U.S. Metals & Minerals Firms Plan Maintenance Across Industry

Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Demand is rising across multiple markets for products from the U.S. Metals & Minerals Industry, ranging from the commodities extracted from mines to the pipes, panels and machine parts they eventually become. A wide variety of players within the industry are planning maintenance-related projects at their facilities--some of which are set to take place sporadically throughout the remainder of the year--to keep their assets in the best operating conditions. Industrial Info is tracking more than 200 maintenance-related projects across the U.S. Metals & Minerals Industry set to kick off in the third quarter, with sectors such as foundries, forging, metal rolling and steel manufacturing accounting for the bulk of the expenditures.

Click on the image at right for a graph detailing U.S. Metals & Minerals maintenance kickoffs from July through September, by industry sector.

The foundries & forging sector accounts for more than one-third of total domestic maintenance investment across the industry in the third quarter, as well as nearly half the number of projects. These include programs at numerous iron casting foundries across the central and southern U.S., including Acme Foundry Incorporated's (Coffeyville, Kansas) series of shutdowns at its gray iron foundry in Coffeyville, Kansas, and Harrison Steel Castings Company's (Attica, Indiana) series at its ductile iron foundry in Attica, Indiana. Both companies are using their scheduled shutdowns to perform normal inspections and repairs; Acme Foundry's will run through September, while Harrison Steel's are expected to wrap up in January.

Gray iron has a low-tensile strength and ductility that makes it less expensive to manufacture and easier to process, while the stronger, heavier ductile iron is better able to resist fracturing. Burnham Holdings Incorporated (Lancaster, Pennsylvania) produces both at its iron casting foundry in Zanesville, Ohio, which is expected to undergo a series of normal inspections and repairs through early January. Subscribers to Industrial Info's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) Metals & Minerals Project Database can read detailed reports on the Harrison Steel, Acme Foundry and Burnham Holdings programs.

Facilities that specialize in metal rolling, processing, finishing and fabrication account for nearly 50 maintenance projects set to kick off from July through September, including the highest-valued individual program: American Cast Iron Pipe Company's (Birmingham, Alabama) steel pipe mill in Birmingham, Alabama, which comprises two units that produce a total 700,000 tons per year of pipe. Among the components to be inspected are five electric arc furnaces. Subscribers can learn more from Industrial Info's project report.

TimkenSteel Corporation (NYSE:TMST) (Canton, Ohio) is preparing for a pair of shutdowns at its tubing mill in Canton, Ohio: at its piercing tubing mill, which uses the rotary forging process, and the 600,000-ton-per-year steel bar and tube finishing plant. Both are expected to run through mid-July. Subscribers can read detailed reports on the piercing and finishing projects.

TimkenSteel is among the steel-product manufacturers to benefit from rising demand in the defense, heavy equipment and mining sectors. "Our end market demand remains steady, as evidenced by our order book," said Michael Williams, the chief executive officer, in a recent quarterly earnings-related conference call. "We operate in markets that are currently benefiting from favorable macroeconomic trends such as increased infrastructure spending, reshoring and supply-chain de-risking."

Other companies preparing for third-quarter maintenance kickoffs include several automotive glass manufacturers, including Central Glass Company Limited (West Bridgewater, Massachusetts), which will begin performing periodic shutdowns at its automotive float glass plant in Nashville, Tennessee, and Pilkington North America Incorporated, a subsidiary of Nippon Sheet Glass Company Limited (Tokyo, Japan), which is preparing for normal inspections and repairs to its windshield glass fabrication plant in Versailles, Kentucky. Both programs are expected to run through the end of the year. Subscribers can read detailed reports on the Tennessee and Kentucky projects.

Subscribers to Industrial Info's GMI project and plant databases can click here for a full list of detailed reports for projects mentioned in this article, and click here for a full list of related plant profiles.

Subscribers can click here for a full list of reports for maintenance-related projects that are set to kick off at U.S. Metals & Minerals facilities in the third quarter.

Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is the leading provider of industrial market intelligence. Since 1983, IIR has provided comprehensive research, news and analysis on the industrial process, manufacturing and energy related industries. IIR's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) platform helps companies identify and pursue trends across multiple markets with access to real, qualified and validated plant and project opportunities. Across the world, IIR is tracking more than 200,000 current and future projects worth $17.8 trillion (USD).