REDFORD TOWNSHIP, MI-Steel Industries Inc. is planning an $8 million expansion in the Detroit area. The open-die forging company and seamless rolled ring manufacturer said it has experienced significant growth in recent years and plans to invest this year in the creation of a heat treating complex. The company hopes to place the new facility on land it plans to purchase near existing company facilities on Beech Daly Road in Redford Township.

The new facility will also feature CNC machining equipment and other ancillary processing equipment to enhance and expand the company's product offering, according to Lisa Kuehl, marketing manager of Steel Industries.

Steel Industries part of the Houston, TX-based Ameri-Forge Group and serves customers in more than 40 states in the US as well as companies in Canada, Mexico, the United Kingdom, France, Saudi Arabia, Israel, Egypt, Australia and New Zealand. Its customers include companies in the oil, gas and chemical; automotive; aerospace; machine tool; mining and off-road equipment; and marine industries.

The company had its beginnings in Detroit in 1913 as a small hammer shop and currently operates three facilities in Redford Township. Steel Industries Inc. has on-site inventories of more than 160 different grades of carbon and alloy, stainless, tool and high-speed steels; VAR and other special alloys; and, aluminum and maintains one of the largest selections of tool steels in the industry.