Amaero Inc., a Tennessee-based producer of refractory and titanium alloy metal powders and near-net-shape components using powder metallurgy-hot isostatic pressing (PM-HIP), plans to invest up to approximately $10 million in capital equipment over the next 12 months using proceeds from its U.S. initial public offering.
The company announced pricing of 4,705,883 common shares at $4.25 per share, representing approximately $20 million in gross proceeds before underwriting discounts, commissions, and other offering expenses. Remaining net proceeds are intended for general corporate purposes, including working capital, operating expenses, and research and development.
Amaero also produces spherical metal powders for additive and advanced manufacturing and uses PM-HIP to manufacture large near-net-shape components. In its October 14 announcement, the company said the offering was expected to close October 16, subject to customary closing conditions, with shares expected to begin trading October 15 on the Nasdaq Capital Market under the symbol AMRO.
Press release is available in its original form here.
A new modular heat treatment cell has been developed to handle nitriding, nitrocarburizing, carbonitriding, and dry oxidation, giving manufacturers the ability to perform multiple thermochemical processes within a configurable system architecture. The equipment operates at temperatures up to 1000°C (1832°F) and can run at atmospheric pressure or primary vacuum.
ECM Technologies developed the CCN cell with a cold-wall, graphite-free design and a load capacity of 1000 x 610 x 750 mm (39.4 x 24 x 29.5 inches). The system provides 150 kW convection heating and is designed around the furnace manufacturer’s modular equipment concept.
For carbonitriding applications, the CCN can be combined with a graphite cell for the carburizing phase. This configuration allows different process requirements to be addressed within the same system architecture.
The furnace has an operating range of 400°C to 1000°C (752°F to 1832°F). According to ECM, the equipment was developed in response to manufacturers’ requirements for increased productivity, lower operating costs, production flexibility, and simplified operation and maintenance.
ECM Technologies, headquartered in Grenoble, France, serves the North American heat treatment market through ECM USA, its American subsidiary located in Pleasant Prairie, Wisconsin. The company designs and manufactures vacuum heat treatment equipment for applications including automotive, aerospace, defense, electronics, and nuclear.
Press release is available in its original form here.
A new sales representation agreement will provide regional support for plasma nitriding, gas nitriding, and plasma coating technologies across six U.S. states, serving automotive, heavy industrial, and metalworking operations.
RUBIG, a supplier of nitriding and coating systems, has signed the agreement with MetalPro Resources (MPR), a sales representative specializing in heat treating equipment and related technologies. The territory covers Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Kentucky, West Virginia, and western Pennsylvania.
The partnership adds RUBIG’s nitriding and coating technologies to MPR’s offering. Equipment delivery and service will continue through RUBIG’s Rockford, Illinois, location, which has supplied and serviced plasma nitriding, gas nitriding/FNC, and coating systems in the U.S. for approximately 30 years.
Founded in 2007, MPR supplies heat treating equipment for steel and aluminum, control systems, analyzers, vacuum instruments, and accessories, along with consulting services for heat treat operations. Its team brings more than 100 years of combined experience in heat treating and metallurgy, including experience operating captive heat treat shops.
Press release is available in its original form here.
A North American manufacturer of high-temperature heat treatment tooling and high-alloy components is adding melting, fabrication, and casting capacity through the acquisition of selected manufacturing assets from an Ohio-based supplier. The transaction will increase capacity for centrifugal and static cast products used across industrial applications.
WIRCO Inc. executed an asset purchase agreement with Cleveland, Ohio-based Alcon Industries Inc. on September 30. Under the agreement, WIRCO will acquire specifically identified manufacturing equipment, tooling, intellectual property, designs, drawings, and manufacturing processes from Alcon.
The acquired equipment includes melting furnaces, fabrication equipment, and casting machines that WIRCO expects to use to increase its fabrication, centrifugal casting, and static casting capabilities. The company said the additional capacity will provide greater manufacturing flexibility as client requirements grow.
The transaction also includes more than 1,000 active tools along with associated drawings, designs, process instructions, and other limited intellectual property. The assets could allow WIRCO to provide manufacturing solutions previously serviced by Alcon.
WIRCO manufactures high-temperature heat treatment tooling and high-alloy wear components for industries throughout North America. The company operates manufacturing facilities in Indiana, Wisconsin, and Illinois and sources its stainless steel requirements from U.S.-based manufacturing facilities.
WIRCO plans to implement the purchased assets at its operations to increase capacity, preserve tooling and manufacturing knowledge, and provide additional manufacturing capabilities to its clients. WIRCO remains a separate company from Alcon and is not assuming Alcon’s existing obligations or liabilities.
Press release is available in its original form here.
Solcoa Industries is planning a 500-ton-per-year rare earth metalmaking facility in Nevada that will use vacuum induction heating as part of its metallization process. The new capacity will convert refined rare earth materials into metals used in high-performance magnets for automotive, defense, energy, and other manufacturing applications.
The Alameda, California-based rare earth metal producer announced $75 million in financing to build and commission Solcoa One, its first commercial-scale plant. The financing includes $45 million in equity led by Bain Capital Ventures and $30 million in debt and equipment financing anchored by J.P. Morgan. The facility is scheduled to begin operations in July 2027.
Solcoa One is designed to produce 500 tons per year of neodymium-praseodymium (NdPr) and samarium metal. Solcoa currently produces more than 10 tons per year of magnet-grade metal at its Alameda operation and manufactures its modular reactors in-house.
Artem Iurkovskyi Co-Founder and CTO Solcoa Industries
Solcoa says its process uses halide-free chemistries as an alternative to conventional molten-salt electrolysis. The company plans to use the new financing to scale production, expand reactor manufacturing in Alameda, and add engineering and research personnel.
At its planned capacity, Solcoa One is expected to produce enough NdPr metal annually to supply magnets for up to 1 million electric vehicles, according to the company.
Press release is available in its original form here.
AKG Group, a manufacturer of heat exchangers and cooling systems has ordered two controlled atmosphere brazing (CAB) furnace lines to add aluminum brazing capacity for heat exchangers serving automotive, heavy equipment, energy, rail, and other industrial applications.
AKG Group operates manufacturing facilities in the United States and Mexico as part of its global production network. The company placed the order with sellacan Industrieofen GmbH, a German manufacturer of industrial furnace systems for heat treatment and brazing. The new furnace lines will be installed at AKG production sites in Brazil and China, joining sellacan CAB systems already operating at the company’s facilities in India, Mexico, and Germany.
Each CAB tower furnace system includes degreasing, drying, and preheating oven; preparation and cooling chamber; CAB brazing chamber; final air cooling; and a telescopic/sliding loading table. The systems are designed to process aluminum heat exchangers, with the ability to accommodate different core types for development work and series production.
Temperature control across as many as 10 heating zones and a controlled atmosphere provide repeatable brazing conditions. An automatic brazing rack circulation system supports the handling of different exchanger batches.
The systems also incorporate an integrated vacuum/purge process that removes residual air from inside heat exchangers and replaces it with a nitrogen atmosphere before brazing. The process reduces oxygen within components before they enter the brazing furnace and is intended for heat exchangers with complex or difficult-to-access internal channel geometries.
AKG produces heat exchangers and cooling systems for applications including passenger cars, buses, trains, agricultural and construction equipment, generators, power electronics, wind turbines, and aviation cooling systems.
Press release is available in its original form here.
Mesabi Metallics plans to invest $18 billion to integrate its Minnesota iron ore operations with a new Iowa steelmaking complex using hot direct-reduced iron (DRI) and electric arc furnace (EAF) technology. The integrated operation will establish a domestic supply chain for steel serving the automotive, defense, shipbuilding, energy, infrastructure, appliance, and other manufacturing sectors.
The company will invest $15 billion to build the Iowa complex, in addition to approximately $3 billion being spent to complete its iron ore mine and pellet operation in Nashwauk, Minnesota, which will supply iron ore and direct-reduction-grade pellets to the new steelmaking facility.
Mesabi Metallics’ Minnesota mine will produce Patriot Pellet, the company’s DR-grade iron ore pellet engineered for EAF steelmaking. More than 1,500 construction workers and over 200 full-time employees are currently working at the mine, with 350 full-time positions expected once the fully operational.
At the Iowa complex, DRI technology will remove oxygen from the Minnesota iron ore at temperatures below its melting point to create solid metallic iron. The DRI will then be fed into electric arc furnaces while still hot, reducing the energy required to melt the material and improving the efficiency and productivity of the steelmaking process.
The facility’s EAFs will use a mixture of hot iron produced by the plant’s DRI process and scrap steel. According to the company, the DRI-EAF configuration will reduce energy use and emissions compared with traditional blast furnace steelmaking.
Construction of the Iowa complex is expected to create more than 6,000 jobs. Once operational, the facility is expected to employ at least 1,750 full-time workers. Mesabi Metallics estimates the project will generate $95 billion in total economic output during construction and the first 10 years of full operations.
Press release is available in its original form here.
U.S. Steel has completed a $350 million blast furnace reline at its Gary Works operation in Indiana, returning more than 2 million tons of annual hot metal production capability to service. The project replaced the furnace’s refractory lining and restored critical systems supporting high-temperature ironmaking operations and long-term steel production.
Blast Furnace No. 14 has returned to service following completion of the reline project. The furnace is the largest at Gary Works and in U.S. Steel’s operating footprint.
The reline included replacement of the furnace’s refractory lining as well as restoration of critical systems designed to support safe, reliable operation and extend the furnace’s productive life. During the outage, teams also completed maintenance on supporting infrastructure, including the furnace gas, cooling water, hoisting, and stove systems.
The project required more than 1 million labor hours from employees and contractors, with a peak workforce of approximately 1,000 contractors on site per day.
David Burritt President and CEO U.S. Steel
“The return of Blast Furnace No. 14 is a great example of disciplined execution at U.S. Steel and is a testament to the skill, dedication, and unwavering focus on safety demonstrated by our employees, contractors, and partners,” said David B. Burritt, president and CEO of U.S. Steel. “This investment positions Gary Works to continue serving [clients], supporting American manufacturing, and creating value for years to come.”
Blast Furnace No. 14 is capable of producing more than 2 million tons of hot metal annually. The furnace incorporates large carbon block refractory produced by NDK, and it uses iron ore pellets sourced from U.S. Steel’s Minnesota Ore Operations as part of the company’s integrated steel supply chain.
The project comes as U.S. Steel continued hot strip mill and related steel shop upgrades at Gary Works intended to enhance capabilities, environmental performance, and operational reliability.
Press release is available in its original form here.
A nearly $3 million federally funded project will develop an induction smelting process to produce pig iron from low-cost, low-grade ores, adding a continuous smelting step to direct reduced iron (DRI) processing. The technology is intended to remove impurities and increase productivity while expanding the types of domestic iron ore that can be used for steelmaking.
The project, titled Induction Smelting of DRI-Processed Low Grade Ores for Steelmaking, will develop technology to produce pig iron from lower-cost, low-grade ores. Conventional direct reduced ironmaking typically requires more expensive high-grade ores. The additional smelting step is designed to remove impurities from lower-grade material, creating another pathway for its use in DRI-based ironmaking. The process will allow smelting to occur continuously rather than in batches, increasing productivity.
The project is one of 56 selected for a total of $117 million in DOE funding aimed at developing technologies to lower production costs and improve energy productivity across U.S. industrial sectors.
Press release is available in its original form here.
A U.S.-based cooling systems manufacturer is adding in-house aluminum brazing capabilities for the production of large heat exchangers, a move designed to increase production flexibility, shorten response times to market needs, and reduce dependence on external suppliers.
Image Credit: SECO/WARWICK
SECO/WARWICK will supply its universal CAB batch furnace and supporting equipment to the manufacturer’s plant in Pennsylvania. The system will primarily be used for aluminum brazing of large plate-and-bar heat exchangers for the heavy-duty segment and aftermarket.
The new line will include the universal CAB batch furnace for aluminum brazing, a dryer, a final cooling chamber, and an external transport system. A continuous thermal degreasing furnace will also be supplied to prepare components before fluxing and brazing.
The configuration will allow the brazing process to be carried out in a controlled nitrogen atmosphere with repeatable process parameters. The system incorporates convection heating and cooling, high nitrogen atmosphere purity, temperature uniformity, and a control system designed to support heat exchanger production.
“For many heat exchanger manufacturers, investing in their own aluminum brazing capabilities means moving to an entirely new level of process control. This partner will gain technological independence, greater production flexibility, and the ability to respond faster to market needs,” said Piotr Skarbiński, vice president of the Aluminum and CAB Products Segment at SECO/WARWICK.
The furnace is designed primarily for brazing large plate-and-bar heat exchangers in the recommended vertical position. Its design also allows for brazing standard fin-and-tube heat exchangers and plate heat exchangers, giving the manufacturer the ability to process different product geometries on the same system.
The universal CAB batch furnace can also be upgraded from a batch system to a semi-continuous configuration to increase production capacity as requirements change. Supporting equipment will cover successive stages of the production process. The continuous thermal degreasing furnace will prepare components before fluxing, while the dryer will prepare the load before brazing. The final cooling chamber will stabilize the final stage of the process, and the external transport system will move products between stages of hte line.
The contract was completed through cooperation among SECO/WARWICK’s U.S. operation, Retech, and SECO/WARWICK engineers in Poland.
Press release is available in its original form here.
