Business Digest

Farmers proposes expanded offering

canfield

Farmers National Banc Corp., the parent company of Farmers National Bank, has filed a registration statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission to expand public offering of its common stock. The company hopes to increase its public offering to gain additional capital that will help the bank pursue its growth strategy, said chief operating officer John Gulas. Farmers has 13.5 million outstanding shares. The proposed public offering will not be made until the SEC approves the registration statement, which could take 30 days or more, Gulas said.

Harsco gets 5-year Severstal contract

Harrisburg, pa.

Industrial-services provider Harsco Corp., said Tuesday that its metals division has received a five-year contract from Severstal Warren for slag handling and scrap recovery to support recently resumed production at the plant. Harsco also will handle the external marketing of the mill’s slag byproducts for commercial applications. The industrial-services provider had a presence at the Warren steel mill for more than 60 years before the plant was idled in late 2008 as a result of the global economic crisis. Severstal restarted production at its Warren steel mill in March in response to increased demand and improving market conditions.

Gasoline prices drop in region

alliance

Northeast Ohio drivers will save 5.3 cents per gallon of regular gasoline this week, according to AAA East Central Fuel Gauge. The regional average price was $2.55 Tuesday, and the national average was $2.73. Oil closed at $72.59 per barrel, down $2.38 from last week after a volatile day for oil prices. According to AAA Fuel Gauge, investors are lingering on the Obama administration’s announcement last week of a six-month moratorium on new offshore drilling activities in the Gulf of Mexico in response to the massive BP oil spill there. Any impact on price likely will be very minimal in the short term, however, because of vast existing supplies of oil and only tepid increases in demand, according to the Fuel Gauge report.

Moreover, Tuesday marked the official opening of the Atlantic hurricane season. The high inventory of oil will insulate oil prices somewhat from a mild hurricane season, but a particularly severe hurricane season in the Gulf could become an issue for oil prices later this year, according to the Fuel Gauge. About 30 percent of U.S. oil production is in the Gulf, according to the Energy Information Administration.

Vindicator staff/wire reports