Fushi Copperweld
Encyclopedia
Fushi Copperweld, Inc. is a Sino
-American public company
based in Beijing
, China
. It was formed from the acquisition of an American wire company, Copperweld Bimetallics LLC, by Chinese manufacturer Fushi International in October 2007. The combined company is the largest manufacturer and supplier of bimetal
lic electrical conductor products in the world by volume. Its main products are wire
, stranded cable
, and busbar
made from its Copperweld® brand copper-clad steel
("CCS") or copper-clad aluminium ("CCA"). In addition to its Chinese and American operations, Fushi Copperweld maintains a production facility in Telford
, England
, and a distribution hub in Liège
, Belgium
.
first created a permanent metallurgical
bond between copper
and steel
in 1915. This bond originally was made under a molten weld
process. Their product, a CCS wire patented under the brand name Copperweld®, was soon adopted as an alternative to solid copper wire in many conductor applications, particularly those where copper would be too ductile
or would not offer the breaking strength of steel. The original use, however, was for watch
spring
s: the copper cladding prevented corrosion
. The company was originally founded as the Copper-Clad Steel Company, but in 1924, changed its name to the Copperweld Steel Company.
In 1927, the company installed itself in a former axe
factory in Glassport, Pennsylvania
. Copperweld Steel went public
for the first time in 1929, shortly before the onset of the Great Depression
, but its share
s were eventually withdrawn.
The United States government was the company's major client throughout the Depression and World War II
, and its patronage is largely responsible for keeping the company solvent in that time of severe economic downturn. The company was listed on the New York Curb Exchange in 1937, and on the New York Stock Exchange
in 1940. It would continue to trade on the NYSE until 1999.
In 1939, Copperweld would open its second factory in Warren, Ohio
, manufacturing steel billet
s.
in existing divisions, acquisition
became another of the company's major growth paths. In 1951, the company acquired the Flexo Wire Co. of Oswego, New York
. The next year, Copperweld entered into the steel tube manufacturing business with the acquisition of Ohio Seamless Tubing Company of Shelby, Ohio
. In 1957, the company merged with stainless steel
finisher Superior Steel Company, but sold off the division after five years of poor performance.
In conjunction with Battelle Memorial Institute
, the company developed a second bimetallic product line, an aluminum-covered steel wire that it branded as Alumoweld® in 1959. The new product was successful, and the company engaged in its first international joint venture
in 1966, with the creation of the Japan Alumoweld Company pf Numazu
, Japan
. Copperweld's stake was 45%, with the remainder owned by Japanese wire and cable manufacturer Fujikura Ltd.
In 1972, Copperweld Steel Co. acquired the Chicago
-based Regal Tube division of Lear-Siegler.
s such as aluminum, tin
, brass
, gold
, nickel
and silver
.
In 1974, the company's third foray into bimetallics was realized when the company opened a CCA wire manufacturing plant in Fayetteville, Tennessee
. That division, Copperweld Southern, would go on to become the focus of the company's bimetallic wire operation.
holding company
Imétal S.A. (today known as Imerys
), owned by the Rothschild family
, acquired controlling interest
of Copperweld Corporation in 1975. Imétal's acquisition of Copperweld represented the first hostile takeover of an American company by a foreign entity. Imétal vowed not to interfere with the theretofore successful company's direction.
In 1978, the company expanded its bimetallic wire production to Campinas, Brazil in a joint venture with Erico International Corp. Copperweld would buy the entire operation from its partner just three years later.
A new division and revenue stream were created in 1980 with the advent of Copperweld Energy, which bought stakes in Houston-based Guardian Oil Company. The ostensible purpose of Copperweld's involvement in the energy business was to drill for natural gas
on the grounds of (or near) its operations in Ohio and Pennsylvania, to ensure a steady supply for its factories. That same year, the company acquired American Seamless Tubing of Baltimore, Maryland.
In 1984, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of Copperweld in a landmark antitrust case, Copperweld Corp. v. Independence Tube Corp.
, that a parent company is incapable of conspiracy with a wholly owned subsidiary.
The severe steel crisis
of the late 1970s and early 1980s hit Copperweld hard. The venerable Glassport facility would close entirely in 1983. In 1986, the Oswego fine wire division was shut down. Both operations were relocated to Copperweld Southern in Fayetteville, largely due to cheaper labor costs in the South
.
However, Imétal's gamble paid off. Copperweld Corporation returned to profitability just one year after the spin-off of CSC Industries, which, by contrast, was doomed. The newly formed company never turned a profit in its entire history, and went bankrupt in 1993. The assets of CSC Industries were acquired in a bidding war
by Ohio-based Hamlin Holdings in 1995, and they discontinued use of the Copperweld name.
. The company also bought National Standard Company's Copperply division, giving it control of a competing brand in bimetallic wire.
In 1989, Copperweld and Fujikura announce a second joint venture together, the United States Alumoweld Company, to be located in Duncan, South Carolina
. In 1992, the Copperweld Corporation divested itself of the Alumoweld® business altogether, selling its shares and the rights to the brand to Fujikura.
Further growth by acquisition continued in the company's tube sector in the 1990s as it acquired Piqua, Ohio
-based Miami Industries in 1993 and two Canadian
steel tube companies, Standard Tube Canada and Sonco Steel Tube in 1997. That same year, the Shelby plant was the subject of another important expansion. In 1998, the company announced the building of a stainless steel tube plant in Elizabethtown, Kentucky
.
The bimetallic wire division also prospered, with a drastic increase in demand of bimetallic wires for the cellular telephony boom. In 1995, the company bought Metallon Engineered Materials Corporation of Pawtucket, Rhode Island
in 1995. There was a major expansion of the Fayetteville facility in 1997, and it purchased Sayton Fine Wires of Telford, England in 1998.
-based LTV Steel
acquired Copperweld Corporation from Imétal for $650 million, and the subsidiary became known as LTV Copperweld. At that time, the company was the largest producer of structural steel tubing in North America with 23 plants and employing 3,500 people. But LTV was drowning in debt, and at the end of 2000, LTV, along with 48 subsidiaries, including Copperweld, filed voluntary petitions for relief
under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code.
Under the order of conservators, LTV's various subsidiaries were sold off. But because the LTV Copperweld division maintained profitable operations throughout LTV's bankruptcy proceeding, it was able to secure separate debtor-in-possession financing
through GE Commercial Finance
. In late 2003, LTV Copperweld emerged from bankruptcy.
(today a division of Arcelor Mittal) acquired most of the LTV Copperweld assets, including 50% of the bimetallic wire division, which would in turn be sold to a private investor in 2006 and operated as Copperweld Bimetallics LLC. It was the only division of the previous conglomerate to continue to operate under the Copperweld name, and kept the established brand as a registered trademark for its copper-clad steel conductors.
for a mainland Chinese company. Fushi International had quickly grown to be the preeminent supplier of CCA wire in China, but was virtually unknown outside the PRC. For some time, the company had been seeking to broaden its market footprint globally. By acquiring Copperweld, it not only opened up a worldwide distribution channel, it also gained product diversification by the presence of CCS wire in its new subsidiary's lineup.
Three months later, Fushi International was listed on the Nasdaq
, and changed its name to Fushi Copperweld, capitalizing on the established brand name in the west.
The company relocated its corporate headquarters from Dalian
to the Chaoyang District of Beijing
in 2011. By volume, the company is the largest manufacturer of bimetallic conductors in the world, and trades on the Nasdaq
under the symbol FSIN.
, cable
, and busbar
. The metallic combinations are engineered to provide the benefits of two disparate materials. CCS, or copper-clad steel wire, provides the strength of steel with the conductivity of copper. In 1963, the original molten-weld process for Copperweld® CCS wire was abandoned in favor of a pressure
-rolling process, which is still used today. Plans were announced in 2009 to relocate some excess CCS production equipment from Fayetteville to Dalian, and soon the company was the first in China to produce CCS using the solid-state method.
In the case of CCA, or copper-clad aluminum, the key benefit over solid copper is lighter weight and flexibility. In 2011, Fushi Copperweld announced a continuation of its agreement with Nexans
to license its proprietary method of producing CCA. The company is able to draw the bimetallic wire down to sizes as fine as 0.03 millimeters, or one-fifth the diameter
of a human hair
.
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
-American public company
Public company
This is not the same as a Government-owned corporation.A public company or publicly traded company is a limited liability company that offers its securities for sale to the general public, typically through a stock exchange, or through market makers operating in over the counter markets...
based in Beijing
Beijing
Beijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's...
, China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
. It was formed from the acquisition of an American wire company, Copperweld Bimetallics LLC, by Chinese manufacturer Fushi International in October 2007. The combined company is the largest manufacturer and supplier of bimetal
Bimetal
Bimetal refers to an object that is composed of two separate metals joined together. Instead of being a mixture of two or more metals, like alloys, bimetallic objects consist of layers of different metals...
lic electrical conductor products in the world by volume. Its main products are wire
Wire
A wire is a single, usually cylindrical, flexible strand or rod of metal. Wires are used to bear mechanical loads and to carry electricity and telecommunications signals. Wire is commonly formed by drawing the metal through a hole in a die or draw plate. Standard sizes are determined by various...
, stranded cable
Cable
A cable is two or more wires running side by side and bonded, twisted or braided together to form a single assembly. In mechanics cables, otherwise known as wire ropes, are used for lifting, hauling and towing or conveying force through tension. In electrical engineering cables are used to carry...
, and busbar
Busbar
In electrical power distribution, a bus bar is a strip of copper or aluminium that conducts electricity within a switchboard, distribution board, substation or other electrical apparatus....
made from its Copperweld® brand copper-clad steel
Copper clad steel
Copper-clad steel , also known as copper-covered steel or the trademarked name Copperweld is a bi-metallic product, mainly used in the wire industry that combines the high mechanical resistance of steel with the conductivity and resistance to corrosion of copper.It is mainly used for grounding...
("CCS") or copper-clad aluminium ("CCA"). In addition to its Chinese and American operations, Fushi Copperweld maintains a production facility in Telford
Telford
Telford is a large new town in the borough of Telford and Wrekin and ceremonial county of Shropshire, England, approximately east of Shrewsbury, and west of Birmingham...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, and a distribution hub in Liège
Liège
Liège is a major city and municipality of Belgium located in the province of Liège, of which it is the economic capital, in Wallonia, the French-speaking region of Belgium....
, Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
.
Beginnings
A group of engineers (S. E. Bramer, Jacob Roth, F. R. S. Kaplan, Simon Loeb and William Smith, Sr.) in Rankin, PennsylvaniaRankin, Pennsylvania
Rankin is a borough in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, south of Pittsburgh on the Monongahela River. Early in the 20th century, Rankin specialized in manufacturing steel and wire goods...
first created a permanent metallurgical
Metallurgy
Metallurgy is a domain of materials science that studies the physical and chemical behavior of metallic elements, their intermetallic compounds, and their mixtures, which are called alloys. It is also the technology of metals: the way in which science is applied to their practical use...
bond between copper
Copper
Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu and atomic number 29. It is a ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. Pure copper is soft and malleable; an exposed surface has a reddish-orange tarnish...
and steel
Steel
Steel is an alloy that consists mostly of iron and has a carbon content between 0.2% and 2.1% by weight, depending on the grade. Carbon is the most common alloying material for iron, but various other alloying elements are used, such as manganese, chromium, vanadium, and tungsten...
in 1915. This bond originally was made under a molten weld
Welding
Welding is a fabrication or sculptural process that joins materials, usually metals or thermoplastics, by causing coalescence. This is often done by melting the workpieces and adding a filler material to form a pool of molten material that cools to become a strong joint, with pressure sometimes...
process. Their product, a CCS wire patented under the brand name Copperweld®, was soon adopted as an alternative to solid copper wire in many conductor applications, particularly those where copper would be too ductile
Ductility
In materials science, ductility is a solid material's ability to deform under tensile stress; this is often characterized by the material's ability to be stretched into a wire. Malleability, a similar property, is a material's ability to deform under compressive stress; this is often characterized...
or would not offer the breaking strength of steel. The original use, however, was for watch
Watch
A watch is a small timepiece, typically worn either on the wrist or attached on a chain and carried in a pocket, with wristwatches being the most common type of watch used today. They evolved in the 17th century from spring powered clocks, which appeared in the 15th century. The first watches were...
spring
Spring (device)
A spring is an elastic object used to store mechanical energy. Springs are usually made out of spring steel. Small springs can be wound from pre-hardened stock, while larger ones are made from annealed steel and hardened after fabrication...
s: the copper cladding prevented corrosion
Corrosion
Corrosion is the disintegration of an engineered material into its constituent atoms due to chemical reactions with its surroundings. In the most common use of the word, this means electrochemical oxidation of metals in reaction with an oxidant such as oxygen...
. The company was originally founded as the Copper-Clad Steel Company, but in 1924, changed its name to the Copperweld Steel Company.
In 1927, the company installed itself in a former axe
Axe
The axe, or ax, is an implement that has been used for millennia to shape, split and cut wood; to harvest timber; as a weapon; and as a ceremonial or heraldic symbol...
factory in Glassport, Pennsylvania
Glassport, Pennsylvania
Glassport is a borough in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, approximately south of Pittsburgh and the confluence of the Monongahela and Allegheny rivers where they form the Ohio River...
. Copperweld Steel went public
Initial public offering
An initial public offering or stock market launch, is the first sale of stock by a private company to the public. It can be used by either small or large companies to raise expansion capital and become publicly traded enterprises...
for the first time in 1929, shortly before the onset of the Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
, but its share
Share
Share may refer to:to some dume life* To share a resource is to make joint use of it; see sharing.* Share , a man who writes Urdu poetry* Share , a stock or other security such as a mutual fund...
s were eventually withdrawn.
The United States government was the company's major client throughout the Depression and World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, and its patronage is largely responsible for keeping the company solvent in that time of severe economic downturn. The company was listed on the New York Curb Exchange in 1937, and on the New York Stock Exchange
New York Stock Exchange
The New York Stock Exchange is a stock exchange located at 11 Wall Street in Lower Manhattan, New York City, USA. It is by far the world's largest stock exchange by market capitalization of its listed companies at 13.39 trillion as of Dec 2010...
in 1940. It would continue to trade on the NYSE until 1999.
In 1939, Copperweld would open its second factory in Warren, Ohio
Warren, Ohio
As of the census of 2000, there were 46,832 people, 19,288 households and 12,035 families residing in the city. The population density was 2,912.4 people per square mile . There were 21,279 housing units at an average density of 1,322.9 per square mile...
, manufacturing steel billet
Bar stock
Bar stock, also colloquially known as billet, is a common form of raw purified metal, used by industry to manufacture metal parts and products....
s.
Post-war growth and diversification
After the war, the resurgence of the American economy helped Copperweld thrive. The company's management offices relocated from Glassport to downtown Pittsburgh soon after the war. Although there was considerable investmentInvestment
Investment has different meanings in finance and economics. Finance investment is putting money into something with the expectation of gain, that upon thorough analysis, has a high degree of security for the principal amount, as well as security of return, within an expected period of time...
in existing divisions, acquisition
Acquisition
Acquisition may refer to:* Takeover, the acquisition of a company* Mergers and acquisitions, strategy of buying and selling of various companies to quickly grow a company...
became another of the company's major growth paths. In 1951, the company acquired the Flexo Wire Co. of Oswego, New York
Oswego, New York
Oswego is a city in Oswego County, New York, United States. The population was 18,142 at the 2010 census. Oswego is located on Lake Ontario in north-central New York and promotes itself as "The Port City of Central New York"...
. The next year, Copperweld entered into the steel tube manufacturing business with the acquisition of Ohio Seamless Tubing Company of Shelby, Ohio
Shelby, Ohio
Shelby is a city in Richland County in the U.S. state of Ohio, northwest of the city of Mansfield. It is part of the Mansfield, Ohio Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 9,821 at the 2000 census.-History:...
. In 1957, the company merged with stainless steel
Stainless steel
In metallurgy, stainless steel, also known as inox steel or inox from French "inoxydable", is defined as a steel alloy with a minimum of 10.5 or 11% chromium content by mass....
finisher Superior Steel Company, but sold off the division after five years of poor performance.
In conjunction with Battelle Memorial Institute
Battelle Memorial Institute
Battelle Memorial Institute is a private nonprofit applied science and technology development company headquartered in Columbus, Ohio. Battelle is a charitable trust organized as a nonprofit corporation under the laws of the State of Ohio and is exempt from taxation under Section 501 of the...
, the company developed a second bimetallic product line, an aluminum-covered steel wire that it branded as Alumoweld® in 1959. The new product was successful, and the company engaged in its first international joint venture
Joint venture
A joint venture is a business agreement in which parties agree to develop, for a finite time, a new entity and new assets by contributing equity. They exercise control over the enterprise and consequently share revenues, expenses and assets...
in 1966, with the creation of the Japan Alumoweld Company pf Numazu
Numazu, Shizuoka
is a city located in eastern Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. As of 2009, the city has an estimated population of 205,636 and a population density of 1,100 persons per km². The total area was 187.11 km².- Geography:...
, Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
. Copperweld's stake was 45%, with the remainder owned by Japanese wire and cable manufacturer Fujikura Ltd.
In 1972, Copperweld Steel Co. acquired the Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
-based Regal Tube division of Lear-Siegler.
A new name
Now truly diversified, the company changed its name in 1973 to Copperweld Corporation. The company expanded into the primary and secondary metallurgical products market, offering a diversified product range that included steel pipe and tube; bimetallic wire, strand and strip; steel bars and plates; solder and skiving, and employed thousands at multiple facilities in the USA, Canada, Japan and Britain. The bimetallic process moved beyond simple copper and steel, and eventually also combined metals and alloyAlloy
An alloy is a mixture or metallic solid solution composed of two or more elements. Complete solid solution alloys give single solid phase microstructure, while partial solutions give two or more phases that may or may not be homogeneous in distribution, depending on thermal history...
s such as aluminum, tin
Tin
Tin is a chemical element with the symbol Sn and atomic number 50. It is a main group metal in group 14 of the periodic table. Tin shows chemical similarity to both neighboring group 14 elements, germanium and lead and has two possible oxidation states, +2 and the slightly more stable +4...
, brass
Brass
Brass is an alloy of copper and zinc; the proportions of zinc and copper can be varied to create a range of brasses with varying properties.In comparison, bronze is principally an alloy of copper and tin...
, gold
Gold
Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au and an atomic number of 79. Gold is a dense, soft, shiny, malleable and ductile metal. Pure gold has a bright yellow color and luster traditionally considered attractive, which it maintains without oxidizing in air or water. Chemically, gold is a...
, nickel
Nickel
Nickel is a chemical element with the chemical symbol Ni and atomic number 28. It is a silvery-white lustrous metal with a slight golden tinge. Nickel belongs to the transition metals and is hard and ductile...
and silver
Silver
Silver is a metallic chemical element with the chemical symbol Ag and atomic number 47. A soft, white, lustrous transition metal, it has the highest electrical conductivity of any element and the highest thermal conductivity of any metal...
.
In 1974, the company's third foray into bimetallics was realized when the company opened a CCA wire manufacturing plant in Fayetteville, Tennessee
Fayetteville, Tennessee
Fayetteville is a city in Lincoln County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 6,994 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Lincoln County.-History:...
. That division, Copperweld Southern, would go on to become the focus of the company's bimetallic wire operation.
Takeover, crisis and breakup
FrenchFrance
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
holding company
Holding company
A holding company is a company or firm that owns other companies' outstanding stock. It usually refers to a company which does not produce goods or services itself; rather, its purpose is to own shares of other companies. Holding companies allow the reduction of risk for the owners and can allow...
Imétal S.A. (today known as Imerys
Imerys
Imerys is a French multinational company. It is a constituent of the CAC Mid 60 index.-History:The Company was founded in 1880 and for many years was known as Imetal....
), owned by the Rothschild family
Rothschild family
The Rothschild family , known as The House of Rothschild, or more simply as the Rothschilds, is a Jewish-German family that established European banking and finance houses starting in the late 18th century...
, acquired controlling interest
Controlling interest
Controlling interest in a corporation means to have control of a large enough block of voting stock shares in a company such that no one stock holder or coalition of stock holders can successfully oppose a motion...
of Copperweld Corporation in 1975. Imétal's acquisition of Copperweld represented the first hostile takeover of an American company by a foreign entity. Imétal vowed not to interfere with the theretofore successful company's direction.
In 1978, the company expanded its bimetallic wire production to Campinas, Brazil in a joint venture with Erico International Corp. Copperweld would buy the entire operation from its partner just three years later.
A new division and revenue stream were created in 1980 with the advent of Copperweld Energy, which bought stakes in Houston-based Guardian Oil Company. The ostensible purpose of Copperweld's involvement in the energy business was to drill for natural gas
Natural gas
Natural gas is a naturally occurring gas mixture consisting primarily of methane, typically with 0–20% higher hydrocarbons . It is found associated with other hydrocarbon fuel, in coal beds, as methane clathrates, and is an important fuel source and a major feedstock for fertilizers.Most natural...
on the grounds of (or near) its operations in Ohio and Pennsylvania, to ensure a steady supply for its factories. That same year, the company acquired American Seamless Tubing of Baltimore, Maryland.
In 1984, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of Copperweld in a landmark antitrust case, Copperweld Corp. v. Independence Tube Corp.
Copperweld Corp. v. Independence Tube Corp.
Copperweld Corp. v. Independence Tube Corp., 467 U.S. 752, 777 , was a major U.S. Supreme Court antitrust case that held that a parent company is incapable of conspiring with its wholly owned subsidiary for purposes of Section 1 of the Sherman Act because they cannot be considered separate economic...
, that a parent company is incapable of conspiracy with a wholly owned subsidiary.
The severe steel crisis
Steel crisis
The steel crisis was a recession in the global steel market during the 1970s recession, following the end of the post-World War II economic boom and the 1973 oil crisis....
of the late 1970s and early 1980s hit Copperweld hard. The venerable Glassport facility would close entirely in 1983. In 1986, the Oswego fine wire division was shut down. Both operations were relocated to Copperweld Southern in Fayetteville, largely due to cheaper labor costs in the South
Southern United States
The Southern United States—commonly referred to as the American South, Dixie, or simply the South—constitutes a large distinctive area in the southeastern and south-central United States...
.
Two Copperwelds
In a bold move to shed the company of its crippled steel manufacturing operations and concentrate on fabricated steel products, Imétal spun off Copperweld's Warren, Ohio operation into a separate publicly traded company in 1986. That company, CSC Industries, would continue to operate as the Copperweld Steel Company, causing confusion. For some time, two "Copperwelds" existed.However, Imétal's gamble paid off. Copperweld Corporation returned to profitability just one year after the spin-off of CSC Industries, which, by contrast, was doomed. The newly formed company never turned a profit in its entire history, and went bankrupt in 1993. The assets of CSC Industries were acquired in a bidding war
Bidding war
Bidding War is a card game typically involving two players. A radical variation of the classic game War, the result is not predetermined and a good player can win consistently....
by Ohio-based Hamlin Holdings in 1995, and they discontinued use of the Copperweld name.
Bouncing back
The late 1980s saw a much healthier Copperweld Corporation divest of its operations in Brazil and sell its tubing operation in Baltimore. Expansion was again on the horizon, with the 1988 announcement of a $90 million upgrade to its plant in Shelby, Ohio, and the construction of another tube plant in Birmingham, AlabamaBirmingham, Alabama
Birmingham is the largest city in Alabama. The city is the county seat of Jefferson County. According to the 2010 United States Census, Birmingham had a population of 212,237. The Birmingham-Hoover Metropolitan Area, in estimate by the U.S...
. The company also bought National Standard Company's Copperply division, giving it control of a competing brand in bimetallic wire.
In 1989, Copperweld and Fujikura announce a second joint venture together, the United States Alumoweld Company, to be located in Duncan, South Carolina
Duncan, South Carolina
Duncan is a town in Spartanburg County, South Carolina, United States. The population was 3,181 at the 2010 census.-Geography:Duncan is located at ....
. In 1992, the Copperweld Corporation divested itself of the Alumoweld® business altogether, selling its shares and the rights to the brand to Fujikura.
Further growth by acquisition continued in the company's tube sector in the 1990s as it acquired Piqua, Ohio
Piqua, Ohio
Piqua is a city in Miami County, Ohio, United States. The population was 20,738 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Dayton Metropolitan Statistical Area.Piqua was one of the cities that experienced severe flooding during the Great Dayton Flood of 1913....
-based Miami Industries in 1993 and two Canadian
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
steel tube companies, Standard Tube Canada and Sonco Steel Tube in 1997. That same year, the Shelby plant was the subject of another important expansion. In 1998, the company announced the building of a stainless steel tube plant in Elizabethtown, Kentucky
Elizabethtown, Kentucky
Elizabethtown is a city in and the county seat of Hardin County, Kentucky, United States. The population was 28,531 at the 2010 census, making it the eleventh-largest city in the state...
.
The bimetallic wire division also prospered, with a drastic increase in demand of bimetallic wires for the cellular telephony boom. In 1995, the company bought Metallon Engineered Materials Corporation of Pawtucket, Rhode Island
Pawtucket, Rhode Island
Pawtucket is a city in Providence County, Rhode Island, United States. The population was 71,148 at the 2010 census. It is the fourth largest city in the state.-History:...
in 1995. There was a major expansion of the Fayetteville facility in 1997, and it purchased Sayton Fine Wires of Telford, England in 1998.
Sale and bankruptcy
In 1999, Cleveland, OhioCleveland, Ohio
Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Cuyahoga County, the most populous county in the state. The city is located in northeastern Ohio on the southern shore of Lake Erie, approximately west of the Pennsylvania border...
-based LTV Steel
Ling-Temco-Vought
Ling-Temco-Vought was a large U.S. conglomerate which existed from 1969 to 2000. At its peak, its component parts were involved in the aerospace industry, electronics, steel manufacturing, sporting goods, the airline industry, meat packing, car rentals and pharmaceuticals, among other...
acquired Copperweld Corporation from Imétal for $650 million, and the subsidiary became known as LTV Copperweld. At that time, the company was the largest producer of structural steel tubing in North America with 23 plants and employing 3,500 people. But LTV was drowning in debt, and at the end of 2000, LTV, along with 48 subsidiaries, including Copperweld, filed voluntary petitions for relief
Bankruptcy
Bankruptcy is a legal status of an insolvent person or an organisation, that is, one that cannot repay the debts owed to creditors. In most jurisdictions bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debtor....
under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code.
Under the order of conservators, LTV's various subsidiaries were sold off. But because the LTV Copperweld division maintained profitable operations throughout LTV's bankruptcy proceeding, it was able to secure separate debtor-in-possession financing
Debtor-in-possession financing
Debtor-in-possession financing or DIP financing is a special form of financing provided for companies in financial distress or under Chapter 11 bankruptcy process. Usually, this security is more senior than debt, equity, and any other securities issued by a company...
through GE Commercial Finance
GE Commercial Finance
GE Commercial Finance is a unit of GE Capital, . Headquartered in Norwalk, Connecticut, USA, it plays a role in over 35 countries and had assets of over US$335 billion at year end 2007....
. In late 2003, LTV Copperweld emerged from bankruptcy.
Strictly bimetallics
DofascoDofasco
Dofasco is a steel company based in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, which is also home to longtime Canadian rival Stelco. Dofasco is currently a standalone subsidiary of ArcelorMittal, the world's largest steel producer. Previously ordered by the U.S...
(today a division of Arcelor Mittal) acquired most of the LTV Copperweld assets, including 50% of the bimetallic wire division, which would in turn be sold to a private investor in 2006 and operated as Copperweld Bimetallics LLC. It was the only division of the previous conglomerate to continue to operate under the Copperweld name, and kept the established brand as a registered trademark for its copper-clad steel conductors.
Enter Fushi International
Now a small company, Copperweld had struggled for a number of years under the pall of its previous bankruptcy. In August 2007, however, the owner sold the company for $22.5 million USD to Fushi International, founded by Li Fu in 2001. The acquisition is significant because it represents the first major investment in the state of TennesseeTennessee
Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...
for a mainland Chinese company. Fushi International had quickly grown to be the preeminent supplier of CCA wire in China, but was virtually unknown outside the PRC. For some time, the company had been seeking to broaden its market footprint globally. By acquiring Copperweld, it not only opened up a worldwide distribution channel, it also gained product diversification by the presence of CCS wire in its new subsidiary's lineup.
Three months later, Fushi International was listed on the Nasdaq
NASDAQ
The NASDAQ Stock Market, also known as the NASDAQ, is an American stock exchange. "NASDAQ" originally stood for "National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations". It is the second-largest stock exchange by market capitalization in the world, after the New York Stock Exchange. As of...
, and changed its name to Fushi Copperweld, capitalizing on the established brand name in the west.
Locations and Subsidiaries
With access to capital markets, Fushi Copperweld engaged in a series of acquisitions, bringing its total number of manufacturing facilities to six, which operate as wholly owned subsidiaries:- Fushi (Dalian) Bimetallic Cable Company Ltd. in Dalian, China (opened 2001)
- Dalian Jinchuan Electric Cable Company Ltd. in Dalian, China (acquired 2010)
- Fushi International (Jiangsu) Bimetallic Cable Company Ltd. in YixingYixingYixing is a county-level city in Jiangsu province, in eastern China with a population of 1.3 million. It is well-known for its Yixing clay and the pottery -- especially the "zisha"-style teapots -- made from the clay...
, ChinaChinaChinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
(formerly Shanghai Hongtai Industrial Co., acquired 2011) - Copperweld Bimetallics LLC in Fayetteville, TennesseeFayetteville, TennesseeFayetteville is a city in Lincoln County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 6,994 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Lincoln County.-History:...
(opened 1975, acquired 2007) - Copperweld Bimetallics UK Ltd. in Telford, England (formely Sayton Fine Wire, opened 1998, acquired 2007)
- Copperweld Tubing SPRL in LiègeLiègeLiège is a major city and municipality of Belgium located in the province of Liège, of which it is the economic capital, in Wallonia, the French-speaking region of Belgium....
, BelgiumBelgiumBelgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
(formerly Leaf Business Holdings Belgium, acquired 2011)
The company relocated its corporate headquarters from Dalian
Dalian
Dalian is a major city and seaport in the south of Liaoning province, Northeast China. It faces Shandong to the south, the Yellow Sea to the east and the Bohai Sea to the west and south. Holding sub-provincial administrative status, Dalian is the southernmost city of Northeast China and China's...
to the Chaoyang District of Beijing
Beijing
Beijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's...
in 2011. By volume, the company is the largest manufacturer of bimetallic conductors in the world, and trades on the Nasdaq
NASDAQ
The NASDAQ Stock Market, also known as the NASDAQ, is an American stock exchange. "NASDAQ" originally stood for "National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations". It is the second-largest stock exchange by market capitalization in the world, after the New York Stock Exchange. As of...
under the symbol FSIN.
Products
Fushi Copperweld manufactures bimetallic wireWire
A wire is a single, usually cylindrical, flexible strand or rod of metal. Wires are used to bear mechanical loads and to carry electricity and telecommunications signals. Wire is commonly formed by drawing the metal through a hole in a die or draw plate. Standard sizes are determined by various...
, cable
Cable
A cable is two or more wires running side by side and bonded, twisted or braided together to form a single assembly. In mechanics cables, otherwise known as wire ropes, are used for lifting, hauling and towing or conveying force through tension. In electrical engineering cables are used to carry...
, and busbar
Busbar
In electrical power distribution, a bus bar is a strip of copper or aluminium that conducts electricity within a switchboard, distribution board, substation or other electrical apparatus....
. The metallic combinations are engineered to provide the benefits of two disparate materials. CCS, or copper-clad steel wire, provides the strength of steel with the conductivity of copper. In 1963, the original molten-weld process for Copperweld® CCS wire was abandoned in favor of a pressure
Pressure
Pressure is the force per unit area applied in a direction perpendicular to the surface of an object. Gauge pressure is the pressure relative to the local atmospheric or ambient pressure.- Definition :...
-rolling process, which is still used today. Plans were announced in 2009 to relocate some excess CCS production equipment from Fayetteville to Dalian, and soon the company was the first in China to produce CCS using the solid-state method.
In the case of CCA, or copper-clad aluminum, the key benefit over solid copper is lighter weight and flexibility. In 2011, Fushi Copperweld announced a continuation of its agreement with Nexans
Nexans
Nexans S.A. is a French company which manufactures copper and optical fiber cable products for the infrastructure, industrial and construction markets. It is the world's largest manufacturer of cables. It has an industrial presence in nearly 40 countries, over 23,000 employees and sales of around...
to license its proprietary method of producing CCA. The company is able to draw the bimetallic wire down to sizes as fine as 0.03 millimeters, or one-fifth the diameter
Diameter
In geometry, a diameter of a circle is any straight line segment that passes through the center of the circle and whose endpoints are on the circle. The diameters are the longest chords of the circle...
of a human hair
Hair
Hair is a filamentous biomaterial, that grows from follicles found in the dermis. Found exclusively in mammals, hair is one of the defining characteristics of the mammalian class....
.