appliance markets.
Plain City, Ohio-based Advanced Gauging Technologies received a new order for their first AGT Mult-Width Gauge from Metals USA, Springfield, Ohio.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine had an immediate effect on Ukrainian steel production, as Metinvest Group suspended production at two facilities. Some equipment at its Ilyich Iron and Steel Works and Azovstal were suspended in response to the crisis.
Galvanizing and metal coating specialist AZZ Inc. acquired Precoat Metals from Sequa Corp. The purchase price was estimated at $1.28 billion.
Schnitzer Steel Industries Inc., Portland, Ore., launched GRN Steel, a line of net zero carbon products from its Cascade Steel manufacturing operations in McMinnville, Ore.
United States Steel Corporation announced plans to invest $60 million to develop pig iron capabilities at the company’s Gary Works facility. The facility will produce up to 500,000 tons of pig iron annually, providing a key raw material input for its electric arc furnaces.
The White House issued guidance to federal agencies on the application of Buy America preferences in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. The guidance requires all agencies to ensure by May 14 that all iron and steel used in the project must be produced in the United States.
Alro Steel acquired certain assets of Klein Steel, a leading metals service center operating in Buffalo, Rochester and Syracuse, N.Y. Klein Steel offers carbon steel, stainless steel, aluminum, brass, copper and specialty metals for next-day delivery to customers in the Northeast.
Ryerson will renovate its Lancaster, N.Y., facility. The Chicago-based service center company will invest $1.5 million in the project.
Charlotte-based Nucor Corp., announced plans to build a new rebar micro mill in its home state in Lexington, N.C. This will be Nucor’s third rebar micro mill, joining existing facilities in Missouri and Florida.
BlueScope acquired the Coil Coatings business of Cornerstone Building Brands Inc. Coil Coatings is the second-largest metal painter in the United States, with a capacity of approximately 900,000 metric tons annually.
Allegheny Technologies Inc., Pittsburgh, terminated Uniti, LLC, its joint venture with Russian-based VSMPO-AVISMA to market and sell a range of commercially pure titanium products.
Universal Stainless & Alloy Products, Inc. reported a liquid metal spill occurred during operations at its Bridgeville electric arc melting facility. The spill temporarily shut down melting operations.
ArcelorMittal signed an agreement to acquire an 80 percent share in voestalpine’s HBI plant in Corpus Christi, Texas. The remaining 20 percent will be held by voestalpine. The transaction values the Corpus Christi operations at $1 billion.
Friedman Industries Inc., acquired two facilities from Plateplus. The Longview, Texas-based company acquired the Plateplus facilities in East Chicago, Texas, and Granite City, Ill.
NIM Group, Norfolk, Neb., acquired the Tulsa, Okla., facility of Plateplus Inc. The acquisition added to NIM Group’s acquisition of Plateplus’s Windsor, Colo., plant earlier in the year.
Specialty metals supplier United Performance Metals, Cincinnati, unveiled a new additive manufacturing solutions center in Hamilton, Ohio. The center provides stainless steel, nickel and titanium build plates customized to any size or machine.
Atlas Tube, a division of Zekelman Industries, opened its newest steel mill in Blytheville, Ark. The new facility will be dedicated to producing Jumbo Hollow Structural Sections as large as 28-inch OD with walls up to one-inch thick.
Wieland acquired Granite City, Ill.-based Totall Metal Recycling. Formed in 1993, the company, is a recycling industry leader in North America, processing a wide range of metal scrap and other materials.
Hydro broke ground on a new aluminum recycling plant in Cassopolis, Mich. The plant will produce 120,000 metric tons of aluminum extrusion ingot per year.
Gerdau announced plans to upgrade to its Jackson, Tenn., steel mill. The investment expands the location’s merchant bar product range and operational competitiveness, while improving the flexibility of Gerdau’s network of mills, the company said.
The U.S. temporarily suspended 232 tariffs on Ukrainian steel for the next year. The move was made in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
THIRD QUARTERCentral Steel & Wire Company, a subsidiary of Ryerson Holding Corporation, Chicago, broke ground on the property that will house the new CSW building in mid-2023. Located in University Park, Ill., the building will be over 900,000 square feet and have a 30-acre solar farm that will help supply most of the building’s electric power.
Flack Global Metals announced plans to open its first physical location. FGM Houston is located on the campus of North Shore Steel near the Port of Houston.
To meet increasing customer demand for copper and copper alloy products in the region, Wieland opened a new facility in Juarez, Mexico. The new facility offers slitting and warehousing of red metals products at the location.
Dallas-based Commercial Steel Products LLC acquired Houston-based Ace Steel Supply Inc. Ace specializes in sheet and plate products in stainless, aluminum, galvanized, galvanneal, Galvalume, as well as cold-rolled and hot-rolled carbon steel.
Metal Sawing Technology acquired Houston Metal Cutting. MST is a band saw blade, repair, maintenance and service company.
Metal Exchange Corp., a St. Louis-based leader in the purchasing, processing and manufacturing of nonferrous metals, acquired Medalco Metals Inc., a distributor of light gauge aluminum rolled products. Formed in 2003, Medalco is a strategic partner serving a diverse customer base in the growing automotive, building and flex, and HVAC markets.
O’Neal Industries, Birmingham, Ala., appointed Ruffner Page president and COO. He had been serving on the board of directors since 2016.
Nucor Corp., Charlotte, N.C., made two more downstream investments, acquiring C.H.I. Overhead Doors from the investment fund managed by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co., and Summit Utility Structures LLC and related company Sovereign Steel Manufacturing LLC.
U.S. Steel Corp. dedicated a new pig iron caster at its Gary Works facility in Indiana. The caster is a key element of the steelmaker’s new metallics strategy.
Steel Dynamics Inc. acquired Mexican metals recycling business ROCA ACERO S.A. de C.V. ROCA’s primary operations are comprised of four scrap processing facilities, positioned near high-volume industrial scrap sources located throughout Central and Northern Mexico.
Gerdau announced plans to upgrade to its Jackson, Tenn., steel mill. The investment will expand the location’s merchant bar product range and operational competitiveness, while improving the flexibility of Gerdau’s network of mills.
Eastern Metal Supply, Lake Worth, Fla., acquired G&L Materials, Morehead City, N.C. EMS is a value-added distributor of aluminum extrusions and related products sold into a variety of industrial, commercial, residential and marine end markets.
Lisle, Ill.-based Leeco Steel, a large supplier of steel plate in North America and an O’Neal Industries affiliate company, completed an expansion to its Canadian distribution center. The expansion added 30,000 square feet to Leeco’s Hamilton, Ont., Canada facility.
Majestic Steel USA Inc., Cleveland, has completed two strategic acquisitions in manufacturing and logistics. Quicken Steel LLC, a manufacturer of steel buildings and components based in Claxton, Ga., and Mercury Transport Inc., a transportation company based in Pittsburg, California, will become wholly owned divisions of Majestic Steel USA, Inc.
Andrew “Drew” Gross was named president and chief operating officer at Alliance Steel, a flat-rolled coil service center and toll processor in Northwest Indiana. He assumed his new role effective July 1.
Altex Tube LLC announced plans to build a new manufacturing plant in Columbus, Miss., on the Steel Dynamics campus. Altex will manufacture black and pre-galvanized steel tubing in various sizes using coil products supplied by SDI.
U.S. Steel Corp. announced plans to sell its two blast furnaces at Granite City Works to SunCoke Energy Inc., a raw material processing and handling company. Under terms of a non-binding letter of intent, SunCoke would convert the facility into a two-million ton granulated pig iron production facility.
Energy pipe and tube specialist Tenaris S.A. agreed to acquire 100 percent of the shares of Benteler Steel & Tube Manufacturing Corp. from Benteler North America Corp. Benteler is a U.S. producer of seamless steel pipe, with an annual rolling capacity of 400,000 metric tons.
Tom Marry was named president of Mequon, Wis.-based Charter Steel, a provider of quality wire rod and special bar quality products with operations in Wisconsin and Ohio. In this role, Marry will be responsible for continuing Charter Steel’s growth.
O’Neal Manufacturing Services opened a 130,000-square-foot steel fabrication center in West Alabama. The company plans to invest more than $4 million in capital expenditures and bring 80 jobs to the City of Fayette.
Hypertherm, Hanover, N.H., changed its corporate name to Hypertherm Associates. The name change represents the company’s evolution from a manufacturer of plasma cutting products to a multi-technology provider of industrial cutting solutions.
Vista Metals Georgia broke ground on a new $30 million expansion project at its Adairsville manufacturing facility. This expansion represents the second phase of the company’s nearly $100 million long-range capital plan, which includes the installation of its seventh aluminum cast-house, melting furnaces, homogenizing ovens and support equipment.
Operations at Universal Stainless & Alloy Products’ Bridgeville, Pa., electric arc melting furnace returned to full operating capacity. The furnace was idled following a metal spill in April, caused by a breakthrough at the bottom of a furnace shell.
ArcelorMittal completed the acquisition of 80 percent shareholding of voestalpine’s HBI plant near Corpus Christi, Texas. The acquisition values the plant, which has a capacity of two million metric tons of HBI, at $1 billion.
Wieland broke ground on a new recycling facility in Shelbyville, Ky. The plant will melt and recycle copper and copper alloy scrap for use in manufacturing semi-finished products for customers throughout North America.
Conshohocken, Pa.-headquartered Mainline Metals, Inc. acquired Acworth, Ga.-based Great South Metals. Mainline Metals is a steel distributor with vast experience in the prime, excess and secondary steel markets.
Kloeckner announced plans to build a facility for plate processing on the campus of Nucor’s new Brandenburg, Ky., plate operation. The announcement was made by the service center company’s corporate parent, Klöckner & Co.
Alro Steel Fort Wayne relocated to a new facility at 2912 Pleasant Center Road, in Yoder, Ind. The new 165,000-square-foot facility replaces the former 55,000-square-foot facility on New Haven Road in Fort Wayne.
O’Neal Steel announced plans to invest $2.6 million in new manufacturing equipment to expand the capabilities of its Birmingham, Ala., headquarters. The investment includes the addition of a flat laser and press brake for the value-added processing of metal parts and will add six new jobs to the operation.
Metal Supermarkets, the world’s largest supplier of small-quantity metals opened two new locations in the Southeast in August. A location in Chattanooga, Tenn., opened Aug. 1 and another facility in Alexandria, Va., opened Aug. 29.
Matt Rohm was promoted to president and COO of Metal Exchange Group, reporting to CEO Rick Merluzzi. In his new role, he has day-to-day operational responsibility and oversight of all division and operating companies.
Rio Tinto announced plans to investing $188 million to increase the production capacity for low-carbon, high-value aluminum billets at its Alma smelter in Lac-Saint-Jean, Quebec by 202,000 metric tons.
Nucor Corporation, Charlotte, N.C., announced plans to add a new melt shop at its bar mill in Kingman, Ariz. The new $100 million melt shop will have the capacity to produce 600,000 tons annually.
SIJ Americas, a wholly owned subsidiary of SIJ-Slovenian Steel Group, acquired and established a new 35,000-square-foot warehouse facility in Romeoville, Ill. Just 25 miles southwest of Chicago, the centrally located warehouse was slated to be fully operational in early August.
Aluminum extrusions company Hydro announced plans to make separate investments in U.S. facilities. The Norwegian producer is investing $52 million at its recycling facility in Cressona, Pa., and another $15 million at its aluminum remelting facility in Henderson, Ky.
O’Neal Manufacturing Services acquired an 84,000-square-foot custom steel fabrication center in Burlington, Ky. Formerly known as Skilcraft LLC, the OMS-Northern Kentucky facility produces light gauge metal weldments for customers engaged in security and government, transportation, banking, medical, refrigeration and HVAC.
EVRAZ plc began soliciting proposals for all of its North American subsidiaries. The sale will allow to unlock the standalone value of the North America business, EVRAZ North America’s parent company said.
Two leading aluminum trade groups testified before the U.S. International Trade Commission on the economic impacts of Section 232 and Section 301 tariff programs. Charles Johnson, president and CEO of the Aluminum Association, and Aluminum Extruders Council President Jeff Henderson both outlined their group’s position on the tariffs.
FOURTH QUARTERTriple-S Steel Holdings of Houston acquired Hillman Brass & Copper. Based in Honey Brook, Pa., Hillman will operate as a unit of the Arbor Metals, Inc., a division of Triple-S Steel Holdings.
Alro Steel acquired certain assets of Access Metals, Baltimore, Md. Access Metals is a service center specializing in small orders with quick and competitive service to customers in manufacturing, machining and fabricating.
Industrial Metal Supply Co., acquired Campbell Metal Supply, San Jose, Calif. The acquisition expands IMS’ operations into the Bay Area.
Banner Industries, Carol Stream, Ill., has opened its latest distribution and manufacturing facility in Windsor, Conn. Established in 1961, Banner is a value-added metals processor and distributor serving OEMs, contract manufacturers and precision machine customers.
Ace Steel Supply’s Austin Reynolds was named the NexGen Leadership Award winner at the 2022 Steel Summit. Reynolds is a sales representative for the Houston-based service center.
Ryerson Holding Corporation acquired Howard Precision Metals Inc.. Howard Precision Metals is a Milwaukee-based aluminum distributor, one of the largest in the Midwest.
Lapham-Hickey Steel acquired SMC Metal Fabricators, Oshkosh, Wis. SMC operates 115,000 square feet of manufacturing space next door to Lapham-Hickey’s two existing Oshkosh facilities.
UPG Enterprises LLC, through its Electrical Steel division, acquired Orchid Monroe LLC, a manufacturer of electrical steel laminations and complete rotor and stator cores for electric motors and generators. Orchid’s in-house manufacturing and tooling can produce, engineer, prototype, slit, stamp, anneal, die cast, robotic weld, finish and test electrical steel.
Reliance Steel & Aluminum announced plans to promote Karla Lewis to CEO, replacing James D. Hoffman. The transition took place on Jan. 1.
Worthington Industries Inc., Columbus, Ohio, announced plans to separate its Steel Processing business into a new public company. The company expects the separation to be complete by early 2024.
Pennsylvania Steel Company announced plans to purchase certain assets of Nivert Metal Supply Inc., a leading metals service center operating in Throop, Pa. The acquisition allows Pennsylvania Steel to expand its geographic customer base while providing improved service for cut-to-size metals in the Northeast.
Lapham-Hickey agreed to acquire a controlling stake in VC Laminations, a premier electrical steel lamination stamper and valued-added services provider. VC Laminations is a family-owned company located in Queretaro, Mexico.
thyssenkrupp Materials Services announced plans to invest $37 million on a new service center facility at its Materials de Mexico division in San Luis Potosi. The facility is designed to support the growing automotive industry in the region.
American Steel Plate Solutions relocated its facility in Northeast Ohio. The company’s new warehouse is located at 4389 Martin Ave., in Cleveland, near the downtown and steel mills.
Kaiser Aluminum Corp. lifted a force majeure declared on July 7 at its Warrick Rolling Mill due to limited availability of magnesium utilized in the production of certain of its aluminum beverage and food packaging products, reducing its ability to produce those products at that time.
Zekelman Industries neared completion of its newest facility constructed to produce a range of galvanized tubular products for the electrical, fence, solar tracker and solar foundation markets. It is located just west of Chicago in Rochelle, Ill., a city with access to rail and major interstate routes.
Gibraltar Industries Inc., a manufacturer and provider of products and services for the renewable energy, residential, agtech and infrastructure markets, acquired Quality Aluminum Products for $54 million. QAP is a manufacturer of residential building products.
Samuel, Son & Co. Limited, Oakville, Ont., acquired RAMP Incorporated, Waterloo, Ont. Founded in 2010, RAMP is experienced in full systems design, integration, and advanced technology deployment.
Japan’s Maruichi announced plans to construct a new facility in Seguin, Texas. Parent company Maruichi Steel Tube is establishing Maruichi Stainless Tube Texas Corp., through which the company will expand its domestic production capacity to 250,000 units from 150,000.
Construction on Zekelman Industries’ new inline steel tube galvanizing factory in Blytheville, Ark., began in December. When completed, the production lines will have an annual operating capacity exceeding 200,000 tons.
Nucor announced plans to build two new galvanizing lines at its steelmaking facilities in the United States. One is slated for its Nucor Steel Berkeley facility in South Carolina, while the other will be constructed in the Western United States, with details announced at a later date.
Commercial Metals Company, Irving, Texas, acquired Advanced Steel Recovery, a Southern California supplier of recycled ferrous metals. The deal is part of CMC’s strategic expansion in the Western United States.
Ford broke ground at BlueOval City in Stanton, Tenn. The facility is expected to be the largest auto production complex in the company’s 119-year history.
Bull Moose Tube expected to open its new HSS and sprinkler pipe mill on the campus of Steel Dynamics’ Sinton, Texas, facility in the first quarter of 2023. The planned facility has a capacity of 350,000 tons.
Novelis Inc. broke ground and began construction on its $2.5 billion recycling and rolling plant in Bay Minette, Ala. The facility is expected to have an initial 600 kilo tons of finished aluminum goods capacity per year focused on the beverage container market, with flexibility for automotive production.
Federal, provincial and municipal officials joined Tenaris executives, customers, and employees, to mark the culmination of $150 million in investments in Sault Ste. Marie, Ont. The investment was made to transform the company’s industrial footprint in Canada by centralizing its pipe manufacturing operations, seamless and ERW under one roof.
Olympic Steel CEO Richard Marabito was named the 26th recipient of Metal Center News’ Service Center Executive of the Year honor.
General Steel, a Cleveland-based service center, was acquired by a subsidiary of McDonald Steel Corp, a McDonald, Ohio-based producer of custom engineered hot-rolled shapes. General Steel will continue to operate as a standalone enterprise.
Ryerson Holding Corp., Chicago, acquired Excelsior Inc., a Fresno-Calif.-based fabrication and machining company. Excelsior has advanced processing capabilities that include machining centers, laser and waterjet cutting, welding and complex assemblies.
Pennsylvania Steel Co., purchased a 60,000-square-foot warehouse facility in Hauppauge, N.Y. The property at 10 Ranick Road provides additional space for growth in staffing, metals inventory and processing equipment.
SPS Companies acquired ESP Specialty Steel Products, Houston from Lone Star Investment Advisors. The acquisition represents the first entry into stainless steel products for Manhattan, Kan.-based SPS.
Steel Dynamics announced plans to locate its first aluminum flat-rolled mill in Columbus, Miss., near its existing flat-rolled steel mill. Columbus was chosen given its location within the targeted Southeast market.
Highbar LLC, a newly formed company focused on sustainable scrap metal recycling and steel production, selected a greenfield site in Northeast Arkansas to build the first of its two rebar steel minimills. The mills are designed to be world leaders in terms of energy and water efficiency, labor productivity and carbon emission reductions.
Gerdau Special Steel North America announced plans to invest an additional $40.4 million at its Monroe, Mich. special bar quality mill. This final phase of the project will include upgrades to the rolling mill, including a new bundler table, bundler area and the installation of a third saw.
Hypertherm Associates, a U.S. based manufacturer of industrial cutting products and software, announced plans to formally close its legal entity in Russia. This announcement followed a decision in March to suspend business because of Russia’s military invasion of Ukraine.
The World Steel Association said steel demand would contract by 2.3 percent in 2022. The Brussels-based steel group further predicted a rebound of 1 percent to 1.8 billion tons in 2023.