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FOR
IMMEDIATE RELEASE
STRATEGIC
MINERALS FOCUSES ON HIGH-PERFORMANCE
SPECIALTY-VANADIUM PRODUCTS IN NEW REINVENTION PLAN
DANBURY,
Connecticut, March 11, 2002
-- A new wholly-owned subsidiary will market the performance-based vanadium
alloys and chemicals that Strategic Minerals Corporation sells to the
steel, titanium, and chemical industries. The move is part of a broad-based
initiative to "reinvent" the company and capitalize on product and marketing
opportunities in specialty-vanadium products, the company said.
"Our
new Reinvention Plan strengthens our leadership in the specialty-vanadium
field and makes us much less dependent on commodity-vanadium markets,"
said William G. Beattie, Chairman of Strategic Minerals Corporation.
"In the future, the focus of the company's strategic direction and investments
will be on Stratcor performance-based materials."
The new technical sales / marketing organization will be called Stratcor
Performance Materials, Inc. and be based in Pittsburgh. Stratcor Performance
Materials will market the high-purity vanadium oxides, halides, and
master alloys used in chemicals, batteries, and titanium. It will also
market Nitrovan vanadium, a proprietary addition used by steelmakers
to give their products higher strengths at lower costs. The President
of new subsidiary will be Terry T. Perles.
The new subsidiary will work closely with global partner, Nissho Iwai
Corporation, which will provide working-capital, sales, and information-integration
support worldwide. Stratcor Performance Materials will also offer its
customers a full line of master alloys for the titanium industry through
Strategic Minerals' previously announced alliance with International
Specialty Alloys, Inc. of Edinburg, Pa. The alliance creates the only
fully-integrated vanadium-aluminum master-alloy capability in the industry.
Combining the highest-purity vanadium oxide from Strategic Minerals"
Hot Springs plant with the most modern con-version-and-inspection facilities
in the world at International Specialty Alloy's New Castle, Pa. location
will provide unequalled supply assurance and value for the company's
titanium customers.
Since International Specialty Alloys will meet the company's vanadium-aluminum
production needs in the future, Strategic Minerals recently announced
the closure of its vanadium-aluminum operations at its Niagara Falls
plant, resulting in the layoff of about 40 employees. International
Specialty Alloys expects to be in full production of master alloys by
April of 2002.
According to Mr. Beattie, Strategic Minerals is implementing its Reinvention
Plan at this time because the total vanadium market has been oversupplied
by at least 10 million pounds of vanadium oxide annually, even though
worldwide ore-sourced production is operating at less than 55% of capacity.
Mr. Beattie expects that producer inventory will continue to build with
commodity-oxide and ferro-vanadium pricing remaining weak for the foreseeable
future unless additional production cutbacks are made and anti-dumping
action is taken by the U.S. Government. The company will continue serving
its ferrovanadium customers through Stratcor Performance Materials using
vanadium oxide sourced from its catalyst-recycling partner, CS Metals
of Louisiana.
Strategic Minerals also announced that, effective April 1, 2002, its
U.S. Vanadium subsidiary will be headquartered in Hot Springs, Arkansas
with Daniel C. Harris as its President. According to Mr. Beattie, Hot
Springs production will be targeted at specialty-product markets worldwide
with the goal of maintaining Hot Springs' leadership in vanadium-oxide
purity and reliability and developing a broader range of vanadium-chemical
products. The Hot Springs site, which includes the Corporation's Technology
Center, will become the center for developing and optimizing vanadium
chemicals for the emerging vanadium-battery markets.
Finally, Strategic Minerals announced that it had increased production
of Nitrovan vanadium by 10% at its Vametco Minerals subsidiary in Brits,
South Africa. The increase was needed to meet the growing demand worldwide
for this performance-based product that efficiently increases the strength
of high-strength steel, the company said. To meet future growth, the
company's Reinvention Plan includes a provision for an additional 25
to 30% increase in capacity through process improvements.
March 11, 2002
For more information, contact
John Crane
telephone: (212)302-3344
email: John.Crane@stratcor.com
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