Robert Bunting

Newton, Kansas-based Bunting Magnetics Co. has announced the promotion of Robert Bunting to general manager, Magnet Materials Division, Elk Grove Village, Illinois, effective March 1, 2016.

Bob Bunting, president and CEO of Bunting Magnetics, says, “Robert’s aptitude, experience and contributions have been invaluable. I am confident his innovative thinking, sales and management skills will enhance this division’s growth, profitability and long-term strategic direction.”

Throughout high school, Robert worked at the company’s Newton headquarters in manufacturing and engineering. Soon after his graduation from Rockhurst University, he became a member of the inside sales team at the Magnet Materials Division. His grew his sales experience as an outside sales representative for Bunting’s Standard Product Group, where he was recognized as one of the company’s top sales producers. Robert most recently served as product manager for the company’s Metal Detection Product Group, where he assumed all responsibility for sales and profitability for metal detection equipment. In 2014, he earned the Product Manager of the Year Award.

The company’s Magnet Materials Division comprises thousands of products sold through its recently revamped website, www.buymagnets.com, as well as inside and outside sales initiatives. The magnets and magnetic products are shipped around the world from its warehouse in suburban Chicago. The division has a staff of seven in sales, shipping, manufacturing and distribution.

The World Platinum Investment Council (WPIC), London, has announced the publication of its sixth “Platinum Quarterly,” which analyses the global platinum market. The report incorporates analysis of platinum supply and demand during the fourth quarter of 2015 and for the full year and also provides a forecast of supply and demand for the full year 2016.

The publication is based largely on research and detailed analysis commissioned with and conducted by, SFA (Oxford), Oxford, U.K., an independent authority on platinum group metals. Three additional themes in the Foreword to this edition are recent price performance, platinum investment market development and the medium- and long-term outlook for platinum.

According to the report, the global platinum market ended year 2015 in deficit by 380,000 ounces, which compares with 725,000 ounces in 2014, with key drivers of the shortfall including:

• a 5 percent increase in automotive demand, reaching 3,455,000 ounces, up from 3,290,000 ounces in 2014 and 3,160,000 ounces in 2013 (Despite the impact of the Volkswagen diesel investigation, demand growth in 2015 was led by Western Europe vehicle sales growth, up 9 percent year on year, where the imposition of the new Euro 6 legislation also increased platinum loading per car. Automotive demand from India, also grew by 9 percent.);
• an increase in global investment demand of 110,000 ounces, or 73 percent, over the year, with a global fall in ETF (exchange traded funds) holdings eclipsed by a surge in demand for bars and coins, particularly in Japan which experienced record buying in the final quarter;
• a 4 percent increase in industrial demand during 2015, buoyed by a 2 percent increase in chemical demand growth driven by North America, Western Europe and China (Greater global demand for oil refining and a swing from refinery reductions to net capacity expansion saw demand from the petroleum sector more than doubling from 65,000 ounces in 2014 to 160,000 ounces in 2015.);
• a 4 percent contraction in jewelry arising from declining Chinese demand (In contrast, demand for platinum in India surged by 26 percent on the back of strong bridal growth and increased sales of men's jewelry.);
• a 24 percent increase in refined production, led by a 41 percent increase in output from South Africa, where operations affected by the 2014 strikes returned to prestrike levels and producer sales again exceeded refined production;
• a 15 percent decline in global supply from recycled platinum as lower platinum group metals prices reduced the flow of scrap catalysts from collectors, while depressed steel prices reduced the scrapping of vehicles; and
• above-ground stock levels declined 14 percent to 2,315,000 ounces.

Forecasting a deficit of 135,000 ounces in 2016, data from SFA (Oxford) show:

• a 1 percent contraction in refined production over the course of 2016, with South African supply predicted to fall by 2 percent in light of disruptions related to wage negotiations and safety stoppages;
•  a 14 percent rebound in recycling supply in 2016;
• a 3 percent increase in automotive demand in light of increased light vehicle sales and higher loadings per vehicle; and
•    a 1 percent increase in the jewelry sector in 2016, boosted by a recovery in China and strong demand growth in India.

Paul Wilson, chief executive officer of WPIC, says, "Today's ‘Platinum Quarterly’ clearly shows that the fundamentals of the platinum market are sound. Demand from all sectors remains robust, supported by growth in European diesel platinum demand and resilient jewelry demand in Asia. It is encouraging to see that personal disposable income, which is linked to China jewelry consumption, is growing at a rate almost double that of the overall economy."

He continues, "On the supply side, a forecast of 3 percent growth in 2016 relies upon a 14 percent rebound in recycled supply. Meanwhile, sentiment driven supply from vaulted investor holdings looks less likely to satisfy market shortfalls than it did over the past four years."

The “Platinum Quarterly” is available for download at www.platinuminvestment.com. 

The Manufacturing Institute has announced that Jodi Keller-Wheeler, vice president of Cicero, Illinois-based United Scrap Metal, has been awarded a 2016 Women in Manufacturing STEP (Science, Technology, Engineering and Production) Ahead Award.

The STEP Ahead Awards are designed to “honor women who have demonstrated excellence and leadership in their careers representing all levels of the manufacturing industry, from the factory floor to the C-suite,” the institute says.

April 21, 2016, The Manufacturing Institute says it will recognize 130 recipients of the STEP Awards at a reception in Washington.

“I am incredibly honored to work for an aggressively growing woman-owned organization,” says Keller-Wheeler. “I am fortunate to have a career I am passionate about and [that] inspires me every day.”

As a member of the executive leadership team at United Scrap Metal, Keller-Wheeler has helped lead the company to double-digit growth in each of the past four years, according to a new release from The Manufacturing Institute.

A career in manufacturing for Keller-Wheeler was encouraged at a young age because of the influence of her sister, who has a degree in mechanical engineering, and her father, who has more than 40 years of experience in manufacturing.

“I need to be challenged, or I get bored easily,” she says. “Manufacturing requires constant innovation to stay competitive and the fast pace means I never have a dull moment. Every day I have the opportunity to make an impact inside the company and with our customers.”

The STEP Awards are part of a larger STEP Ahead initiative, launched to examine and promote the role of women in the manufacturing industry through recognition, research and leadership for attracting, advancing and retaining strong female talent.

United Scrap Metal, founded in 1978 by its current CEO Marsha Serlin, purchases, processes and markets recyclable commodities, including nonferrous and ferrous metals, paper and plastic.
 

Environmental agencies in two states have determined that scrap contaminated with low levels of radiation was shredded at a PSC Metals facility in Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania. Some of the scrap was later shipped to Ohio and triggered readings from radiation monitors at three facilities there.

The Ohio Department of Health (ODH) has issued several news releases pertaining to the incidents, with the most recent one issued Feb. 27, 2016. The agency indicates the radioactive scrap was detected at PSC Metals yards in Canton and Massillon, Ohio, and at a Tube City (TMS International) facility in Mansfield, Ohio.

According to the ODH, the department had radiation protection staff on-site at all three facilities in late February to conduct radiation testing and to ensure planning for the safe disposal of the contaminated scrap metal.

The contaminated scrap metal has been contained securely and does not pose a health risk to facilities’ employees or the general public, says Gene Phillips of the ODH Bureau of Environmental Health and Radiation Protection.

Phillips singles out the role of radiation monitors in detecting the contamination. “As a precaution, many scrap metal processing facilities have radiation alarms to monitor and detect radiation in incoming shipments for the safety of their employees and the general public,” he comments.

The source of the radiation is under investigation.

Phillips says, “Radiation can occur in scrap metal for a variety of reasons, including because the owner who sends it for recycling does not realize that the [obsolete] equipment contains small radioactive sources.”

Radiation surveys of contaminated scrap metal delivered to PSC Metals in Massillon showed a highest reading of 25 millirem per hour, equivalent to the radiation dose from two-and-a-half chest X-rays within one hour, ODH says.

Contaminated scrap metal delivered to TSM International in Mansfield was not unloaded and instead was redirected to the PSC Metals Canton facility.

Surveys of employee clothing, locker areas and break rooms at both PSC Metals locations have not shown any radiation contamination, the agency says.

The ODH says PSC Metals has hired a licensed decontamination provider to develop a plan for cleanup and safe disposal of the contaminated scrap metal.

In Pennsylvania, that state’s Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) has issued a news release saying a “radium-226 source of unknown origin was accidentally shredded with other materials, then shipped to processing facilities in Ohio.”

A team from DEP’s Radiation Protection Program has taken readings at the Beaver Falls scrap yard, and “elevated readings were found on one large metal shredder and on gloves used by two workers.”

DEP says it is performing additional testing to ensure there was no skin contamination. Radium-226, which can be harmful if ingested, can be found in nature as a decaying form of uranium but also was used into the 1970s in “in self-luminous paints for watches, aircraft switches, clocks and instrument dials,” according to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC).

Preliminary tests on the workers who operated the Beaver Falls shredder showed no contamination.

The shredder was isolated during parts of late February, “and there is no indication that there is any other contamination at the site and none outside the scrap yard property,” according to the DEP.

The agency also says the NRC has been informed about the incident and “PSC Metals is working with a private contractor to develop a plan to quickly decontaminate the Beaver Falls scrap yard and the Ohio sites. DEP’s Radiation Protection team has locked down the scrap yard and will continue to take follow-up readings and monitor the situation as needed.”