Other

• Slower growth overshadowing Chinese producers' profit rise Dec 23, 2005

  Chinese metals producers posted higher profits in the year to November, but the growth rate continued to slow, according to China's National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

• North American auto production slows Dec 23, 2005

  North American production of family vehicles totaled 1,315,524 in November, down 10.3 percent from 1,466,073 the previous month but up 4.1 percent from 1,263,858 in December 2004, according to data from Ward's Communications.

• End of Dana supply contracts spurs plan to slash 800 jobs Dec 21, 2005

  Automotive supplier Dana Corp., Toledo, Ohio, said it would cut about 800 jobs at one Canadian and three Australian plants next year because of the ending of contracts for truck frames and axle modules.

• CBOT, SGX eye metals for new exchange Dec 20, 2005

  Metals and other commodities imported into Asia are expected to be among contracts that will be developed for trading on a new derivatives market being developed by Singapore Exchange Ltd. (SGX) and the Chicago Board of Trade.

• Dana plans new plant in Hungary Dec 19, 2005

  Auto parts maker Dana Corp. said it plans to begin assembling off-highway axles and transmissions at a new facility in Gyor, Hungary, to supply both European customers and export markets.

• US machine tool consumption slips slightly Dec 16, 2005

  U.S. machine tool consumption totaled $277.53 million in October, down 5.2 percent from a revised $292.63 million the previous month but up 25.4 percent from $221.31 million in October 2004, according to a joint report by the American Machine Tool Distributors' Association, Rockville, Md., and the Association for Manufacturing Technology, McLean, Va.

• China sets regular updates on investment curbs Dec 16, 2005

  China's National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) plans to issue monthly reports on its progress on curbing over-investment in 11 industries, including steel and aluminum.

• DaimlerChrysler selling fire truck division to private investment firm Dec 15, 2005

  DaimlerChrysler AG, Stuttgart, Germany, and its Freightliner LLC commercial vehicle division have agreed to sell the American LaFrance fire truck and emergency vehicle unit to New York-based investment firm Patriarch Partners LLC.

• Delphi bankruptcy court hearing on exec pay plan delayed again Dec 15, 2005

  Bankrupt auto parts manufacturer Delphi Corp. has delayed for a second time a New York court hearing on an executive pay plan that has attracted opposition from unionized workers and stirred talk of a strike over pay cuts proposed for hourly workers.

• Xstrata Coal granted exclusive rights to Canada development Dec 14, 2005

  The Nova Scotia Ministry for Natural Resources has awarded Xstrata Coal the exclusive right to apply for a license to develop metallurgical coal resources in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia.

• GM plans to produce 5.7% more, Ford 2.5% less in '06 1st quarter Dec 13, 2005

  Despite concerns about labor unrest that could disrupt deliveries from its largest parts supplier, General Motors Corp., Detroit, expects to boost vehicle production by 5.7 percent in the first quarter compared with the first three months of this year.

• Illinois Tool Works agrees to buy German plant from Georg Fischer Dec 09, 2005

  Illinois Tool Works Inc. (ITW), Glenview, Ill., has agreed to buy tool maker Georg Fischer Rohrverbindungstechnik GmbH, Singen, Germany, from Georg Fischer AG, Schaffhausen, Switzerland.

• Gibraltar completes senior notes offering, amends its credit facility Dec 09, 2005

  Metals processor Gibraltar Industries Inc., Buffalo, N.Y., has amended its senior secured credit facility to provide for a new $230-million term loan and completed a private offering of senior subordinated notes.

• US construction sector remains steady Dec 09, 2005

  The value of new construction contracts was essentially unchanged in October at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $668.5 billion, with gains by nonresidential construction and nonbuilding construction (public works and utilities) offsetting a modest decline by the housing sector, according to the McGraw-Hill Construction division of the McGraw-Hill Cos., New York.

• Hayes Lemmerz sells casting unit Dec 07, 2005

  Automotive supplier Hayes Lemmerz International Inc., Northville, Mich., has sold its Cadillac, Mich., subsidiary that operates a ductile iron foundry to a group of private investors for an undisclosed price.

• Metal Supermarkets appoints new chief exec Dec 07, 2005

  Small-quantity metals distributor Metal Supermarkets International Ltd., Brampton, Ontario, has named Robert M. San Julian as its new president and chief executive officer, effective Dec. 1.

• Newcomer, a pioneer in tungsten carbide manufacturing, dies at 88 Dec 06, 2005

  Joseph C. Newcomer, 88, a dairy farmer, machinist and pioneer in the tungsten carbide industry, where he logged more than 70 years of continuous service, has died in Latrobe, Pa.

• Jefferies Capital signs agreement to buy Murray, merge it with Edgen Dec 05, 2005

  Oil and gas industry pipe distributor Edgen Corp., Baton, Rouge, La., said its main shareholder, Jefferies Capital Partners, has agreed to buy Murray International Metals Ltd., Edinburgh, Scotland, and combine the specialty steel distributors.

• China becomes net exporter of automobiles Dec 05, 2005

  China's exports of automobiles have surpassed imports for the first, state news agency Xinhua reported.

• US manufacturing sector still expanding Dec 02, 2005

  Economic activity in the U.S. manufacturing sector increased in November for the 30th consecutive month and the overall economy expanded for the 49th month in a row, according to the latest business report from the Institute for Supply Management, Tempe, Ariz.

• Ford doubling group of preferred vendors, adds 12 more suppliers Dec 02, 2005

  Ford Motor Co., Dearborn, Mich., has doubled the size of the group of preferred vendors announced by the company in September with the addition of 12 more supplier companies.

• Dietrich buys out Canadian framing venture Dec 02, 2005

  Dietrich Metal Framing, a unit of Worthington Industries Inc., Columbus, Ohio, has purchased the 40 percent of Dietrich Metal Framing Canada that it did not already own from its joint-venture partner, Encore Coils Inc., Edmonton, Alberta.

• Apollo Management completes $446M purchase of Metals USA Dec 01, 2005

  Affiliates of private investment management firm Apollo Management LP, New York, have completed the $446.2-million acquisition of service center company Metals USA Inc., Houston.

• Delphi wins OK on supply pacts Nov 30, 2005

  Automotive supplier Delphi Corp., Troy, Mich., has won bankruptcy court backing for its plan to extend for up to two years contracts with suppliers due to expire at the end of this year.