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.

Toyota will invest approximately $3.4 billion in automotive batteries in the United States through 2030. Specifically, the investment is for developing and localizing automotive battery production, including those for battery electric vehicles (BEVs). Toyota Motor North America also announced it will establish a new company and build an automotive battery plant together with Toyota Tsusho in the U.S. Aiming to start production in 2025, the project includes an investment of approximately $1.29 billion until 2031, resulting in the creation of 1,750 new American jobs.

The Motor City will host this edition of Forge Fair at its TCF Center (formerly Cobo Hall) located at 1 Washington Blvd. Sponsored by the Forging Industry Association (FIA), this event is North America's largest event in support of the metal forging industry and the technologies that support it. The exhibition floor opens today at 11:00 a.m. The show will be open all day tomorrow and will close at 1:00 p.m. on Thursday, October 28. The event also includes a strong, multi-track technical program. FORGE will be in attendance, so stop by and see us at booth #657.

Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Ferrous Processing and Trading Company (FPT) for a total enterprise value of approximately $775 million. Based in Detroit, FPT is among the largest processors and distributors of prime ferrous scrap in the United States, representing approximately 15% of the domestic merchant prime scrap market. The company currently processes approximately 3 million tons of scrap per year, approximately half of which is prime grade. FPT operates 22 scrap processing facilities, with approximately 90% of revenues originating from its Midwest locations, primarily in Michigan and Ohio.

Nucor Corp. launched Econiq, a line of net-zero carbon-steel products. Building the green economy and the necessary infrastructure requires clean, advanced steel products. According to Nucor, Econiq is a first of its kind at scale for the U.S. steel industry. General Motors will receive the Econiq net-zero steel beginning in the first quarter of 2022, and it is projected that all steel purchased by GM from Nucor will be net carbon neutral by the end of 2022. The Econiq brand will be available across the complete line of Nucor steelmaking products, and initial quantities will be limited.

Sweden’s Ovako AB will adopt carbon-neutral steel production starting on Jan. 1, 2022. The company’s goal is to achieve zero-carbon emission steel. Beginning in January 2022 and until the goal is met, Ovako will counterbalance the remaining carbon emissions in production through carbon offsets. The steelmaker has reduced carbon emissions significantly through efficient processes, the use of fossil-free electricity and dedicated investments such as conversions to fossil-free fuels for heat treatment. By building on the success of its recent pilot project to heat steel with hydrogen, Ovako is now preparing the first full-scale production installation at its Hofors mill in Sweden.

Nucor Corp. announced that its board of directors approved the construction of a new melt shop at one of the company’s existing bar mills in the western United States. The new $100 million facility will have the capacity to produce 600,000 tons annually and create approximately 140 new full-time jobs. Start-up is expected in 2024. Nucor has 15 bar mills strategically located across the country that manufacture a range of steel products, including concrete reinforcing bars, hot-rolled bars, rounds, light shapes, structural angles, channels, wire rod and highway products in carbon and alloy steels. Four of the bar mills have a significant focus on manufacturing SBQ and wire-rod products.

United States Steel Corp. announced an exploratory site selection process to build a new 3-million-ton flat-rolled minimill in the United States. The planned minimill will combine two state-of-the-art electric-arc furnaces (EAFs) with differentiated steelmaking and finishing technology, including purchased equipment already owned by the company. The continued adoption of minimill technology will expand U.S. Steel’s ability to produce the next generation of proprietary sustainable steel solutions, including advanced high-strength steels (AHSS). Potential locations include states in which the company has existing EAF operations and greenfield sites. The current estimated investment is approximately $3 billion.