metal-powder.net14 MPR March/April 2014

IOM relaunches industry partnerships

Massive rise in Chinesetin exports

First ever iron powder exports from Chinese company

According to annual Chinese

trade figures reported by the

ITRI, China had a 99% rise in tin

metal exports last year.

According to annual Chinese trade figures reported by the ITRI, China had a 99% rise in tin metal exports last year, while concentrate imports, mainly from Myanmar, more than tripled in volume.

There was also a 6% fall in refined tin imports.

WISCO is based in Wuhan City in the Hubei Province.

Wuhan Iron and Steel Corporation (WISCO) has made its first international export of reduced iron powder.

It has exported a load of 100250I reduced iron pow-der to a Korean metallurgy company.

“The delivery of first overseas order has seen the exportation of both WISCO powder metallurgy prod-ucts and service marketing mode,” the company said in a press release.

To ensure the reduced iron powder meets inter-national requirements the company assured proof of quality and safety specification.

Decline in demand

According to WISCO, domes-tic consumption demand of iron powder has declined and the price competition has become heated among reduced iron powder suppli-ers. Due to the sluggish mar-ket, supplies of atomised iron powder with higher purity at a lower price have squeezed out the market share of reduced iron powder.

As a result, the company has changed its strategy to explore diversified channels and expand the global mar-ket. Its plan is now to export its supplies of reduced iron powder while upgrading its corporate image and integrat-ing into the global market.

The Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining’s (IOM3) Industry Affiliate Scheme (IAS) has relaunched, follow-ing an extensive restructure.

The scheme was established in 1996 and aims to develop partnerships with organisa-tions working in the materi-als sector. It offers organisa-tions access to the consul-tancy services of the institute’s Materials Information Service and its understanding of mate-rials and processing.

The relaunched IAS also offers technical support, professional development of staff, access to materials information and research and opportunities to raise a member’s profile within the materials community.

“The relaunch of the Industry Affiliate Scheme underlines our commitment to support and actively engage with industry,” said Kate Harrison, IAS co-ordi-nator.

PM champion receivesMPIF award for PM promotionRobert J Dowding, research manager for materials and manufacturing science at the US Army Research Laboratory (ARL), has received the first-ever Vanguard Award from the Metal Powder Industries Federation (MPIF).

The award recognises powder metallurgy (PM) industry champions from the end-user community whose long-time promotion of the technology has contributed to the expansion of powder metal applications.

Over the course of Dowding’s tenure at ARL, much of his PM based research and development work has been related to material and process devel-opment for tungsten and tungsten alloys. He has performed research examin-ing strain aging in tungsten

heavy alloys (WHA), the processing of novel tung-sten-based compositions, and the re-spheroidisation of tungsten grains in heavily cold-worked WHAs.

Dowding has also been a supporter of the Army’s Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) programme, including multiple mission programmes in the materials science and manufacturing of protection- and lethality-related applications. He has also promoted missile programmes focusing on powder metallurgy, tungsten research, nanomaterials, armour ceramics, and pow-der injection moulding.

Dowding will be pre-sented with the award at the PM2014 World Congress, which takes place from 18-22 May, in Orlando, Florida.

China’s total refined tin imports in 2013 were 13,141 t, according to China Customs data, the lowest since 2009, when trade was hit by the global financial cri-sis. The fall was due to high tin stocks in the domestic market and weak demand, resulting in narrow import profit margins.

China exported 3,450 t of refined tin in 2013, almost double the previous year and boosted by the Indonesian supply bottleneck from September to November. However the official figures under state actual exports, which might have been more than 5,000 t, based on avail-able import statistics of third countries.

MPR0214_biz news 14 01-04-2014 16:26:26