Car manufacturers are constantly working to improve their engines. As a result, the demands on the materials used are also growing. With exhaust gas temperatures in new engine generations rising in part to over 1,000 degrees Celsius, increasing use is being made of parts manufactured from nickel alloys from ThyssenKrupp VDM. Mr Holger Lüking head of ThyssenKrupp VDM's automotive sales department said that…

Austrian Canadian car parts manufacturer Magna said that it has reached a deal with US car giant General Motors over the sale of its European subsidiary Opel. Sources within Magna said that all open issues had been resolved and it was now up to GM’s supervisory board to choose between their bid, backed by Russian state owned Sberbank, and that of rival Belgium based RHJ International. No immediate details…

Bloomberg quoted Mr Hans Dieter Poetsch CFO of Volkswagen AG as saying that it aims to achieve EUR 3 billion in cost savings from merging with Porsche SE. Mr Poetsch said that Volkswagen, which will pay EUR 3.3 billion for 42% of Porsche’s automotive unit as a first step in the merger, will issue as much as EUR 4 billion in new preferred shares in the first half of 2010 to help fund the purchase. The…

Reuters reported that Ford Motor Co was increasing production after a surge in sales ignited by the US cash for clunkers program. Ford said that it would build another 6,000 Focus sedans in the current quarter by adding overtime and a Saturday shift at an assembly plant in Wayne. A second plant in Kansas City will increase output of the Escape by another 3,500 vehicles, reversing plans to shut down for two…

It is reported that Gerdau MacSteel is set to reopen its Napoleon Township plant this fall after union members approved a proposal by the company on August 15th 2009. The move could put as many as 300 employees back to work. Gerdau MacSteel presented the union with the proposal Mr Crowley and his committee helped negotiate. Both sides agreed on a moratorium premium pay and no overtime for employees until…

The world's top two steelmakers and leading carmakers said that any return to growth would be gradual, casting doubt over some economists' forecasts for a recovery starting later this year. Upbeat earnings reports globally in the past few weeks have propelled stock markets higher and prompted investors to take on more risk in their portfolios as they grow increasingly confident the world economy is on the…

It is reported that the Punatsangchhu hydropower project offers Bhutanese industrialists, especially steel manufacturers a lucrative market. But the project that will consume thousands of tonnes of steel will not favour the local steel producer. As per report, this is because Pasakha steel is more expensive than that supplied from India and this price difference, even though Pasakha is closer arose from the…

Neenah Enterprises Inc. and Neenah Foundry Co., the company that manufactures manhole covers and other iron castings and steel forgings for municipal and industrial markets, posted a net loss of $13.3 million in the fiscal third quarter. Results for the quarter ended June 30 compared with net income of $2.4 million in the same period a year ago. Net sales for the quarter dropped 53 percent to $72.4 million.…

Telegraph reported that for years the largest employer on the island of Anglesey has been the large aluminium plant near Holyhead, providing 540 jobs. Because aluminium production is unusually energy intensive, the plant is also the largest electricity user in Wales. It has only been kept viable by a mutually beneficial deal with the nearby Wylfa nuclear power station which has long been supplying the…

Reuters quoted trading house Marubeni Corporation said as imports dropped due to a slump in demand that Aluminium stocks held at key Japanese ports plunged to the lowest since records started to be kept 14 years ago. The trading house said that aluminium stocks held at the ports of Yokohama, Nagoya and Osaka totaled 174,200 tonnes at the end of July down 16% from the previous month and 14% less than a year…