Alter Invests in New Downstream System

The Iowa Economic Development Authority (IEDA) has awarded Alter Trading Corp., St. Louis, a tax incentive package worth nearly $900,000 to help the company install new auto shredder residue (ASR) processing equipment at its auto shredding plant in Council Bluffs, Iowa.

The tax incentive helped Alter select the 30-acre Council Bluffs location after it also had considered sites in Nebraska and Wisconsin.

Ronak Shah, Alter vice president of strategy and technology, says the new system will be similar to an ASR processing system the company operates at its shredder yard in Davenport, Iowa. Much of the equipment for the system comes from Wendt Corp., Tonawanda, N.Y., and will cost approximately $20 million.

A spokesperson for the IEDA says the company qualified for the package because it is building the facility in an enterprise zone. Also, to qualify for the incentive package, the company will have to have at least 15 employees working at the site. The city of Council Bluffs also has offered the company tax abatement for the project.

Shah says Alter expects to break ground on the project by the end of April 2013 and to be done by the end of 2013. The company also will install a small nonferrous retail operation at the site in 2014.

Founded in 1898, Alter Trading Corp. employs 1,250 people and operates 43 metal recycling facilities and five trading offices in eight states.