Express & Star

Steel & Alloy Processing breaks £200m turnover barrier

A leading Black Country steel company has boosted its turned by £36 million to break the £200 million figure for the first time.

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Steel & Alloy Processing, which supplies the automotive industry, said the increase was down to the impact of its £27m new processing site at Popes Lane in Oldbury.

Turnover for 2017 rose to £201.3m, up from £164.7m the year before, according to newly filed accounts at Companies House.

Pre-tax profits edged up from £7.3m to £7.4m over the year despite the spending on the new facility. The year also saw Steel & Alloy take a £1.8m hit from exchange rates.

In the directors' strategic report, they said: "Volume was 7,236 tonnes below 2016 due to decreased customer demand, related to volume of car manufacture within the UK decreasing, but average selling prices increased by £82 as a consequence of rising raw material costs. This is why the turnover was above 2016 by £36,620,000."

The directors added: "The decrease in sales volume is related to vehicle run outs during the year and the directors are confident that the company will continue to grow as vehicle replacements reach full sales volume."

Steel & Alloy, which is based at the Trafalgar Works in West Bromwich and employs more than 200 people across its sites, including Darlaston, Cannock and Smethwick, opened its new facility at Oldbury on the site of what used to be the Albright High School until 1983 and was later Sandwell Council’s Training and Development Centre.

It provides another 115,000 sq ft of factory space for the company, owned by Spanish firm Gonvarri Steel Services, to expand even further and is expected to see the creation of 60 jobs.

The company specialises in processing steel for the automotive industry and counts the likes of Jaguar Land Rover, Honda, Ford, Volvo, Toyota and BMW among its customers.