MetalX acquires aluminum toll processing firm

MetalX, Waterloo, Indiana, has announced it has completed the acquisition of the assets and business of Metal Shred Industries LLC (MSI), an aluminum scrap toll processor located in Kendallville, Indiana. The MSI name will be retired and the facility will be identified as MetalX effective immediately.

MSI, founded in 2006 as an affiliate of Metropolitan Alloys, shreds aluminum scrap on a toll basis for a variety of customers in the aluminum sector. The company designed and operates what MetalX calls a “unique shredding and separation system that recovers and returns high-quality shredded aluminum products to its customers, and has developed a reputation as the premier toll processor in the Midwest.”

MSI currently processes nearly 10,000 tons of aluminum annually. In a news release announcing the acquisition, MetalX says it intends to maintain MSI’s current toll processing relationships and volumes and also plans to expand the scope of operations to include open market purchases.

Over the next several months, MetalX estimates that annual volumes at the MSI facility will increase to more than 20,000 tons and the facility will serve as a key element of the company’s ongoing efforts to develop new and more refined aluminum scrap products in support of its expanding aluminum business.

“The addition of this operation fits perfectly into our aluminum strategy,” says MetalX CEO Danny Rifkin. “The facility was specifically designed to shred and separate a broad range of scrap aluminum items and will accelerate our current plans to employ more sophisticated technologies to produce aluminum scrap products that can be represented with more consistent physical characteristics and chemistries.”

Rifkin adds, “MSI’s solid reputation and stable customer base is a credit to the expertise and customer focus of its employees, many of whom will join the MetalX team.”

Gil Spilman, a principal of the former MSI, comments, “This is a good fit for both parties, as it will allow us to concentrate on our aluminum melting operations at nearby Aluminum Recovery Technologies while still maintaining a close working relationship with a strong scrap processor right next door. I’m pleased with the transaction and look forward to an expanded business relationship with MetalX.”

Aluminum Recovery Technologies operates a secondary aluminum facility in Kendallville that performs specialized processing tasks and produces secondary aluminum sows.

MetalX was founded in 2012 by Danny and Neal Rifkin, third- and fourth-generation members of a family with a long history in the scrap industry. MetalX now employs 170 people at four northeast Indiana facilities in Waterloo, Auburn, Kendallville and Fort Wayne.