Supply Chain

• Novelis, ThyssenKrupp join to develop aluminum car parts May 22, 2013

  Aluminum rolled products producer Novelis Inc. and a subsidiary of steelmaker ThyssenKrupp AG have signed a cooperation agreement to produce aluminum parts for the automotive industry.

• Laverty retires from Sandmeyer Steel May 22, 2013

  Sandmeyer Steel Co. sales manager William Laverty Jr. has retired from the stainless steel and nickel alloy plate processor.

• Roadrunner Steel to expand processing capacity in Ariz. May 22, 2013

  Flat-rolled processor Roadrunner Steel LLC has slated a $7-million expansion that will augment its slitting capacity with new leveling equipment.

• Correction: Pipelines will flow despite delays May 22, 2013

  Due to a reporting error, a story posted to AMM's website May 20 incorrectly stated the cost of shipping crude oil by rail and pipeline.

• Worthington promotes two execs May 22, 2013

  Worthington Industries Inc. has promoted two executives who will lead its engineered cabs and Worthington Armstrong Venture (Wave) business segments starting July 1.

• Metal firms ready to help tornado victims May 21, 2013

  Oklahoma-based metal distributors, fabricators, processors and downstream users reached by AMM largely said their facilities escaped damage and employees were safe and accounted for following a devastating tornado that killed at least two dozen people May 20.

• GM to build logistics center at Mich. plant May 21, 2013

  General Motors Co. plans to build a $44.5-million logistics optimization center at its Grand River assembly plant in Lansing, Mich.

• LNG exports a ‘clear choice’: ANGA May 21, 2013

  The United States’ vast supply of natural gas makes exporting liquefied natural gas (LNG) a "clear choice," according to America’s Natural Gas Alliance (ANGA).

• McNichols opens Denver plant May 21, 2013

  McNichols Co., a distributor of perforated and expanded metals, has opened its 18th service center.

• Commerce rules ball bearings not dumped May 21, 2013

  Having received no comments in an anti-dumping duty administrative review of imports of ball bearings from Germany from May 1 to Sept. 14, 2011, the U.S. Commerce Department’s International Trade Administration (ITA) has issued a final ruling that the product was not sold at less than fair value.

• 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 2020: 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.