Andrea Alborghetti, Technical Manager of TAV Vacuum Furnaces
Andrea Alborghetti, technical manager of TAV Vacuum Furnaces and contributor to the company’s blog, has provided a comprehensive, step-by-step overview of how to achieve “perfect vacuum sintering”, which includes an explanation of the metallurgic technologies involved; a review of debinding, “the first critical step of sintering”; and the factors to be taken into consideration when choosing what type of heat treatment process to use in order to obtain “a high quality of the end material in terms of density, porosity, and mechanical resistance.”
Barbara Smith, president and CEO of Commercial Metals Co.
Four electric arc furnace (EAF) steel mills in Knoxville, Tennessee; Jacksonville, Florida; Sayreville, New Jersey; and Rancho Cucamonga, California, as well as 33 rebar fabrication facilities are among the assets included in an acquisition agreement between steelmaker Commercial Metals Co. (CMC), located in Irving, Texas, and Brazil-based steelmaker Gerdau S.A..
CMC operates heat treating and related facilities in Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Alabama, in addition to steel mills, fabrication facilities, and other operations throughout the world. The mills and facilities included in Gerdau’s divestment have annual rolling capacity of 2.5 million tons, increasing CMC’s global melt capacity to 7.2 million tons.
“This acquisition aligns with our strategy to focus on our strength in concrete reinforcing products and leverages CMC’s core competencies in rebar production and value-added fabrication services to nonresidential construction customers,” said Barbara Smith, president and CEO of CMC. “In addition, these assets provide us the opportunity to optimize our product mix more fully in the U.S. As a leader in rebar manufacturing technology and customer service, we are excited to take advantage of our expertise to increase throughput, lower costs and improve the customer experience in our new operations.”
The deal, which is expected to close before the end of 2018, would leave Gerdau with three fabrication shops in the U.S..
Global manufacturer of bauxite, alumina and aluminum products Alcoa Corporation recently announced its decision to close its Rockdale Operations facility in Texas, an action that expects a cash outlay of approximately $53 million over the next five years. The site, which has been fully curtailed since the end of 2008, includes a primary aluminum smelter and casthouse, an aluminum powder plant, and associated buildings and equipment.
The closure falls under an option to close or divest of smelting assets in the United States and Italy. In Italy, Alcoa has reached an agreement to divest the Portovesme primary aluminum smelter, fully curtailed since 2012 and closed since 2014, to Invitalia, the Italian government agency that manages economic development.
Pierre Rousset and Vincent Lelong from ECM USA compare the significant differences between a conventional furnace and a low pressure carburizing furnace and provide guidelines for heat treaters to consider when determining which to use for metallurgical processing.
John Hubbard, chairman of Thermal Process Holdings
An Ohio-based company providing heat treatment for the general manufacturing market, Certified Heat Treating, has been acquired by Thermal Process Holdings, an investment vehicle formed by Calvert Street Capital Partners (CSCP).
“We are excited to announce the second acquisition in our strategy to build a best-in-class company that offers a range of advanced services. The Biehn family wanted to ensure the continued success of the business and to provide opportunities for their people. We are intent on carrying out those objectives,” said John Hubbard, chairman of Thermal Process Holdings.
Don Longenetter, General Manager of Certified Heat Treating
Don Longenette, who has been director of facilities and maintenance with Diamond Heat Treat, another recent acquisition of CSCP, will serve as general manager of Certified during the transition, which will include overseeing vacuum heat treating, atmosphere heat treating, induction heat treating, carburizing, oil and neutral hardening, among other treatments, at the company’s Springfield, Ohio, facility.
“The operating history of Certified dates to 1959, and the company has a solid reputation in the broad spectrum of industries it serves. We look forward to building on that reputation and growing the business. I’m excited to work with Joe Biehn [president of Certified Heat Treating], who will immediately focus his full attention on driving additional sales. Our goal with Certified is to utilize the exceptional quality of the equipment, the expertise and experience of the employees, and to take advantage of the open capacity of the furnaces,” said Longenette.
Calvert Street is a Baltimore, Maryland-based private equity firm focused on investing in industrial service businesses in the lower middle-market. Thermal Process Holdings builds upon Calvert Street’s experience in other high-value add industrial sectors, including testing and inspection and precision machining.
Lightweight metals engineering and manufacturing firm Arconic, headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, recently announced that a global integrated aluminum solutions company will acquire its Latin American extrusions business, located in Brazil, part of the company’s transportation and construction solutions segment.
Hydro Extruded Solutions AS, formerly Sapa, which produces extruded shapes (standard and custom), seamless and structural pipe & tube, and standard and specialty rod and bar, noted in a company release that the transaction will expand its capacity to provide solutions for its manufacturing sectors in Brazil. Arconic is divesting two extrusion plants in Utinga and Tubarão in southern Brazil as part of its strategy to streamline assets and production; the assets include one casthouse, seven extrusion presses ranging from 7 to 14 inches, and value-added capabilities.
“We believe in the integrated business model and Brazil is the country where Hydro’s entire value chain is present. From bauxite and alumina, via primary production to extruded solutions, this will strengthen our ability to serve our customers,” said Svein Richard Brandtzæg, president and CEO.
Completion of the transaction is subject to approval from relevant competition authorities in Brazil and is expected within the first half of 2018.
TimkenSteel, a leading producer of carbon and alloyed steel including large diameter SBQ bars and seamless mechanical tubing, recently ordered a proprietary off-gas based technology package to install at its top charge EAF at its Faircrest plant in Canton, Ohio.
Tenova’s NextGen® off-gas analysis system, iEAF® dynamic process control technology, and Water Detection Technology®, will support TimkenSteel’s ca. 1 million net ingot tons per year, as well as provide operational, safety, and environmental benefits such as reduced energy consumption, water leak detection, increased productivity and yield and reduced greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.
A forged and cast rolls producer for steel and aluminum manufacturers was recently selected by a Chinese manufacturer of high-end aluminum flat-rolled products to supply rolls for a new hot rolling mill installation that services the transportation sector.
Rodney Scagline, President of Union Electric Steel
The western Pennsylvania-based Union Electric Steel Corporation, an operating subsidiary of Ampco-Pittsburgh Corporation, announced that the $4.4M agreement with Zhongwang (Yingkou) High Precision Aluminum Industry Co., Ltd, includes forged finishing work rolls and forged roughing work rolls produced at one of the Union Electric Åkers heat treating facilities. The successful agreement follows several trials conducted at Zhongwang Aluminum’s facility in Wuqing District, Tianjin Province. Shipments are expected to begin in the first quarter of 2018.
“The agreement adds another accredited, large new aluminum mill to our customer list,” said Rodney Scagline, president of Union Electric Steel. “Supplying the rolls needed for this new mill is an encouraging win for us, demonstrating our growing presence among major aluminum rolling mills around the world which require the most demanding, high-quality rolls. We look forward to serving this important customer and to meeting Zhongwang Aluminum’s needs as they evolve in the future.”
Global aluminum rolling producer Novelis Inc. recently announced a $4.5 million manufacturing investment at its facility in Warren, Ohio. The state-of-the-art technological advances will provide greater versatility for pretreatments, improve operational efficiency, and reduce costs over time. Novelis’ Warren facility has 75 employees dedicated to applying coating to rolled aluminum sheet. The sheet is then used for production of lids for the tops of aluminum beverage cans, producing enough for more than one billion beverage can lids each month.
Novelis supplies industry-leading beverage can materials to some of the world’s most recognizable brands, including Coca-Cola, AB InBev, and PepsiCo.
The Warren expansion will include portions of the facility which has been involved in manufacturing for more than 100 years, including military support in World Wars I and II.
Frank Perryman, president and chief executive officer of Perryman Company
Perryman Company, a metal fabricator headquartered in Houston, Pennsylvania, recently announced it will more than double its current titanium melting capacity through the addition of two new furnaces, one electron beam (EB) and one vacuum arc remelt (VAR).
The integrated titanium producer from melting of ingot to finished products has existing melting facilities at its western Pennsylvania location which are utilized for projects in the commercial aircraft and medical sectors. The company expects the new furnaces to alleviate backlog and support demand for titanium products in these as well as other industrial, recreation, and infrastructure industries.
“Our aerospace forecast model indicates there will be a need for additional melting capacity. With the increased capacity we will be in position to pursue segments of the aerospace market where we have not yet been a participant. We believe there’s more opportunity for us to leverage our fully integrated capabilities,” stated Frank Perryman, president and chief executive officer of Perryman Company.
The added capacity will also support planned growth in medical, additive/3D and other emerging markets.
Installation of the new furnaces will begin in late 2018 and are expected to be fully operational by mid-2019. Once complete, the company’s total melt capacity will exceed 26 million pounds, placing Perryman among the world’s largest melters of aerospace quality titanium.
