According to the March 2011 Precision Metalforming Association (PMA) Business Conditions Report, metalforming companies anticipate steady business conditions during the next three months. Conducted monthly, the report is an economic indicator for manufacturing, sampling 111 metalforming companies in the United States and Canada.

The March report shows that 49% of participants forecast an improvement in economic activity during the next three months (compared to 51% in February), 46% predict that activity will remain unchanged (up from 44% last month) and only 5% report that activity will decline (the same percentage reported in February).

Average daily shipping levels remained virtually unchanged in March. Fifty percent of participants report that shipping levels are above levels of three months ago (up from 48% in February), 39% report that shipping levels are the same as three months ago (up from 37% last month), and 11% report a decrease in shipping levels (compared to 15% in February).

Metalforming companies anticipate solid levels for incoming orders over the next three months, although 52% of participants predict an increase in orders (down from 61% in February). However, 38% anticipate no change (compared to 31% last month) and only 10% predict a decrease in orders (up from 8% in February).

The percentage of metalforming companies with a portion of their workforce on short time or layoff decreased to 12% in March from 13% in February. The number is significantly lower than one year ago, when 42% reported employees on short time or layoff.

“Results of the March Business Conditions Report are quite positive and consistent with results from PMA’s Monthly Orders and Shipments Survey for January, which reported a month-over-month increase of 18 percent in orders booked and a 15 percent increase in shipments in January, after a seasonal dip in November and December 2010,” said William E. Gaskin, PMA president. “Orders and shipments of PMA member companies surged back above their 12-month rolling averages in January. The metalforming industry continues to experience growth in many market areas, with agriculture/off-highway, automotive, defense, medical products and aerospace being among the strongest sectors.”

Timken to Add $35-Million In-Line Forging Process

The Timken Co. plans to add forging capability to its steel bar manufacturing process with an investment of approximately $35 million for a high-volume, in-line forge press at its Faircrest plant in Canton, Ohio. Timken's Steel Group is an electric steel operation with a melting capacity of 1.5 million tons/year. It manufactures alloy steel bars and billets, as well as alloy and carbon steel seamless tubes.

The new installation will be part of $50-million capital improvement program for Timken’s three operations in Canton that it announced late in 2010.

Since 2006, Timken has invested over $200 million in its Steel Group, including two heat-treating lines, a scrap logistics system, a long-length tube line, and a small bar mill. Other investments planned as part of the latest capital program have not been announced.

The new in-line forging press will start operation early in 2013. The technology and equipment supplier for the in-line forge press were not released.

"This open-die, in-line press will be the first step of the forge-rolled process for all Faircrest products," according to v.p. - manufacturing Tom Moline. "Adding this step prior to rolling will provide better yield and production efficiencies to significantly improve our operations."

Timken stated the in-line forge press will increase its production capacity and lower production cost by improving yield, expanding product capabilities to meet more demanding ultrasonic specifications, and reducing cycle times for larger products. Forged steel bars will be particularly valuable to Timken’s customers that produce products for “extreme operating conditions,” including those in the oil-and-gas, heavy machinery, wind energy, and power-generation markets.

"We are making this next investment with the needs of our customers foremost in mind," stated Sal Miraglia, Jr., president of Timken's Steel Group. "In turn, this will contribute substantially to our long-term competitiveness, which is critical to jobs and performance."

Firth Rixson Opens Aerospace Forging Facility in Georgia

Firth Rixson Forgings LLC, a 200,000 ft2 closed die forging operation in Liberty County, GA, celebrated its grand opening with a Customer Appreciation event attended by representatives from major aero engine manufacturers and industrial gas turbine producers worldwide.

Touted as the "most significant expansion in the company's history," the facility was custom designed and built to provide rotating components for aircraft engines, with applications ranging from regional jet to wide body aircraft, as well as land-based turbines. Manufacturing will take place in three separate buildings, dedicated to pre-forge, forge, and post-forge activities, respectively. This modular construction provides Firth Rixson will flexibility to respond to customer and market demand.

Announced last January, the project was completed in just over one year and is fully operational, according to CEO David Mortimer. "The technical organization assembled for this facility is industry leading. Our facilities, equipment, and installations are of world-class caliber. Today, Firth Rixson advances its prominent position in the Aerospace industry by delivering a broadened service to our valued customers."

The Liberty County site is the first in the United States for Firth Rixson Forgings, joining three facilities in the UK — Darley Dale, River Don, and Meadowhall — and one in Eger, Hungary. Overall, Firth Rixson owns 11 operating facilities in North America, Europe, and Asia.

Firth Rixson also announced a long-term agreement with Rolls Royce to supply conventional closed die forgings, manufactured at the Georgia facility. "This agreement is a crucial step in our continuing growth in the aerospace market, and builds on our already successful relationship with Rolls Royce," added Mortimer.

EUROPE

Negotiations on the Sale of Metal Forming Continue with Spanish Company Gestamp

ThyssenKrupp has decided to negotiate exclusively with the Spanish Gestamp Automoción S.L. on the sale of the Metal Forming group. The executive board of ThyssenKrupp AG has confirmed its intent to sell the Metal Forming Group to Gestamp and to approve entering into a corresponding share purchase agreement with Gestamp; as the next step the employee information and consultation processes will be conducted. The Metal Forming group is no longer part of the core business of ThyssenKrupp Steel Europe. For this reason negotiations on the disposal were conducted with some potential buyers last year. An outstanding partner was identified in Gestamp Automoción, acting in a consortium with a financial investor. Gestamp is a major player in the automotive supply sector with more than 70 locations worldwide.

Forgemasters’ 15K Press Project is Back on the Table

British forger Sheffield Forgemasters International Ltd. is considering whether and how to revive its plan to install a new, 15,000-metric ton forging press at its plant in Sheffield, England. The project, conceived in order to produce parts for the global nuclear power market, was cancelled last summer when expected government financing was cancelled by the U.K.’s Conservative/Liberal coalition government.

Britain’s previous, Labour government had agreed to a $128-million loan that would secure the private financing for the reported $225 million project.

Local news reports quote a SFIL board member, Peter Birtles, confirming that the company’s review of the project is underway and may continue for several months. "We are updating all the numbers and data," Birtles told The Independent newspaper. "There is a firm underlying belief that this project should go ahead for the good of the country and for the good of the company. But, it's whether the numbers stack up."

The coalition government’s Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, Vince Cable, reportedly agreed to reconsider the loan if the company would review its plans this year to establish that it is still financially viable.

The new press was conceived in a period during which there has been a significant increase in global demand for forged components to build nuclear reactors, specifically for reactor pressure vessel heads, the massive units that cap the chambers in which nuclear fuel is combusted to generate heat that produces steam to power turbines. The demand is not only for components to be installed in new or planned reactors; there is also demand for components to replace pressure vessel heads in aging nuclear power plants.

At the present time, only five producers are capable of forging such large-scale components, including Japan Steel Works Ltd. and Doosan Heavy Industries in South Korea.

SFIL is an accredited supplier of components to nuclear power plants. The new press would join its 10,000-mt press, which is limited to supplying smaller components for the emerging class of larger reactors, such as the Westinghouse Electric Co.’s AP1000 reactor and Areva’s European Pressurized Reactor.

ASIA

Chinese Forger Orders SMS Open-Die Press

Press builder SMS Meer reports news of a new order it has received from China’s Qiqhar North Forging Steel Co. Ltd., in northeastern province of Heilongjian. The 60/70-MN open-die press will form high-strength materials like tool steel, stainless steel, and high-alloy specialty grades for a range of industrial products.

Qiqhar North Forging Steel is a unit of Dalian Dongbei Group, which has ordered two open-die forging machines from SMS Meer in recent years. One of these is a high-speed, 80/100-MN press, and the other is an SMX 800/16-MN hydraulic forging machine.

Dalian Dongbei is a specialty steelmaker. The new investment is part of its “Technical Retrofitting for Optimization and Upgrading of Forgings” program, through which the steelmaker aims to extend the range of its semi-finished products.

Commissioning of the new press is scheduled in the summer of 2012.

Japanese Consortium to Build New Aerospace Forger

Four companies are pooling their resource to establish a new forging operation in Japan, capable of producing large-scale components in titanium, nickel, and other specialty metals and alloys metals for aircraft engines and fuselages. High-alloy forgings for power plants will be another target market for Japan Aeroforge Ltd., which is a partnership of Hitachi Metals, Ltd., Kobe Steel Ltd., IHI Corp. and Kawasaki Heavy Industries Ltd., capitalized at 3.7 billion yen (about $45 million.)

The entire investment is projected at 20 billion yen (about $244 million), according to the consortium's statement.

The centerpiece of the operation will be Japan’s first 50,000-metric ton forging press. A 50,000-m2 location has been chosen on a man-made island in the Mizushima Port, at Kurashiki in Okayama Prefecture, which is in the western part of Japan. A source at Kobe Steel Ltd. reported that a site-selection process found Kurashiki to be most suitable setting for the new plant, “in terms of support from the local authorities and government, land prices, and other factors.”

No equipment supplier has been named for the 50,000-metric ton press, and design details are still undecided, though the source indicated that discussions are in progress with several press builders.

The plant is expected to be in development soon and construction will be complete by March 2012. Following customer certification trials, volume production anticipated in mid- to late 2014. Product volumes have not been detailed.

Hitachi Metals Special Steel Co.’s executive Koji Sato will be the president of Japan Aeroforge Ltd. The new venture will have about 40 full-time employees.

Each of the partners in Japan Aeroforge aim to improve the competitiveness of Japan’s aircraft industry, and the availability of large, high-tech forgings is critical to its development. Japan Aeroforge also hopes to export components to aircraft manufacturers worldwide. Only a handful of forging presses in the world are equal to the 50,000-metric ton capability anticipated by the new venture.

The leading partners are Hitachi Metals and Kobe Steel, and both companies have incorporated Japan Aeroforge in their business strategies. Hitachi Metals brings expertise in forging and molding technologies and Kobe Steel is Japan’s only integrated manufacturer of titanium.

IHI and KHI will provide start-up support for Japan Aeroforge, but their contribution to the organization will be in line with their machining and fabrication technologies for aircraft parts.

Hitachi Metals, Kobe Steel and other suppliers will provide titanium, nickel and other materials to Japan Aeroforge for forging. Then, the forgings will be returned to Hitachi Metals, Kobe Steel, and others for heat treatment, machining, and inspection. Then, Hitachi Metals and Kobe Steel will supply the forged parts to IHI, KHI, other domestic industrial and electrical machinery manufacturers and heavy electrical machinery manufacturers.

Hitachi Metals and Kobe Steel will each hold a 40.53% share of Japan Aeroforge; IHI and KHI will hold 5.41% shares. In the coming weeks, Marubeni-Itochu Steel Inc. (5.41%) and Sojitz Aerospace Corp. (2.7%) will join the venture.

Kobe Steel's Moka Plant to Restart Production

Kobe Steel, Ltd. plans to restart production at its aluminum rolling plant in Moka, Tochigi Prefecture, Japan.

Immediately after the Tohoku Pacific Earthquake struck Japan, the Moka Plant suspended operation. Since then, the Moka Plant had been inspecting the equipment and completed checking the facility today. The Moka Plant confirmed that it sustained no damage that would affect production.

From Friday, March 18, the Moka Plant will gradually restart operations and anticipates resuming full production on Tuesday, March 22. Shipments of aluminum products in stock have begun today.

Please note that plant operations may be affected depending on the power supply situation.

The Moka Plant makes aluminum sheet and plate products for automotive body panels, blanks and substrates for hard disk drives, and can stock for beverage containers, and other applications.

McIlvaine Company

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