United States Steel and Carnegie Foundry, a robotics and AI studio, jointly announced a strategic investment and partnership. The two Pittsburgh-based companies will work to accelerate and scale industrial automation driven by advanced robotics and artificial intelligence (AI). Carnegie Foundry will use this investment to commercialize and scale its industrial automation portfolio of robotics and AI technologies in advanced manufacturing, industrial robotics, integrated systems, autonomous mobility, voice analytics and more.

General Motors Co. will invest more than $7 billion in four Michigan manufacturing sites. The investment will create 4,000 new jobs, retain 1,000 and significantly increase battery-cell and electric-truck manufacturing capacity. The single largest investment in GM history includes construction of a new Ultium Cells battery cell plant in Lansing and the conversion of GM’s assembly plant in Orion Township for production of the Chevrolet Silverado EV and the electric GMC Sierra.

Nucor Corp. reached agreements to acquire a majority ownership position in California Steel Industries (CSI) by purchasing a 50% equity interest from a subsidiary of Vale S.A. and a 1% equity ownership stake from JFE Steel Corp. (JFE). The company will be a joint venture between Nucor and JFE. CSI is a flat-rolled steel converter with the capability to produce more than 2 million tons of finished steel and steel products annually. The company has five product lines, including hot rolled, pickled and oiled, cold rolled, galvanized and ERW pipe.

Blast Cleaning Technologies (BCT) acquired Coyote Enterprises Inc. of Coweta, Okla. BCT designs and manufactures shot-blasting equipment, components and system upgrades that offer improved fit, function and life. Coyote Enterprises was founded in 1998 to provide cost-effective blast equipment and replacement parts engineered for increased performance and longevity. Under the ownership of BCT, Coyote customers will have access to North America’s largest engineering and field service team as well as BCT’s inventory support. The operation will be consolidated and centralized into BCT’s 140,000-square-foot manufacturing facility in West Allis, Wis.

Sheffield Forgemasters signed up as a Tier One Partner with the University of Strathclyde’s Advanced Forming Research Centre (AFRC), part of the National Manufacturing Institute Scotland. The move will give the 200-year-old company, which was recently taken into public ownership, access to the AFRC’s research-and-development facilities focusing on emerging advanced manufacturing technologies such as residual stress, advanced furnaces and forging expertise in Industry 4.0 data analytics and modeling. 

Sheffield Forgemasters signed a memorandum of understanding with Rolls-Royce SMR to jointly explore commercial mechanisms for a long-term collaboration on the supply of forgings to the Rolls-Royce UK Small Modular Reactor (SMR) fleet. The project directly supports the United Kingdom’s civil nuclear industry and the development of SMRs in the U.K., with Sheffield Forgemasters able to supply the complex nuclear-grade demonstrator forgings as part of the regulatory process.

Algoma Steel Group Inc., a Canadian producer of hot- and cold-rolled steel sheet and plate products, will construct two new electric-arc furnaces (EAFs) to replace its existing blast furnace and basic oxygen steelmaking operations. The transformation is expected to reduce Algoma’s carbon emissions by approximately 70%. Following the transformation to EAF steelmaking, Algoma’s facility in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, is projected to have an annual raw steel production capacity of approximately 3.7 million tons. The facility will also include new vacuum degassing capability to expand Algoma’s offering of steel plate grades.

Alcoa Corp. unveiled a technology roadmap to support the company’s vision to reinvent the aluminum industry for a sustainable future. The technologies in Alcoa’s roadmap, including a proprietary post-consumer scrap-recycling process, have the potential to decarbonize a significant portion of the upstream aluminum supply chain. The roadmap includes three key programs: the Refinery of the Future, the ASTRAEA metal purification process and ELYSIS joint-venture technology.

GE announced its plan to form three global public companies focused on the growth sectors of aviation, energy and healthcare. The company will combine GE Renewable Energy, GE Power and GE Digital into one business, positioned to lead the energy transition, and then pursue a tax-free spin-off of this business in early 2024. GE will pursue a tax-free spin-off of GE Healthcare, creating a pure-play company at the center of precision health in early 2023. Following these transactions, GE will be an aviation-focused company shaping the future of flight.

BlueScope entered into a binding agreement to buy the ferrous scrap-steel recycling business of MetalX LLC, the leading supplier of scrap feed to BlueScope’s Ohio-based mini-mill business, North Star BlueScope Steel. BlueScope will pay $240 million to acquire two of MetalX’s operating sites in Indiana and in Ohio. The Ohio facility is immediately adjacent to the North Star facility in Delta. According to BlueScope, North Star will soon move from a capacity of 2 million metric tons per year to almost 3 million metric tons per year. The acquisition is expected to complete by the end of the year.