Quanex History

Quanex was founded in 1927 as a Michigan corporation under the name of Michigan Seamless Tube Company (MST). Its principal operation was redrawing used boiler and condenser tubes for resale as refrigeration tubing.

From the beginning, the company's strategy has remained constant, while its products have changed to meet customer needs. Quanex has steadily grown its business by focusing on specialized, manufacturing processes to produce value-added products for original equipment manufacturers.

At first, the company's growth came from internal expansion. Capital improvements added to capacity and capabilities, and sales topped $1 million for the first time in 1935.

The company's foray into external expansion began in 1956 with the construction of a greenfield tubing plant located in Rosenberg, Texas. In the 1960's MST made its first acquisitions, purchasing tubing and tooling manufacturing plants in Ohio, Michigan, and South Carolina.

During the 1970's, raw material supply problems began to affect the company's tubing operations. To resolve this issue, plans were made to build a greenfield plant in Jackson, Michigan, that used a unique centrifugal continuous casting process to make high quality, seamless steel bars for the company's tubing mills. Production from the original MACSTEEL mill began in 1974.

MST's growth moved forward with the purchase of other specialized metal manufacturing companies and the sale of operations no longer aligned with the company's evolving strategy. To be closer to its primary customers, which were based in the energy industry, the company moved its headquarters from Michigan to Houston, Texas, in 1977, and the name was officially changed to Quanex. The name means "quality connection", tracing its origins to the combination of the word "quality" and the Latin word for connection, "nexus."

Both internal and external growth continued in the 1980's with the construction of new plants, acquisition of plants and facilities dedicated to diversified manufacturing and processing operations, and capital expansion programs at the company's existing facilities. Production from MACSTEEL's Fort Smith plant began in 1985.

As part of the company's strategy to diversify, Quanex entered the aluminum business in 1989 with the acquisition of Nichols-Homeshield. Construction of an innovative, scrap-based mini-mill for the manufacture of aluminum sheet began in 1990, with production beginning in 1992.

With the addition of its aluminum products business, Quanex began its strategic transition to become not just a steel producer, but a manufacturer of specialized metal products.

Over the next ten years, the company grew its building products operations, purchasing Imperial Products in 2000, Colonial Craft in 2002, Truseal in 2003 and Mikron in 2004.  In April 2008, Quanex Corporation spun off its building products operations and Quanex Building Products Corporation officially began.  The steel operations were subsequently sold to Gerdau S.A., a global steel producer.  Quanex's tradition of growth through internal and external expansion continued.  Celebrating its 75th year in business in 2002, the company adopted a market driven strategy with concentration on customers in two segments - Aluminum Sheet Products and Engineered Products.

Quanex Building Products most recent acquisition of Edgetech, exemplifies the company's strategy of becoming the leading manufacturer of fenestration systems and components, recognized for product technology and innovation, and best in class customer service.  Quanex is committed to partnering with customers and proactively developing innovative and energy efficient fenestration products.

For further information, please visit the company's website at www.quanex.com.

Aluminum Sheet Products

The Aluminum Sheet Products segment features an aluminum mini-mill casting operation and three stand-alone aluminum sheet cold finishing operations. Aluminum sheet finishing capabilities include reducing reroll coil to specific gauge, annealing, slitting and custom coating. Customer end-use applications include exterior housing trim, fascias, roof edgings, soffits, downspouts and gutters. The product is packaged and delivered for use by various customers in the building and construction markets, as well as other capital goods and transportation markets.

Engineered Products

The Engineered Products segment is comprised of five fabricated metal components operations, two facilities producing wood fenestration (door and window) components, and high quality engineered wood flooring four polyvinyl chloride (PVC) extrusion facilities, and a flexible insulating glass spacer operation. The segments' operations produce window and door components and other residential building products for original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), that primarily serve the residential construction and remodeling markets.