On July 21, 2010, the Dodd‐Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act was signed into law. The Dodd-Frank Act and related U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission rules require public companies to disclose the extent to which the products they manufacture or contract to manufacture contain conflict minerals sourced from mines in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (“DRC”) or adjoining countries. Conflict minerals include tantalum, tin, tungsten and gold.
As a global distributor of high temperature and stainless steel grades United Performance Metals (UPM) promotes through our supply chain the traceability of these minerals to ensure compliance. UPM firmly believes that its customers should be fully informed about the products they purchase. While United Performance Metals, as a distributor, is not able to certify as to the country of origin of the minerals contained in the products manufactured by our suppliers, we are committed to working with our supply base to obtain appropriate compliance confirmation and documentation. Important information on the grades provided by UPM that may contain conflict minerals is being compiled. The current list and status of each grade may be viewed on the Resources section of United Performance Metals’ website.
With respect to those aspects of UPM’s business that contract to suppliers that manufacture our products, UPM expects its suppliers to only source minerals from responsible and compliant sources. UPM will only purchase products from suppliers that have confirmed their compliance with the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act.
UPM fully understands the importance of this issue to our customers and is committed to supply chain initiatives and overall social responsibility. Our efforts are designed to maintain sustainability that work towards and maintain a compliant conflict free supply chain. We are encouraging all of our suppliers to likewise support these efforts and make information on the origin of their product readily accessible on their websites.