March, 31 2006
RINL & Ministry of Steel signs MoU for 2006-07
Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited and the Ministry of Steel have entered into MOU for the year 2006-07. RINL CMD Mr Y Siva Sagara Rao signed the MoU with Mr Manoj Ranjan Secretary of Steel in New Delhi. The MoU contained five parts vision, mission and objectives of RINL, exercise of enhanced autonomy and delegation of financial powers, performance evaluation parameters and targets, commitments & assistance from the government and action plan for implementation and monitoring of the MOU.
As per the MoU, RINL is committed to produce 4.182 million tons of hot metal and 3.207 million tons of saleable steel corresponding to capacity utilization of 123% and 121% respectively.
Project milestones in respect of expansion of the plant capacity and coke oven battery-4 involving an expenditure of Rs 850 crore during 2006-07 have been included in the MoU. Techno-economic parameters like specific energy consumption, specific water consumption, LD converter productivity, labor productivity, etc., which indicate the efficiency of operations, have been included as specific parameters in performance evaluation criteria of MoU.
MMTC allowed to continue export of iron ore
Indian Cabinet approved renewal of long term agreements for export of iron ore to Japanese, Korean and Chinese steel mills by the Minerals and Metals Trading Corporation Limited. All the existing LTAs for supply of iron ore come to an end by 31 March. The new LTAs would be for another period of five years from 31 March and primarily revolve around the quantity commitment and duration of the contract.
While approving the renewal of LTAs to export iron ore, the Cabinet also approved a lower annual ceiling for exports from Bailadila mines up to 2.7 million tonnes of lumps as against 3 million tons and 1.81 million tons of fines as against 3.8 million tonnes.
Mahindra Intertrade plans blanking line at Nashik
Mahindra Intertrade Ltd, a part of the Mahindra Group's trade and financial services sector, is setting up the new blanking line in Nashik. The Mahindra Group will invest around Rs. 50 crore in the facility, which is close to the M&M's Nashik automotive plant and is expected to go on stream by January next.
The Blanking line will process steel coils for supplying automotive body profiles and rectangular and trapezoidal sheets required for press shop operations. The line will be the first and only independent automotive facility for skin panels in India. The products will service the needs of M&M's automotive sector, Mahindra Systems and Automotive Technologies as well as external customers.
Mr Raghu Murti MD of MIL said, "The new facility will contribute to the company's cost leadership, plant efficiency and leadership in terms of innovation and technology.''
MSPL invest in railway wagons to improve iron ore export logistics
MSPL Limited one of the largest private sector iron ore processor and exporter from Karnataka, has placed an order for six railway rakes under the own your wagon scheme of the Railways for transporting iron ore from its mines in the Bellary Hospet region to ports in Goa and New Mangalore for exports.
The company recently received three of these six rakes and is expecting to receive two more during the week. The sixth rake will be received early next month, in April. Each rake will have a capacity to carry 3,600 metric tonnes and cost Rs 14 crore. MSPL has made a capital investment in the six rakes aggregating to Rs 85 crore, a company release said.
This is a significant step forward in our logistics management as this will not only improve our efficiency levels and cut logistics cost by about 30% but also help us move larger quantities of iron ore from the mines to port and help the company post better revenues in the coming years, said Mr Shrenik Baldota. He said that railway rakes are the most preferred and cost economic means of transport for iron ore.
CCEA approves expansion plans of Mahanadi coalfields
Indian governments Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs approved expansion of Mahanadi Coalfields Lakhanpur Open Cast Coal Mining Project in Orissa by 15 million tonnes per annum. CCEA has cleared floating and approval of tenders for outsourcing coal production and incremental overburden removal for five years.
The CCEA also cleared re appropriation and re phasing of sanctioned capital of Rs 98.74 crore to meet the enhanced coal production.
The project will produce F grade coal, which will be supplied to the linked customers of various state government owned thermal power stations & captive power plants.
Goa government directs 5 sponge iron units to clean pollutants
It is reported that 5 sponge iron plants have been directed by the Goa Pollution Control Board to clear the coal dust dumped by them in Mollem wildlife sanctuary within three days failing which severe action will be initiated including closure of the factories. Deputy CM Dr Wilfred de Souza who holds Environment portfolio, told a press conference that directions have been issued to the five factories under section 31 (1) read with section 21 of the Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981.
The five units are Jain Udyog, Goa Sponge & Power Ltd, Shraddha Ispat Pvt Ltd, Ambey Metallic Ltd and Srithik Ispat Ltd. The managements of these units have been asked to jointly or individually take measures to remove the black colored solid waste within three days and file a compliance report immediately. The board has warned them that if they fail to do so, then it would be compelled to issue necessary instructions for closure.
ECL hopes to come out of BIFR by 207-08
Coal Indias subsidiary Eastern Coalfields Ltd is expected to come out of the Board for Industrial and Financial Reconstruction by 2007-08, a year earlier than originally scheduled, and also wipe off its Rs. 5,370 crore accumulated losses in about six years. Mr D Chakravarti CMD said the current level of performance had made him optimistic about becoming net worth positive earlier than projected.
He said as per conservative estimates, ECL would close 2005-06 with a profit of Rs. 360 crore against the targeted Rs 81 crore. This is ECL's first operational profit since inception.
Headquartered in Asansol, ECL mines are spread over West Bengal and Jharkhand. Difficult mining conditions, a very high proportion of underground mines and a huge workforce had led to persistent losses. Mr Chakravarti said that through sustained efforts, including closure of unviable mines, it had now been possible to combat these factors. Production was likely to touch 31 million tonnes, registering a 13.8%t rise over 2004-05, when ECL reported a Rs. 679.2 crore loss.
Chhattisgarh government & NMDC JV for iron ore mine for states sponge units
It is reported that Chhattisgarh government will form a JV with National Mineral Development Corporation to overcome the iron ore crisis for its 70 sponge iron units in the state. The JV will be aimed at opening up a mining block with 317 million tonnes of iron ore stocks in the Dantewada district.
Chhattisgarh's 70 sponge iron units account for almost 30% of India's total annual output of 10 million tonnes of sponge iron.
TATA to submit Bangladesh investment review report in early April
TATA Group has informed Bangladesh government that it will submit a review report on its $2.5 billion investment plan by the first week of next month. The Indian industrial giant was supposed to submit the report by the end of March. Sources in the TATA Group said the submission of the report is being delayed as they are making some corrections in their investment proposal.
The second phase of the fourth round negotiations on February 6 and 7 had ended with disagreements between the two parties on several issues.
Meanwhile, the government negotiators ruled out any possibility of signing an agreement with the TATA Group agreeing to a lower rate of gas price. "We must not agree to gas price which is less than the base price. TATA must propose a price higher than $2.35 for per thousand cubic feet to initiate further negotiation," a top negotiatior said.
Cyclone Glenda strikes Pilbara coast
Cyclone Glenda first hit land Thursday afternoon along the sparsely populated Pilbara coast of Western Australia state. Torrential rain and winds gusting to 100 mph lashed the remote northwest Australian fishing town of Onslow also.
Glenda was downgraded from maximum category 5 storms to category 4 late Wednesday but still was expected to wreak havoc along the Pilbara coastline, home to few major towns but many huge mining complexes, including major iron ore and diamond mines.
Western Australian mining communities industry came to a standstill. Iron ore boats which were loading in the Dampier Port have been sent out to sea to try to avoid the path of the cyclone. Harbour master Mr Vic Justice says inside the port all the berths are empty and equipment has been tied down.
BHP Billiton may lose about A$30 million in revenue the Australian Broadcasting Corp reported, citing Mr Roger Richardson, the company's shipping head at Port Hedland.
PSMC Privatization Bidders combine to form two consortiums for todays bid
All arrangements have been finalized to hold bidding for a 75% strategic Stake in Pakistan Steel Mills Corporation in Islamabad on Friday. The bidding will be held in the presence of the representatives of print and electronic media.
Nine parties had been pre-qualified out of which 8 conducted active due diligence. Out of these five parties attended the pre-bid meeting. The pre qualified parties have completed their due diligence of the transaction including plant visits and physical & virtual data room. Six pre qualified parties have joined to form two bidding consortiums and have deposited earnest money of $ 30 million each within the stipulated time.
The first consortium includes Magnitogorsk Iron & Steel Works Open JSC of Russia, Al - Tuwairqi Steel Mills of Saudi Arabia and Arif Habib Securities. The second consortium includes Industrial Union of Donbass of Ukraine, Noor Financial of Kuwait, Government of Ras Al Khaimah and Al-Jomaih Holdings of Saudi Arabia.
Chinas Dagin Raliway starts running 20,000MT coal train
Chinese Daqin Railway has achieved a new breakthrough in railway freight transport by starting 20,000 ton coal lend trains on Tuesday. Officials with the ministry said the journey marks a great breakthrough in China's heavy loading freight transport in the railway sector. According to the ministry, more such trains will be added in the future in order to realize an annual transport target of 250 million tons as early as possible.
Sources from the Chinese Ministry of Railways said a 204 box train loaded with 20,000 tons of coal and driven by five sets of China made Shaoshan electrified engines, left Hudong station in North China's Shanxi Province, and finally arrived in Qinhuangdao port in Hebei Province over 10 hours later.
Daqin Railway, linking Datong in Shanxi Province to Qinhuangdao in Hebei Province, is the country's first railway designed exclusively for transporting coal. At present most of the coal produced by Shanxi Province is transported via the Daqin Railway, and then shipped to South China and abroad. The designed transport capacity for the Daqin Railway was 100 million tons in 2002, but after technical improvement, the railway's total capacity reached 150 million tons in 2004, and further rose to 200 million tons in 2005.
Ternium may bid for Mexico's IMSA
Latin America's largest steelmaking group Ternium would consider bidding for Mexican conglomerate IMSA if the company were put up for sale Ternium's CEO Mr Daniel Novegil said during the Reuters Latin America Investment Summit, but added that the company was not looking to make any acquisition. "If the opportunity comes up to acquire IMSA because the owner wants to sell, we would analyze it with a lot of attention," he said.
IMSA, one of Mexico's biggest steel producers, had said that it is considering a possible sale of its businesses.
Luxembourg based Ternium is controlled by Argentina's Techint group and consists of Argentina's Siderar, Venezuela's Sidor and Mexico's Hylsamex. Techint is the majority shareholder of Ternium with 70% while Brazil's Usiminas has the second-largest stake at 16%. Ternium has an annual production capacity of nearly 11.6 million tonnes.
Severstal plans $3 billion investment to boost domestic share by 2012
Mr Alexei Venediktov head of the Severstal's sales projects division said that Severstal plans to increase supply of rolled products to the domestic market to at least 65% of its output by investing more than $3 billion by 2012 in boosting production compared with 55% of output currently. He said about 60% of the more than $3 billion would be spent on increasing the quality of the company's products and starting output of new types of products.
"The increase is linked to the growth of Russian companies and the arrival of more foreign companies in Russia," he told a metals conference organized by Expert Analytical Centre. "The Russian market is becoming more attractive from the point of view of supplying our products," he said. Mr Venediktov said Severstal currently exported its steel products to a number of foreign companies including the world's biggest home appliance maker Electrolux, car makers Ford Motor and Fiat and electronics firm Philips.
Severstal, among Russia's top four steelmakers, boosted output of rolled steel products by 5.8% last year to more than 9.8 million tonnes. The company has grown through acquisitions in the United States and Italy. It has a market capitalization of around $7 billion and it main plant is in Cherepovets in Russia's Vologda region.
Severstal is owned by Mr Alexei Mordashov, whom Forbes magazine listed in March as Russia's seventh richest man with a net worth of $7.6 billion.
CSNs BF no 3 to resume operations in June
CSNs ED Mr Pedro Felipe Borges said in a press conference announced that it expects to resume operations of its BF no 3 at Presidente Vargas mill in the city of Volta Redonda in Rio de Janeiro state in June 2006 after it was shut after January 22nd accident in June. Mr Borges is hopeful that the BF will reach full capacity utilization within two weeks
It is reported that CSN has an insurance policy for the furnace that covers up to $750 million in profit loss and covering up to $100 million for the equipment.
Mr Borges also informed that CSN plans to halt operations at BF no.2 for repairs in July as the planned 10 day captive maintenance shutdown in January was postponed due to accidental shutdown of BF No 3.
Usiminas to decide location of $3 billion steel mill in southeastern Brazil
It is reported that Brazilian steelmaker Usiminas is evaluating the location Brazil's southeast part to build its $3 billion steel plant denying that the location already has been finalized in the city of Cubat in S Paulo state. "It is definite that the plant will be located in the southeast region because it offers better logistics conditions, since the output will be earmarked for exports," the report cited a company official.
Brazils southeastern region has four states S Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Minas Gerais and Espito Santo.
Usiminas announced in December its plans to invest $1.5 billion within the next five years to strengthen its position in the domestic market, plus its strategy to build the 5 million tonne plant for exports at an investment of # 3 billion. Usiminas plans to build the new plant in partnership with other companies to achieve scale and minimize risk.
Arcelor offers to buy out minorities to increase stake in Acesita
Arcelor is reported to have offered to buy out minority shareholders in its Brazilian unit Acesita. In an offer document posted with the Spanish bourse regulator, Arcelor said on that it would offer 36.34 reais per preference or ordinary share. It did not say how much the buyout would cost in total. Arcelor already owns 76% of Acesita's voting shares.
Arcelor said its offer for the rest of Acesita's ordinary stock was obligatory and it also offered to buy up to 10.4 million preference shares, to be carried out by its fully owned unit Arcelor Spain Holding. The bids would close on April 27, the offer document said. In January, Arcelor had said it would pay 36.02 euros per Acesita share in a buyback of special and preference shares.
Arcelor while fighting off a hostile bid from Mittal Steel has been urging investors to reject the bid and focus instead on its three year growth plan. When it presented the plan, it said Acesita was one of the most profitable stainless steel companies in the world.
Furnace explosion kills 6 in Guofeng Iron & Steel in Tanshan
It is reported in a Chinese daily that 6 people were killed and 6 more injured on Thursday in an explosion at the furnace of Guofeng Iron and Steel Co. Ltd. located in Fengnan District of Tangshan City in North China's Hebei Province. Cause of the explosion is being investigated.
It is reported that the production at the iron mill has returned to normal.
The integrated steel mill is a joint stock entity.
Arcelor plans to increase investment in Huta Warszawa Poland
Mr Roland Junck VP of Arcelor announced its plans to invest Euro 80 million in its Warsaw subsidiary Huta Warszawa. The investment will cost about Euro 50 million and will be launched next year. Arcelor estimates that by 2008 it will have spent Euro 124 million in Poland, apart from the Euro 77 million it spent on taking over Huta Warszawa.
The revenues of Arcelor, a European steel concern, totaled EUR32.6 billion last year.
Chinese firms discover large iron ore reserves in Kyrgyzstan
It is reported by Shanghai Securities News that 4 Chinese firms with exploratory rights in Kyrgyzstanhave jointly discovered unexploited iron ore reserves in the Central Asian country. The report said the find will likely help China realize its aim of developing a land based transport route through the northwestern region of Xinjiang.
The newspaper said the four equally invested Chinese partner firms already have exploratory rights for the 152 square kilometer site in Kyrgyzstan. The report said the two countries still need to negotiate commercial details for extraction and export rights.
SSGC to supply natural gas for DRI plant of Al Tuwairqi Steel in Pakistan
Sui Southern Gas Company and Tuwairqi Steel Mills Limited have signed the a Head of Terms, which would lead to a General Sales Agreement between the two companies, for the supply of natural gas over a 10 year period, with the option to extend the arrangement for another 10 years. The HOT signed was first cleared by the boards of the two companies and the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority.
HOT provides for the supply of 45mmcfd of piped natural gas from SSGC to Tuwairqi Steel Mills. Only 5mmcfd of natural gas would be used as fuel, whereas the remaining would be used in the processing of iron ore, using an advanced Direct Reduced Iron technology for the production of steel billets.
SSGC, Pakistans leading energy sector company and model gas utility, has a turnover of over $1 billion. The companys high pressure network of 3,000 kilometers and distribution network of 26,000 kilometers extends across the southern provinces of Sindh and Balochistan.
Coal mine gas blast kills 5 in Shanxi Province
5 workers were killed and 11 others injured in a coal mine gas explosion in Zhongyang County in north China's Shanxi Province as per local government sources. The explosion happened at the Sheke Coal Mine around 4 PM on Wednesday when 16 workers were carrying out engineering work in the shaft.
The blast killed four people on the spot and injuring 12 others said Mr Pang Pengfeng head of Zhongyang County Government. One seriously injured worker later died amid operation at the local hospital. All other injured are hospitalized, with one in critical condition. Cause of the explosion is under investigation.
Sheke Coal Mine is a village run mine with a designed annual production capacity of 300,000 tons.
Bankruptcy Court confirms reorganization plan for WCI Steel
WCI Steel Inc announced that it has completed another step towards its emergence from bankruptcy reorganization after a US Bankruptcy Court judge signed orders today confirming a Plan of Reorganization for WCI. US Judge Marilyn Shea-Stonum ruled in favor of the reorganization plan presented by a group of WCI's secured noteholders.
Mr Patrick G Tatom WCI's president and CEO said that the timing of WCI's emergence from bankruptcy will depend upon a ratification vote by the United Steelworkers on a collective bargaining agreement negotiated in November with the noteholders. He added that the confirmed plan will enable WCI to emerge from bankruptcy with a strong balance sheet, a lower cost structure and a competitive labor agreement, all of which will position the company to better serve customers' needs now and in the future. "This plan gives the opportunity to build WCI Steel as a strong, independent custom flat-rolled producer," Mr Tatom said
WCI filed a voluntary petition for protection under Chapter 11 of the US Bankruptcy Code on Sept. 16, 2003.
WCI is an integrated steelmaker producing more than 185 grades of custom and commodity flat-rolled steel at its Warren, Ohio facility. WCI products are used by steel service centers, converters and the automotive and construction markets. The company has approximately 1,600 employees.
Mittal Steel SA disappointed by removal import duty on steel
Mittal Steel South Africa has expressed its disappointment with the decision to scrap the 5% import tariff on steel with immediate effect. Mittal Steel SA said, in a media statement, that the 5% duty was already one of the lowest duties in the developing world.
Mr Tami Didiza of Mittal Steel SA said that governments keep such duties to protect capital intensive industries like steel. The 5% duty, although very small, did act as a psychological deterrent against any dumping action. Some exporting countries that still enjoy substantial government subsidies get tempted to dump steel once a down cycle sets in.
Mittal Steel SA also stated that the removal of this duty would not have any major effect on its market and performance, as it was not using import-parity pricing model. But, the company indicated that it would examine the possible implications of this decision. In principle, though disappointed we respect governments decision on this matter, but we will have to be vigilant against any possible dumping, Mr Didiza said.
Zincs consumption outpaces production in January
Zinc consumption rose by 9.6% in January from a year ago, as higher Chinese usage of the metal widened a global production shortfall, the International Lead and Zinc Study Group said.
China, the worlds largest zinc user, expanded consumption by 22% in January to 235,000 MT. The consumption of Zinc in US, the No 2 zinc consumer, jumped by 28% to 111,000 MT while European consumption increased by 8% to 230,000 MT.
Zinc use in January rose to 923,000 MT, beating output by 42,000 MT, the Lisbon-based group said in a monthly report on its web site. The shortfall a year ago was 12,000MT. Production of Zinc lagged behind demand by 455,000MT last year, the group said.
AusQuest gets exploration license for iron ore in Pilbara
AusQuest Ltd has announced that Exploration License E47/1485 containing the Nameless Iron Ore Prospect, located 5km north west of Tom Price in the Pilbara region of Western Australia, has now been granted and a drilling contract signed with Drillcorp Western Deep Hole Pty Ltd to undertake the initial drill testing of the property. The Nameless prospect is subject to Letter of Intent with Hamersley Iron Pty Limited, a member of Rio Tinto Ltd which will allow Rio Tinto to take an equity position in AusQuest, as well as acquire a 60% interest in the project. It is expected that drilling will commence in April 2006.
Mr Graeme Drew MD of AusQuest said that reconnaissance mapping and sampling at the Nameless prospect during 2005, identified channel fill pisolitic iron mineralization over a strike length of approximately 15km with widths varying from 200m to 500m. Promising iron grades of 55% to 58% iron were returned from 56 surface pisolite rock samples collected over the full strike length of the mapped channel. The mineralization is similar in style to other pisolitic deposits mined elsewhere in the Pilbara, Mr Drew added.
The Nameless prospect is part of AusQuests portfolio of iron and nickel prospective tenements in the Pilbara region and encompasses a pisolitic iron ore target identified by AusQuest in 2005 in close proximity to Rio Tintos existing mining operations in the Tom Price area.
Grupo Simec pays Republic Engineerings debt
Grupo Simec SA reported that it has settled the outstanding bank debt of its US subsidiary Republic Engineered Products Inc. Those debts were due to mature through 2009, and according to Simec represented a significant burden to the healthy development of Republic. "An improved financial structure and recent investments have resulted in improvements in productivity and yield that will allow Republic to take advantage of opportunities that at the moment appear in the global steel markets," the parent company stated.
Republic Engineered Products Inc Canton OH is North America's largest producer of SBQ products. Last July, Simec and its parent paid $229 million for Republic. At that time, it stated it would pay off Republic's $166 million debt over the forthcoming year.
Grupo Simec is a Guadalajara Mexico based subsidiary of Industrias CH SA de CV of Mexico City. Simec estimates that its group, including Republic, will ship 2.5 million tons of finished products in 2006.
AISI applauds Restoring Americas Competitiveness Act
Stand Up For Steel, a coalition of Americas leading steel producers and the United Steelworkers, hailed the introduction of a sweeping trade bill today that would help level the playing field for American manufacturers and ensure that US trade laws do not contribute to growing trade imbalances.
The Restoring Americas Competitiveness Act, sponsored by congressman Ben Cardin of Maryland, contains important provisions that would instruct the US Trade Representative to use international negotiations to strengthen existing trade remedies, create a commission to address problems in the World Trade Organization dispute settlement process, stop American businesses from being punished by indirect taxation laws that benefit foreign companies and strengthen ability to apply countervailing duty laws to non market economies like China, that consistently and deliberately manipulate their currencies and unfairly subsidize domestic industries
US congressman Cardin said We need an aggressive trade policy to defend our rights in the WTO and level the playing field for American workers, businesses and farmers. We cannot continue to allow unfair practices to place our nation at a competitive disadvantage. If we do not level the playing field now and America falls deeper into debt, we lose vital leverage necessary to address these challenges.
The American Iron and Steel Institute have expressed pleasure on this move AISI applauds Congressman Ben Cardin on the introduction of the Restoring America's Competitiveness Act of 2006, Mr Andrew G. Sharkey, III, president and CEO of AISI said. The need to defend, enhance and enforce U.S. trade laws is greater than ever due to massive increases in state-supported world steel capacity, record trade deficits and the ongoing crisis impacting Americas manufacturing base.
Penn State Energy Institute tests coal based jet fuel
Jet fuel derived from at least 50% coal and comparable to Jet A or military JP 8 has successfully powered a helicopter jet engine.
"The combustion tests showed that JP900 meets or exceeds almost all specifications for JP8 and Jet A,"said Dr Harold H. Schobert, professor of fuel science and director of Penn State's Energy Institute.
Dr Schobert said that they can produce the fuel, called JP900, by using light cycle oil, which is a petroleum byproduct and coal derived refined chemical oil a byproduct of the coke industry. The researchers mix the two components and add hydrogen. When distilled, jet fuel comes off as a distillate. The process can occur in existing refineries with some retrofitting, and small amounts of the leftover components will feed into various portions of the petroleum stream. The lighter portions will go to the pool of chemicals that make gasoline, and the heavier ones go to the diesel or fuel oil streams.
China's non ferrous metal output ranks first globally
In 2005, China's total output of non-ferrous metal reached 16.32 million tons up by 18.14% YOY and ranked first in the world for the fourth consecutive year, the China Securities Journal reported on Wednesday. Mr Kang Yi president of the China Non Ferrous Metal Industry Association made the announcement at a national congress of the association, the newspaper said. China has become world's largest producer and consumer of non-ferrous metals, he said.
Income of China's large and medium sized enterprises in non ferrous industry reached 809 billion yuan (about $101 billion) up by 37.09% with profits jumping 59.27% to 54.4 billion yuan in 2005 Mr Kang said.
INTERMET names interim CEO & President
INTERMET Corporation announced that the companys Board of Directors has elected Mr Gil West to Interim CEO and Mr Jeff Mihalic to Interim President, effective immediately. Mr West and Mr Mihalic succeed Gary Ruff, who has resigned from the company. Mr West and Mr Mihalic are from Q Investments a Fort Worth Texas based investment firm and an investor in INTERMET.
Mr Ruff joined INTERMET in 1999 and became Chairman and CEO in 2004. Gary Ruff is a highly respected technical expert and has guided INTERMET through some demanding times said Mr West. We appreciate his dedication and the leadership he has shown through his years of service and wish him well in his future endeavors.
Mr West also said We look forward to the challenges and to working with the talented employees of INTERMET to help improve the performance for our investors and to continue the companys focus on quality and service to our customers. Mr Mihalic added, We are excited about the opportunity to further empower our plant-level operations by providing them with the necessary resources to be successful. We also want to assure our customers that production will continue unabated during this transition.
With headquarters in Troy, Michigan, INTERMET Corporation is a leading manufacturer of powertrain, chassis suspension and structural cast components for the automotive, commercial-vehicle and industrial markets.
