Colonial Metals Buys N.J. Metals Firm

Phillip Serls, president of Colonial Metals Co., has a simple explanation for his company's growth plans.

"Man cannot live by brass ingots alone. You have to diversify," he said.

That's why Colonial acquired the assets of Garden State Metals Inc. of Riverside, N.J., for an undisclosed price, making Colonial a bigger player in the scrap aluminum processing and trading business.

That's also why Colonial is spending $1.4 million to add an electric furnace at its Columbia plant, a move that will allow it to process higher nickel-base alloys.

But it's not why Colonial is installing a $1 million briquetter, which squeezes metal into smaller squares, making it easier to handle and melt. It will replace equipment destroyed by fire in February 2001.

Colonial, a 150-employee company established in 1946, recycles scrap metal by melting most of it into brass ingots, but it also converts scrap into bronze and aluminum ingots.

The ingots are sold to foundries, which cast them in a variety of products, from faucets to grave markers.

Colonial melts more than 60 million pounds of metal annually. The installation of the 10,000-pound electric furnace, to be completed in June, will raise that output by six-to-10 million pounds, said Serls.

Installation of the briquetter is due to be completed in April, he said.

Besides diversification, Serls said the moves also reflect the company's philosophy of investing in its people, systems and equipment, "so we can be as safe and efficient as possible."

Serls, the third generation of his family to run the 217 Linden St. firm, said Garden State was a 20-employee firm with annual sales exceeding $25 million.

Colonial moved some of Garden State's equipment here, sold the rest and kept two of its employees.

Garden State president Craig Friedman -- a former Colonial vice president and Serls' brother-in-law has been named president of Colonial's trading and brokerage division.

To further bolster that business, Garden State trader and broker Gary Bantivoglio has joined Colonial in that same role. Colonial also hired Samuel Barnett, formerly of Wabash Alloys, as a trader and broker.