Supply Chain

• Obama pushes infrastructure plans May 20, 2013

  President Obama has signed an executive order aimed at speeding up major infrastructure projects by modernizing permitting practices and regulations, a move some say could benefit suppliers of steel and other structural components by getting backlogged construction projects off the ground sooner.

• Pipelines will flow despite delays: exec May 20, 2013

  While there are plenty of crude oil pipeline projects on the books, the permitting environment is a difficult one, keeping many of those projects from moving forward, according to a refinery operations executive.

• Aluminum fence standard OK’d May 20, 2013

  ASTM International has approved a new specification for ornamental aluminum fence systems.

• Hannah elected MSCI chairman May 20, 2013

  David H. Hannah, chairman and chief executive officer of Reliance Steel & Aluminum Co., Los Angeles, has been elected to a two-year term as chairman of the board at the Metals Service Center Institute (MSCI), effective July 1.

• EV charging infrastructure to grow vastly by ’20: study May 20, 2013

  About 2.2 million charging stations for electric vehicles (EV) and plug-in hybrid vehicles will be built and shipped worldwide each year by 2020, a huge increase from an estimated 70,000 such stations shipped globally in 2011, according to a new research paper.

• Navistar sells RV assets to Allied Specialty Vehicles May 20, 2013

  Heavy commercial vehicle manufacturer Navistar Inc. has sold its Navistar RV subsidiary to Allied Specialty Vehicles Inc. (ASV), which makes emergency, commercial and recreational vehicles.

• Nissan inks deal to produce small cargo vehicle for GM May 20, 2013

  Nissan North America Inc. has signed an agreement to produce a small cargo vehicle for General Motors Co., which will sell the vehicle in the United States and Canada.

• Public comment sought on updated draft fracking rule May 20, 2013

  The U.S. Department of the Interior has released an updated draft rule on hydraulic fracturing developed by the Bureau of Land Management for public comment.

• US drilling steady, Canada rises May 20, 2013

  The number of drill rigs running in the United States was unchanged last week.

• Efficiency gains expected to slow growth in energy usage May 17, 2013

  Drivers for energy demand include population growth and economic activity. While the world population will grow to 9 billion by 2040 from 7 billion, economies around the world are becoming more efficient with their energy consumption, and at an accelerated pace.

• House committee advances Keystone bill May 17, 2013

  The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee has approved legislation that would expedite the permitting of TransCanada Corp.’s proposed Keystone XL pipeline.

• Analysis ‘exonerates’ Dyson: executive May 17, 2013

  Dyson Corp. has said that an analysis of steel anchor rods it made for the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge "exonerates" the company on the failure of several of the rods.

• SoRec joins bid to revise PCB disposal permit May 17, 2013

  Southern Recycling LLC has joined several environmental groups in their efforts to revise a general permit that regulates the sinking of U.S. Navy vessels.

• TGP, Mitsubishi ink natural gas deal May 17, 2013

  Tennessee Gas Pipeline Co. LLC (TGP) has signed a 20-year transportation agreement with Japan’s Mitsubishi Corp. to ship 600,000 dekatherms per day of natural gas to the proposed Cameron liquefied natural gas (LNG) liquefaction facility in Louisiana.

• Shale boom a bonanza for steel: exec May 17, 2013

  The boom in shale oil and gas, and tar sands oil output is good news for America, as well as the U.S. energy and metals sectors, a Marathon Petroleum Corp. executive said May 16.

• EU economic recovery may take 5 years: Klöckner’s Rühl May 17, 2013

  The European Union is going to have a very difficult time recovering from its sovereign debt crisis, banking crisis, structural crisis and competitive crisis, according to Gisbert Rühl, chairman and chief executive officer of Duisburg, Germany-based Klöckner & Co. SE.

• Future bright despite challenges: steel execs May 16, 2013

  Enforcing U.S. trade policy and capitalizing on low-priced natural gas will help U.S. steelmakers while offering broad economic benefits, including job creation and manufacturing growth, a number of steel executives said at an industry conference May 16.

• Aluminum distributors divided over MSCI data May 16, 2013

  Service center sources are divided over whether recent data that showed declines in U.S. aluminum shipments and inventories last month indicate tough times ahead.

• Senate passes water infrastructure bill May 16, 2013

  A waterways infrastructure bill easily passed the Senate May 15, a development that steel interests say will benefit shipping by improving navigation.

• Judge nixes extension in MM Steel suit May 16, 2013

  A federal judge has denied a six-month extension to a group of large steel mills and distributors named in a lawsuit brought by MM Steel LP alleging they conspired to drive MM Steel out of the market.

• Outlook for US is weak, but still better than elsewhere May 16, 2013

  While the United States remains one of the strongest economies globally, lackluster growth and a large fiscal deficit may cause serious downward pressure in the near term, according to one economist.

• Pipe distributors hope for flat-rolled cutback May 16, 2013

  Pipe and tube distributors say they would welcome a move by flat-rolled steelmakers to take capacity offline in order to prop up pricing for the substrate.

• Mestek chairman, chief exec John Reed dies aged 97 May 16, 2013

  John E. Reed, chairman and chief executive officer of Mestek Inc., died May 9. He was 97.

• Kobe Aluminum expansion will increase auto offerings May 16, 2013

  Kobe Aluminum Automotive Products LLC (KAAP) has broken ground on a $66-million expansion at its Bowling Green, Ky., facility as the company looks to boost its offerings to the automotive sector.