A couple of days after announcing completion of the acquisition of Allegheny Technologies Incorporated’s (ATI) tungsten materials business, Kennametal Inc. (KMT) at its Analysts Day held on Nov 6, 2013 provided details on integration synergies expected out of the transaction.

Let us first get a quick look at the acquisition details provided earlier by Kennametal:

The agreement was announced by Kennametal on Sep 16, 2013. Allegheny Technologies’ tungsten materials business is a leading producer of tungsten metallurgical powders and also provides tooling technologies and components. The business has two divisions namely, ATI Firth Sterling and ATI Stellram. Annual revenue generation capacity of the business is $340 million and employs 1,175 people operating from 14 facilities worldwide.

The transaction value was fixed at $605 million, which Kennametal paid using its available cash and borrowings under its existing revolving credit facility. The company anticipates it will realize $30-$45 million in annual savings (versus $30-$40 million expected earlier) via consolidation of both the operations, reduction in administrative overhead costs and leveraging supply chain. Integration costs of $40-$50 million are anticipated to be incurred through fiscal 2016.

Also, the management of Kennametal provided a near-term outlook on the acquisition. Sales within $200-$220 million range with neutral earnings impact is anticipated for the eight months of fiscal 2014. Cash tax benefits of $60-$70 million are also expected to be realized during the period.  

This acquisition builds on Kennametal's Emura and Stellite acquisitions, while also increasing the company's presence in key growth sectors, including aerospace, energy and associated process industries. Further, it has also accelerated Kennametal’s plan for an advanced tungsten carbide facility. The company has lowered its capital spending plans in a big way, from $65 million to $35 million.

Besides the acquisition details, Kennametal at its Analysts Day also discussed its long-term targets/goals. The company anticipates achieving organic growth rate of 6%-10% (CAGR), EBIT % to be greater than equal to 15%, earnings per share to grow within 15%-20% (CAGR), capital expenditures to be 3%-4% of sales, and free cash flow to be greater than or equal to net income. By fiscal 2017, the company anticipates to double its base business to $5-$6 billion range.

The company also maintained its previously provided guidance for fiscal 2014. These include sales within $2.7-$2.8 billion range, organic growth within 4%-6% range, earnings per share within $2.90-$3.05 range, cash flow from operations within $330-$380 million range, capital expenditure within $130-$150 million range and free cash flow within $200-$230 million range.

Kennametal Inc. currently has a market capitalization of $3.6 billion. The stock carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). Other stocks to watch out for in the industry are Xylem Inc. (XYL) with Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) and Lincoln Electric Holdings Inc. (LECO) with a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).


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Allegheny decided to divest its tungsten materials business so that it can focus more on its core businesses – High Performance Metals and Flat-Rolled Products. The acquisition is also expected to increase Allegheny’s financial flexibility and simplify its capital allocation and deployment.

Allegheny’s tungsten materials business operates through roughly 1,175 employees across 14 operating facilities globally and consists of two market-leading divisions – ATI Firth Sterling and ATI Stellram. It produces tungsten powder, tungsten heavy alloys, tungsten carbide materials and carbide cutting tools. The business unit generated $338.6 million of total net revenues and $37.2 million of operating profit for the year ended Dec 31, 2012.

Kennametal paid for the acquisition partly by cash and partly by available borrowings under its existing revolving credit facility.

Allegheny’s sole financial advisor and legal counselor for this transaction were The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (GS) and K&L Gates LLP, respectively. J.P. Morgan Securities LLC, which operates as a subsidiary of JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM), acted as the financial advisor to Kennametal on the transaction.

Allegheny posted its third-quarter 2013 results on Oct 23. The company reported loss from continuing operations of $28.4 million (or 27 cents per share) compared with a profit of $31.3 million (or 29 cents per share) recorded a year ago. After excluding a loss of 4 cents per share due to the effects of income taxes reported in domestic and foreign jurisdictions, loss from continuing operations was 23 cents per share, narrower than the Zacks Consensus Estimate loss of 28 cents.

Allegheny recorded a loss of 5 cents per share in the reported quarter from discontinued operations that include the tungsten materials business and the iron castings and fabricated components businesses.

Revenues slipped 14% year over year to $972 million, missing the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1,051 million. Revenues were hurt by lower demand across several end markets including oil and gas, jet engine aftermarket, electrical energy, and construction and mining. Allegheny also witnessed lower pricing for many of its products and a decline in raw materials surcharges.

Allegheny expects business conditions to remain challenging through the end of 2013 and potentially in 2014 due to the U.S. debt ceiling and other fiscal policy issues.

Allegheny is primarily focusing on cost optimization and is accelerating its cost reduction efforts. Allegheny, through this move, was successful in gross cost reductions of $123.4 million during the first nine months of 2013, a pace which is well ahead of its 2013 target of $100 million in new cost reductions. The company remains well positioned to align its production, and inventory levels to match the demands of its customers and end markets.


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Specialty metals maker Allegheny Technologies Inc. has completed its earlier announced sale of its tungsten materials business to Latrobe, PA-based wear-resistant products company Kennametal Inc. for $605 million. Shares of Allegheny moved up as much as around 2% during the trading session following the declaration of the news.

Allegheny decided to divest its tungsten materials business so that it can focus more on its core businesses – High Performance Metals and Flat-Rolled Products. The acquisition is also expected to increase Allegheny’s financial flexibility and simplify its capital allocation and deployment.

Allegheny’s tungsten materials business operates through roughly 1,175 employees across 14 operating facilities globally and consists of two market-leading divisions – ATI Firth Sterling and ATI Stellram. It produces tungsten powder, tungsten heavy alloys, tungsten carbide materials and carbide cutting tools. The business unit generated $338.6 million of total net revenues and $37.2 million of operating profit for the year ended Dec 31, 2012.

Kennametal paid for the acquisition partly by cash and partly by available borrowings under its existing revolving credit facility.


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Using data from a large US health survey, the study has shown that high tungsten levels – as measured in urine samples – are strongly linked with an increase in the occurrence of stroke, roughly equal to a doubling of the odds of experiencing the condition.

Conducted by a team from the University of Exeter, the study represents the most comprehensive analysis to date of the potential health effects of the metal.

According to figures from the World Health Organisation, stroke is currently the second leading cause of death in the Western world, ranking only second to heart disease. It is also the leading cause of disability in adults, often resulting in loss of motor control, urinary incontinence, depression and memory loss.

The research used data from the US based National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), analysing information for 8614 participants aged between 18 and 74 over a 12 year period.

Higher tungsten levels were found to be strongly associated with an increase in the prevalence of stroke, independent of typical risk factors. Importantly, the findings show that tungsten could be a significant risk factor for stroke in people under the age of 50.

BlueFire Equipment Corporation (BLFR) announced today its team of scientists and engineers are working to finalize production of custom designed proprietary polycrystalline diamond cutter (PDC) tungsten carbide drill bits for its international clients.

Using advanced manufacturing techniques, BlueFire is optimizing and adapting its leading edge tungsten carbide drill bit technology for international applications.

Chairman and CEO of BlueFire Equipment Corporation William A. Blackwell said, “BlueFire’s team is customizing its highly engineered drilling equipment for very deep, high pressure environments and dense, hard rock formations.” He added, “We are casting these PDC tungsten carbide drill bits using our company’s advanced manufacturing techniques and made-to-order design specifications. The result is an improved product with the same cost and time saving attributes as our previous designs.”

Toyota Motor Corporation was honored this month for its ongoing efforts to promote a sustainable society by reducing, reusing and recycling resources, such as tungsten and tungsten carbide materials.

At this year's 3Rs (Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle) Awards hosted by Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry (METI) 3Rs Promotion Council, Toyota and Toyota Tsusho Corporation shared the 2013 Prime Minister's Prize.

Separately, Toyota and Sumitomo Electric Industries, Ltd. shared a Rare Metal Recycling Award from the Japan Environmental Management Association for Industry (JEMAI) presented earlier this month at the Awards for Resources Recirculation Technologies and Systems. The award, announced on October 11, recognized the companies' jointly developed system for recycling the rare metal tungsten.

Toyota was one of the first automakers to respond to the implications of mass production and disposal of vehicles. In 1970, Toyota and Toyota Tsusho Corporation founded Toyota Metal Co., Ltd., the first end-of-life vehicle shredding plant established by an automaker. The Toyota Group (consisting of 17 companies including TMC and Toyota Tsusho Corporation) has remained committed to the responsible disposal of end-of-life vehicles, and has developed a wide variety of world-first recycling technologies and systems to recover tungsten materials.

Toyota is also working to recycle rare metals that are used in non-hybrid vehicles. In 2010, Toyota teamed up with Sumitomo Electric Industries to establish a business focused on recycling tungsten, which is most commonly used to produce highly resilient carbide tools. The system combines processes for sorting and collecting scrap from cemented carbide products with new, world-first recycling technology to enable 100 percent recovery and recycling of tungsten in cemented carbide scrap. To date, the venture has recycled 75 tons of tungsten.


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BlueFire Equipment Corporation announced today its team of scientists and engineers are working to finalize production of custom designed proprietary polycrystalline diamond cutter tungsten carbide (PDC) drill bits for its international clients.

“BlueFire’s team is customizing its highly engineered drilling equipment for very deep, high pressure environments and dense, hard rock formations.”

Using advanced manufacturing techniques, BlueFire is optimizing and adapting its leading edge drill bit technology for international applications.

Chairman and CEO of BlueFire Equipment Corporation William A. Blackwell said, “BlueFire’s team is customizing its highly engineered drilling equipment for very deep, high pressure environments and dense, hard rock formations.” He added, “We are casting these tungsten carbide PDC bits using our company’s advanced manufacturing techniques and made-to-order design specifications. The result is an improved product with the same cost and time saving attributes as our previous designs.”

Over the course of a drilling program, BlueFire’s technology has demonstrated the potential to save operators millions of dollars. As previously announced, the BlueFire PDC bit drilled in excess of 200 feet per hour in the Powder River Basin, demonstrating excellent performance. BlueFire’s proprietary bit drilled more than 6,000 feet at the Campbell County, Wyoming location.

BlueFire’s exclusive design has the ability to provide higher rates of penetration (ROP) and longer bit runs in hard rock formations and shales, representing a breakthrough in drilling technology. BlueFire bits employ large cutter face volumes for rapid drilling of shales, sandstones, limestones and sticky clays. These tungsten carbide drill bits utilize premium PDC cutters for improved ROP and are designed using directed ports to accelerate cleaning and optimize cooling. Company findings indicate a decrease of more than 30 percent in temperature on the cutting surfaces, drastically reducing cutter wear and extending the life of the bit.

Conventional tungsten carbide drill bits use nozzles that eject drilling fluid into the well bottom resulting in a general application and uneven distribution at the point of contact. BlueFire’s bit design employs strategically aligned nozzles to concentrate high-pressure jet streams directly on the cutting edge, lubricating the interface between the cutters and the rock formation being drilled. Furthermore, improved cleaning and scouring action facilitates removal of cuttings. The result is a bit that runs cleaner and cooler.


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German sawing machine manufacturer, KASTO, has introduced a new, automatic circular saw called KASTOgripspeed C10. It can be fitted with equipment for continuous stock infeed and with various outfeed options, including sorting of cut pieces.

The high performance machine is designed to process materials up to a tensile strength of 1,400 N/mm². Tungsten carbide tipped saw blades of 360 mm diameter and either 2.5 or 2 mm thick minimise the kerf and hence the amount of metal lost as swarf. For some materials, coated or cermet blades are used.

All such blades have the additional advantage that thin or thin-walled materials can be cut safely and efficiently, expanding the range of applications for which the KASTOgripspeed C10 is suitable. Particularly helpful is infinitely adjustable workpiece clamping with a force of 2 to 12.5 kN for safely securing thin-walled tubes and profiles.

Cutting range of the saw is from 15 to 100 mm diameter for rounds or up to 80 mm for square stock. The smallest cut-piece length is 8 mm, while remnant length is only 65 mm. Material feed stroke is 500 mm, or up to 9,999 mm with multiple feed.

Saw drive power is high at 11 kW to ensure efficient cutting of all type of material. Infeed speed ranges from 10 to 4,000 mm/min and is infinitely variable. The same is true for blade speed, which is adjustable from 17 to 175 m/min. Contributing to short idle time is 10 m/min rapid lift of the saw blade at the end of each cutting cycle.

To maximise productivity, continuous material infeed and outfeed is needed. KASTO offers a wide range of roller conveyors and inclined magazines for bar lengths up to 12 metres. As an alternative to inclined magazines, loaders are available for bundles up to a maximum of 5 tonnes. There are also flat and universal magazines for rectangular and profile materials or for fully automatic processing of cutting orders of small to medium batch sizes.

Several possibilities are available for the outfeed side, including conveyors and various types of automated sorting systems.


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The Nanotech 100UPG brings a new generation of accuracy, productivity, and simplicity in ultra-precision aspheric grinding. The system is available in either a XZ or XZB configuration. Although its primary application is the grinding of Tungsten Carbide and Silicon Carbide aspheric optical mold inserts used in glass press molding or the grinding of glass lenses directly, it also provides a 250mm diameter capacity for diamond turning applications.

Nanotech has continued its history of setting new industry standards in the ultra-precision machining systems field with their latest innovation. The Nanotech 100UPG is the most technically advanced aspheric grinder available, with a great emphasis having been placed on making operation of this system easy and intuitive. Whether the application is Tungsten Carbide / Silicon Carbide precision optical mold inserts or aspheric glass lenses, this total flood coolant containment design has been engineered to add value to the process in terms of both efficiency and performance. Available in either XZ or XZB configurations, the machine offers a 100mm diameter swing capacity for optical grinding. It can also serve as an ultra-precision diamond turning system with a 250mm diameter capacity.

The 100UPG has been developed with many new precision engineered components and features. These include high stiffness thermally controlled hydrostatic oil bearing slide ways, a compact utilities cabinet with integrated hydraulic and pneumatic systems, on-machine CNC controlled wheel dressing and metrology measurement, and a new control system. The main work spindle consists of an exclusive 10,000 rpm heavy-duty groove compensated air bearing design while the air bearing grinding spindle has a speed range of 5,000-45,000 rpm with less than 50 nanometers of radial and axial runout throughout its entire range. Both spindles benefit from total liquid cooling for long term thermal stability. Due to the high overall loop stiffness and exceptional quality and technical performance of all major components used on the Nanotech 100UPG, this equipment has been optimized to provide superb grinding performance. The optional Heavy Duty Oil Hydrostatic B-axis allows simple expansion of the basic two axis system to 3 axes of continuous path motion. The machine’s enclosure has been engineered for total flood containment with a smooth gliding curved door enabling easy and complete access to the work area for production loading/unloading and quick machine cleanup. Either temperature controlled or non-temperature controlled flood coolant delivery systems are available.

This system also features Nanotech’s New PowerNC™ Windows 7 based HMI Controller with superior processing speed over previous control systems in the ultra-precision industry. This combined with the industry’s first touch / swipe gesture interactive 22” wide screen display brings a simplicity and functionality unlike anything else while assuring high productivity and reliability.

Moore Nanotechnology Systems, LLC is a global supplier of ultra-precision machining systems for single point diamond turning, micro-milling, micro-grinding, and glass press molding. With machine installations in 28 different countries, Nanotech’s 2 - 5 axes symmetric and freeform optical machining systems offer the flexibility and reliability to cover R&D or production needs in a broad range of current and emerging markets. All systems achieve nanometer level surface finishes directly off the machine, most often eliminating the need for secondary post-polishing operations, while at the same time maintain sub-micron form accuracies. There are ultra-precision systems and then there are Nanotech ultra-precision machining solutions.


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Tungsten price is set for a period of stability over the next few years as the trend of falling Chinese exports is offset by expansions elsewhere and increased secondary supply, David Merriman, senior analyst at industry consultancy Roskill, said.

"We see the current price level as what it will be over the long-term," he said at Roskill's Minor Metals Seminar on Tuesday.

Ammonium paratungstate (APT) prices are currently quoted around $390/410 per kilo following a min-bounce this year from depressed late-2012 levels but they remain below the 2011 peak of $460.

"Restocking pulled prices up in early 2013. That has slowed and prices are expected to stabilise," Merriman said.

China will remain the key influence in the market on the supply side - the country accounted for 82 percent of global mine output in 2012, producing some 67,500 tonnes of tungsten (in terms of metal content). Production growth generally runs at around four percent per year, he noted.

But less of this increased supply is directed towards the export market amid quota restrictions. From the 2005 level of 18,200 tonnes, the quota has been cut to a current 15,400 tonnes. For raw material APT, exports are down 24 percent since 2011 but tungsten carbide shipments have fallen just 3.5 percent.

"This represents a move by China to reduce exports of intermediate material in favour of value-added products. Exports are likely to continue to decline as more material is consumed domestically," Merriman said.

China’s government regulates its tungsten industry by limiting the number of exploration, mining and export licenses it grants, limiting or forbidding foreign investment, imposing constraints on mining and processing and establishing quotas on production and exports.

Despite this, additional availability is expected from Russia, Spain and Portugal, as well as from the growing recycling sector.

"Secondary output is expected to increase by eight percent to 2018, mostly from Asia and Europe, and will account for 28 percent of production then," Merriman said.


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