Wolverine's finished products of seamless copper and brass tubing found a welcome market in the automobile industry. The automobile manufacturers, however, were very concerned with economics, and in the late '30s found more economical means of supplying their needs. As the automotive market for non-ferrous tubing began to dwindle, a new market began to emerge: the refrigeration industry. Refrigeration, having grown steadily in the late '20s and early '30s, soon absorbed a good portion of Wolverine's copper and brass tubing production.
In 1936, copper broke its static price position of $0.09 per pound and jumped to $0.10. By 1937 it had climbed to $0.17 per pound. Gradually it returned to $0.09 per pound, and by December 1940 it had crept back to $0.12 per pound. It remained at $0.12 per pound until after World War II.
In June 1942 negotiations were completed for the sale of Wolverine Tube Company to Calumet & Hecla Consolidated Copper Company. The three original owners then retired.
During World War II Wolverine's activities were directed almost exclusively to war-related work. Each work day was stretched to 24 hours in order to meet the demands of the Army, Navy and Maritime Commission. By this time, however, the 10½ and 12 hour shifts of 1918 had been reduced to 8 hours.
To keep pace with new technology in the industry, a new plant was built in Decatur,
Alabama. Production in Decatur began in August 1948. This plant served the rapidly-growing
industry in the south and southwest, as well as the rest of the country. Located on 265
acres and consisting of six buildings, it was the world's most modern tube mill. A third
plant was opened in 1960 at Dearborn Heights, Michigan to produce primarily zirconium
and titanium tubing for the nuclear power industry.
The Detroit plant was running out of room to expand and be competitive along the conventional industry lines of longer drawbench and longer buildings. A decision had to be made: either relocate or find new methods. New methods, called "coil processing", were found at the this time. This was a concept of drawing the tube in a coil on a bull block rather than drawing straight on a drawbench. Wolverine Tube's management decided to stay with the old plant on Central Avenue in Detroit, and began investing heavily to modernize to a coil processing mill. In many ways the Detroit plant was "reborn" in 1958, as expansion steadily continued along the lines of modern bull block-coil processing. From the time of the initial decisions in 1955 to 1973, over $10,000,000 was invested in the Detroit plant.
In 1968 Wolverine Tube became part of a larger, more dynamic company when Universal Oil Products purchased Calumet & Hecla, Inc.
In 1987 Wolverine Holding Company; Wolverine Tube, Inc. and Wolverine Tube (Canada) Inc. were formed when Morgan Stanley, Drake/Goodwin and Management acquired the assets of Wolverine Tube from the Henley Group.
In 1988 Wolverine Tube (Canada) Inc. acquired assets from Noranda Metal, Inc. in Fergus, Ontario; Montreal, Quebec and New Westminster, British Columbia.
In 1991 Genstar Capital acquired the stock of Wolverine Holding Company in a leverage transaction.
Two years later, Genstar conducted an IPO of Wolverine Tube. Today, Wolverine has grown into a world-class quality partner.
200 Clinton Avenue W., Suite 1000, Huntsville, AL 35801
Phone: 256.890.0460 FAX: 256.890.0470
© 2001 Wolverine Tube, Inc.