As published in Toledo Business Journal - September 1, 2017
North Star BlueScope Steel facility near Delta
MetalX planning $35M facility near Delta
Operations to provide 700k tons of scrap metal with 100 new jobs
MetalX, a company based in Waterloo, Indiana, is planning to invest $35 million to build a greenfield, state-of-the-art scrap processing plant in Delta, Ohio. The company intends to develop its new facility on a 60-acre site across the street from North Star BlueScope’s flat-rolled steel mill.
According to officials, when the first phase is fully operational, the facility is expected to handle over 500,000 tons per year and employ more than 80 people and future plans will grow employment to over 100 people and annual volume to 700,000 tons. The key ferrous operations will include a heavy-duty shredder and recovery system, a production baler, mobile shears, and a high-capacity staging and distribution yard for prepared grades. The nonferrous operations will focus on shredded aluminum recovery and industrial scrap processing. The company will also operate a full-service fleet transportation hub to support industrial and wholesale suppliers.
Initial construction activities are slated to begin this fall, but are contingent on securing certain State and local economic development incentives, plus customary approvals and permits, all of which are in process, according to the company. The plant will be fully operational within 12 months, say officials.
The facility will be the second Ohio operation for MetalX, following the company’s acquisition of M&K Metal Processors, close to Delta. The former M&K yard re-opened on July 17th as a MetalX branded operation. This facility will remain open after the mega yard in proximity to North Star BlueScope is operational, and will focus on community recycling and commercial customers, but in the meantime, the 10-acre facility allows the company to service industrial and commercial generators in northwest Ohio and southeastern Michigan.
MetalX president and CEO, Danny Rifkin said, “We have developed an outstanding relationship with the team at North Star BlueScope, and see this as an opportunity to expand that relationship for the benefit of both parties. The site is ideally located with respect to logistics, given the proximity to the steel mill and concentration of industrial and wholesale generators in the region. These freight considerations, combined with the efficiencies associated with a state-of-the-art processing plant, will make us highly competitive in the marketplace.”
Rifkin added “We are pleased with how welcoming the Village of Delta and Fulton County have been, and look forward to becoming an active and contributing member of the community. We’ve been impressed with the character of the community, and consistent with our normal practice, intend to hire from the local area, and support area businesses as we grow.”
MetalX facility on County Road 5 in Delta formerly M&K Metal Processors
MetalX
Danny Rifkin and other family members were formerly principals with OmniSource Corp., Fort Wayne, Indiana. The company was sold to Fort Wayne-based Steel Dynamics Inc. (SDI) and members of the Rifkin family planned to stay active in the business. However, approximately eight months after the deal closed, philosophical differences resulted in members of the Rifkin family and other senior management leaving OmniSource. After a period of time away from the scrap metal industry, Danny Rifkin and other family members formed MetalX in November 2012.
MetalX is a privately held, independent metals business that is focused on recycling, processing, and trading scrap and secondary metals, as well as providing raw material consulting and management services. The first facility and the company’s headquarters were put in place in Waterloo, Indiana on a 70-acre tract of land. The facility processes ferrous and nonferrous scrap metals for recycling into new metal products.
MetalX has ambitious growth plans, part of which is coming from acquisitions. In 2015, the company acquired the assets and the business of Metal Shred Industries LLC, a processor of scrap aluminum located in Kendallville, Indiana. Most recently, the acquisition of M&K Metal Processors close to Delta was completed as part of the company’s plans supporting North Star BlueScope Steel.
