Huron Valley to expand capacity in Alabama

Trenton, Michigan-based Huron Valley Steel Corp. (HVSC) has announced it has plans in place to add a secondary aluminum production line at its Anniston, Alabama, facility.

The company cites “the improved steel market and recent scrap import restrictions imposed by China” as reasons why “HVSC anticipates greater volumes of zorba will be available to the U.S. domestic market for processing.”

In addition to what the company refers to as investments in companywide capital improvements, HVSC indicates in a news release that “increased aluminum demand” has prompted it to add a secondary aluminum production facility in Alabama.

“The greater availability of zorba will allow the company to expand its secondary aluminum alloy production to the South while continuing to serve its current customers’ aluminum scrap needs,” HVSC states in a March 2018 news release. The company currently melts aluminum scrap and produces secondary aluminum ingot and sow at its Belleville, Michigan facility. With a new scrap melting furnace in Alabama, HVSC indicates it plans to increase its secondary aluminum products capacity to have more product to sell to the automotive die casting market in North America.

 “2015 and 2016 were challenging years, not just for us but for the entire metals recycling industry,” says Eric “Randy” Fritz, president and CEO of HVSC. “Despite those challenges, HVSC has continued to invest in new technology and is planning for growth. Now with the improved market conditions, it is refreshing to look back and realize those efforts are beginning to pay off.”

HVSC bills itself as one of the largest recycling processors of shredded nonferrous mixed metals generated by auto shredding plants in the United States and Canada. The shredded nonferrous mix, known in the scrap industry as zorba, is processed by the company at its two media plants in Belleville and Anniston. Approximately 80 percent of the nonferrous metal it recovers from zorba is comprised of aluminum alloys.