A Look Back

Exeon and its predecessor have been operating a wire chopping facility for over 30 years in Jonesboro, Indiana. Until January 2006, the Jonesboro plant was a captive producer for Essex Group, Inc., who was once the largest wire and cable company in North America. In 2006, the Alpine Group, which owned the business, sold its wire and cable manufacturing assets, as well as the Essex name. The company was renamed Exeon Inc. and the wire-chopping line became an independent business under the Exeon name. Due to its wire and cable experience, Exeon brings a unique background and perspective to wire chopping, including knowledge on wire constructions and expected recoveries that others do not possess. For example, Exeon maintains a data base of several hundred standard wire and cable constructions, including the copper percentage that each was manufactured to meet.

While Exeon has over 30 years of experience in chopping wire, it essentially started a new business in 2006. The strategy in launching this new business was to be extremely well capitalized, to offer only services in which the company could excel, to provide competitive prices, and to operate the business with honesty and integrity. Initially, Exeon only purchased insulated copper wire (ICW), and within 18 months, the company was buying enough material to operate the plant three shifts a day, five days a week. In 2007, Exeon added bare copper items to its product offerings, and implemented its first Supply Agreement, sourcing more than 10 million pounds of cathode and copper scrap per month for one company. In 2012 Exeon added Brokerage to its list of product offerings.

In 2014, Exeon was purchased jointly by the existing management and by the owners of the Imperial Zinc Group of companies under The Imperial Group umbrella. This relationship with Imperial further enhances Exeon’s already strong financial footing and provides many synergies to the business from their varied interests in the scrap industry, from both a trading and operational standpoint.