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Fine Carbonyl Iron Powder from ISP
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We’ve beaten COVID-19 as over 60% of the country has been vaccinated and consumers go on a spending rampage. Cars are flying off dealer lots with April’s 1.5 million sales (18.5 million SAAR) more than double a year ago and a solid 14% above 2019. Ah, but with the good also comes the bad news. The stubborn computer chip shortage is hindering production at all the automakers leading to the lowest inventory levels in decades.  Ford’s lack of semi-conductors will force it to slash second quarter production by half, even canceling several weeks output of its highly desired, highly profitable F-150 pickups. They expect improvement by July, but who knows? An industry veteran with reliable inside sources claims the problem will persist into 2022 as strong consumer sales and rebuilding of fleet inventories fuel high demand.

U.S. Vehicle Sales Surge Past Expectations Once Again

U.S. vehicle sales rose 3.1% month-on-month (m/m) in April, increasing to 18.5 million (SAAR) units, defying consensus expectations for a modest pull-back to 17.6 million.

Unadjusted volumes totaled 1.51 million in April, 111.4% above year ago levels, which would have represented the peak shutdown period due to COVID-19 restrictions. Relative to April 2019, sales were up a healthy 13.9%.

Passenger cars (+5.1% m/m) saw stronger growth than light trucks, which still posted a +2.4% gain on the month. Light trucks accounted for 77.6% of sales in April, down 0.2 percentage points from its share a year ago but still 6.8 percentage points higher than April 2019.

The early registration list for the PowderMet2021/AMPM2021/Tungsten2021 conferences is now available.  The conferences will be held one month from today, on June 20-23 at the WDW Swan and Dolphin Resort, in Orlando.  One registration fee gains access to the 3 big conferences, attracting the world’s leading industry-technical minds, promoting PM technology advancements from nearly 30 countries.

Delegates will transfer knowledge as they attend technical sessions, Special Interest Programs, and view the international poster display, in-person or online. All full conference registrants will have access to the on-demand videos for 2 weeks following the conferences.

We haven’t been able to get together in 2 years – don’t make it even longer…

If you are not on the list, register today!

GE engineers switched four existing parts from castings to metal 3D printing and see potential for hundreds more as AM competes with casting on cost alone.

Most manufacturers would never dream of switching an existing part from an investment casting to one made by metal AM.  But that is exactly what GE Aviation engineers are doing with four bleed air parts for a turbine engine. The decision was based on cost and time-to-market, even though the casting molds were already made.