Supply Chain

• Kaiser Aluminum to invest more in automotive Oct 26, 2012

  Kaiser Aluminum Corp. is considering investing further in its automotive capacities, its top executive said.

• CIT denies 4-day comment extension in China grating review Oct 26, 2012

  The U.S. Court of International Trade (CIT) has denied a request by petitioners Alabama Metal Industries Corp. and Fisher & Ludlow Inc. for a four-day extension—to Nov. 2—to file comments on the Commerce Department’s draft remand determination in an anti-dumping duty administrative review of certain steel grating from China for the period spanning Oct. 1, 2008, to March 31, 2009.

• TCI Precision Metals adds boring mill, turning center Oct 26, 2012

  TCI Precision Metals has installed its second large-format horizontal boring mill machine, as well as a vertical turning center.

• Metals log drop in shipment, new order values as inventories flat Oct 26, 2012

  U.S. metals producers’ shipments and new orders edged lower in September compared with August, while inventories were essentially flat, Census Bureau statistics released Thursday show.

• Kaiser sees service centers’ aero orders falling in 4th qtr. Oct 26, 2012

  Kaiser Aluminum Corp. expects service centers’ orders for certain aerospace products to weaken in the fourth quarter due to seasonality.

• Press maintenance issues rattle PCC Oct 25, 2012

  Precision Castparts Corp. ran into “significant headwinds” in the maintenance of three key forging presses, resulting in greater-than-anticipated downtime at its Texas and Massachusetts facilities during its fiscal second quarter.

• Plate, pipe imports hurting domestic market: Reliance Oct 25, 2012

  Executives at Reliance Steel & Aluminum Co. think unfairly traded imports are disruptive to the domestic steel scene, primarily because their below-market pricing curtails the profitability of domestic product.

• Russel Metals to buy oilfield supply firm Apex Distribution Oct 25, 2012

  North American service center operator Russel Metals Inc. has agreed to purchase oilfield supplier Apex Distribution Inc. for Canadian $225 million ($226.2 million).

• Volkswagen revenues soar in North America, Asia Pacific Oct 25, 2012

  Volkswagen AG says it experienced overall market growth during the first nine months of 2012, a trend it saw in all sales regions except Western Europe, the automaker noted in an interim performance report Wednesday.

• Weak demand hits Timken’s earnings Oct 25, 2012

  Timken Co.’s third-quarter net income fell 27.1 percent on sales that dropped 13.6 percent vs. the same year-ago period.

• Reliance Steel execs support price hike Oct 25, 2012

  Reliance Steel & Aluminum Co. executives support U.S. flat-rolled producers’ recent attempts to raise prices by $40 per ton, but worry that it might not stick without underlying cost increases in iron ore or scrap.

• GM, Peugeot to co-develop four new vehicle platforms Oct 25, 2012

  PSA Peugeot Citroën and General Motors Co. have selected four vehicle projects as part of their global strategic alliance agreement signed in February, the automakers said Wednesday.

• Deadline extended to submit briefs in review vs. China shelving, racks Oct 25, 2012

  The Commerce Department’s International Trade Administration (ITA) has extended by 18 days to Nov. 26 the deadline to submit case briefs on its second anti-dumping duty administrative review of certain kitchen appliance shelving and racks from China for the period spanning Sept. 1, 2010, to Oct. 31, 2011.

• Metals USA seeks $275M term loan Oct 25, 2012

  Metals USA Inc. is seeking a new term loan of roughly $275 million, in part to refinance the service center operator’s outstanding 11⅛-percent senior secured notes, which are due in 2015.

• N. America battery use seen rising rapidly through 2016 Oct 25, 2012

  North American demand for primary and secondary batteries is projected to grow to $22.5 billion in 2016, representing an annual growth rate of 6.4 percent compared with 2011 levels, according to a report from Freedonia Group Inc.

• Ford in talks with union over UK assembly plant’s future Oct 25, 2012

  Ford Motor Co. is in talks with employees and unions in the United Kingdom who fear the company is about to close its Southampton assembly plant, the Unite union said Thursday.

• Boeing boosts guidance as deliveries rise Oct 24, 2012

  Boeing Co. has boosted its financial targets for the year as its deliveries of commercial transports have risen.

• Lean stocks not ‘trendy’: Goncalves Oct 24, 2012

  Service centers that tout their ability to carry lean inventory levels are doing themselves a competitive disservice, according to Metals USA Holdings Corp.’s top executive.

• PwC lowers global auto build rate forecast Oct 24, 2012

  Worldwide demand for new vehicles has slowed this year, leading one consultancy to revise its global automotive forecast for the year downward.

• WTO establishes two panels for duty, subsidy complaints Oct 24, 2012

  The World Trade Organization (WTO) established two panels on Tuesday to investigate complaints by the United States concerning Chinese duties on automobiles and by the European Union, which is disputing U.S. compliance on subsidies to the aircraft sector.

• Ford to shutter Belgian operation Oct 24, 2012

  Ford Motor Co. plans to end production at its assembly plant in Genk, Belgium, as part of a broader plan to restructure its European manufacturing operations in response to structural market changes.

• Industrial titanium use to remain flat: Dussart Oct 24, 2012

  Next year could see industrial titanium demand rebound temporarily, but it nevertheless remains flat through 2016, according to an executive of a major tubing producer.

• Konecranes to supply equipment for TPCO mill Oct 23, 2012

  Crane manufacturer Konecranes Plc says it has received an order to supply equipment for TPCO America Corp.’s new seamless pipe mill in South Texas, one of its largest-ever orders in the United States.

• Carpenter upbeat despite macro headwinds Oct 23, 2012

  Carpenter Technology Corp. said it expects strong shipments of premium products such as aerospace and high-temperature alloys to buoy its earnings in the final months of the calendar year, even as makers of more commoditized steel products are generally expecting poorer results.