Hamilton Specialty Bar files for receivership

Steelmaker Hamilton Specialty Bar, based in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, has filed for bankruptcy protection, according to media reports.

An online article prepared by the CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation) reports that some 200 Hamilton Specialty Bar workers who expected an early January return from a Christmas break instead “found out abruptly that their company had shut down.”

A labor union official quoted by the CBC says company executives disclosed a “cash flow problem” to him in early January, and that by Jan. 8, 2018, receivership papers to seek a court-appointed supervisor had been filed.

The CBC report points to default on loans worth C$27.6 million ($22.2 million) from Wells Fargo, while an online report from S&P Global Platts offers a partial listing of additional creditors.

Company names on that list include scrap recyclers Triple M Metal of Brampton, Ontario, owed C$5.1 million ($4.1 million) and Birmingham, Alabama-based Jefferson Iron & Metal, owed C$3.7 million ($3.0 million). Also owed money are two providers of electric arc furnace (EAF) supplies and services.

According to the CBC report, as of mid-January the plant was up and running again, with court-appointed receiver Ernst & Young having authorized a four-week operating period.

Hamilton Specialty Bar, on its website, describes itself as a maker of specialty carbon and low-alloy steel bar products with 400,000 tons of annual capacity. The company has roots that trace back to 1910 and at one time was owned the former Slater Steel. The Hamilton facility was purchased during Slater Steel’s bankruptcy proceedings by Chicago-based Delaware Street Capital in 2004. Alabama-based Pinnacle Steel and its CEO Christopher (Gus) Hiller became involved in ownership in 2007.