Scrap Industry News

RECYCLING INDUSTRIES OPENS GEORGIA FACILITY

Recycling Industries Inc., Englewood, Colo., has signed two separate letters of intent to purchase scrap firms in Milwaukee and in Norfolk, Va. In Milwaukee, Recycling Industries has agreed to purchase the assets of Grossman Bros. Co. and its sister firm, Milwaukee Metal Briquetting Co. Grossman Bros., which reports annual revenues of $15 million, operates a 120,000-square-foot building that houses indoor ferrous and nonferrous scrap operations. It is one of the few ferrous scrap processing firms in the United States to operate completely indoors. The Grossman announcement came just a week after Recycling Industries announced its intention to buy Jacobson Metal Co. of Norfolk.

The Colorado consolidator also opened its new facility in Warrenton, Ga. It is the twelfth facility for the scrap metals supplier and its fourth in the Southeast, pending completion of its announced transactions. The new facility’s primary customer will be the Wheland Foundry, an auto parts supplier also located in Warrenton. Scrap material will also be sent to Recycling Industries’ shredding facility in Metter, Ga.

TUBE CITY HELPS RECYCLE PITTSBURGH AIRPORT

So what happened to the former Pittsburgh International Airport after it was demolished this summer? According to Tube City Inc., Glassport, Pa., the structural steel will soon be turning up in new cars, appliances or bridges. Tube City’s facility in West Mifflin, Pa. took in much of the steel from the airport’s demolition contractor, B&B Wrecking & Excavating Inc., Cleveland. Tube City estimated that nearly 8,000 tons – or  400 truck loads – of steel from the former airport were processed.

Olympic Mill Services, a Tube City division, also announced three significant new contracts. Olympic will provide slag handling, metallic recovery, and scrap handling services to Beta Steel in Portage, Ind., and to the SMI Steel plant in Columbia, S.C. Olympic also entered into a ten-year agreement to provide hauling, processing and recovery services to Nucor Steel’s plant in Norfolk, Neb.

SCHNITZER ACQUIRES TACOMA SCRAP FIRM

Schnitzer Steel Industries Inc., Portland, Ore., has announced the acquisition of General Metals of Tacoma Inc., Tacoma, Wash. General Metals handles more than 500,000 tons of scrap metal annually and bills itself as the largest scrap metal recycler in the state of Washington.

A joint venture in which Schnitzer is a partner – Prolerized New England (PNE) – also announced the formation of a limited liability company that will be created with the merger of PNE and Metals Recycling Inc. (MRI), Johnston, R.I. The new company, Metals Recycling LLC, will consist of MRI’s ferrous and nonferrous scrap facilities in Johnston as well as PNE’s ferrous scrap facilities in Massachusetts and Rhode Island. PNE is a joint venture between Schnitzer and the Hugo Neu family of New York City.

CMC APPROVES NEW ROLLING MILL

Commercial Metals Co., Dallas, has approved a new rolling mill project for the SMI Steel South Carolina minimill in Cayce, S.C. This project represents an investment of about $70 million and will double the annual steel rolling capability from 350,000 tons to 700,000 tons. To reach the rolling mill’s full operating capacity, melt shop production will also have to be increased with a relatively modest capital expenditure in the future, according to Commercial Metals.

The new rolling mill will make the facility a low-cost producer of quality long products in the Southeast and will enable the company to offer a broader product line. Construction began in July and the mill is expected to be operational in February 1999.

The project includes a reheat furnace; a state-of-the-art, 17-stand-in-line rolling mill; in-line straightening; a cooling bed; and automated bundling and stacking systems.

SRI CREATES SEARCHABLE RECYCLING DATABASE

The Steel Recycling Institute, Pittsburgh, and The Steel Alliance have created the first online searchable database of steel recycling locations. The database is available through the SRI website at www.recycle-steel.org or TheSteelAlliance website at www.thenewsteel.org .

The website allows customers to access more than 30,000 recycling options for steel cans, appliances, automobiles and construction material, according to Bill Heenan, president of SRI. Customers can also access the information by calling 1-800-YES-1-CAN (937-1226).

Six Dealers Add Fuchs Line

Six dealers located in different U.S. markets have agreed to carry the Fuchs line of scrap and refuse handling equipment. According to Fuchs North America marketing director Thomas Skodack, the new dealers are Cantwell Machinery, Columbus, Ohio; Formula Equipment Leasing Inc., Rock Tavern, N.Y.; Kirkpatrick & O’Donnell, Irving, Texas; Machinery Inc., St. Louis, Miss.; S.E.S. Inc., Chicago, Ill.; WESSCO, Louisville, Ky.

Fuchs equipment is manufactured in Germany by Fuchs Bagger Gbmh & Co.

AMERICAN IRON BUYS STEEL SUPPLY FIRM

American Iron & Supply Inc., Minneapolis has acquired American Steel and Industrial Supply, a Minneapolis-based distributor of new steel. Two separate divisions, to be known as American Iron and American Steel, will now operate as part of the newly-named American Iron and Steel Co.

American Iron and Steel currently employs 80 people and expects to add from 100 to 300 employees over the next five years. The company is now seeking final permits to expand its metal shredding operations. “In this industry, consolidation is one of the keys to efficiency and value-added customer service,” said American Iron and Steel CEO John Isaacs. “American Iron and Steel Co. is aggressively pursuing consolidation opportunities in the metal recycling and new steel businesses.”

Philip Adds Two U.K. Metals Firms

The European subsidiary of Philip Services Corp., Hamilton, Ontario, has acquired two British metals recycling firms and will also build an electric arc furnace dust recycling plant in Cardiff, Wales.

Philip Services (Europe) Limited has acquired BM Metals Recycling Ltd., Cinderford, England, and E. Pearse Limited, Exeter, England. The two acquisitions will add seven scrap processing facilities to Philip’s operations in the United Kingdom, giving the company 19 facilities in that country. “With the addition of a fifth shredder, a collection network and a strong nonferrous component, these businesses will integrate well with Philip’s U.K. metals activities,” says Allen Fracassi, president and CEO of Philip Services Corp.

Philip Europe has also acquired the technology rights that will allow it to build and operate an electric arc furnace (EAF) dust recycling facility in Cardiff, Wales. As part of an agreement with ASW Holdings Plc, Philip Europe and ASW will design, build and operate the dust recycling facility. The new facility, which is scheduled to be operational in December, will be capable of processing 20,000 metric tons of EAF dust annually.