North America's Fabricated Metals Segment Benefits from Nine-Year High in U.S. Auto Sales

Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Sharply improving demand drove U.S. auto sales to a nine-year-high in May, which is proving to be a boon for the fabricated metal products segment of the Industrial Manufacturing Industry. The segment includes businesses that tailor metal for specific purposes, including the production of such varied retail items as automobiles, guns, aluminum cans and household goods like fireplaces and kitchenware. Industrial Info is tracking 206 projects in the segment in the U.S. and Canada that have a total investment value (TIV) of $2.47 billion.

Among the biggest surprises was last month's 13% sales gain over the same month in 2013 at General Motors (NYSE:GM) (Detroit, Michigan), which has been struggling to overcome deeply negative publicity from a recall of nearly 14 million vehicles so far this year. Strong sales for SUVs and the Chevrolet Corvette led to the company's best sales month in almost six years. Last month also saw double-digit sales gains at heavyweights Chrysler (Auburn Hills, Michigan) and Toyota Motor Corporation (NYSE:TM) (Aichi, Japan).

GM is at work on the $133 million expansion of a truck assembly plant in Wentzville, Missouri. The project involves expanding the 3.7 million-square-foot facility with a 64,000-square-foot stamping shop, a 4,400-square-foot office building, an 8,700-square-foot blank receiving building, and a 5,600-square-foot scrap building, with another 60,700 square feet planned. Aristeo Construction Company (Livonia, Michigan) is serving as the general contractor on the project.

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Meanwhile, Toyota is a work on two major projects at a complex in Georgetown, Kentucky: the $360 million expansion of a vehicle assembly plant and the $171 million expansion of a vehicle paint facility. To boost capacity by as much as 50,000 vehicles per year at the plant, which currently handles 500,000 per year, Toytoa is building a 236,000-square-foot assembly building. Paint and stamping lines are among the equipment to be increased. Walbridge (Detroit) is serving as contract on both projects.

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The gun-manufacturing industry also has several large projects in the works, as the political firestorm over sales and ownership rights seems to have driven demand. Among them is the $110 million retrofit of Remington Arms Company Incorporated's (Madison, North Carolina) manufacturing plant in Huntsville, Alabama. New equipment, including new stamping presses, is being installed at the 500,000-square-foot facility. Burns & McDonnell Incorporated (Kansas City, Missouri) is serving as the design-build contractor.

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Industrial Info Resources (IIR), with global headquarters in Sugar Land, Texas, three offices in North America and 10 international offices, is the leading provider of global market intelligence specializing in the industrial process, heavy manufacturing and energy markets. Industrial Info's quality-assurance philosophy, the Living Forward Reporting Principle™, provides up-to-the-minute intelligence on what's happening now, while constantly keeping track of future opportunities.