Other

• NA Galvanizing profit slides despite sales gain Nov 02, 2005

  North American Galvanizing & Coatings Inc. saw third-quarter net income slide 21.8 percent to $179,000 from $229,000 in the same period last year despite a 35.7-percent increase in sales to $12.7 million as margins suffered from rising zinc and natural gas prices.

• Rising costs spur CFM surcharge Oct 31, 2005

  CFM Companies, a pre-paint and electro-galvanize coater of metal, said Monday that it will impose an energy surcharge on all invoiced shipments effective Nov. 7.

• Court OKs Delphi finance package Oct 31, 2005

  Troubled automotive supplier Delphi Corp., Troy, Mich., has received final bankruptcy court approval for a $2-billion senior secured debtor-in-possession (DIP) financing facility from two New York banks.

• Delphi push for 60%-plus pay cuts seen pouring gas on strike flames Oct 27, 2005

  Troubled automotive supplier Delphi Corp. has asked the United Auto Workers union to accept pay cuts of more than 60 percent and a new production worker base rate as low as $9.50 an hour in a move that analysts said makes a strike more likely.

• Akers revamping mill roll fees Oct 26, 2005

  Increasing energy and alloy prices are hitting not only steel mills, but also their suppliers.

• Hayes to sell hub, drum divisions Oct 21, 2005

  Hayes Lemmerz International Inc., Northville, Mich., said it plans to sell its commercial highway hub and brake drum business for about $51 million to Precision Partners Holding Co., Hazlet, N.J.

• Bidding war brews for Refco futures business Oct 21, 2005

  Private equity firm J.C. Flowers & Co. LLC might raise its $768-million offer for embattled Refco Inc.'s futures brokerage business after Interactive Brokers Group LLC (IBG) launched a rival bid.

• North American auto production steady Oct 21, 2005

  North American production of family vehicles totaled 1,445,391 units in September, down 4.1 percent from 1,507,838 the previous month but up 4.2 percent from 1,386,710 in September 2004, according to data from Ward's Communications.

• Metals USA stockholders OK takeover Oct 20, 2005

  Metals USA Inc. stockholders have overwhelmingly approved the takeover of the Houston-based company by affiliates of New York-based investment firm Apollo Management LP.

• Dana plans to shut, divest several plants in bid to rev up performance Oct 20, 2005

  Automotive parts maker Dana Corp., Toledo, Ohio, said it would close or sell several facilities and also cut its work force as part of a series of operational and strategic initiatives aimed at improving financial performance.

• American Axle nearing completion of $60M Colfor expansion in Ohio Oct 19, 2005

  American Axle & Manufacturing Holdings Inc., Detroit, is nearing completion of a $60-million expansion at its Colfor Manufacturing Inc. unit in Minerva, Ohio.

• SGL increases graphite electrodes Oct 18, 2005

  SGL Carbon AG, the world's largest producer of carbon and graphite products used in electric-arc furnaces, said Tuesday it will raise prices for graphite electrodes.

• Machine tool consumption jumps sharply Oct 14, 2005

  U.S. machine tool consumption totaled $286.9 million in August, up 25.8 percent from a downward-revised $228.0 million the previous month and 38.1 percent ahead of $207.7 million in August 2004, according to a joint report by the American Machine Tool Distributors' Association, Rockville, Md., and the Association for Manufacturing Technology, McLean, Va.

• Tower opening plant in Germany to make DaimlerChrysler doors Oct 14, 2005

  Struggling components maker Tower Automotive Inc., Novi, Mich., will begin production early next year in a newly opened body-in-white assembly manufacturing plant in Duisburg, Germany, built primarily to serve DaimlerChrysler AG.

• Jorgensen begins construction of distribution facility in Quebec City Oct 11, 2005

  Metals service center operator Earle M. Jorgensen Co., Lynwood, Calif., has broken ground for a new 20,000-square-foot metal processing and distribution facility in Quebec City scheduled to open in January.

• Dana to restate earnings for past six quarters in pricing correction Oct 10, 2005

  Automotive components manufacturer Dana Corp. said it will restate its financial statements for 2004 and the first half of 2005, mainly to correct customer pricing and supplier transaction accounting problems in its commercial vehicles business.

• Ailing Delphi tells suppliers business is normal for now Oct 10, 2005

  The long-term outlook for auto parts supplier Delphi Corp. is unclear after the company pledged to cut operations in the wake of a weekend Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing, but executives told their own suppliers that business is continuing.

• Manufacturing economy improves sharply Oct 07, 2005

  Economic activity in the U.S. manufacturing sector jumped sharply in September for the 28th consecutive month and the overall economy expanded for the 47th month in a row, according to the latest business report from the Institute for Supply Management, Tempe, Ariz.

• Tower ditches Milwaukee, will shift frame assembly operations to Ohio Oct 07, 2005

  Struggling component maker Tower Automotive Inc., Novi, Mich., said it would end production at its sprawling Milwaukee plant by next March, putting about 300 employees out of work.

• Hyundai orders Metaldyne machined p/m rods Oct 06, 2005

  Automotive components manufacturer Metaldyne Corp., Plymouth, Mich., has launched first-phase production of fully machined powder metal connecting rod assemblies for Hyundai Motor Co. engines being manufactured in Montgomery, Ala.

• Canam sells last of Manac assets Oct 06, 2005

  Canadian construction products company Canam Group Inc., Boucherville, Quebec, has sold the last assets related to its discontinued Manac semi-trailer production division.

• Chrysler taps SET for auto blanks Oct 05, 2005

  Automotive metal components supplier SET Enterprises Inc., Warren, Mich., has received a contract to supply blanks for the Dodge Durango, Dodge Caravan and Chrysler Town & Country vehicles for Chrysler Group, Auburn Hills, Mich.

• Metal roofs endure hurricanes Oct 04, 2005

  Steel service center and building products supplier Metals USA Inc., Houston, is touting the performance of its metal roofs following calls from customers whose homes survived recent hurricanes.

• JCI pushing lithium-ion as choice for hybrids Oct 04, 2005

  Automotive supplier Johnson Controls Inc. (JCI), Milwaukee, has launched an advanced lithium-ion laboratory to develop power-storage products for near-future hybrid-electric vehicles.