Platte River Equity announced the sale of its portfolio company PRV Metals LLC to Tinicum L.P., a New York-based private investment firm. Through its two operating subsidiaries, Sierra Alloys (Irwindale, Calif.) and TSI Titanium (Derry, Pa.), PRV Metals manufactures and supplies forged and rolled titanium, stainless steel products and other specialty alloys to the commercial aerospace, defense, medical, energy and industrial sectors. The company specializes in flat and round bar and plate products, and it performs in-house heat treating, hot rolling, forging, conditioning and machining.

Primetals Technologies and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) will acquire ABP Induction Systems (ABP), a global manufacturer and servicer of induction furnaces and heating systems. ABP provides state-of-the-art equipment for ferrous and nonferrous metal casting, forging and steelmaking. Its main products are induction melting, holding and pouring furnaces as well as induction heaters. MHI and Primetals Technologies will jointly take ABP’s shares, and future business activities will be conducted in close cooperation with and under the leadership of Primetals Technologies.

Thyssenkrupp will build an advanced forging line at its Homburg site in Germany’s Saarland region. The company will invest approximately $90 million in a new 12,000-square-meter facility to produce forged front axles for trucks. The centerpiece of the highly automated and digitized forging line will be a 16,000-ton forging press measuring 32.8 feet (10 meters) high and weighing 1,700 tons. According to thyssenkrupp, the press will produce 360,000 forged components per year and will not be restricted to one product. In addition to front axle systems, the line will be able to produce crankshafts and other forged parts as required.

ParkOhio completed the previously announced acquisition of Erie Press Systems (formally EFCO Inc.) of Erie, Pa. Erie Press manufactures advanced forging presses, hydraulic and mechanical presses, and metal stretch-forming and carbon extrusion machines for end markets including aerospace and defense, primary metals and high-speed rail.

Allegheny Technologies Inc. (ATI) agreed to sell two non-core forging facilities to Wynnchurch Capital for $37 million. These facilities, located in Portland, Ind., and Lebanon, Ky., are part of ATI’s High Performance Materials & Components (HPMC) segment. They use primarily traditional forging methods to produce carbon-steel forged products for use in the oil and gas, transportation, construction and mining industries. Their capabilities include comprehensive forging processes complemented by in-house design and engineering, product machining and heat-treating services.

SMS group received the final acceptance certificate from Japan’s Hitachi Metals following the successful commissioning of its open-die forging press. This is the largest four-column open-die forging press in push-down design that SMS group has built in the last 25 years. The press, which operates with a forging force of up to 90 MN and an upsetting force of 108 MN, forges flat and round bars from ingots at a maximum starting material weight of 30 tons. Hitachi Metals intends to use it to process titanium alloys, tool steels, high-speed steels and nickel-based alloys.

Scibond SL-87 is an environmentally friendly blend of water-based polymers that is applied as a coating, rather than a reactive bath like zinc phosphate.

A horizontal forging reciprocator features Spra-Rite technology.

In what is becoming an annual April tradition, we’ll take a look at some significant industry events.

SMS group received a contract from Chinese steel and forging company Daye Special Steel Co. Ltd. for the engineering and delivery of a high-speed hydraulic open-die forging press. The press operates with a forging force of up to 50 MN and an upsetting force of 60 MN. The high forging frequency of the press enables sophisticated materials requiring a narrow temperature range to be forged and reduces machining times. Daye Special Steel plans to use the press, which will be installed in its Huangshi plant, to forge a variety of products of high-temperature alloys and special steel. Commissioning is scheduled for May 2020.