Steel Mills
Reliance Promotes Lewis to President, Former CEO Hannah Retires from Board
Written by Michael Cowden
January 18, 2021
Reliance Steel & Aluminum Co. has promoted Karla R. Lewis to the role of president and given her a seat on the company’s board of directors. Both moves were effective on Jan. 15 and were part of Reliance’s executive succession plan, the company said.
“Karla has been at the center of Reliance’s extremely well executed growth strategy and her knowledge of both Reliance and the larger metals service center industry is extraordinary,” Chairman of the Board Mark Kaminski said in a statement.
Lewis, who joined Reliance in 1992, most recently served as senior vice president and chief financial officer.
Arthur Ajemyan, who joined Reliance in 2005 from PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, has been promoted to CFO.
Reliance also said that David H. Hannah, a long-time former chief executive officer, would retire from its board and not stand for re-election at the company’s 2021 annual shareholders meeting.
Hannah, who joined Reliance in 1981, was CEO from 1999 to 2015. He led its 1994 initial public offering and an aggressive growth strategy that resulted in Reliance becoming the largest metals service center in North America.
“For 40 years, Dave Hannah has personified Reliance’s culture of excellence and integrity. The Reliance board and I deeply appreciate Dave’s long and distinguished record of accomplishments,” Kaminski said.
Michael Cowden
Read more from Michael CowdenLatest in Steel Mills
U.S. Steel sues Algoma over iron pellet shipments
U.S. Steel is suing Algoma over the Canadian flat-rolled producer's rejection of iron pellet shipments, arguing it has breached its contract.
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.