Profile: Ameron International Corp (AMN)

Ameron International Corporation (Ameron) is a multinational manufacturer of engineered products and materials for the chemical, industrial, energy, transportation and infrastructure markets. The Company is a producer of water transmission lines; fiberglass-composite pipe for transporting oil, chemicals and corrosive fluids and specialized materials, and products used in infrastructure projects. The Company operates in three business segments: Fiberglass-Composite Pipe Group, Water Transmission Group and Infrastructure Products Group. The Fiberglass-Composite Pipe Group manufactures and markets filament-wound and molded composite fiberglass pipe, tubing, fittings and well screens. The Water Transmission Group manufactures and supplies concrete and steel pressure pipe, concrete non-pressure pipe, protective linings for pipe and fabricated steel products, such as large-diameter wind towers. The Infrastructure Products Group consists of two operating segments, which are aggregated: the Hawaii Division, which manufactures and sells ready-mix concrete, sand and aggregates, concrete pipe and culverts, and the Pole Products Division, which manufactures and sells concrete and steel lighting and traffic poles.

The Company operates businesses in North America, South America, Europe and Asia. The Water Transmission Group serves primarily the western United States for pipe and sells wind towers primarily west of the Mississippi River. The Infrastructure Products Group's quarry and ready-mix business operates in Hawaii, and poles are sold throughout the United States. Ameron also participates in several joint-venture companies, directly in the United States and Saudi Arabia, and indirectly in Egypt.

The Fiberglass-Composite Pipe Group products are used by a range of process industries, including industrial, petroleum, chemical processing and petrochemical industries for service station piping systems, aboard marine vessels and offshore oil platforms. They are marketed as an alternative to metallic piping systems, which ultimately fail under corrosive operating conditions. These products are marketed directly, as well as through manufacturers' representatives, distributors and licensees. Manufacture of these products is carried out in the Company's plant in Burkburnett, Texas, by its wholly owned domestic subsidiary, Centron International Inc. (Centron), at its plant in Mineral Wells, Texas, by wholly owned subsidiaries in the Netherlands, Brazil, Singapore and Malaysia, and also by a joint venture in Saudi Arabia.

The Water Transmission Group supplies products and services used in the construction of water pipelines. Five pipe manufacturing plants are located in Arizona and California. Also included within this group is American Pipe & Construction International, a wholly owned subsidiary, with two plants in Colombia, and Tubos Y Activos, a wholly-owned subsidiary, with a plant in Mexico. These plants manufacture concrete cylinder pipe, pre-stressed concrete cylinder pipe, steel pipe and reinforced concrete pipe for water transmission, storm and industrial waste water and sewage collection. Customers include local, state and federal agencies, developers and general contractors.

The Water Transmission Group segment also includes the manufacturing and marketing, on a worldwide basis directly and through manufacturer’s representatives, of polyvinyl chloride and polyethylene sheet lining for the protection of concrete pipe and cast-in-place concrete structures from the corrosive effects of sewer gases, acids and industrial chemicals. Manufacture of this product is carried out in the Company's plant in California. In addition, Ameron manufactures large-diameter towers for the United States wind-energy market at one of its California plants.

The Infrastructure Products Group supplies ready-mix concrete, crushed and sized basaltic aggregates, dune sand, concrete pipe and box culverts, primarily to the construction industry in Hawaii. It also manufactures and markets concrete and steel poles for highway, street and outdoor area lighting, and for traffic signals nationwide. Sales of poles are nationwide, but are concentrated in the western and southeastern United States. Poles are manufactured in two plants in California, as well as in plants in Washington, Oklahoma and Alabama.

Ameron has three partially owned affiliated companies or joint ventures: Ameron Saudi Arabia, Ltd. (ASAL), Bondstrand, Ltd. (BL) and TAMCO. ASAL, owned 30% by the Company, manufactures and sells concrete pressure pipe to customers in Saudi Arabia. BL, owned 40% by Ameron, manufactures and sells glass reinforced epoxy pipe and fittings in Saudi Arabia. TAMCO, 50%-owned by the Company, operates a steel mini-mill in California, that produces reinforcing bar sold into construction markets in the western United States. ASAL is included in the Water Transmission group, and BL is included in the Fiberglass-Composite Pipe group. TAMCO is not included in the three operating groups.