Steel Mills

Kloeckner Expands in Greenville to House New Slitter
Written by Tim Triplett
July 19, 2017
Kloeckner Metals is investing $11.3 million to expand its Greenville, S.C., operations. The expansion will add 50,000 square feet to the facility to house a new high-speed slitting line capable of processing aluminum and advanced high-strength steel. The company plans to begin operating the new line by Sept. 1.
“We wanted a slitting line that would look forward to the future of processing ever-more-demanding customer specifications, including advanced, automotive-grade steel and aluminum. We specified a highly automated line with sophisticated technology features that will deliver a highly efficient and capable value proposition for our mill partners and customers,” said Kloeckner Metals Vice President Automotive Bob Cromley.
The new slitting line, from ALCOS Machinery, Inc., can handle material up to a quarter-inch thick and 84 inches wide. It’s designed with oversized arbors and other enhancements to stand up to the rigors of processing high-strength steels, as well as sophisticated automation for packaging and inspection, among other features. It can handle an entry coil weight of 40 tons, double the line it replaces. “It will be good for the mills. They can bring us the biggest coils they make and we will be able to handle them,” Cromley said.
Kloeckner’s Greenville plant serves a diverse customer base in the region, not just automotive. “We process a lot of critical parts for customers and meet a lot of demanding customer specifications. We have to measure up to what they want now and what they will want in the future,” he said.
Kloeckner is unconcerned about the reported slowing of automotive production, after seven years of record growth. “We’re investing for the long haul. The market will move up and down,” he added.
Kloeckner’s Greenville project comes on the heels of an even bigger expansion in the Midwest. Earlier this year, Kloeckner’s Flat Rolled Group relocated its Chicago service center to a new 106,000-square-foot warehousing and processing facility in University Park, Ill., a south suburb.
Headquartered in Roswell, Ga., Kloeckner Metals services more than 8,000 metalworking businesses throughout the United States, Puerto Rico, Mexico and Canada. The company ships carbon and nonferrous metals from inventories stocked in over 50 locations throughout North America and utilizes the latest processing equipment to meet customers’ evolving needs.

Tim Triplett
Read more from Tim TriplettLatest in Steel Mills

August US mill shipments slip but still higher than last year
The American Iron and Steel Institute reported a decline in the monthly shipments of US mills from July to August.

TransPod, Algoma, Supreme Steel linkup anchors Canadian steel in high-speed transit build
The three Canadian companies have announced a strategic partnership to support the development of an ultra-high-speed transit line from Edmonton to Calgary.

Metallus, USW agree to tentative four-year labor deal
Metallus and the United Steelworkers (USW) have agreed to a tentative four-year labor contract.

ArcelorMittal Dofasco resumes cokemaking after emergency maintenance
The Canadian steelmaker reported on Sept. 30 that “urgent maintenance” was needed in its coke plant off-gas systems. The work required coke oven gas from the No. 2 coke plant to be flared for most of that week.

AISI: Raw steel production ticks back down
US raw steel output declined last week after increasing the week prior, according to the latest data from the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI). Output has see-sawed from week to week since mid-August. Still, it has remained historically strong over the past four months and has held near multi-year highs since June. Domestic mills […]