Industry News

AFS Corporate Member Aalberts surface technologies, a global provider of specialized thermal processing, surface treatment, and material coating solutions, has made investments in its Canton, Ohio facility to add austempering capabilities that will provide a logistically favorable option to customers located in the Midwest, Eastern, and Northeastern U.S. markets. To balance the capacity available in the market with demand, the company will be closing its plant in Fort Smith, Arkansas.

AFS Corporate Member ASK Chemicals, Hilden, Germany, has achieved a significant reduction in waste and resource by utilizing production side streams as a raw material source to develop new product formulations.

Metals recycler MetalX LLC has selected a 190-acre site in Defiance, Ohio, for its previously announced aluminum recycling campus. Initial development plans include an aluminum rolling slab manufacturing plant, a scrap shredding and advanced sortation facility, and a dedicated logistics hub.

Wabash Castings Inc., Wabash, Indiana, has installed a new, $1.5 million JOEST Complete Shaker System that will improve operations and reduce landfill waste. The new shaker system allows the aluminum casting manufacturer to reclaim and reuse approximately 500 tons of sand per month, removing it from the landfill stream.

AFS Corporate Member Le Sueur Inc. (LSI), a supplier of complex aluminum castings, machined castings, and plastic injection molded components, has completed the acquisition of Craft Pattern and Mold (Craft).

AFS Corporate Member Metal Technologies Inc. (MTI) of Auburn, Indiana, has acquired Key 3 Casting LLC, which owns and operates two aluminum die and squeeze casting facilities as well as a ductile iron foundry. 

The facilities involved in the sale include Jackson Die Casting LLC in Jackson, Tennessee; Minneapolis Die Casting LLC in Minneapolis; and Northern Foundry in Hibbing, Minnesota. The combined operations have approximately $74 million in annual sales and 300 employees.

Andrew G. Sparber is a psychologist and part-time historian who has written nine books about the historical development of western Maryland. His latest book, titled “Full Steam Ahead: Allegany County, Maryland’s Industrial Revolution,” published in late 2023, will be of interest not only to local residents, but also to those with an interest in the history of America’s metal foundries.

Do you know a young metalcaster in the making? The Casting Dreams Competition created by SFSA is for them.

Young people ages 14–18 are invited to submit their "dream castings" for this exciting contest. Castings will be showcased at AFS’s Metalcasting Congress 2024 in Milwaukee, with national recognition and a $300 award going to the grand prize winner.

The World Foundry Organization (WFO) has announced that the World Foundry Congress will be held in Deyang City, China, October 25-30. The WFO is an international association of metalcasting societies. AFS is the sole WFO representative for the U.S.

This is the third time China will host the event––it previously hosted the event in 1995 and 2010. This year’s theme is “Developing Foundry.”

AFS Corporate Member Boose Quality Castings has purchased a DISA MATCH 20/24, which was operational in October. The company reported that after two years of operating a DISA MATCH 16/20 machine, it has been able to profitably produce aluminum castings with high dimensional accuracy and excellent surface finish.