Universal Stainless adds melting capacity

Bridgeville, Pennsylvania-based Universal Stainless & Alloy Products Inc. says it has installed a new remelt furnace at its North Jackson, Ohio, plant, and it intends to add two more furnaces as part of a capital expansion program.

“Through our capital investment in 2021, we successfully added a new vacuum arc remelting (VAR) furnace in our North Jackson facility, which has been installed, commissioned and integrated into our operations,” says Universal board Chair, President and CEO Dennis Oates in a statement accompanying the firm’s most recent earnings report.

“We have also added an 18-ton vacuum induction melting (VIM) crucible, which expands our vacuum induction melting capacity to support the growth of premium alloy products, and improves the efficiency of our melt operations,” the CEO adds. “The VIM crucible is in the final stage of commissioning.”

Oates continues, “As part of our strategic plan for 2022, we are pleased to announce that our board has now authorized the acquisition of two additional VAR furnaces to further support our growth and efficiency and expand our product applications.”

In a Securities and Exchange Commission filing on its website, Universal Stainless lists its “key raw materials” as “carbon and stainless scrap metal and alloys, primarily consisting of nickel, chrome, molybdenum and copper. Scrap metal is primarily generated by industrial sources and is purchased through a number of scrap brokers and processors.” A conflict minerals statement signed by the company also lists tungsten scrap as a raw material.

In 2021, the company’s net sales figure of $155.9 million was down 13.2 percent compared with $179.7 million in 2020. However, Universal Stainless had a net loss of $19 million in 2020; it improved on that considerably in 2021 with a net loss of less than $760,000.

Looking ahead, Oates comments, “As 2021 came to a close and 2022 begins, we see our markets coming back and, through our operational initiatives, we are in a much stronger position than one year ago. While supply chain and other issues will continue to present challenges, we remain determined to make further progress in the coming year and take full advantage of our recovering markets, especially aerospace.”