Steel Dynamics Inc (SDI) has completed its purchase of a 45% minority equity interest in its single largest flat-roll steel customer, the Fort Wayne, Indiana-based steelmaker announced on Monday January 31.
New Process Steel is a Houston-based metals solutions and distribution supply-chain management company.
This investment - first announced in October 2021 - expands SDI’s focus on value-added manufacturing applications, according to Mark Millett, president and chief executive officer of SDI.
New Process Steel has two manufacturing locations in Mexico and four in the United States, two of which are located at SDI’s Butler and Columbus flat-roll steel divisions. The company employs approximately 950 people.
New Process CEO Richard Fant will independently operate the company as the majority 55% equity holder, making all business decisions in the normal course of operations, including steel purchasing and customer supply decisions, SDI noted.
US steel producers have upped their purchases of downstream businesses in the wake of a historic year that saw major steelmakers establish and break multiple financial records.
Fastmarkets’ daily steel hot-rolled coil index, fob mill US was calculated at $60.67 per hundredweight ($1,213.40 per short ton) on January 31, down by 15.44% from $71.75 per cwt a week earlier and down by 38.25% from an all-time high of $98.25 per cwt reached in September 2021.