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Ducommun Inc. has received two contracts to build aluminum and titanium assemblies for commercial and military aerospace programs.
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Assets held in commodity exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and exchange-traded notes (ETNs) rose to $81.3 billion in May, a fourth consecutive monthly gain, according to National Stock Exchange data.
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U.S. metal industries are joining forces with the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) to challenge the federal Environmental Protection Agency’s plans to limit greenhouse gas emissions in manufacturing.
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Esmark Steel Group plans to be a leading consolidator in the service center industry, despite the current difficulty in evaluating companies post-recession and stiff competition from strategic and financial buyers that also are trying to consolidate, according to Tom Modrowski, the company’s chief executive officer.
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Joy Global Inc., a manufacturer of underground and surface mining equipment, expects world demand for such commodities as iron ore, metallurgical coal and copper to continue to grow over the next several years and beyond today’s limited excess mine capacity.
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Boeing Co. and striking workers at the production facility of the C-17 Globemaster III military transport have come to the bargaining table for the first time since a walkout began on May 11.
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Whirlpool Corp. is closing a parts machining facility in Benton Harbor, Mich., and relocating the operations to a newer plant in Clyde, Ohio. This will result in the elimination of 216 jobs by the end of this year or in early 2011.
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The strike at Boeing Co.’s production facility for the C-17 Globemaster III military transport, now in its fourth week, looks set to continue as no schedule has yet been set for any serious labor negotiations.
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McJunkin Red Man Corp. has acquired South Texas Supply Co. Inc. as part of its strategic focus to increase its presence and commitment to customers in the active shale plays across North America.
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Economic activity in the U.S. manufacturing sector expanded in May for the 10th straight month, although growth slowed slightly from the previous month, with the Institute for Supply Management’s purchasing managers index (PMI) slipping to 59.7 percent from 60.4 percent in April. Both the primary metal and fabricated metal products segments reported growth in May.
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Progress Rail Services Corp. has signed a definitive agreement to buy Electro-Motive Diesel Inc. (EMD) for $820 million in cash from Berkshire Partners LLC and Greenbriar Equity Group LLC.
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The trucking shortage in the United States is likely to intensify as increased demand from produce growers entices carriers away from metal shipments, pushing freight rates higher and further boosting base metal premiums, market participants told AMM.
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Much stronger demand for residential construction products helped Quanex Building Products Corp. return to profitability in its fiscal second quarter, posting net income of $4.3 million in contrast to a $40.1-million net loss a year earlier on sales that climbed 76.1 percent to $199.4 million from $113.2 million.
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AMM’s offices will be closed May 31 in observance of the Memorial Day holiday, and there will be no issue dated June 1. AMM will resume publication with the June 2 issue. Both the New York Mercantile Exchange and the London Metal Exchange will be closed May 31. The exchanges will reopen June 1.
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The primary metals sector registered the largest increase in inventory values in April, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, rising 4.2 percent to $29.9 billion. Inventories of all manufactured durable goods rose 0.7 percent month on month to $301.4 billion in April after logging a 0.6-percent gain in March to $299.5 billion..
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Earle M. Jorgensen Co. (EMJ), a unit of Reliance Steel & Aluminum Co., will invest more than $5 million to build a new 72,000-square-foot service center in Memphis, Tenn.
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Tesla Motors Inc. has purchased Toyota Motor Corp.’s New United Motor Manufacturing Inc. (Nummi) plant in Fremont, Calif., saving it from complete closure, while Toyota in turn has pledged to buy $50 million in Tesla common stock.
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Ford Motor Co. plans to invest $135 million to design, engineer and produce key components for the company’s next-generation hybrid-electric vehicles.
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Farwest Steel Corp. is planning to pay a little more than $5 million for 22 acres at the Port of Vancouver in Washington state where it plans to consolidate its operations in a new $20- to $30-million facility.
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Housing starts increased to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 672,000 last month, up 5.8 percent from the revised March estimate of 635,000 and 40.9 percent above the revised April 2009 rate of 477,000, according to the U.S. Census Bureau and Department of Housing and Urban Development.
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General Motors Co. earned $865 million in the first quarter--its first profit since the second quarter of 2007--on revenue that jumped 40.3 percent to $31.48 billion from $22.43 billion in the first three months of last year.
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Railcar builder FreightCar America Inc. has suspended its second-quarter dividend as it moves to preserve cash to help maintain its balance sheet strength.