MetalX to build greenfield scrap processing facility in Ohio

Photo by Jeff Bell

Following its July 2017 acquisition of M&K Metal Processors in Delta, Ohio, MetalX has announced its plans to invest $35 million to build a greenfield scrap processing plant in that same city. The company, headquartered in Waterloo, Indiana, says it intends to develop its new facility on a 60-acre site across the street from North Star BlueScope’s flat-rolled steel mill.

When the first phase of the project is completed, MetalX says the facility is expected to handle more than 500,000 tons per year and to employ more than 80 people. The company says its future plans for the site will grow employment to more than 100 people and annual volume to 700,000 tons.

“We have developed an outstanding relationship with the team at North Star BlueScope and see this as an opportunity to expand that relationship for the benefit of both parties,” MetalX President and CEO Danny Rifkin says. “The site is ideally located with respect to logistics, given the proximity to the steel mill and concentration of industrial and wholesale generators in the region. These freight considerations, combined with the efficiencies associated with a state-of-the-art processing plant, will make us highly competitive in the marketplace.”

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.

Initial construction activities are slated to begin this fall but are contingent on securing certain state and local economic development incentives, plus customary approvals and permits, all of which are in process, MetalX says. The plant will be fully operational within 12 months.

MetalX reopened the former M&K yard July 17 as a MetalX branded operation. This facility will remain open after the mega yard is operational and will focus on community recycling and commercial customers, according to the company. In the meantime, the 10-acre facility allows MetalX to serve industrial and commercial generators in northwest Ohio and southeastern Michigan.

“We are pleased with how welcoming the village of Delta and Fulton County have been and look forward to becoming an active and contributing member of the community,” Rifkin says. “We’ve been impressed with the character of the community and, consistent with our normal practice, intend to hire from the local area and support area businesses as we grow.”

MetalX is a privately held, independent scrap metal recycling business founded in 2012 by Danny and Neal Rifkin, third- and fourth-generation members of the Rifkin family, which has a long history in the scrap industry. The company currently employs more than 200 people throughout six facilities concentrated in northeast Indiana and northwest Ohio.