Corporacion POK

Nov 30, 2018

Nucor acquires Mexican castings firm Corporacion POK produces products for the oil and gas, mining and sugar processing industries. Charlotte, North Carolina-based steelmaker Nucor Corp. has acquired Corporacion POK S.A. de C.V. (POK) , which it describes as “a fully integrated precision castings company with a facility in Guadalajara, Mexico.” POK produces what Nucor calls complex castings and precision machined products used by the oil and gas, mining and sugar processing industries. In a news release announcing the acquisition, Nucor says POK’s operations, which focus on making castings using steel, bronze, iron and specialty alloys, is a natural fit for Nucor’s existing cold finish businesses, and complements the steel company’s acquisition of a cold finish facility in Monterrey, Mexico, in 2017. “Our company has had a presence in Mexico for more than a decade; we know the market and the customers there,” says John Ferriola, chairman, CEO and president of Nucor. “This acquisition supports Nucor’s strategy in Mexico, which is focused on downstream processing for high-quality, value-added applications targeting niche markets. Expanding our capability to produce value-added products is a key component of our strategy for long-term profitable growth.” In addition to the Nucor ATP Mexico cold finish facility in Monterrey, Nucor’s current Mexican operations include several sheet steel processing facilities as part of its Steel Technologies joint venture with Mitsui & Co., as well as a steel sales office. Nucor also is building a galvanizing line with its joint venture partner, JFE Steel Corp. of Japan, to serve the Mexican automotive market. Hennepin County board of commissioners on Tuesday made the first changes to the county’s recycling ordinance since it was created in 1986, according a press release . The revisions require cities to offer organics recycling service to residents by 2022. In addition, businesses that generate "large quantities of food waste" must implement food waste recycling by 2020. The requirement applies to businesses that can implement organics recycling in a cost-effective way, the county says. About 30 percent of trash is made up of organic materials. Recycling food and other organic materials is how the county plans to achieve its goals of zero waste to landfill by 2030. “Hennepin County residents are strongly interested in environmental protection and organics recycling helps them achieve that goal,” county board chair Jan Callison says. “We were able to actively engage with the local communities, cities and businesses to create a common-sense approach to organics requirements that makes implementing organics recycling manageable for city partners and businesses.” The release says the benefits of organics recycling include feeding people in need, composting for healthier soils, creating energy through anaerobic digestion and reducing emissions of greenhouse gases, especially methane that is generated from the decomposition of organic materials in landfills. “Organic materials are a resource, not waste,” Public Works committee chair Mike Opat says. “This is the next step in the evolution of how we deal with our garbage.” Under the ordinance, restaurants, hotels, grocery stores, residential care facilities and office buildings with dining services must offer food waste recycling bins by Jan. 1, 2020. Large generators are defined by businesses that generate one ton of trash or more per week. Cities with a population of 10,000 or less can opt out of organics recycling service, but “must provide at least one organics recycling drop-off site,” the release says. Other requirements include multifamily properties must provide recycling education to residents. The county has the authority to issue warnings or citations for noncompliance. Oklahoma community aims to reduce copper wire theft Tulsa could add an ordinance to crack down on copper wire theft. The Tulsa City Council , Tulsa, Oklahoma, discussed a potential ordinance to crack down on copper wire theft, according to reports from KJRH-TV, Tulsa . KJRH-TV reports that the ordinance would not allow scrap yards to buy copper wiring four-gauge or larger from individuals without an exemption. Also, the ordinance would require scrap yards to get a copy of the seller’s government-issued identification and take photos of the material they are buying. Copper theft has been an ongoing issue in Tulsa—the city had passed a similar ordinance last January in an effort to deter copper theft, according to a January 2017 report from KOTV, Tulsa . The city had worked to replace copper wire with aluminum and it made doors to the wire more tamper-resistant, KOTV reported. Bruce Shive, production manager at Frailey’s Recycling , told KJRH-TV that an updated ordinance could help reduce theft in the city. He says he typically only sees this large of wiring come into his yard through contractors and seldom through individual sellers. He adds that his business also knows what to look for when it comes to sellers of stolen materials. “They’ve always got some kind of a story,” he tells KJRH-TV regarding sellers of stolen materials. “You know just steer clear.”  Lehigh Northeast Cement Company submitted an application to the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) to modify its air emissions permit for its Glens Falls, New York, plant to allow the company to use an engineered fuel product originating from recycled paper mills as a partial substitute for fossil fuels to produce energy. According to a Lehigh Hanson news release, the DEC found that emissions testing demonstrated that use of the fuel “will not cause ambient impacts above State guideline concentrations,” and has issued a draft permit, which is now available for public review and comment. The fuel, known as “raggertail,” is made up of 60 percent plastic trimmings and 40 percent paper and cardboard fiber, Lehigh Hanson reports. The company adds that raggertail meets the DEC’s criteria for use as an alternative fuel product and burning raggertail to produce energy is considered a safe and more beneficial use than disposing of the material in a landfill. By using raggertail as a partial substitute for fossil fuels, Lehigh Northeast Cement will reduce its total air emissions and consumption of fossil fuels; conserve landfill space; and reduce the plant’s energy costs and make it more competitive in the cement market. Before preparing its permit modification application, Lehigh Northeast Cement conducted raggertail test burns with the permission of DEC and performed air emissions tests to compare against the emissions from burning coal. These tests found the use of raggertail as a partial fossil fuels substitute resulted in a reduction in total air emissions from the Glens Falls plant, with decreased emission levels for some constituents and only nominal increases in others. Lehigh Northeast Cement’s draft permit and modification application can be viewed on  its website.