TAKING FLIGHT

Aviation generates metals activity

The airport serving the home of steel—Pittsburgh—will need plenty of metal to build a $1.4 billion, 700,000-square-foot terminal. Officials broke ground on the project Oct. 14.

The Allegheny County Airport Authority expects the terminal will require more than 12,000 tons of steel. Structural steel for the new terminal will be fabricated locally, officials said.

Flight operations are scheduled to begin in early 2025.

Boeing Co., meanwhile, plans to invest $200 million to build a factory that will manufacture the MQ-25 Stingray, the U.S. Navy’s first carrier-based unmanned aircraft. Construction is set to begin within weeks on the 291,000-square-foot facility, to be located at MidAmerica St. Louis Airport in St. Clair County, Illinois.

“Boeing has been an institution in the St. Louis region for decades, employing more than 15,000 people,” U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Illinois, said in a statement. “The MQ-25 Stingray represents the future of the U.S. Navy’s aircraft carrier mission,” he added.

The MQ-25 facility will include robotic automation and advanced assembly techniques to improve product quality and employee ergonomics.

The new facility is expected to be completed in early 2024, and aircraft production is projected to begin in the start of fiscal 2024. Boeing St. Clair already builds components for the CH-47 Chinook, F/A-18 Super Hornet and other defense products.

Lastly, a company that specializes in producing raw materials for aerospace applications, is growing. Chicago Magnesium Casting Co., which casts magnesium and aluminum parts, will rebuild part of the production floor at its south suburban Dixmoor plant, install new equipment and add 40 jobs.

“We are excited to embark on the next steps toward Chicago Magnesium’s future, with plans to grow our workforce through our fostering of teamwork, valuing opinions and supporting aspirations,” CEO Robert Littlefield said in a statement.

Founded in 1953, Chicago Magnesium makes castings for helicopters, jet fighters, jumbo transports and regional jets used to support military and commercial aerospace industry. Clients include Boeing, Collins Aerospace, Pratt & Whitney, Sikorsky and Honeywell. The company is recruiting people to fill such positions as assembly workers, engineers and mold makers.

Cleveland-Cliffs enters the scrap business

Cleveland-Cliffs Inc., Cleveland, has agreed to acquire Ferrous Processing and Trading Co., including certain related entities, for $775 million. Based in Detroit, FPT is among the largest processors and distributors of prime ferrous scrap in the United States, representing 15 percent of the domestic merchant prime scrap market. FPT processes 3 million tons of scrap per year, about half of which is prime grade.

MC Machinery promotes engineer, hires sales rep

Aaron Neefe was promoted to laser and press brakes applications engineer at MC Machinery’s Southeast Technology Center in Concord, North Carolina. Neefe has been a press brake, automatic tool changer and field service technician at the Elk Grove Village, Illinois, headquarters since 2019. The Southeast Technology Center opened last December. Separately, CNC machinery sales veteran Charlie Bible joined the company as a regional sales representative for lasers, automation equipment and press brakes. Bible’s territory includes southern and western Texas and New Mexico.

Lapham-Hickey purchases Tennessee shop

Lapham-Hickey Steel Corp., Chicago, has acquired Rebel Steel. Founded in 1981, La Vergne, Tennessee-based Rebel Steel is a service center specializing in slitting of cold-rolled and coated steel. It will continue to operate under the Rebel Steel name, with President Greg Forkum and the existing operating teams remaining in place.

Constellium to supply aluminum components
for Ford

Constellium SE, Paris, will supply aluminum structural components for the all-electric Ford F-150 Lightning, which will begin rolling off the assembly line in spring 2022. All F-Series pickup trucks extensively use high-strength aluminum alloys. Constellium-supplied structural components for the F-150 Lightning include the windshield header, rocker and radiator support.

CMC divests Rancho Cucamonga land

Commercial Metals Co., Irving, Texas, reached an agreement to sell the land underlying its former Steel California and Rebar Etiwanda operations, located in Rancho Cucamonga. CMC shuttered its Steel California operations in December 2020. Customers of its Rebar Etiwanda operations are now being serviced from other CMC fabrication locations.

Petersen promotes Weis to VP

Aluminum building products manufacturer Petersen, Elk Grove Village, Illinois, has promoted its Southeast regional manager, Mike Weis to vice president of sales and marketing. President Mike Petersen plans to retire in early 2022. Weis joined Petersen in 1999 as Southeast sales manager and spent the past seven years as a regional manager, helping boost revenue in the Southeast by 230 percent. Weis previously worked at Reynolds Metals Co.

Olympic Steel acquires stainless distributor

Olympic Steel Inc., Cleveland, has acquired the assets of Shaw Stainless & Alloy Inc., including Shaw’s stainless steel distribution and fabrication businesses as well as its architectural and barrier defense divisions. Terms of the purchase were not disclosed. Shaw will be incorporated into Olympic Steel’s specialty metals segment.

TRUMPF names service team head

Christine Benz has been named head of TruServices and Smart Services at TRUMPF Inc., Farmington, Connecticut. In her new role, Benz will work to optimize the use of the machinery manufacturer’s after-sales technology and solutions-oriented services throughout North America.

Alcoa pledges to eliminate emissions

Alcoa Corp., Pittsburgh, set a goal to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions across its global operations by 2050. This endeavor to reach net-zero GHG emissions by 2050 for direct (scope 1) and indirect (scope 2) emissions aligns with the company’s strategic priority to advance sustainably and complements the company’s existing targets, which include reducing emissions from aluminum smelting and alumina refining operations by 30 percent by 2025 and 50 percent by 2030 from 2015 baselines. Alcoa is also developing new technologies that will help unlock decarbonization at scale, including the Elysis zero-carbon smelting process and mechanical vapor recompression to reduce emissions in the alumina refining process.

SKF developing fossil-free bearing steel

SKF is supporting the development of fossil-free bearing steel through a collaboration with Luleå University of Technology’s CH2ESS initiative. As part of the collaboration, SKF will participate in, and fund research for, hydrogen use in industrial processes and energy systems, speeding up the development of fossil-free bearing steel. Research areas will include hybrid ceramic bearings, EVs and other applications, and the development and commercialization of fossil-free bearing steel production.

Plant stays put as Howmet’s CEO

John C. Plant, executive chairman and co-chief executive officer, will assume the position of sole chief executive officer for Howmet Aerospace Inc., Pittsburgh. He continues in his role as executive chairman. Plant chose to remain with Howmet Aerospace past his previously expected departure date so he can continue to lead the company through the aerospace market upturn. Tolga I. Oal, co-chief executive officer, has departed the company to pursue other opportunities.

Nucor buys operating assets

Nucor Corp. has purchased a coil processing facility in Shelbyville, Indiana. The plant includes an automated clean and coat line, two batch furnaces, and wire drawing capabilities. In addition to coil processing, a subsidiary, Nucor Fasteners, will expand its fastener manufacturing capabilities by installing bolt making equipment at the Shelbyville facility. This new operation will employ 33 team members at the outset with the potential to double those jobs as it reaches full capacity.

TimkenSteel, USW reach agreement

TimkenSteel Corp., Canton, Ohio, and the United Steelworkers (USW) Local 1123 reached a tentative agreement for a new four-year contract. Affected workers were set to vote to ratify or reject the labor pact Oct. 29. The contract provides increases to base wages every year, competitive healthcare and retirement benefits for all members, and a continued focus on employee well-being and on safe and sustainable operations. The current agreement covers about 1,180 bargaining unit employees at the company’s Canton, Ohio, operations.

Reliance picks independent director

Reliance Steel & Aluminum Co., Los Angeles, appointed Frank J. Dellaquila to serve as an independent director. Dellaquila is senior executive director and chief financial officer for Emerson. He will serve on Reliance’s Audit Committee. Ten of 12 board members are independent directors.

WARDJet sales manager named

AAG Tailored Cutting Solutions has promoted Benjie Massara to North American sales manager for its subsidiary, WARDJet. Massara has been with WARDJet for 10 years, most recently working as product manager. Before that, he was business development manager and held several other marketing and sales roles.

HGG appoints sales manager

HGG Profiling Equipment Inc., Houston, appointed Brandon Welch as Western sales manager, handling new machinery sales, service and support for customers west of the Mississippi. Welch will also manage key accounts and develop new business.

Axalta unveils paint scheme after acquisition

Coatings specialist Axalta, Glen Mills, Pennsylvania, unveiled a new paint scheme for Hendrick Motorsports’ No. 24 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE. This follows Axalta’s acquisition in September of U-POL and its Raptor brand. U-POL supplies paint, protective coatings and accessories primarily for the automotive aftermarket. Raptor is a truck bed liner and protective coating that can be tinted to any color and offers superior protection across different industries from 4X4 customization to agricultural, earthmoving and construction machinery.

AMAG extends chief sales officer contract

The AMAG Austria Metall AG supervisory board has extended the contract with Victor Breguncci; he will therefore head AMAG’s sales agenda for another four years. Together with his sales team, Breguncci will focus on developing existing and new markets and on optimizing the product portfolio.

Logistics firm takes on new identity

Transview Logistics, Boise, Idaho, developers of transportation management system Glass TMS, has adopted a new name, Headlight Solutions, and Glass TMS has been rebranded as Headlight. Built on a foundation of artificial intelligence, Headlight is a comprehensive logistics solution developed for heavy industries such as metals and other commodities.

Ryerson subsidiary relocating headquarters

Central Steel & Wire, Chicago, a subsidiary of Ryerson Holding Corp., has signed a lease for a 900,000-square-foot service center in a build-to-suit warehouse space in University Park, Illinois. This will become CSW’s headquarters and operational hub.

Cleveland-Cliffs, UAW reach deal

Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. employees represented by the United Auto Workers (UAW) Local 3044 have ratified a three-year labor contract for the company’s Rockport Works steelmaking operation. The new contract is effective through Sept. 30, 2024. The new contract will cover approximately 350 UAW-represented workers at Rockport.

Triple-S Steel Supply acquires BMG Metals

Triple-S Steel Supply Co., Houston, has purchased BMG Metals, which distributes carbon, galvanized and stainless steels, aluminum, copper and brass from three Virginia locations and one in Maryland. Founded in 1963, BMG also performs services such as shearing, oxyfuel and plasma cutting. Steve Briggeman, a 21-year veteran of Triple-S, was promoted to regional vice president and will oversee the new BMG business.

Interim team leads Aluminum Association

Tom Dobbins has stepped down as president and CEO of the Aluminum Association. As the trade group searches for a permanent replacement, three existing executives will serve as the interim leadership team. The team includes Joe Quinn, vice president of external affairs; Ryan Olsen, vice president of market growth and development; and Matt Meenan, senior director of external affairs.

BMW Group to source green steel

From 2025 on, the BMW Group, Munich, plans to source steel produced with up to 95 percent less CO2 emissions and without requiring fossil resources such as coal. The BMW Group has now reached an agreement to this effect with the Swedish startup H2 Green Steel, which uses hydrogen and only green power from renewable energies for steel production. In addition, the BMW Group and H2 Green Steel have agreed to create a closed-loop material cycle. H2 Green Steel will take back sheet metal remnants and will process them so they can be shipped back to the plants as new steel coils. In this way, raw materials can be used multiple times in a circular economy and help protect natural resources. Since it requires less energy to produce, secondary steel lowers CO2 emissions by an average of 50 to 80 percent compared with primary material.