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New mG plant start-up in China as Keystone considers its
future
Italian PM parts maker mG miniGears of Padova has opened
a steel machining and P/M parts manufacturing plant in Suzhou,
China. The new facility, mG miniGears (Suzhou) Co Ltd, is
the company's second international plant. The company has
invested $8.5 million in the new plant around 80 kilometres
from Shanghai. It will produce parts and assemblies for transmission
applications in power tools and in lawn and garden products.
Besides three compacting presses, two sintering furnaces,
and machining equipment, the 40,000-square foot plant will
include a heat-treatment unit and an assembly department.
The company expects to produce five million PM gears this
year. The initial workforce of 40 is expected to increase
to 130 by 2007. Sales will be aimed at Western transplants
in China and Chinese manufacturers of power tools and lawn
and garden products.
• The board of directors of PM parts maker Keystone
Powdered Metal, of St. Marys, Pennsylvania, has retained a
financial advisor to explore a possible sale or merger of
the company. The board will review strategic alternatives
to enhance shareholder value. A privately held company, Keystone
has annual sales of about $86 million and 750 employees. Benjamin
R. Reuscher and Adolf Schmidthammer founded Keystone in 1927.
The Reuscher family still holds the majority interest in the
company, which operates four plants in Pennsylvania, North
Carolina and Ohio. A local newspaper recently reported that
the Lewis Run, Pennsylvania, plant is undergoing a $5 million
expansion and will add 46 new jobs. Keystone's main plant
and headquarters dominate the St. Marys landscape with 456,000
square feet and 360 employees. About 70 percent of Keystone's
output goes to the automotive market.
• North American Tungsten Corporation (NATC) based
in Vancouver, British Columbia, is tackling financial hurdles
aimed at reopening its CanTung tungsten mine. The company
announced a settlement agreement with major creditors. The
agreement calls for NATC's settlement of approximately $3.7
million owed to Sandvik Coromant and Osram Sylvania Products,
in exchange for a payment of $300,000 in cash, which has been
paid. NATC will also deliver $600,000 in tungsten concentrate
over a 24-month period after production begins at the CanTung
mine. In addition, it was reported that Kaska Minerals has
agreed to invest $2.97 million in NATC and will become its
largest shareholder. The mine is scheduled to reopen this
year.
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