Founded in St. Louis in 1974, Metal Exchange Corporation has grown from a regional aluminum scrap trading company to a global trader and manufacturer of nonferrous metals.

Ingrained in the minds of every Metal Exchange Corporation employee is the motto of our founder, Morris Lefton: Nisi adieris non intellegis. (“If you don’t go, you don’t know.”) This brief statement encompasses the culture of Metal Exchange Corporation. Visit the customer. See their operations. Understand their needs.
This is how we’ve built and maintained the foundation of Metal Exchange Corporation: long-term relationships with customers and suppliers based on trust, integrity and reliability.
- 1974 – MEC Founded
- 1977 – MEC opens nonferrous processing facility in Moulton, AL
- 1978 – MEC acquires interest in Tower Extrusions joint venture in Olney, TX
- 1979 – Pennex Aluminum founded in Wellsville, PA.
- 1980 – Continental Aluminum Company begins operations in Detroit, MI
- 1983 – Metal Commodities, Inc. begins trading in St. Louis, MO
- 1986 – Pennex Aluminum begins fabrication operations in York, PA
- 1989 – Electro Cycle, Inc. begins operations in Madisonville, KY
- 1998 – Pennex doubles its extrusion capacity with the addition of an 8″ press.
- 1999 – MEC becomes the exclusive sales agent in North America for DUBAL America
- 2000 – Continental Aluminum relocates to New Hudson, MI.
- 2005 – MEC designs and implements our proprietary state-of-the-art Trading System
- 2007 – MEC opens a trading office in Zurich, Switzerland
- 2009 – MEC opens a trading office in Shanghai, China
- 2010 – Pennex acquires a new extrusion facility in Leetonia, OH
- 2011 – Pennex, York facility doubles in size to allow for additional fabrication processes
- 2013 – Pennex acquires a new cast house facility in Greenville, PA
- 2015 – Pennex doubles the size of the Leetonia, OH facility and commissions a new 12-inch extrusion press