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| "Management Consultants to the Steel, Aluminum, Metals, related Raw Materials, and End-Using Industries" |
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Metal Strategies Inc. COMPANY
PROFILE SUMMARY MSI
is uniquely positioned with its high-level, in-house experienced staff in the
areas of steel and metals consulting:
The
services of MSI include fluid access to affiliated specialists, market and
plant cost curve services, topical multi-client studies, and a wide variety of
specialized consulting services ranging from international steel market
research, technical analysis and plant cost benchmarking, to plant feasibility
studies, turnaround management and merger and acquisition analysis. MSI
operates with the following key infrastructure features: ·
Experienced
professional staff ·
Extensive
worldwide industry steel plant and company
operational and financial databases ·
In-house
access to an unmatched library of statistical data,
forecast services, industry
journals and publications
from around the world. The statistical and publications budget for
MSI’s headquarter library unit is over $50,000 per year. ·
Detailed
and up-to-date competitive intelligence
files on over 3,000 steel and related companies, raw material
companies, non-ferrous metals companies, foundries, service centers,
processors, hundreds of non-ferrous companies, and equipment manufacturers
worldwide, in both hard copy and on-line formats. These files have been
maintained and updated on a consistent basis for over 20 years. ·
State-of-the-art
international plant cost-of-production
models covering integrated mills through the cold rolling and
coating stages, mini-mills, specialty and stainless mills, DRI and related
facilities ·
Comprehensive
econometric steel and raw material market
supply/demand models. The
engineering and technology units of Metal Strategies bring a wealth of
high-level management experience – from mini-mills through integrated
production plants – to customer assignments. MST
staff experience includes hands-on production, commercial, operational and
strategic management assignments with major domestic and international steel
and specialty metals producers. With
combination of operations and consulting experience, MST has skills and
insight that can be applied for clients in a wide spectrum of metals and
metalworking operations. Close
ties with commercial and production management at metals companies, mill
builders and the engineering community, coupled with continuous research of
various aspects of the industry, give MST insight into the latest
industry technology and advances. MST
professional’s industrial experience and knowledge base include engineering
and operation of blast furnaces, basic oxygen and electric arc furnaces, ladle
furnaces, AODs, VIM/VAR/ESRs, continuous casters, reheat furnaces, hot and
cold rolling mills, processing and finishing lines. Metal
Strategies Inc.
is a leading international metals research and management consulting firm,
entering its sixth full year of operations with primary offices in Each of the 15 principal/partners of MSI has up to 20 or more years of direct professional industry experience in the steel and metals industries, many at the Director or Senior Vice President level in areas such as Commercial, Strategic Planning, Engineering & Technology, Financial, and Labor Management, among others, for companies including the following: · Chase Manhattan Bank ·
CRU-International ·
Beddows
& Co. ·
AK
Steel/Armco Steel ·
Krupp
Engineering / D&L Engineering ·
Ipsco
Steel ·
·
Amax
/ Alumax ·
J&L
Steel ·
Axel
Johnson/Avesta ·
·
Special
Metals MSI
is uniquely positioned to assist companies involved in all aspects of the
metals industry: ·
MSI
has a strong industry reputation in the steel and specialty metals industries,
the financial community and government agencies and leaders. ·
MSI,
unlike most of its competitors, has the internal staffing of company
principals and affiliates – all with high levels of experience -- to handle
the full gamut of issues required to be examined in almost all types of
consulting projects, from commercial, labor, financial, technical and
engineering, through to purchasing, and government relations. ·
MSI
and its key personnel regularly work on behalf some of the most influential
companies in the industry including Nucor, ·
MSI
is currently the primary steel industry advisor for the following key federal
government agencies, and as such, we have been directly involved in some of
the largest and most important decisions facing the U.S. steel industry in
recent years as well as having first-hand, boardroom-level knowledge of the
options and decisions faced by some of the most financially stressed companies
in the industry including LTV, National, Bethlehem, Geneva, Acme, Republic
Technologies, Northwestern Steel & Wire, CSC Ltd. and many others: o
Pension
Benefit Guaranty Corp. (PBGC) o
Emergency
Steel Loan Guarantee Board o
Central
Intelligence Agency o
Department
of Justice – Legal and Anti-Trust o
Executive
Office of the President – Trade Representatives Offices o
US-International
Trade Commission ·
Over
25% of our consulting work is conducted on behalf of major financial
institutions such as J.P. Morgan, Solomon Smith Barney, Scotia Capital, Royal
Bank of Canada and many others, and our company’s Director was formerly Vice
President and Director of the World Steel and Metals Practice for Chase
Manhattan Bank, at the time, the holder of the largest steel and metals
portfolio of any bank in the world. ·
MSI
has extensive experience in dealing with financially and operationally
distressed companies, and has worked with such companies on labor
negotiations, plant reconfiguration strategies including EAF conversion, slab
sourcing, domestic and international partnering, financial negotiations, etc.
One of our directors has more than 25 years of senior management operating
experience managing turnarounds of specialty metals and metalworking
companies. ·
MSI
operates with low overhead, is a privately-held partnership not beholden to
stockholders or outside owners, and the salary and benefits of its senior
personnel and principals are 100% variable. DATABASES
and BENCHMARKING Plant
Cost Models: MSI
uses among the most detailed plant cost models in the industry (we have
attached several indicative models by process stage, converted into Excel
format, to provide you with a better sense of our capabilities in these
areas). Our models cover all major carbon flat rolled plants in the Steel
Plant Capacity Data Bases: MSI
maintains detailed electronic and hardcopy databases of essentially every
steel plant in the world including extensive data on mill configurations by
process stage, line speeds, horse power, gauge and width ranges, installation
and upgrade dates, quality ratings, etc. Steel
Industry Supply, Demand (Product and Market) Data and Models: MSI
maintains detailed databases down to the end-market and micro-product levels
for the Steel
and Raw Material Price Data: MSI uses and maintains extensive U.S. and international pricing data from various sources including Purchasing Magazine, American Metal Market, Brook Hunt (London), ISSB (London), Metal Bulletin, Customs Bureau, and from our own surveys and consulting work. Steel Company Financial Databases: MSI
maintains a comprehensive library of quarterly, annual and 10K reports for
nearly 500 U.S. and international companies in the steel, service center,
end-market raw materials, and other related sectors going back, in some cases,
over 30 years. Much of this data is in our comprehensive World Steel
Company Financial and Operational Database covering over 200 U.S. and world
steel and related companies over 10 to 20 years through the current date and
from between 50 and 250 line item categories (sample in Excel form attached)
from production, operating rates, labor cost and productivity, sales, and
profits, to other income statement, balance sheet and cash flow items. Labor
Cost Databases: MSI’s labor cost data and related analytical tools are derived from various sources including AIS-1 labor and financial detail reports, our company financial data bases (see earlier item above), the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and our own research and private consulting work. MSI has extensive and recent working knowledge of details (although company specifics are confidential,) relating to such issues as the last standing USWA offer to LTV, new labor issues with ISG, Wheeling Pittsburgh, Gevena Steel, Republic Technologies, Duferco Farrell, DSC (former McLouth, CSC, and many others. DATABASES
and BENCHMARKING Economic
and End-Market Databases: MSI
subscribes to several General
Research Library and Related Files: MSI
subscribes to over 75 trade journals and statistical sources from around the
world. MSI supports
and maintains one of the largest and most comprehensive steel research
libraries in the world., giving us one of our strongest competitive advantages
Including our financial data mentioned earlier, we have files on virtually
every steel company, raw material company, steel product and production
process, steel end-market, and steel-related labor-, energy-, and other-
issue, in the world. CONSULTING
SERVICES Metal
Markets and Corporate Strategies ·
Business
strategy development and evaluation ·
Customized
market research and competitive environment assessment ·
Commercial
and technical feasibility studies and risk evaluations ·
Full
scope due diligence studies ·
Assets
Valuation Analysis ·
Operations
benchmarking, cost modeling and analysis ·
Corporate
mergers and acquisitions analysis and advisory ·
Labor
and employment advisory ·
Worldwide
steel plant cost, market and financial databases Technologies
and Operations Management ·
Steelmaking
and rolling operations, mill facilities and process technologies ·
Evaluation
of product mix, process technology and mill facilities for financially
sustainable operation ·
Restructuring
and re-start of financially troubled steel companies ·
Shutdown
and liquidation of unutilized or unprofitable assets ·
Production
efficiency optimization for the remaining operating facilities ·
New,
modernized or shutdown mill facilities start-up advisory ·
Product
quality and productivity improvement ·
Facility
and equipment reliability assurance ·
Energy,
utilities and raw materials purchasing and consumption management ·
Interim
management services CAPEX
Development and Management ·
Development
of CAPEX programs, scope definition and technology selection ·
Manufacturing
process development and facilities planning ·
Conceptual
project analysis and capital investment cost analysis ·
CAPEX
project financing consulting ·
Contract
negotiations and project execution management ·
Project
management, scheduling and cost control advisory ·
Evaluation
of project technical and financial performance Expert
Witness Consulting ·
Project
post-mortem audit for contract compliance, equipment functionality, process
performance guarantees, construction quality and cost-effectiveness ·
Construction
dispute and resolution analysis ·
Litigation
assistance and expert witness testimony ·
Forensic
accounting and insurance dispute resolution REPRESENTATIVE
LIST OF CLIENTS Ferrous
Metals Companies
Acroni Armco
(AK Steel) Axel
Johnson/Avesta Commercial
Metals Corp. Hylsa Ahmsa BHP
Billiton Beta
Steel Bayou
Steel Duferco Essar
Steel Ltd. GS
Technologies Ipsco
Steel Iscor Ispat
Karmet Ispat
Mexicana J&L
Steel J&L
Structural Lukens
( LTV Metal
Tech North
Star Steel Nucor NKK Republic
Technologies Sumitomo Trico
Steel Wheeling
Wolverine
Metals United
Steelworkers of American
Iron & Steel Institute Government
Agencies
Pension
Benefit Guaranty Corp (PBGC) Emergency
Steel Loan Guaranty Board DOJ-Legal DOJ-Anti
Trust Division Office
of the President International
Trade Commission Central
Intelligence Agency Congressional
Research Service Aluminum
Companies
Alcoa Bonneville
Power Century
Aluminum Commonwealth
Metals Landisvirkjun Materials
& Other
ABB American
Iron Reduction A.T.
Axel
Johnson Metals BHP
Billiton Canadian
National Rail Cargill
Corp. Citizens
Gas & Coke C/G
Group CVRD Hismelt Industrial
Development Corp. of Kobelco North
Ltd. Prax
Air Phelps
Dodge Philips
Services Primary
Energy RTZ,
QIT Samancor Special
Metals UCAR
Carbon Union
Pacific Financial
Institutions
Bank
Bankers
Trust (Deutsche Bank) Blackstone
Group Bank
of BB&T
Capital J.P.
Morgan Chase Credit
Swiss First Boston CIBC Deutsche Bank DLJ
Capital GE
Capital ING
Capital Morgan
Stanley National
City Bank Nations
Bank Oak
Hill Advisors Sanwa
Bank Sakura
Bank UBS
Warburg RECENT
STEEL CONFERENCE PRESENTATIONS (By
Christopher Plummer, except where noted) McCloskey’
World Coal and Coke Conference World
Coal and Coke BHP-Billiton,
Intertech Metal
Bulletin Annual
World Stainless Conference McClosky’s
Coal & Coke Annual Conference Forging
Industry Association Annual
Conference Steel
Manufacturers’ Assoc. Annual
Steel Co. Executive Meeting Executive
Committee Steel
Buyers’ Forum Annual
International Purchasing Conference American
Metal Market 2004
N. Amer. Stainless Conf. World
Galvalume Conference Keynote
Speaker American
Metal Market 2003
N. Amer. Stainless Conf. Steel
Plate Fabricators Assoc. Annual
Convention Metal
Service Center Inst. Annual
Convention Inst.
Scrap Recycling Annual
Convention Mar.12,
2002 Refractories
Institute Annual
Industry Conference Intertech World
Coal/Coke Conference Keynote
Presentation Forging
Industry Association Annual
Conference Steel
Mfrs Association Annual
Board of Dir. Meeting American
Metal Market N.
Amer. Stainless Conf. Ryan’s
Notes Stainless/Ferroalloys
Conf. Steel
Service Center Institute Forecast
2001 Conference
Intertech World
Keynote
Presentation American
Metal Market N.
Amer. Stainless Conf. Metal
Bulletin Minimill
Conference Steel
Plate Fabricators Assoc. Annual
Conference Forging
Industry Association Annual
Conference Steel
Mfrs Association Annual
Board of Dir. Meeting American
Metal Market N.
Amer. Stainless Conf. Inst.
Scrap Recycling Annual
Convention Metal
Bulletin International
Steel Conference American
Metal Market Steel on West Coast Conf. |
