American Metal Market Announces Winners for the 2010 Awards for Steel Excellence

NEW YORK, NY -- (Marketwire) -- 07/02/10 -- American Metal Market announced the winners of its 2010 Awards for Steel Excellence at an exclusive ceremony and dinner held during the Steel Success Strategies XXV Conference.

The awards recognize advancements rooted in pioneering and implementing business improvements that have delivered real change to the steel industry. In its inaugural year, the Awards for Steel Excellence named 21 finalists.

The evenings event drew a spirited gathering of some 170 guests who speculated on the outcome as co-presenters David Brooks, senior vice president and publisher of American Metal Market, and Jo Isenberg-OLoughlin, American Metal Market editor and chair of the judging panel, announced this years award winners.

The categories and winners of the 2010 Awards for Steel Excellence are:

Best Innovation:
Steel Dynamics, Inc. for its pace-setting Mesabi Nugget Project, the first in the world to employ Kobe Steels patented Itmk3 process. SDIs newly commissioned Hoyt Lakes, MN plant produces nuggets containing roughly 97 percent pure iron, the use of which will help insulate the Indiana steelmaker from volatile global pig iron prices as well as enhance melting efficiency and product quality.

Best Mergers and Acquisitions:
Reliance Steel Aluminum Co. for a highly selective and well-executed acquisition strategy focusing on profitable growth. Reliance has completed 45 acquisitions since its Initial Public Offering in 1994, making it the most acquisitive company in the American service center sector.

Best Operational Improvements:
Latrobe Specialty Steel Co. for building and commissioning the worlds largest operating vacuum induction furnace as part of a 50-million-plus drive to expand the steelmakers capacity for alloy melting. Implementation of the vacuum induction melter, which processes heats on a continuous rather than batch-type basis, has helped Latrobe cut lead times for certain critical iron-based alloys from 72 weeks to 20 weeks or less.

Best Turnaround of the Decade:
AK Steel Corp. for a financial transformation that began in 2003 and under the leadership of chairman, president and chief executive officer James L. Wainscott saw earnings grow from an adjusted pre-tax loss of approximately 432 million in 03 to an adjusted pre-tax income of 693 million in 2008. In addition, the Ohio steelmaker reduced its net debt from 1.2 billion in 2003 to less than 150 million at the end of 2009.

Biggest Impact on the Market Over the Decade:
ArcelorMittal SA for spearheading the sweeping globalization and consolidation of the American steel industry through mergers and acquisitions, including the 2005 purchase by Mittal Steel USA of Wilbur Ross International Steel Group. A year later, Mittal Steel launched its historic and successful bid to acquire Arcelor S.A. and create the worlds first 100-million-tonne-plus steel producer.

Environmental Responsibility/Stewardship:
Automotive Applications Council of American Iron and Steel Institute for developing and delivering innovative steel vehicle designs through its 60 million-plus Ultralight Steel initiative conducted in collaboration with the international steel industry. The vehicle designs are engineered to significantly cut greenhouse gas emissions and fuel consumption by reducing vehicle weight through the use of advanced high-strength steel (AHSS).

Industry Ambassador of the Year:
Daniel R. DiMicco, chairman, president and chief executive officer of Nucor Corp., for emerging and serving as a lightning rod and the "clear voice" of the North American steel industry on matters ranging from international trade and currency reform to environmental, energy and pro-manufacturing economic policies. DiMicco, the newly elected chairman of the American Iron and Steel Institute, has worked tirelessly to promote the competitiveness of U.S. mills and American manufacturing.

Logistics/Transportation Provider of the Year:
CSX Transportation Inc. for developing multiple service solutions to keep steel supply chains competitive and flexible. Major recent investments by CSX, which services 70 ocean, river and lake ports on the Atlantic and Gulf coasts, the Mississippi River, the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Seaway, have focused on increasing capacity, developing new rail corridors and adding new rail cars and more efficient locomotives.

Scrap Company of the Year:
The David J. Joseph Co. (DJJ), the largest scrap broker in the United States, for providing a vital link between the producers and consumers of ferrous scrap and scrap substitutes. Since joining the Nucor family in early 2008, DJJ has added about 1.1 million tons of scrap processing capacity to the companys network of more than 57 scrap processing facilities in the U.S.

Service Center of the Year:
MISA Metals, Inc. for differentiating itself by vastly improving customer service, support and retention initiatives while restructuring its management team and overall culture. MMI, which ships flat-rolled, processed steel and aluminum to more than 200 customers in the U.S., Mexico and Canada, has increased its volume by more than 200 percent in the past two years.

Steel Producer of the Year:
AK Steel Corp. for gaining market share during the Great Recession of 2009 by quickly reacting to market conditions, consolidating production and still managing to maintain an uninterrupted supply of value-added product to its customers. The Ohio steelmakers fourth-quarter operating earnings were the highest among its major competitors.

Titan of Steel:
Ken Iverson, former chairman and chief executive officer of Nucor Corp., for his seminal influence on the creation, evolution and entrepreneurial triumph of the American mini-mill and the management style, culture and risk orientation on which it is founded, prospered and revolutionized steelmaking around the world.

"These companies have shown tremendous creativity, inventiveness and are pioneers in creating the way to a better future for the steel industry," Brooks said. "AMMs Awards for Steel Excellence recognize the key contributions of companies and individuals who through acumen, management, innovation and plain hard work are reinventing the steel supply chain."

"The range, quality and depth of the nominations submitted not only made the judging process that much more challenging but attest to the vitality, strength, and competitive prowess of the North American steel supply chain and vendors who serve it," Isenberg-OLoughlin said.

Members of the judging panel in addition to Isenberg-OLoughlin were Herbert Fastert, former SMS Demag AG executive and veteran steel technology guru; Norman E. Gottschalk Jr., president of Marmon/Keystone LLC; Thomas C. Graham, founding member of T.C. Graham Associates and a former chairman and chief executive officer of AK Steel and Washington Steel Co., president of the U.S. Steel Group of USX Corp. and president and chief executive officer of Armco Steel Co. LP; Dick McLaughlin, managing director of Hatch Beddows; and Nick Sowar, partner and global steel leader at Deloitte Touche LLP.

For information about how to access full coverage of the Steel Excellence Awards Dinner, please contact AMM at 877-638-2856. For more detail including awards methodology, visit http://amm.com/events/2010/ammawards/.

About American Metal Market

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