In the midst of the climate debate, the foundry industry is still associated with smelly cars, air pollution and the diesel fraud scandal. Yet millennials are focusing on innovative strength and sustainability like no generation before.

Hydro has made the investment decision for the construction of a new state-of-the-art aluminum recycling plant producing 120,000 tonnes of aluminum extrusion ingot per year. Construction is set to start in early Q2 2022, with production commencing in 2023. The plant will have approximately 70 direct employees.

Rio Tinto is investing USD87 million to increase its low-carbon aluminum production in Canada with 16 new smelting cells at its AP60 smelter, in the Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean region of Quebec. The investment will increase production at the smelter by around 45 % and provide a secure future for approximately 100 employees who work at the facility.

KUKA and its majority owner, the Midea Group, have defined a joint growth vision. This way, both companies are laying the foundation for a leading role in global robot-based automation by 2025 and beyond.

Physical life cycle assessment offers the possibility of identifying optimization potential in the manufacturing process, e.g. for reducing energy use and thus avoiding CO₂ and other greenhouse gases. This report describes the physical life cycle assessment for the recycling of zinc scrap with the aim of producing zinc alloys for use in zinc die casting.

In October, the European Foundry Sentiment Indicator (FISI) dropped significantly. The decrease of 1.0 index points was the largest month-on-month drop since April 2020 when the first wave of Covid-19 infections hit Europe. The index value decreases to 106.6 points in October.

Exports of machinery and equipment from Germany rose by almost 11 % in the first nine months. While Italy continues to grow at rapid pace, the USA remains the most important export market, ahead of China.

Grenzebach will be part of the 2022 international trade fair EUROGUSS in Nuremberg. From 18^th to 20^th January 2022, Grenzebach experts will guide visitors through the wide range of solutions the automation specialist offers for the optimized processing of castings and the friction stir welding technology. Sample pieces from the friction stir welding and casting sectors provide insights into the company's technological know-how.

Prices for raw materials, energy and logistics have soared on a broad front while an increasing number of input factors is prone to run out of European stocks within the next weeks. Forwarding these unavoidable cost increases is however not taken for granted.

As the die casting industry emerges from the Covid 19 pandemic, we provide a brief overview of the state of die casting in the USA and Mexico. This article looks at current challenges for the North American die casting industry and where the road ahead may lead.