Metals

Nucor to build micromill in Missouri

Charlotte, North Carolina-based Nucor Corp. says it will build a rebar micromill in Sedalia, Missouri, about 90 miles east of Kansas City. The new micromill will cost approximately $250 million and is expected to start operating in 2019.

Rebar supply to the Kansas City, Upper Midwest and Plains states markets currently travels long distances, giving the micromill in Sedalia a logistical advantage, Nucor says. The company also indicates the location will allow it “to take advantage of the abundant scrap supply in the immediate area provided by Nucor’s scrap business, The David J. Joseph Co.”

The rebar micromill investment is expected to create 255 full-time jobs as well as 450 temporary construction jobs, Nucor says.

Real Alloy declares bankruptcy

Real Industry Inc., owner of Beachwood, Ohio-based secondary aluminum producer Real Alloy, has filed for Chapter 11 debt restructuring and bankruptcy, citing difficult credit and financing conditions for its U.S. operations. Real Industry filed its Chapter 11 petition in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware.

In conjunction, Real Alloy Holding Inc. and its U.S. subsidiaries also filed petitions in late November 2017 for voluntary Chapter 11 reorganization in the same court.

Scrap-consuming aluminum production facilities in several states—including two in Michigan, two in Ohio and one each in Alabama, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Oklahoma, Texas, Tennessee, West Virginia and Wisconsin—are affected, as are plants in Canada and Mexico.

A Form 204 filed as part of the Chapter 11 proceedings shows scrap trading companies comprise more than half of Real Alloy’s 20 largest creditors. Topping the list with $1.3 million owed is Dallas-based Commercial Metals Co. Also owed $1 million or more are Coldwater, Michigan-based Honda Trading America Corp. and St. Louis-based Alter Trading Co. Real Alloy owes other recyclers between $325,000 and $850,000.

Real Alloy says it has entered into an agreement in principle with its existing asset-based facility lender and some of its bondholders for continued use of its $110 million asset-based lending facility and up to $85 million of additional liquidity through debtor-in-possession (“DIP”) financing to fund ongoing operations.

Terry Hogan remains Real Alloy’s president, while Michael Hobey has been named president and interim CEO of Real Industry and will continue to serve as chief financial officer (CFO) of Real Industry and now also as CFO of Real Alloy.

MetalX breaks ground on Delta, Ohio, facility

MetalX, headquartered in Waterloo, Indiana, recently hosted a groundbreaking ceremony for its new facility in Delta, Ohio. The proposed $35 million investment will fund the development of a scrap processing plant that will create more than 75 jobs to handle more than 500,000 tons annually in its first phase. MetalX says it expects the facility to be fully operational within one year and plans to begin certain operations as early as this summer.

In July 2017, MetalX purchased M&K Metal Processors in Delta. In August, the company announced its plans to build a greenfield scrap processing plant in Delta on a 60-acre site across the street from North Star BlueScope’s steel mill.

MetalX says key ferrous scrap processing operations will include a heavy-duty shredder and recovery system, a production baler, mobile shears and a high-capacity staging and distribution yard for prepared grades. Nonferrous operations will focus on shredded aluminum recovery and industrial scrap processing. The company says it also will operate a full-service fleet transportation hub to support industrial and wholesale suppliers.

In conjunction with JobsOhio, the Regional Growth Partnership for Northwest Ohio (RGP), Toledo, Ohio, facilitated an Ohio Jobs Creation Tax Credit and a Jobs- Ohio Grant. MetalX also received an Ohio Rail Development Commission Grant and a local Jobs Creation Tax Credit from the village of Delta.

MetalX President and CEO Danny Rifkin says, “This project is a big undertaking and a sizeable investment. We are confident that this will be a success for us all. We truly appreciate the encouragement of the North Star BlueScope team, the special effort made by area officials to work through the process in an expeditious time frame, the guidance and support of Matt Gilroy and the Fulton County Economic Development Corp., who have assisted us through the entire process, and, of course, those people within our own company who have been so committed to getting this done.”

Danny and Neal Rifkin founded privately owned MetalX in 2012.