Arconic Corp. launched as a provider of advanced aluminum sheet, plate, extruded and architectural products that primarily advance the ground transportation, aerospace, industrial, packaging and commercial building markets. The separation of Arconic Inc. into two stand-alone companies – Arconic Corp. and Howmet Aerospace Inc. (the new name for Arconic Inc.) – took effect April 1, 2020, through a pro rata distribution by Arconic Inc. of 100% of the outstanding shares of the newly formed Arconic Corp.

SECO/VACUUM Technologies (SVT), a SECO/WARWICK Group company, sold four Vector vacuum furnaces in the first two months of 2020. Two high-pressure gas-quench (HPGQ) furnaces of different sizes were purchased by a Midwest tool-and-die manufacturer. The other two furnaces were purchased by a cutting-tool manufacturer, who will use it for tempering, and an aerospace components manufacturer.

AFC-Holcroft will move its European satellite office, which is currently located in Delémont, Switzerland, to Swiebodzin, Poland. The move was necessitated by the pending retirement of Marc Ruetsch, the current director of European operations, who announced he is stepping down in mid-2020. The new director of European operations, Marek Kedzierzynski, will be based out of Poland, and all activity related to AFC-Holcroft’s business in Europe will continue seamlessly from this new location.

The Metal Powder Industries Federation (MPIF) announced the cancellation of the co-located conferences WorldPM 2020 (the World Congress on Powder Metallurgy and Particulate Materials), AMPM 2020 (Additive Manufacturing with Powder Metallurgy) and Tungsten 2020 (the International Conference on Tungsten, Refractory and Hardmaterials), which were scheduled to take place June 27-July 1 in Montreal, Quebec.

United States Steel Corp. announced a series of aggressive and meaningful actions to provide greater certainty on the company’s response to impacts from the coronavirus (COVID-19) and the significant changes in global oil and gas markets. These actions will strengthen the company’s ability to serve customers, partner with suppliers and ensure a more secure future for employees. As such, U.S. Steel will idle the #4 blast furnace at its Gary Works immediately to begin a planned outage. In addition, the company will temporarily idle blast furnace A at Granite City Works effective immediately. U.S. Steel also plans to idle, beginning in late May, all or most of its Lone Star Tubular Operations and Lorain Tubular Operations for an indefinite period of time in response to weak tubular market conditions.

Insteel Industries Inc. announced that its wholly owned subsidiary, Insteel Wire Products, acquired substantially all of the assets of Strand-Tech Manufacturing Inc. (STM) for $22.5 million. STM manufactures prestressed concrete (PC) strand for concrete construction applications. Under the terms of the agreement, Insteel acquired STM's accounts receivable, inventories, production equipment and facility located in Summerville, S.C. Mount Airy, N.C.-based Insteel plans to close the Summerville facility and move most of its equipment to the company's other three PC strand production facilities in Gallatin, Tenn.; Houston, Texas; and Sanderson, Fla.

Tenaris will be reducing its workforce in the U.S. due to the abrupt, sharp decline in the price of oil and subsequent decrease in market activity. Employees at the company’s facilities in Koppel and Ambridge, Pa., have been informed that operations at the two plants will be suspended effective March 31, 2020. Operations at its threading plant in Brookfield, Ohio, will be suspended as of April 17, 2020. Tenaris will also be implementing employee reductions at its welded pipe plant in Hickman, Ark., and at its threading plant in Baytown, Texas, effective April 17, 2020.

Eldec of Auburn Hills, Mich., supports the energy, power-generation, transportation, logistics and critical manufacturing industries, among others, with its electro-technical machinery, services and equipment. All of these are a part of the critical infrastructure, as described by the Director of the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) in his guidance on the COVID-19 response. As such, Eldec intends to remain available on a limited basis during this stay-at-home period in compliance with the Michigan governor’s executive order and CISA guidelines to support our critical infrastructure clients with needed parts, service, support and equipment.

SECO/WARWICK received an order from a machine-tool manufacturer for two vacuum heat-treatment furnaces. The manufacturer purchased a multi-chamber vacuum furnace with oil quench and a high-pressure gas-quench vacuum furnace for its recently created captive heat-treat department. All of the necessary auxiliary equipment, such as chilling water storage and pumping, were included in the package. As part of the sale, SECO/WARWICK will create and deliver process recipes for the company to make the transition to in-house heat treatment as efficient as possible.