All operational and commercial activities of steel bar mills AmeriSteel of Tampa, Fla., and Gerdau Courtice Steel of Cambridge, Ontario, will be integrated into a single organization in October, according to parent company Gerdau SA of Brazil. While AmeriSteel specializes in concrete reinforcing bar products, Gerdau Courtice produce small hot-rolled bars, shapes and special sections.

Marmon/Keystone Corp., Butler, Pa., has opened a new, larger Minneapolis-area warehouse and office complex at Lino Lakes, Minn., to replace the previous plant in Little Canada, Minn. The facility serves buyers in Minnesota, western Wisconsin, northern Iowa and the Dakotas. Marmon/Keystone is a distributor of carbon, stainless and aluminum tubular and bar products. The company has also expanded its stainless bar product line to include types 416 and 630 round bars, cold-drawn stainless hexagonal, and square bars and hot-rolled stainless flats and angles. Mark Borland, national manager for stainless bar sales, says the service center chain now offers buyers a full line of stainless bar products at most of its 20 U.S. facilities.

Metal Powder Products Co. of Indianapolis is investing $2 million to expand capacity at the aluminum powder metal plant of its PMP division in St. Marys, Pa. Two new high-tonnage presses are expected to go on line in 2003.

International trader Balli Klockner has formed an alliance with the Jindal Organization of India to coordinate global sales of steel plate from Jindal United Steel Corp.'s 1.2 million ton/year steel mill in Baytown, Texas, and steel pipe made by Jindal United's Saw Pipes USA operating subsidiary, also at Baytown. The Jindal Organization also owns Massillon Stainless, an Ohio-based stainless rolling mill it bought a year ago from Bethlehem Steel. Balli Klockner was formed in December last year when Balli Group of London acquired Klockner Steel Trade of Germany.

Steel Technologies Inc., a metals processor based in Louisville, Ky., has purchased 49% of the Ferrolux Metals processing unit of Cleveland-based Ferragon Corp. Ferrolux Metals processes 945,000 tons of steel annually at facilities in Ohio, Michigan, and Mississippi.