Primary metals in alabama

Alabama has a rich heritage in the steel industry dating back to the 19th century. Birmingham earned the nickname “Pittsburgh of the South” for its thriving steel industry dating back to the 1800s, with an abundance of all three key ingredients: coal, iron ore and limestone. Alabama’s largest city was founded shortly after the Civil War, and the steel industry grew so fast Birmingham became known as the “Magic City” for its explosive population growth.

Today, it continues to be a steel center – home to three of the nation’s seven ductile iron pipe makers:

  • American Cast Iron Pipe Co. (ACIPCO), one of the largest manufacturers of its kind in the world.
  • McWane Cast Iron Pipe Co.
  • United States Pipe and Foundry

German steel giant ThyssenKrupp has continued Alabama’s tradition as a major steel producer 250 miles south of Birmingham in Mobile, where it has built the largest capital project in the 201-year-old company’s history with a $5 billion stainless and cold-rolling mill.

Alabama’s metal industry includes United States Steel’s Fairfield Works just outside of Birmingham. With ThyssenKrupp beginning operations and a $287 million expansion announced by Sweden’s SSAB in Mobile County, Alabama continues to thrive and be a major producer in the metals industry.

ThyssenKrupp

The $5 billion facility employing 2,700 people in Mobile County is one of the largest foreign investment projects in the United States. ThyssenKrupp Stainless USA and ThyssenKrupp Steel USA (carbon) will collectively produce 5 million metric tons of steel for industries related to appliances; pipe and tube; commercial food preparation; service centers; automotive; and construction.

United StateS Steel

The company has had a major presence in the Birmingham suburb of Fairfield since 1907. Today, Fairfield Works has an annual raw steelmaking capability of some 2.4 million net tons. The facility’s flat-rolled division produces hot-rolled, cold-rolled and coated sheet products for customers in the metal building components, automotive and appliance industries.

NUCOR

Nucor Corp., the nation’s largest steel producer and recycler, has a significant presence in Alabama with more than 2,000 employees at five facilities.  These facilities include Nucor steel mills in Decatur, Tuscaloosa and Birmingham, which produce products used in cars, appliances, wind turbines, transmission towers and bridges; Vulcraft in Fort Payne, which produces steel joist and girders used in roof and floor support systems; and American Buildings Co., in Eufaula, which manufactures custom steel buildings.     

Commercial Metals Company (CMC Steel)

The CMC Americas division of this Irving, Texas-based company includes three business segments: mills recycling and fabrication. CMC has all three in Alabama: one mill, two recycling plants and one fabrication facility.

  • CMC Steel Alabama in Birmingham employs 330 for manufacturing recycled scrap metal into billets and structural steel, shipping rail and commercial carrier product. The site occupies 38 acres with 460,000 square feet of metal buildings (209,000-square-foot warehouse space) and 37,000 square feet of office space. 
  • CMC Recycling in Birmingham and Alexander City buys copper, brass, aluminum, stainless steel and various types of scrap iron and steel from the public and industrial customers to be recycled back into the manufacturing process. 
  • CMC Impact Metals, 40 miles east of Birmingham in Pell City, is the first new armor plate producer in the United States in more than two decades. Alabama-produced armor is helping protect American troops in a variety of vehicle platforms around the world.  Fifty-five employees work at the facility on 20 acres with 225,000 square feet under roof.

ACIPCO

American Cast Iron Pipe Co. (ACIPCO), founded in Birmingham in 1905, is a manufacturer of ductile iron pipe, spiral-welded steel pipe, fire hydrants and valves for the waterworks industry and electric-resistance welded steel pipe for the oil and gas industry. American’s diversified product line includes static castings and high-performance fire pumps.

The Birmingham plant, located on a 2,000-acre site with more than 60 acres under roof, is home to the Contiarc, one of the world’s largest cupolas; the first-of-its-kind continuous arc furnace; and American Recycling, the only scrap-processing facility of its kind in the region.

ACIPCO employs about 3,000 people –2,000 at its headquarters, plant and offices in Birmingham and about 1,000 at subsidiary plants: American Castings, Pryor Creek, Okla.; American SpiralWeld Pipe Co., Columbia, S.C.; American Valve & Hydrant Manufacturing Co., Beaumont, Texas; Intercast SA, Itauna, Brazil; Specification Rubber Products, Inc., Alabaster, Ala.; Pneumax of Peoria, Ariz.; and Waterous Company, South Saint Paul, Minn.

 

SSAB

Established in 1998, SSAB Alabama is an electric arc furnace (EAF)-based facility operated by Swedish steel maker SSAB. The facility produces high-quality steel-plate and coil products using melted scrap as the primary raw material. The steelworks in Axis produces 1.25 million tons annual capacity of high-strength steel for customers worldwide.

Scheduled for completion in 2012 is the company’s $300 million QL6 (quench line No. 6) facility. The project will significantly increase SSAB’s ability to produce quenched and tempered steels. This 300,000-square-foot facility will produce branded product steel plate, increasing quench and temper plate capacity between 220,000 to 300,000 metric tons.

SSAB customers include GE Energy, Caterpillar, Deere Co., Metals USA, Bollinger Shipyards and Ryerson.

SSAB contributes more than $100 million annually to the Mobile County economy.