Supply Chain

• Aluminum shipments seen rising in ’12 Dec 20, 2011

  Aluminum shipments by U.S. distributors are expected to pick up speed in the first quarter after a traditional sluggish year-end, market sources told AMM.

• Distributors restock after months on sidelines Dec 20, 2011

  After months on the sidelines, steel distributors appear to have finished whittling down their inventories and are again restocking in a big way, market sources told AMM.

• Metals output, utilization rates spike in November Dec 20, 2011

  Industrial production index and capacity utilization rates for primary metal producers hit highs in November not seen in three years, according to the latest Federal Reserve Board report.

• Shiloh’s net income doubles on boost in vehicle volumes Dec 20, 2011

  Automotive steel blanks producer Shiloh Industries Inc. posted net income of more than $7.8 million in its fiscal year ended Oct. 31, double earnings of nearly $3.9 million the previous year on sales that rose 13.2 percent to $517.7 million.

• ArcelorMittal coal unit files Balli countersuit Dec 20, 2011

  An ArcelorMittal USA LLC subsidiary has filed a countersuit against a customer that last month accused the company of reneging on deliveries of metallurgical coal amid rising prices.

• Ports get $62.2M to improve infrastructure Dec 20, 2011

  Four U.S. ports will be awarded $62.2 million to improve infrastructure after Department of Transportation (DOT) Secretary Ray LaHood last week announced a series of new grants as part of the Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (Tiger) program.

• GM bringing Impala to Oshawa plant Dec 19, 2011

  General Motors Co. says it will invest $68 million to prepare the Oshawa Assembly Plant in Ontario for building the next-generation Chevrolet Impala, securing about 350 jobs.

• Met coal suppliers sign labor agreements Dec 19, 2011

  Two metallurgical coal suppliers have reached collective bargaining deals with unionized workers.

• Shiloh’s Zampetis stepping down at end of 2012 Dec 19, 2011

  Theodore "Ted" K. Zampetis will retire as Shiloh Industries Inc.’s president and chief executive officer at the end of next year, but he expects to continue serving on the board.

• US, Canada drilling up strongly Dec 19, 2011

  The number of drill rigs running in the United States jumped by 32 last week, led by Texas (up 16), while Canadian drilling activity climbed by 27 rigs compared with the previous week.

• W.Va. miner begins production on coal seam Dec 19, 2011

  South Fork Coal Co. LLC, a unit of Xinergy Ltd., has begun production on a portion of its Sewell seam, located in Greenbrier County, W.Va.

• Héroux-Devtek workers ok new labor pact Dec 16, 2011

  Union employees at Héroux-Devtek Inc.’s Laval, Québec, facility have approved a new three-year labor contract.

• A.M. Castle closes Tube Supply deal Dec 16, 2011

  A.M. Castle & Co. has completed its $165-million acquisition of Tube Supply Inc.

• Metalformer outlook trends up: survey Dec 15, 2011

  Domestic metalformers have caught the tail of the manufacturing sector recovery and are beginning to thrive, according to the positive responses in the latest Precision Metalforming Association (PMA) survey.

• O’Neal hires strategy manager Dec 15, 2011

  National service center chain O’Neal Steel Inc. has appointed Mark Troncale as its strategic business applications manager. Troncale is tasked with defining the company’s long-term strategy for providing new systems and processes to simplify and enhance O’Neal customers’ experience.

• Shale gas set to propel US manufacturing: PwC Dec 15, 2011

  A report by PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP (PwC) goes a step beyond celebrating the "game-changing" potential of shale gas to quantify the impact that developing the Marcellus, Utica, Bakken, Barnett and Eagle Ford shales would have on job creation and the competitiveness of U.S. manufacturing.

• Contractors caught in cost squeeze: AGC Dec 15, 2011

  Contractors could go out of business if prices for key construction materials—such as steel—continue to outstrip bids for finished products, the Associated General Contractors (AGC) of America said Thursday.

• Peabody completes expansion to boost met coal volumes Dec 15, 2011

  Peabody Energy Inc. has completed an expansion that will increase its seaborne metallurgical coal volumes out of Australia.

• China’s auto import duties ‘retaliation’ Dec 14, 2011

  The imposition of anti-dumping and countervailing duties by China on U.S. vehicles should have little appreciable affect on American automakers as the tariffs are mostly symbolic, according to an industry economist.

• Wis. may overhaul iron ore permitting process Dec 14, 2011

  A draft of an iron ore bill has been introduced by Republicans in the Wisconsin state legislature that, if approved, would fast-track mining permit processes and reduce litigation against approved projects.

• Lawmakers push for revised trade focus Dec 14, 2011

  Lawmakers are recommending accelerated negotiations for the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) while focusing on secondary trade barriers, such as state-owned enterprises, as opposed to traditional barriers, such as tariffs and import quotas.

• Ford begins to roll out '12 Focus Electric Dec 14, 2011

  Ford Motor Co.’s Michigan Assembly Plant has begun production of the 2012 Focus Electric, which the company said will be the first five-passenger, all-electric vehicle to achieve a fuel-efficiency rating of more than 100-miles-per-gallon equivalent.

• Correction: Metal execs see real growth softening Dec 14, 2011

  GE Capital Americas’ latest U.S. Mid-Market CFO survey polled a total of 50 chief financial officers across the metals, mining and metal fabrication industries. Due to an editing error, a story in the Dec. 13 edition misstated the number of chief financial officers surveyed.

• Chrysler to reopen Detroit assembly plant Dec 14, 2011

  Chrysler Group LLC will reopen its Conner Avenue assembly plant in Detroit to produce the next-generation Viper, bringing 150 hourly and salaried jobs back to the city.