Kennametal Inc., a specialty metals manufacturing firm headquartered in Latrobe, Pa., has signed a definitive agreement to acquire the Allegheny Technology Inc.’s (ATI) Tungsten Materials Business for $605 million. ATI’s Tungsten Materials Business is a producer of tungsten metallurgical powders, as well as tooling technologies and components. The business has approximately 1,175 employees across 14 operating facilities globally and consists of two divisions: ATI Firth Sterling and ATI Stellram. The transaction has been approved by both companies’ boards of directors and is expected to close before the end of the calendar year, subject to customary regulatory approvals and closing conditions. ATI is based in Pittsburgh.

“ATI’s Tungsten Materials Business brings vital strategic assets that are an excellent complement to Kennametal, especially given our common focus on operational excellence and industry-leading material science,” says Carolos Cardoso, Kennametal’s chairman, president and CEO. “The addition of the expanded material and tooling technologies of ATI’s Tungsten Materials Business will enable us to offer more to our customers around the world.  We look forward to building on our respective strengths to accelerate growth while generating even greater value for our business and ultimately our shareholders.”

This acquisition is aligned with Kennametal’s growth strategy and positions the company to further diversify its portfolio. The company expects to capitalize on the material technology capabilities, engineered components and world-class tooling products of ATI’s Tungsten Materials Business to expand its presence in the aerospace and energy markets. 

According to a Kennametal press release, the acquisition will advance the company’s core strategy of diversifying the company’s tungsten sourcing to balance supplies, costs and access to raw materials, including those produced from recycled products. The ability of ATI’s Tungsten Materials Business to produce critical materials from recovered tooling and scrap will enhance Kennametal's material sourcing and development capabilities to support its growth initiatives.

The company also notes that the acquisition will accelerate its previously announced plans to expand capacity and develop an advanced tungsten carbide recycling facility in the United States to serve global markets. The company also estimates that this will reduce planned capital expenditures by $30 million to 35 million and expects to achieve economy of scale six to eight years earlier than prior projections.

Equipment maker Eriez, Erie, Pa., says its CleanStream™ process has been designed and tested to “provide best-in-class metal recovery rates and grade improvement with the help of three powerful Eriez products: the PokerSort®, P-Rex® Scrap Drum Magnet and Shred1® Ballistic Separator.”
 
According to Eriez, the PokerSort “extracts troublesome ‘pokers’ from the shred at an early stage. All potential ferrous material is then recovered when it passes through the P-Rex Drum, a magnet with a powerful circuit that is up to 40 percent stronger than older electro drums and offers improved ferrous recovery by one to two percent. The P-Rex is also capable of moving large spherical objects at twice the distance."
 
The next stage of CleanStream, says Eriez, is the Shred1 Separator, “which produces low copper content #1 Shred (defined by MSA’s RMDAS system as <.17%), a premium deliverable to the steel industry.” Eriez says the Shred1 uses “ballistics” to automatically separate high-grade, iron-rich ferrous from mixed metals and waste. It utilizes a high-speed conveyor belt and subjects the material to forces that push different materials into different trajectories. The result is that the smallest and purest items are pulled from the natural trajectory of the larger and less pure ferrous and ferrous composite items such as meatballs, tires, etc.
 
Toward the end of the CleanStream Process, the most pure ferrous items are transported to the #1 Shred chute and move to the stacking conveyor without the need for hand picking at this stage, according to Eriez.
 
Material not collected into the #1 Shred chute goes to one of two other collection chutes. The second fraction is larger sized ferrous items and lower grade ferrous including meatballs and wiring harnesses, as well as some waste. This stream represents the remaining 20 to 30 percent of the original stream and proceeds to the hand picking stations. Since the CleanStream Process has reduced the volume, the hand picking stations can be equipped with slower and narrower belts and now require fewer picking personnel, saving time and money, says Eriez.
 
“We know there is a defined need for an innovation such as the CleanStream Process in the recycling industry,” says Mike Shattuck, Eriez product manager - metals recycling. “The more ferrous material recovered from the shred, the greater the profit. Ferrous recovery represents the greatest opportunity scrap operators have to increase profits.”
 
Those seeking more information about the Eriez CleanStream process can visit http://www.eriez.com/Markets/Index/Cleanstreamprocess. 
 
Eriez designs and makes magnetic lift and separation, metal detection, materials feeding, screening, conveying and controlling equipment. More information about the company can be found at www.eriez.com.