Metal Powders, Fourth Edition: A Global Survey of Production, Applications and Markets 2001-2010

Metal Powders A Global Survey of Production, Applications and Markets to 2010

Fourth edition

Joseph M Capus

ELSEVIER

UK USA JAPAN

Elsevier Ltd, The Boulevard, Langford Lane, Kidlington, Oxford OX5 1GB, UK Elsevier Inc, 360 Park Avenue South, New York, NY 10010-1710, USA Elsevier Japan, Tsunashima Building Annex, 3-20-12 Yushima, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113, Japan

Copyright © 2005 Joseph M Capus All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means: electronic, electrostatic, magnetic tape, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without permission in writing from the publishers. First edition published 1993 Second edition published 1996 Third edition published 2000 Fourth edition published 2005

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A CIP Catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library ISBN 1856174794 Whilst every care is taken to ensure that the data published in this report are accurate, the Publisher cannot accept responsibility for any omissions or inaccuracies appearing or for any consequences arising therefrom. No responsibility is assumed by the Publisher for any injury and/or damage to persons or property as a matter of products liability, negligence or otherwise, or from any use or operation of any methods, products, instructions or ideas contained in the material herein. Published by Elsevier Advanced Technology The Boulevard, Langford Lane, Kidlington, Oxford OX5 1GB, UK Tel: +44(0) 1865 843000 Fax: +44(0) 1865 843971 Transferred to Digital Printing 2006

Contents

List of Tables List of Figures About the Author About Elsevier Advanced Technology Acknowledgements

ix XlII ° = ,

xiv xv xvi

Summary Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Introduction 1.1 Scope 1.2 Historical Summary: Development of Powder Metallurgy 1.3 Metal Powders in the 1990s 1.4 Methodology 1.5 Bibliography

8 12 16 17

Market Background: Regional Industries and the Automotive Scene 2.1 North America 2.1.1 Canada 2.1.2 Mexico 2.1.3 USA 2.2 Japan 2.3 Western Europe 2.3.1 Austria 2.3,2 France 2.3.3 Germany 2.3.4 Italy 2.3.5 Spain 2.3.6 Sweden and other Nordic Countries 2.3,7 UK 2.4 Russia and East Europe 2,5 Asia and Australia 2.5.1 Australia 2.5.2 People's Republic of China 2.5,3 India 2.6 South Africa 2.7 South America

19 19 22 23 23 25 29 31 32 33 34 36 37 39 40 41 42 44 46 48 49

Metal Powders

iii

Contents

2.8 2.9

Chapter 3

iv

Metal Powders

Economic and Technical Issues Affecting the Markets for Metal Powders 2.8.1 Rising Raw Materials and Energy Costs Auto Industry Developments Impacting PM 2.9.1 The Global Automotive Market 2.9.2 PM Usage in the Auto Industries 2.9.3 Auto Parts Makers Squeezed 2.9.4 Advanced Auto Technology for a Cleaner Environment

Global and Regional Markets for Metal Powders 2001-2010 3.1 Global Overview- Metal Powders in the Present Decade 3.2 Iron and Steel Powders 3.2.1 Applications 3.2.2 Global Consumption 3.2.2.1 North America 3.2.2.2 Europe 3.2.2.3 Japan 3.2.2.4 China 3.2.2.5 Rest of the World 3.2.3 Global Summary and Forecast of Iron and Steel Powder Consumption to 2010 3.3 Stainless and Other High Alloy Steel Powders 3.3.1 Applications 3.3.2 Global Markets for Stainless and High Alloy Steel Powders 3.3.2.1 North America 3.3.2.2 Europe 3.3.2.3 Japan 3.3.2.4 Rest of the World 3.4 Copper and Copper Alloy Powders 3.4.1 Applications of Copper and Copper-based Powders 3.4.2 Global Consumption of Copper and Copperbased Powders 3.4.2.1 North America 3.4.2.2 Europe 3.4.2.3 Japan 3.4.2.4 China 3.4.2.5 Rest of the World 3.4.3 Global Summary for Copper and Copper-based Powders 2001-2010 3.5 Nickel and Nickel Alloy Powders 3.5.1 Applications of Nickel and Nickel Alloy Powders 3.5.2 Global Consumption of Nickel and Nickel Alloy Powders 3.5.2.1 North America 3.5.2.2 China 3.5.2.3 Europe, Japan and the Rest of the World 3.6 Tin Powder 3.6.1 Applications of Tin Powder 3.6.2 Global Consumption of Tin Powder

50 51 52 52 53 54 55

57 57 60 60 61 61 66 69 72 73 75 76 76 76 77 79 79 81 81 81 82 82 84 86 87 88 89 90 90 91 92 94 94 96 96 96

Contents

3.6.2.1 North America 3.6.2.2 Europe, Japan and the Rest of the World Aluminium and Magnesium Powders 3.7 3.7.1 Applications of Aiuminium and Magnesium Powders 3.7.2 Global Consumption of Aluminium and Magnesium Powders 3.7.2.1 North America 3.7.2.2 Europe, Japan and the Rest of the World Titanium and Titanium Alloy Powders 3.8 3.8.1 Applications of Titanium and Titanium Alloy Powders 3.8.2 Global Consumption of Titanium and Titanium Alloy Powders 3.9. Tungsten Powder 3.9.1 Applications of Tungsten Powder 3.9.2 Global Consumption of Tungsten Powder 3.9.2.1 North America 3.9.2.2 Europe 3.9.2.3 Japan and the Rest of the World 3.10 Molybdenum Powder 3.10.1 Applications of Molybdenum Powder 3.10.2 Global Consumption of Molybdenum Powder 3.10.2.1 North America 3.10.2.2 Europe, Japan, China and the Rest of the World 3.11 Cobalt Powder 3.11.1 Applications of Cobalt Powders 3.11.2 Global Consumption of Cobalt Powders 3.11.3 Cobalt Substitution Chapter 4

End User Industry Analysis 4.1 Market Segmentation by Application 4.2 PM Applications 4.2.1 PM Structural Parts 4.2.2 PM Bearings 4.2.3 PM Hot-Forged Parts 4.2.4 PM Cutting Tools and Wear Parts 4.2.5 PM Wrought and Semi-Finished Products 4.2.6 PM Filters and Porous Parts 4.2.7 PM Friction Materials 4.2.8 Metal Injection Moulding 4.2.9 Electrical and Magnetic Applications 4.3 Welding Electrode Manufacture 4.4 Thermal Spraying/Hardfacing 4.5 Cutting, Scarfing and Lancing 4.6 Photocopier Applications 4.7 Magnetic Particle Inspection 4.8 Metallic Flake Pigments and Printing Inks 4.9 Brazing and Soldering 4.10 Other Applications

96 97 98 98 100 100 101 102 103 103 104 104 105 107 110 110 111 112 113 113 114 115 119 119 120 121 121 128 128 132 134 136 137 139 140 141 143 145 147 148 148 149 150 150 151

Metal Powders

v

Contents

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

vi

Metal Powders

Technical Overview- Metal Powder Production 5.1 General 5.2 Chemical Methods 5.2.1 Decomposition of Gaseous Compounds (Carbonyl Process) 5.2.2 Hydrometallurgical (Sherritt Process) 5.2.3 Electrolytic Deposition from Solution 5.2.4 Reduction of Oxide 5.3 Physical Methods 5.3.1 Water Atomization of Liquid Metals 5.3.2 Gas Atomization of Liquid Metals 5.3.3 Oil Atomization of Liquid Steel 5.3.4 Centrifugal Atomization (Rotating Electrode Process) 5.3.5 Rapid Solidification: Spinning Disc Atomization 5.4 Mechanical Methods 5.5 'Hybrid' Processes 5.5.1 Production of Iron Powder by the QMP Process 5.5.2 Production of Iron Powder by the Domfer Process 5.5.3 Production of Copper Powder by the Copper Oxide Process 5.6 Commercial Production Methods for Metal Powders 5.6.1 Aluminium Powder 5.6.2 Cobalt Powder 5.6.3 Copper Powder 5.6.4 Copper Alloy Powders 5.6.5 Iron Powder 5.6.6 Magnesium Powder 5.6.7 Molybdenum Powder 5.6.8 Nickel Powder 5.6.9 Nickel Alloy Powders 5.6.10 Steel (Including Low-Alloy Steel) Powders 5.6.11 Stainless Steel and Tool Steel Powders 5.6.12 Tin Powder 5.6.13 Titanium Metal and Alloy Powders 5.6.14 Tungsten Powder 5.7 Production of Fine and Ultrafine Powders Worldwide Review of Metal Powder Producers 6.1 North America 6.1.1 Canada Canbro Inc Domfer Metal Powders Ltd Eutectic Canada Inc INCO Special Prducts Quebec Metal Powders Sherritt International Corp U MEX Inc Umicore Canada Inc 6.1.2 USA ACuPowder International LLC ACuPowder TN lnc

153 153 154 154 154 155 155 156 157 157 157 158 158 159 159 159 160 160 160 161 161 162 162 162 163 163 163 163 163 164 164 164 164 164 167 167 167 167 168 168 169 169 170 171 171 171 172 173

Contents

6.2

Advanced Specialty Metals Inc ALCOA- Specialty Metals Division American Chemet Corp Ametek Specialty Metal Products Division AMPAL Inc Carpenter Powder Products Inc Crucible Compaction Metals FW Winter Inc & Co Hart Metals Inc HC Starck Inc Hoeganaes Corp Homogeneous Metals Inc International Specialty Products International Titanium Powder LLC Kobelco Metal Powder of America Inc Micron Metals Inc Mitsui/ZCA Zinc Powders Co North American H6gan~s High Alloys LLC North America H6gan~s lnc Novamet Specialty Products Corp OM Group Inc OSRAM Sylvania Products Inc Pyron Corp Reade Manufacturing Co Inc SCM Metal Products Inc Toyal America Inc UltraFine Powder Technology Inc United States Bronze Powders Inc Valimet Inc Zinc Corporation of America Europe ALUMA GmbH The Aluminium Powder Co Ltd AUBERT & DUVAL BASF AG BSA Metal Powders ECKA Granulate MicroMet GmbH ECKA Granulate Velden GmbH ECKA Granules ECKA Granules Poudmet SAS Erasteel Kloster AB Eurotungst~ne Podres SA Hoeganaes Corporation Europe SA H6ganiis AB H6gan~is Belgium SA HC Starck GmbH INCO Special Products Makin Metal Powders Ltd Mepura Metallpulver GmbH MI~TAC- France Sarl Metapol SA Non Ferrum Kranj DOO Non Ferrum Metallpulvergesellschaft OMG Kokkola Chemicals Oy Pometon SpA Poudres Hermillon SA

Metal Powders

173 174 174 174 175 176 176

177 177 177

178 180 181 181 181 182 182 182 183 183 184 184 185 185 186 186 187 187 187 188 188 188 189 189 190 191 191 192 192 193 194 195 195 196 198 198 199 199

200 20O 200 2OO 201 201 201 202 vii

Contents

6.3

6.4

6.5 6.6

6.7

6.8

Chapter 7

viii

Metal Powders

Japan

Powdrex Ltd QMP Metal Powders GmbH Sandvik Ospey Ltd - Powder Group Shamrock Aluminium Ltd U m i c o r e - Engineered Metal Products Union Mini~re- Cobolt and Energy Products

Atmix Corp Daido Steel Co Ltd Fukuda Metal Foil and Powder Co Ltd H6gan~s Japan KK JFE Steel Corp Kobe Steel Ltd Rest of the World 6.4.1 Australia ECKA Granules Australia Pty Ltd WMC Resources Ltd 6.4.2 Bahrain Bahrain Atomisers International BSC Ltd 6.4.3 Brazil HSgan~is Brasil Ltda Metalp6 Industria e Com6rcio Ltda 6.4.4 China HSgan~is (China) Ltd 6.4.5 India H6gan~is India Ltd 6.4.6 Russia MMC Norilsk Nickel STAKS UEM-ECKA Granules GmbH Ranking of the World's Leading Metal Powder Producers Metal Powder Trade Organizations Metal Powder Industries Federation (MPIF) 6.6.1 European Powder Metallurgy Association 6.6.2 (EPMA) Japan Powder Metallurgy Association 6.6.3 (JPMA) Fachverband Pulvermetallurgie 6.6.4 Associazione Operatori Metallurgia Polveri 6.6.5 (ASSINTER) Other Related Trade Organizations 6.7.1 The Cobalt Development Institute (CDI) 6.7.2 International Tungsten Industry Association (ITIA) 6.7.3 International Molybdenum Association (IMOA) Other Related Associations 6.8.1 The Powder Metallurgy Association of South Africa

Appendix

202 202 203 203 203 203 204 204 205 205 206 206 206 207 208 208 208 209 209 209 209 209 210 210 210 210 21.1 211 211 212 212 213 213 214 215 215 216 216 216 217 217 217 217

219

List of Tables

Summary Table 1 Summary Table 2 Summary Table 3 Table 1.1 Table 1.2 Table 1.3 Table 2.1 Table 2.2 Table 2.3 Table 2.4 Table 2.5 Table 2.6 Table 2.7 Table 2.8 Table 2.9 Table 2.10 Table 2.11 Table 2.12 Table 2.13

Estimated Global Markets for Metal Powders 2005 Estimated Breakdown of Ferrous and Copper-base Powders for PM Fabrication and Other Applications 2004 (tonnes) Regional Markets for Ferrous and Copper-base Powders 2001-2010 (tonnes) Non-Ferrous Metal Powder Shipments in North America 1990-1999 (tonnes) West European Shipments of Ferrous and Copper-based Powders for PM 1990--99 (tonnes) Japanese Consumption of Ferrous and Copper-based Powders 1990-1999 (tonnes) North American Metal Powder Shipments 1995-2003 (tonnes) Iron-based and Copper-based PM Part Production in Japan 1998-2004 (tonnes) Breakdown of Japanese PM Production 1998-2004 (tonnes) Japanese Production of Non-Automotive PM Structural Parts 1998-2004 (tonnes) Analysis of Japanese PM Bearings Production 1998-2004 (tonnes) Value of PM Products Manufactured in W Europe 1998 and 2001 (E million) Estimated Market Shares of W European Countries in PM Parts Production 2002 Production of PM Structural Parts, Bearings and Filters in Germany 1997-2003 (tonnes) Production of Metal Powders and PM Parts in Italy 1997-2002 (tonnes) Ferrous PM Parts Production in Russia and East Europe (tonnes) PM Part Production in Asia and Australia, ex-Japan 1998-2004 (tonnes) Breakdown of PM Part Production in Asia 2003 (%) Motor Vehicle Production in Asian Countries 2003 (thousands)

Metal Powders

13 14 15

20 26 26

27 28

30 30 34

35 40

41 42 42

ix

List of Tables

PM Part Production and Applications in Australia 1998-2002 (tonnes) PM Parts Production in China 1998-2004 (tonnes) Table 2.15 PM Parts Production in India 1998-2003 (tonnes) Table 2.16 Car and Light Vehicle Production in Leading Table 2.17 Countries, from Various Sources (million) Development of PM Content in Cars, N America, Table 2.18 W Europe and Japan 1998-2004, kg/vehicle Summary of Global Markets for Ferrous and Table 3.1 Non-Ferrous Powders 2001-2010 (tonnes) Summary of Global Markets for Ferrous Table 3.2 and Non-Ferrous Powders by Approximate Value (US$ million) North American Consumption of Iron and Table 3.3 Steel Powders 1990-2004 (thousands of tonnes) Estimates of Weight (in kg) of PM Parts in a Table 3.4 Typical North American Family Vehicle 1992-2004 W European Consumption of Iron and Steel Table 3.5 Powders 1992-2003 (tonnes) West European Consumption of PM Parts and Table 3.6 Bearings by End Use Sector 2001 Ferrous PM Part Production in East Europe and Table 3.7 the FSU (tonnes) Japanese Iron and Steel Powder Shipments for Table 3.8 1990-2004 (tonnes) Production of Japanese PM Parts and Products Table 3.9 1995-2004 (tonnes) Iron and Steel Powder Production in China Table 3.10 1999-2004 Analysis of Iron and Steel Powder Production Table 3.11 in China by Type of Process (tonnes) Estimated Ferrous-based PM Parts Production Table 3.12 in East Asian Countries, excluding Japan Estimated Consumption of Ferrous Powders in Table 3.13 the Southern Hemisphere (tonnes) Global Summary of Iron and Steel Powder Table 3.14 Consumption 2004 (thousands of tonnes) Global Summary of Iron and Steel Powder Table 3.15 Consumption and Forecast to 2010 (tonnes) North American Shipments of Stainless Steel Table 3.16 Powders 1990-2003 (tonnes) Japanese Shipments of Stainless Steel Powders Table 3.17 1990-2003 (tonnes) North American Shipments of Copper and Table 3.18 Copper-Based Powders 1990-2004 (tonnes) European Shipments of Copper and Copper-based Table 3.19 Powders for PM 1989-2003 (tonnes) Japanese Shipments of Copper Powder 1990-2004 Table 3.20 (tonnes) Copper-based PM Part Production in China Table 3.21 1998-2004 (tonnes) Asia/Oceania Copper-based PM Part Production, Table 3.22 ex-Japan and China 1998-2004 (tonnes) Summary of Global Consumption of Copper and Table 3.23 Copper Alloy Powders 2004 (tonnes) Table 2.14

X

Metal Powders

43 44 47 52 54 58 59 62 63 67 68 69 69 71 72 72 73 74 75 75 78 80 83 85 86 88 89 89

List of Tables

Table 3.24 Table 3.25 Table 3.26 Table 3.27 Table 3.28 Table 3.29 Table 3.30 Table 3.31 Table 3.32 Table 3.33 Table 3.34 Table 3.35 Table 3.36 Table 3.37 Table 3.38 Table 3.39 Table 3.40 Table 3.41 Table 3.42 Table 3.43 Table 3.44 Table 3.45 Table 3.46 Table 4.1 Table 4.2 Table 4.3 Table 4.4 Table 4.5

Global Summary of Copper and Copper Alloy Powder Consumption and Forecasts to 2010 (tonnes) US Consumption of Nickel Powder and Flake 1990-2003 (tonnes) Estimates of Nickel Powder and Flake Consumption in Europe and Japan 1989-1991 (tonnes) Nickel Powder uses in Japan 1989-1990 (tonnes) Global Summary of Nickel Powder and Flake Consumption and Forecast to 2010 (tonnes) North American Consumption of Tin Powder 1990-2003 (tonnes) Global Summary and Forecasts for Tin Powders to 2010 (tonnes) North American Consumption of Aluminium Powder and Flake 1990-2003 Breakdown of European Market for Atomized Aluminium Powder 1991 Global Summary of Aluminium Powder and Flake Consumption and Forecasts to 2010 (tonnes) Breakdown of Tungsten Metal Applications 2003 Breakdown of Hardmetal Tool Market in 1997 (US$ million) US Shipments of Tungsten Powder and Tungsten Carbide Powder 1990-2003 (tonnes) US Net Production of Tungsten and Tungsten Carbide Powders 1999-2003 (tonnes) US Imports, Exports and Consumption of Tungsten Powders 1999-2003 (tonnes) Global Summary of Tungsten Powder Consumption and Forecasts to 2010 (tonnes) Estimated Overall Consumption of Molybdenum by Region 1999-2002 (tonnes) US Statistics for Molybdenum Powder 1990-2003: Powder Shipments, Imports, Exports and Mill Products made from Powder (tonnes) US Molybdenum Metal Powder Statistics 1999-2003 (tonnes) Global Availability of Refined Cobalt 1995-2003 (tonnes) World Markets for Cobalt 1996-2002: Breakdown by Application (%) Breakdown of Cobalt Consumption in China 2002 Global Summary of Cobalt Powder Consumption and Forecasts to 2010 (tonnes) Current Applications of Consolidated Metal Powders Selected Applications of Unconsolidated Metal Powders North American Consumption of Metal Powders for PM Estimated Breakdown of North American Metal Powder Consumption by End Use North American Consumption of Metal Powders in Porous Self-Lubricating Bearings 1992, 1994, 1998 (tonnes)

90 92 94 95 96

97 97 100 101 102 105 107 108 109

109 111 112 114

114 116 116 118

120 121 124 127 127 134

Metal Powders xi

List of Tables

Table 4.6 Table 4.7 Table 4.8 Table 4.9 Table 4.10 Table 5.1 Table 5.2 Table 6.1 Table 6.2

xii

Metal Powders

North American Consumption of Iron Powder for Powder Forging Nominal Compositions of some Copper-based and Iron-based Friction Materials Estimated Markets for MIM Parts 1999-2010 (US$ million) North American and European Shipments of Welding Grade Iron Powder 1990-2003 (tonnes) Estimated US Consumption of Photocopier Powders (tonnes) Classification of Chemical Process Routes for Metal Powder Production Summary of Current Commercial Production Methods for Metal and Alloy Powders Ranking of Leading Ferrous Metal Powder Producers by Production Capacity Ranking of Leading Producers of Non-Ferrous Metal Powders by Capacity

136 140 143 146 149 154 161 212 213

List of Figures

Figure 1.1 Figure 1.2 Figure 1.3 Figure 3.1 Figure 3.2 Figure 3.3 Figure 3.4 Figure 3.5 Figure 3.6 Figure 3.7 Figure 3.8 Figure 3.9 Figure 3.10 Figure 3.11 Figure 3.12 Figure 3.13 Figure 4.1 Figure 5.1

Metal powder applications in the modern automobile Development of iron and copper powder production in North America, in short tons 1940-1986 Production of sintered machine parts (PM structural parts) and numbers of automobiles produced in Japan (1961-84) Breakdown of global metal powder consumption by weight 2004 Breakdown of global metal powder consumption by approximate value 2004 North American shipments of iron and steel powders 1990-2003 (tonnes) Breakdown of North American PM parts market 1999 W European consumption of iron and steel powders 1992-2003 (tonnes) Japanese shipments of iron and steel powders 1990-2004 (tonnes) Breakdown of PM structural parts in Japanese vehicles 2003 North American shipments of stainless steel powders 1990-2003 (tonnes) Japanese shipments of stainless steel powders 1990--2003 (tonnes) North American shipments of copper and copper-based powders 1990-2004 (tonnes) W European shipments of copper base powders for PM 1990-2003 Japanese consumption of copper powder 1990-2004 (tonnes) US consumption of nickel powder and flake 1990-2003 (tonnes) Schematic of process steps for the manufacture of pressed-and-sintered PM parts Application of metal powders as a function of particle size and size range

10 11 58 60

63 64 67 70 71 78 80 84 85

87 93 129 156

Metal Powders xiii

About the Author

Dr Joseph M Capus is an internationally recognized authority on metal powders and their technology, having been involved in the industry for the past 35 years. He has published more than 200 technical papers and articles, and compiled or edited 10 volumes of PM conference proceedings, as well as contributing to the ASM Metals Handbook and the Steel Heat Treatment Handbook. The first, second and third editions of his industry report Metal Powders: A Global Survey of Production, Applications and Markets were published by Elsevier Advanced Technology in 1993, 1996 and 2000 respectively. Born and educated in the UK, Dr Capus held research posts with INCO Ltd and The Gillette Co before becoming technical director of Quebec Metal Powders Ltd, one of the world's leading metal powder producers. He has been actively involved in PM standardization at national and international levels for over 30 years, and has co-chaired North American as well as World conferences on powder metallurgy and particulate materials. He lives in Beaconsfield, a suburb of Montr6al, Canada and consults on powder metallurgy and advanced materials.

xiv

Metal Powders

About Elsevier Advanced Technology

Elsevier Advanced Technology is an international B2B publishing group dedicated to serving the information requirements of industry and business professionals working in a range of industrial markets. Elsevier Advanced Technology publications provide a high-quality, reliable source of information to professionals within engineering, materials, IT security and energy. Products include specialist newsletters, journals and trade magazines, technical handbooks, market reports and conferences. Information on metal powder-related titles, including Metal Powder Report magazine, can be found at www.metal-powder.net.

Metal Powders

xv

Acknowledgernents

The author is indebted to many colleagues in the powder metallurgy industry for help with information and advice. In particular, the friendly assistance of Peter K Johnson, formerly director, Public Relations and Government Affairs, MPIF, and Dr Leander F Pease III, president, Powder-Tech Associates, has been greatly appreciated. Thanks are also due to the trade associations and journals for permission to reproduce copyright material. Metal powder statistics for iron and copper, and PM uses of stainless steel powder in Japan, Japanese production statistics for PM products (bearings, machine parts, friction materials, electrical contacts, and miscellaneous), the analysis of demand for machine parts and for bearings (vehicles, industrial machines, electrical machines, and other uses) and the breakdown of machine parts for Japanese-made automobiles and weight of PM per car, the value of Japanese-produced PM machine parts and bearings, and the production of iron-base and copper-base PM products and the analysis of application fields for countries in Asia and Oceania, from the JPMA Annual Reports 2000-2004, are reproduced by permission of the Japan Powder Metallurgy Association. North American metal powder shipments and consumption statistics for 2000-2004 included in MPIF press releases and published in various issues of the International Journal of Powder Metallurgy (IJPM), PM industry statistics given in country review articles for Australia, Austria, Italy, Spain, Sweden and the Nordic countries, and the UK, published in IJPM in 2002 and 2003, PM production statistics for South America quoted by Donald White at the Kyoto PM World Congress in 2001 and published in IJPM, the metal injection moulding market estimates given by Metal Injection Molding Association president Paul Hauck and published in IJPM in 2003, the global copper powder consumption review by Pierre

xvi

Metal Powders

Acknowledgements

Taubenblat, published in IJPM in 2003, and the global market estimates for PM High-Speed Steels quoted by Peter Johnson in IJPMin 2005, are reproduced by permission of APMI International. European PM production statistics and breakdowns by value, and market share by country are reproduced by permission of the European Powder Metallurgy Association. European PM industry statistics to 2002, quoted by O Morandi in Powder Metallurgy (PM 2003, 46(4), pp294-296), titanium powder prices and market for gas-atomized titanium from an article by Mark Hull (PM 2004, 47(1), pp12-14), PM industry statistics for India from an article by Prof. Dube (PM2004, 47(1), pp17-28), and PM shipment statistics for 2003 given in an address by Dr Cesar Molins, president of EPMA, at the 2004 PM World Congress in Vienna and reported in PM 2004, 47(4), pp309-310, are reproduced by permission of The Institute of Materials, Minerals, and Mining. Estimated overall consumption of molybdenum by region in 1999-2002, and commentary on global production and consumption of molybdenum from the IMOA website are reproduced by permission of The International Molybdenum Association (IMOA). The breakdown of tungsten metal applications in 2003 by region is reproduced from the ITIA website by permission of The International Tungsten Industry Association (ITIA). Figure 1.1, entitled: "Metal powder applications in the modern automobile", has been adapted, with permission, from the chart "Powder Metal Usage on Automobiles" published by Cincinnati Inc, Cincinnati, Ohio. Lastly, the global sales value for all sectors of the PM industry, and the table of ferrous PM parts production in Russia and East Europe for 1986, 1990 and 2001/2002, from the global market review article by Bernard Williams published in the International PM Directory (IPMD, 11th Edition, 2004-2005, pp5-11) are reproduced by permission of MPR Publishing Services Ltd, Shrewsbury, UK. Finally, the author is grateful to the managements of metal powder companies and trade organisations around the world for their help in updating the profiles for the World Review of Metal Powder Producers in Chapter 6.

Metal Powders xvii

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Summary

Metal powders are just a tiny fraction of the global metals industry, yet they play a key role in such high-profile sectors as cars and consumer electronics. The global value of metal powder consumption has risen since 2000 to over US$3.7 billion from close to US$3 billion. Part of this increase is due to recently escalating primary metal prices. The increase in overall tonnage shipped is in the order of 20% (Summary Table 1).

Summary Table 1 Estimated Global Markets for Metal Powders 2005 Iron and steel Aluminium Copper and Copper-base Nickel Tungsten Cobalt Tin *Values based on

Tonnes

US$ (million)*

1 060 000 110 000 65 500 50 000 37 000 6000 2600

930 550 330 1000 600 300 32

approximate prices of typical grades, in 2005 dollars

The large majority of this tonnage is made up of iron and steel, aluminium, and copper, with the ferrous powders close to 80% of the total. Iron powder is mostly used to make small automotive components such as gears, cams, sprockets, beatings, beating caps and connecting rods. The huge growth in the consumption of ferrous powders over the past few decades has been driven by the success in providing cost-effective, material- and energy-saving parts production. In the powder metallurgy (PM) process, suitably formulated metal powder blends are compacted in a die to the required

Metal Powders

1

Summary

shape and then heated in a high-temperature furnace (sintering) to increase the hardness and strength to the desired level. There has also been great success in manufacturing connecting rods by hot-forging of sintered preforms. The prospects for the ferrous branch of the metal powder industry is thus highly linked to the automotive industry and is best understood as a segment of the automotive supply chain. An estimated breakdown of ferrous and copper-base powders for PM and other applications in 2004 by region is given in Summary Table 2 and overall estimates and forecasts for these materials to 2010 are given in Summary Table 3.

Summary Table 2 Estimated Breakdown of Ferrous and Copperbase Powders for PM Fabrication and Other Applications 2004 (tonnes) PM

Other

North America* Ferrous Copper-base

391 000 18 600

39 000 4300

Europe (E & W)** Ferrous Copper-base

172 000 14 500

33 000 2500

Ferrous Copper-base

119 000 5900

62 000 1100

Asia and ROW**** Ferrous Copper-base

140 000 14 000

70 000 2500

Japan***

Source: * MPIF *9 E P M A a n d e s t i m a t e s *9* J P M A *9* * J P M A a n d e s t i m a t e s . A l l f i g u r e s are r o u n d e d

2

Metal Powders

Summary

Summary Table 3 Regional Markets for Ferrous and Copper-base Powders 2001-2010 (tonnes) 2001 *

2005

2010

Copper-base

350 000 19 000

420 000 23 000

480 000 27 000

Europe (E & W) Ferrous Copper-base

183 000 18 000

200 000 18 000

230 000 21 000

Ferrous Copper-base

160 000 6000

185 000 7500

210 000 9000

Asia and ROW Ferrous Copper-base

150 000 12 000

255 000 15 000

310 000 23 000

North America Ferrous

Japan

*These figures are a combination of reported and estimated shipments. The rest are forecasts

Because of their much higher unit values, cobalt, nickel, and tungsten now represent about half of the global market for metal powders in dollar terms, even though they are used in much smaller quantifies. Part of the reason for their high value is rapidly-increasing demand for rechargeable batteries in the case of nickel and cobalt, and the industrialization of China in the case of tungsten, which is mostly used in carbide cutting tools. For metal powders in the loose or un-compacted state there is a hugely diverse range of applications, although the quantities are generally much smaller. They range from rocket fuels to jet-engine coatings to photocopier toner carriers, and on through metallurgical and chemical manufacturing to paints and pigments, and even as iron-enrichment in bread and breakfast cereals. Most metallic powders are made by atomizing a liquid metal or alloy. Atomization is done by pouting a liquid metal stream into high-pressure jets of water, air, or gas. Powders of high melting point metals such as tungsten and molybdenum are usually made by reduction of finely ground oxides. The method of manufacture controls many characteristics of the powder and hence its suitability for the various applications. In other words, this is a specialty product industry with relatively few interchangeable grades, rather than a commodity business. As with many industries, geo-political events at the beginning of the new century washed out the forecasts of continuing growth that were made at the end of the 1990s. In North America, 2000 proved to be a banner year for many of the metal powder producers and consumers. Then, as the output of the automotive industry was cut back in 2001, shipments of ferrous and copper-base powders and the parts fabrication industry suffered their biggest

Metal Powders 3

Summary

one-year fall. Although the US recession was short-lived, it took until 2003 for the PM parts business to recover. While 2004 saw the North American industry reach a new peak, the outlook to the end of the decade is not so rosy because of the continuing loss of market share by the big domestic auto producers and the much lower use of PM parts by the transplant manufacturers. This trend will be exacerbated by the increased popularity of hybrid vehicles and the decline in large SUVs. In Europe and Japan, the down-draft from the US recession was not apparent in ferrous powder shipments for PM parts manufacture. After perking up in 2000, both European and Japanese markets remained essentially flat until 2003-4 when the PM business began rising again. Europe will be looking towards the East for growth in the PM automotive sector, while in Japan new automotive PM applications are expected to be the key over the next few years. In China and other Asian countries, metal powder consumption for PM part fabrication has been accelerating since the turn of the century; China will likely set the pace as auto production and infrastructure building construction gather pace. Outside the automotive sector, the phenomenal growth in mobile phones and other portable electronics devices has had a significant impact on the demand and pricing for nickel and cobalt powders. Special grades of nickel powder for rechargeable batteries have seen substantial growth over the past decade or so, along with the shift of battery manufacture to the Far East. Changing battery technology leading to the replacement of nickel-cadmium batteries by nickel-metal hydride and lithium-ion types is having a major effect on the demand for cobalt chemicals and powder, principally in China. The industrialization of China is creating an increased demand for tungsten carbide-based cutting tools for machining, etc., and hence the tungsten powder from which the carbide is usually made. China is also the world's main source of tungsten minerals. By regulating export quotas, the Chinese government is restricting the supply of tungsten raw materials to other countries and encouraging local industry to focus on manufacture of downstream products for export as well as the domestic market. This move has clear implications for the tungsten powder market and downstream products elsewhere.

4

Metal Powders

Introduction

This fourth edition of Metal Powders: A Global Survey of Production, Applications and Markets has been revised and updated to include information available up to the end of April 2005. As before, the main purpose of the report is to review published information on the manufacture, applications and markets for the metal and alloy powders of most commercial significance. As a result, the bulk of the report deals with ferrous powders (iron and steel, stainless steels and high alloy tool steels). Most of the non-ferrous metals and alloys are also reviewed, including aluminium, copper, nickel, cobalt, and the refractory metals tungsten and molybdenum. Other metallic powders such as zinc, precious metals and cemented carbides have been excluded, either because they are used in separate specialist markets or because they are manufactured in very small quantities. The production of metal and alloy powders is a modern development that has grown to an output of over 1.3 million tonnes per year, representing a global market value of over US$3.5 billion. This figure can be compared with the estimate of over US$20 billion for the global sales of all sectors of the PM industry: PM Parts and Beatings, PM Semifinished Products, Powder Magnets and Hard Materials (Bernard Williams, IPMD, 11th Edition, 2004-5, p5). Metal powders are used in a wide variety of industries, but the major volume application is the manufacture of small precision components such as gears, sprockets and bearings etc, most of which go into the construction of motor vehicles (Figure 1.1). Metal powders are defined as metals or alloys in the form of particles, normally 0.001-1 mm in size. The powder particles come in a variety of shapes and sizes, including spherical, flake-like, and irregular granules. Metal powders are used today in an extremely broad range of applications from the mundane to the latest high-tech devices. Despite the involvement of several hundred companies worldwide in the production and consumption of metal powders, the industry has remained in comparative obscurity, and still represents only a minute fraction of the

Metal Powders

5

1

Introduction

Figure 1.1 Metal powder applications in the modern automobile (based on the chart "Powder Metal Usage on Automobiles", published, by Cincinnati Inc, Cincinnati, Ohio) Source: Cincinnati Inc

global metals business. Most of the commercially-produced metals and alloys are available in powder form in addition to their cast and wrought forms, but only a handful are produced and used in powder form on a significant scale. However, most of the metal powders that are produced

6

Metal Powders

1

Introduction

have found applications or market niches where they are the material of choice, rather than just another alternative material supply source. By far the largest group of applications for metal powders is in the manufacture of solid articles or components by powder metallurgy (PM). Both ferrous and non-ferrous powders are used in the PM production process, with widely ranging types of end product. The PM consolidation process follows a variety of different routes to achieve its design ends. In the past, the reasons for choosing the powder route have been mainly economic, but more recently the process has come to be recognised as environmentally attractive from the viewpoints of energy conservation, cleanliness and recycling. The most widely practised consolidation process is that described as the 'press-and-sinter' method. In this process, loose powder is compacted in a die cavity shaped like the desired component, to produce a 'green' part, which is then removed from the die and heated in a furnace to fuse or sinter the particles together. Sintered parts usually have residual porosity, which influences the mechanical strength and other properties. This porosity is sometimes a key positive feature of the sintered part, as in filters and in oilimpregnated self-lubricating bearings. FuUy-densified PM components can also be manufactured by using the press-and-sinter approach to make a 'pre-form' that is subsequently reheated and hot forged to close up the residual porosity. Metallic powders may also be formed into highly-densified components by isostatic pressing (hot or cold), and by injection moulding of uhrafine powder/binder mixtures. Fully dense PM wrought or semi-finished products such as sheet, strip and wire are produced by powder rolling or extrusion, followed by sintering, annealing and further processing by conventional metal-working techniques. Loose or unconsolidated metal powders are generally used in comparatively much smaller volume applications. They are found in a myriad of applications, from solid rocket fuels to additives in bread and breakfast cereals. Some of the major applications include: flux-coatings for welding electrodes, thermal spray powders, photo-copier powders, brazing and soldering pastes, as well as metallic flake for paints, pigments and printing inks.

The large geographical spread and range of materials covered in this report means that the treatment is necessarily in the form of a 'broadbrush overview'. The emphasis has been on providing a coherent picture of the development and status of the metal powder industries based on information in the public domain, and the report does not claim to be a Metal Powders 7

1

Introduction

comprehensively researched market study. Nevertheless it is hoped the material provided here will help the reader decide on the merits of a more detailed market study for a specific sector of the global metal powders business. In this first chapter a summary is given of the historical development of the modern powder metallurgy industry and the current status is briefly reviewed. In Chapter 2, an overview is given of the metal powder producing and consuming industries in the major industrial countries. A discussion is also given in this chapter on the significance for the metal powder industries of trends in the automotive industry, technology advances and environmental issues. Chapter 3 reviews the consumption of metal and alloy powders by type of powder and by geographical area, based on the most recently available statistics. Forecasts are given for consumption of various metal powders in North America, Japan and Asia to the year 2010. In Chapter 4, markets for metal powders are analysed by type of application, based on the situation in the world's leading industrial countries. Production methods for all the major types of metal and alloy powders are reviewed in Chapter 5. In Chapter 6, a global survey is given of the relevant activities of major metal powder producing companies and industry trade associations.

Powder metallurgy is an ancient manufacturing technique that was revived in the late 19th Century to produce refractory and precious metals. It has been developed and applied to the more common metals since the 1920s, though it is only in the post World War II period that the technology experienced major growth and diffusion across the industrialized world. The essentials of powder metallurgical technology are the production of metal powders and their consolidation into solid forms by the application of pressure and heat at a temperature below the melting point of the major constituent. The metallurgy of platinum as practised in Europe in the 18th and 19th Centuries, eg the Wollaston process, is considered to be one of the most important early stages of development for modern powder metallurgy. The first commercial applications of powder metallurgy occurred at the end of the 19th Century and early 1900s when a variety of refractory materials were developed for incandescent lamp filaments but were found to be very brittle. At the beginning of the 20th Century, Coolidge discovered that sintered compacts of tungsten powder could be hot-worked in a certain temperature range and retain ductility at room temperature. The Coolidge process is still the standard method of producing incandescent lamp filaments. An outgrowth from 8

Metal Powders

1 Introduction

refractory metal processing for lamp filament wire led to the development of cemented tungsten carbide by OSRAM in Germany, initially for wiredrawing dies, but eventually into a much larger industry with many applications. Serious commercialization of cemented carbide cutting tools began with the introduction of 'Widia' sintered tungsten carbide-cobalt materials by Krupp in 1927-28. Cemented carbides have since grown into a multi-billion dollar worldwide industry. Self-lubricating porous bronze bearings, composite refractory metal electrical contacts, and metallic filters also saw their beginnings in the 1920s. Carbonyl iron powder cores for radio tuning devices and PM permanent magnets were also developed in the period before the Second World War. Iron powder technology did not begin its advance to significant commercialization until the beginning of World War II in Europe. A spectacular advance in volume of production was made with the development of sintered iron driving bands for shells, as a substitute for scarce copper-zinc alloy. Production reached some thousands of tonnes per month, far in excess of previous PM output. (Production of porous iron bearings had commenced in the USA in the 1930s, in an effort to substitute for more expensive copper and tin powders: shipment of 725 tonnes of Swedish sponge iron powder were recorded between 1936 and 1940.) However, World War II apart, the growth of the PM industry has been much more closely tied to that of the automotive industry, especially in North America. The advent of mass production methods in the automotive industry made possible the use of iron and copper powder parts in large quantities, and spawned many of the technologies of the modern PM industry. 1927 saw the first commercial application of the self-lubricating bearing, a PM product, in an American car. It was made from a combination of elemental copper and tin powders. About the same time, self-lubricating bearings were also introduced to the home appliance market as a component in a refrigerator compressor. During the late 1940s and early 1950s, sintered copper-based bearings were the principal volume products of the PM industry. Since that time, growth in ferrous PM fabrication of components such as gears, cams, sprockets and other structural parts has far outstripped that of sintered bronze beatings and other non-ferrous components. By 1955, of the 18 000 tonnes of iron powder consumed in the USA, 15 000 tonnes were for PM production. Between 1961 and 1970, the North American consumption of ferrous powders increased more than three-fold while copper powder shipments stagnated (Figure 1.2). The meteoric rise of the North American PM industry during the 1960s and early 1970s attracted a number of companies to invest in PM facilities and iron powder plants.

Metal Powders 9

1

Introduction

Figure 1.2 Development of iron and copper powder production in North America, in short tons 1940-1986. Source: MPIF As the iron powder graph in Figure 1.2 indicates, the PM industry ran into considerable turbulence during the 1970s, despite hitting a record of over 190 000 tonnes in 1978, ending up in 1982 just about where it was 10 years earlier. These difficulties, sparked off by the oil crises and the ensuing turmoil in the North American car industry, had considerable fall-out for the metal powder industry, both ferrous and non-ferrous. Several of the newly created iron and steel powder producers, as well as some of the more mature suppliers, did not survive this period. On the part fabrication side, large scale PM plants run by the 'Big Three' automotive manufacturers were sold off or closed down as the car companies sought to cut costs by outsourcing and downsizing. Ownership of a number of independent PM fabricators changed hands during the 1980s and 1990s as consolidation of the industry produced several large multi-plant groups that were in a better position to deal with the large end users. In Europe, iron powder consumption grew at a steadier pace of around 9% per annum until the mid-1970s after which the rate declined significantly. A major difference between the European and North American patterns was that PM usage of iron and steel powders did not become the dominant sector until 1978. For example, in 1955 only 2400 tonnes of the 10 000 tonnes shipped were for PM, while 7000 tonnes were consumed in welding rods. In fact, iron powder consumption for welding electrode coatings exceeded that for PM until 1976. Since the end of the 1970s however, changes in technology and the shift of the

10

Metal Powders

1

Introduction .

.

.

.

Figure 1.3 Production of sintered machine parts (PM structural parts) and numbers of automobiles produced in Japan 1961-84. Sources: Machinery Statistics, MITI; Statistical Data, Japan Association of Automotive Industry, T. Kimura, MPR 1986, 41(1), p. 58

shipbuilding industry to the Far East has caused a serious decline in European consumption of powders for welding applications. Ferrous powder consumption in Europe remained stalled for a decade while increasing PM applications counterbalanced declines in the welding area, only increasing again in the late 1980s. In Japan the PM industry, which started almost from scratch at the beginning of the 1960s, followed the automotive industry more closely than anywhere else (Figure 1.3). This chart shows how quickly the automotive applications came to dominate the sintered parts industry, already reaching about 75% by 1980. The trend illustrated here underlines the degree to which automotive applications of PM have come to dominate the metal powder industries in almost all areas of the globe. However, after doubling in the 1980s, Japanese iron powder consumption for PM applications peaked at 104 000 tonnes in 1990 after being hit by the recession that lasted to the late 1990s. In the years following World War II there was also a widespread development of powder metallurgy applications in the aerospace and nuclear energy fields. These developments were mostly concerned with refractory and reactive metals and components that could not be fabricated in other ways. PM wrought products, ie fuUy-densified metal or alloy mill products that start as powders, began to emerge in the 1950s and 1960s. These included roll-compacted strip, hot isostatically

Metal Powders

11

1

Introduction

pressed superalloys, PM forgings, PM tool steels and dispersion strengthened copper alloys. Research on rapid solidification and other advanced techniques in the 1970s led to the development of highperformance PM materials such as superalloys, for very specialized markets such as military and aerospace applications.

The 1990s saw the most significant changes in the production and application of metal powders in a generation- possibly since the 1950s. The decade opened with a global recession that had begun in the USA in 1989, putting a brake on powder-using industries throughout the world. Serious losses in the US auto industry led to widespread plant closures among the 'Big Three' car manufacturers. The PM parts producing industry, however, was saved by the continuing growth in the number of automotive applications, eg in engines, transmissions and braking systems (Figure 1.1), which offset the decline in vehicle production. As a result, the North American consumption of iron and copper powders in PM applications increased significantly from 1992 until the end of the decade. The North American consumption of iron and steel powders for PM applications grew at an astonishing rate of over 18% between 1992 and 1995, producing a cumulative advance of over 120% for the decade 1990-1999. The resurgence of the North American PM market sparked a major series of investments in production capacity and industry consolidations. The success of ferrous PM application developments is reflected in the 52% growth of PM usage by the North American auto industry from an estimated weight of 10.7 kg per typical family vehicle in the 1991 model year to 16.3 kg in 2000. While almost all of that gain was in iron and low-alloy steel PM materials, on a much smaller scale the emergence of PM stainless steel applications in new exhaust systems produced a doubling in the North American consumption of stainless steel powders (from about 3000 tonnes to over 6000 tonnes, mostly between 1994 and 1999. Some of the major items in the success of PM during the 1990s included significant adoption of PM main bearing caps and powderforged connecting rods, the latter growing several-fold with expanded adoption in new engines, to consume approximately 45 000 tonnes of atomized steel powder by the end of the decade. Warm compaction, a technique developed at the beginning of the 1990s for improving the strength and endurance of PM steels by increasing the density, became commercialized in the second half of the decade and was being employed in dozens of auto and non-auto applications by 1999.

12

Metal Powders

1

Introduction

By contrast, the total of non-PM applications for ferrous powders (welding, chemical, metallurgical etc) remained static in North America during the 1990s at around 29 000 tonnes per annum. Overall, the recovery in the US economy and the increased penetration of PM applications in the automotive sector led to the 1990s ending with eight successive new records in shipments of ferrous powders, closing the century with consumption of over 400 000 tonnes for the first time ever. North American consumption of non-ferrous powders during the 1990s followed rather different paths (Table 1.1). Copper and copper-based powders came closest to following the trend for ferrous powders with an overall rise of about 30% for the decade, or an average of just under 3% per annum. The sharp divergence from the growth of ferrous powder usage may be surprising, given that the PM applications for copper-based powders continued to represent about 85% of the total. Even more surprising from this viewpoint is that nickel powder consumption, based on US import statistics, did not vary by more than a few hundred tonnes from the mean of 9400 during the whole decade. The real explanation for this is likely to be that the growth in PM usage of nickel powder was offset by declines in other areas such as electronics. Likewise, consumption of tin powder showed no discernible trend, ending the decade where it began. Table 1.1 Non-Ferrous Metal Powder Shipments in North America 1990-1999 (tonnes) Year 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999

Copper-base Nickel* Aluminium Tin 17 400 16 300 18 200 20 400 20 900 21 100 20 800 22 200 22 700 22 900

9130 8890 8980 8710 9070 9500 9700 10 470 9860 9370

32 500 910 31 300 750 26 900 860 26 800 1000 39 700 1130 33 600 980 31 000 920 40 300 940 43 600 980 48 800 920

Tungsten Molybdenum 2300 1900 1300 1700 1300 1300 700 600 1300 1400

2250 2100 2250 2250 2250 2270 2270 2270 2270 2270

* US Nickel powder consumption based on import statistics Source: MPIF

The North American consumption of aluminium powder and flake showed wide fluctuations during the 1990s, ending at 48 000 tonnes in a sharply upward trend between 1996 and 1999. This was the highest level seen in over 20 years. There are no immediate explanations except the unpredictable effect of military purchases. The use of aluminium powder in automotive PM parts, for example PM camshaft bearing caps, began to climb sharply in the second half of the 1990s but the quantities amounted to less than 3% of total North American consumption.

MetalPowders

13

Shipment statistics for tungsten powder in the US also showed irregular year-to-year changes. The numbers listed in Table 1.1 represent tungsten shipped as powder mostly for use in fabricated shapes. They do not include tungsten powder that has been converted to tungsten carbide, which is the case for about two-thirds of the tungsten powder consumed in the US. While tungsten powder used as metal declined significantly during the 1990s, tungsten powder consumed as carbide rose by over 40% to 6560 tonnes in 1998 before dropping 18% in 1999. Molybdenum powder, used chiefly in specialised high-temperature applications, seems to have held steady during the 1990s in North America, although actual industry statistics are not collected for this item and the figures in the table are estimates published by MPIF. Cobalt powder is another orphan material category with no published statistics for North American consumption. However, since about threequarters of cobalt powder is used in the manufacture of hardmetal and diamond tools, consumption of several hundred tonnes can be assumed to have risen at a modest pace during the 1990s. In Western Europe, until recently, there has been a continuing dearth of information on metal powder consumption, despite the formation in 1989 of an international trade organisation for the PM industries. Iron and steel powder consumption for PM applications rose from an estimated 80 000 tonnes in 1990 to 133 000 tonnes in 1999, an increase of over 60%, or about half the rate of increase for the North American market (Table 1.2). The European ferrous I'M industry thus moved into second place in the mid-1990s, coming from behind Japan. Since there was little change in the estimated non-PM uses of ferrous powder, the I'M proportion rose from 70 to 80% during the decade, and the overall consumption increased about 43% to 165 500 tonnes. The very small European consumption of stainless steel powders in I'M applications is included in these numbers. Table 1.2 West European Shipments of Ferrous and Copper-based Powders for PM 1990-99 (tonnes) Year

Iron & Steel

Copper-based

1990 1991

80 000 (E) 83 000

10 000 (E) 10 500

1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999

89 500 73 100 93 600 103 100 103 300 123 200 132 100 133 100

Source: EPMA, except (E), which are estimates of this report

14

Metal Powders

9500 9700 13 100 13 800 14 200 14 800 15 900 15 600

1

Introduction

According to statistics provided by the European Powder Metallurgy Association (EPMA), European shipments of copper and copper-based powders for PM applications rose over 50% from around 10 000 tonnes during the 1990s, most of the increase being attributable to a sharp jump of over 30% in 1994, while the peak of almost 16 000 tonnes was reached in 1998. Non-PM applications are believed to consume an additional 15-20% of material, although there are no overall published statistics. Most of the European consumption of copper powder was for atomized grades, although it ha been pointed out that a sizeable demand exists for electrolytic copper powder. European consumption of nickel powder, which began the 1990s at around 5000 tonnes, faced two negative influences during that decade: the drop in European nickel powder consumption has been related to the shift of battery production to the Far East, and to a much smaller extent to EU environmental legislation moves prompting PM users of nickel powder to look at alternatives such as pre-alloyed powders. Although no systematic statistics were published during the 1990s, there was a sizeable market for atomized aluminium powders in Europe, but this declined to the 20 000 tonnes range by 1993 from a reported 24 500 tonnes in 1991. European consumption of the refractory metal powders tungsten and molybdenum, as well as cobalt powder, although significant on the global scale, remained more or less obscure in the 1990s, due to the lack of published data. In Japan, after more than doubling in the previous decade, iron powder consumption for PM applications declined early in the 1990s and did not recover, ending down 10%. Consumption for other applications rose 36% to 54 000 tonnes, more than making up for the decline in the PM sector, so that overall iron powder consumption ended the decade 3% higher. Stainless steel powder consumption only grew at the end of the 1990s with the advent of PM automotive exhaust components, ending up 60%.

Table 1.3 Japanese Consumption of Ferrous and Copper-based Powders 1990-1999 |tonnes) Year __

Ferrous PM

Ferrous Total

Copperbased P M

Copper-based Total

1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999

104 000 101 500 98 400 95 000 92 000 96 000 96 300 95 300 88 000 94 000

143 500 143 600 142 900 139 600 139 100 145 900 142 500 146 300 139 900 147 600

5800 6000 5600 5300 5600 5600 4900 5400 4800 5300

7000 7300 6700 6400 6700 6700 5900 6400 5600 6300

Source: JPMA annual reports; figures do not include exports

MetalPowders

15

1

Introduction

Japanese consumption of copper powders trended down during the 1990s (Table 1.3), following an almost continuous climb for both PM and other uses. Sintered bearings, PM structural parts and PM friction products continued to account for over 80% of copper powder usage. The overall decline was about 10% in both PM and non-PM categories. By contrast, import statistics published by the US Geological Survey indicated that nickel powder consumption in Japan doubled during the 1990s, principally due to the growth in nickel-cadmium battery production, electronics and chemical products. On the other hand, following the trend in the economy, consumption of tungsten and cobalt powders appear to have remained flat. In the rest of the world, the sketchy nature of available statistics makes it difficult to present an adequate summary of the trends in the 1990s. Following the break-up of the Soviet Union and the economic collapse and financial crisis of 1998, surviving ferrous powder producers and PM parts fabricators were reported to be operating at only 10-20% of capacity. In China, the consumption of ferrous powders probably doubled during the last decade to about 50 000 tonnes, although at least half of this was used in non-PM applications such as welding electrode coatings. A similar rate of overall growth is believed to have occurred in the other East Asian industries outside of Japan. A much slower rate of growth was experienced in the southern hemisphere, where the total consumption of ferrous powders in Australia, South Africa and South America reached a little over 20 000 tonnes by 1999. Consumption of copper-based powders in Asia outside Japan increased moderately during the 1990s, apparently little affected by the Asian financial crisis. China remained a substantial user of tungsten metal powder, for production of hardmetals, tungsten heavy alloys as well as other applications, while consumption in the former Soviet Union plunged steeply in 1992/3 and did not recover.

This report is an overview of the production, applications, and markets for the more common metals and alloys that are made and sold as powders. Because of the widely varying prices of these powders and in recent times extreme volatility in some of the basic metal prices, the market data are presented primarily in terms of tonnage rather than monetary value. Markets for each of the metal powder types are discussed in terms of the major application areas, some of which are quite distinct.

16

Metal Powders

1

Introduction

Market data for the main geographical areas are based on industry statistics, where available, supplemented by company annual reports and by private estimates. Other data and forecasts for this report have been compiled from literature searches, telephone interviews and extensive desk research.

For a very readable book on the ins-and-outs of metal powders, how they are made and used, Fundamentals of Powder Metallurgy by Leander F Pease III and William G West, published in 2002 by Metal Powder Industries Federation, Princeton, New Jersey, is highly recommended. This volume also includes a brief history of the American PM industry. The International Powder Metallurgy Directory and Yearbook, 11th Edition, 2004-5, published by MPR Publishing Services Ltd, Shrewsbury, UK, contains a series of articles reviewing developments in metal powder production, PM fabrication and equipment, in addition to a global market review to 2002 by Bernard Williams, former executive director of the European Powder Metallurgy Association. The industry directory lists companies worldwide involved in manufacturing metal and alloy powders, PM products as well as processing equipment.

MetalPowders 17

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Market Background: Regional Industries and the Automotive

Scene

In this chapter an overview is given of the metal powder producing and consuming industries in each of the major economic zones. In doing this, emphasis has been put on changes since 2000. Also, where available, a brief comment is made on the current and expected economic conditions. Considerable use has been made of the most recent published country surveys. These have been largely drawn from the International Journal of Powder Metallurgy (IJPM). This chapter also contains commentaries on various economic and other factors that impinge on the usage of metal powders, and finally a discussion of the big customer- the global automotive industry and how its future will impact the metal powder producing and consuming industries.

The North American metal powder industry represents about half of global activity in this field. The Canadian, Mexican and US industries operate as an integrated market under NAFTA, the North American Free Trade Agreement, but the US PM parts fabricating industry is by far the dominant factor. This is due to the importance of PM applications in North American automobiles, whose manufacture consumes over 70% of PM parts. In this context the PM industry is now more clearly understood as a part of the automotive industry supply chain. Several hundred companies are listed as participating in the North American PM industry either as manufacturer or supplier, according to the International Powder Metallurgy Directory. The North American PM trade association MPIF has a membership of over 250 public and private companies manufacturing PM products, including powders and processing equipment, even after a decade of consolidations. According to the MPIF, more than 100 North American companies or PM operations were acquired between 1990 and 2004. Over 90% of the industry is located in the US, employing an estimated 40 000 people. Metal Powders

19

2

Market Background: Regional Industries and the Automotive Scene

Business for the North American PM industry peaked in the year 2000 after nine successive years of growth. As indicated in Table 2.1, North American shipments of metal powders fell more than 10% in 2001 after reaching an all time high of over 500 000 tonnes. Shipments of powders and PM parts were thus seen as still sensitive to economic conditions, even as the usage of PM materials in North American-buih automobiles continued to rise. The powders most affected by the 2001 downturn were iron and steel, copper and copper-based powders, as well as nickel. By 2003, however, shipments of ferrous powders (iron and steel, as well as stainless) had recovered almost to their 2000 peak levels, and by the latest reports have made a new record in 2004. On the other hand, shipments of copper-based powders have been slower to recover and were still down over 10% in 2003.

Table 2.1 North American Metal Powder Shipments 1995-2003 (tonnes) 1995

1996

1997

1998

1999

2000 404 015

2001

314 954

318 067

353 698

372 454

402 119

3629

4435

4759

5330

6493

Copper, Copper-based

21 062

20 767

22 176

22 726

22 240

22 933

Aluminium

33 603

31 007

40 295

43 687

48 788

51 230(E) 45 000(E)

623

1325

1391

1760

2270

2270

2270

9864(R)

Iron and Steel Stainless Steel

Tungsten

1311

707(R)

Molybdenum(E)

2270

2270

Nickel*

9504

9696(R)

Tin Total

10 465

916

941

975

387 3 0 8 3 8 7 865

435 227

4 5 8 631

975

7700(E)

350 371 7300(E) 18 826

2002 394 000 7700(E)

2003 401 707 8100(E)

20 560

20 530

45 000(E)

45 000(E)

1590(E)

2270(E)

2700(E)

2270

2270

2270

2700

9374

14 424

8300

6967

9124(R)

922

1044

671

696

848

4 9 3 597 505 3 7 6

434 328

479 463

490 709

* Nickel powder shipments are based on US import statistics

Source: MPIF; (E) = Estimate; (R) = Revised

Although the North American markets for ferrous and copper-based powders hit a new peak in 2000, business began to weaken by the middle of that year, so that the 2000 totals were only slightly ahead of 1999. The MPIF (IJPM2001, 37(4) pp33-41) reported that North American PM part production fell significantly (by 15.7%) in the first quarter of 2001 due to cutbacks in production of the 'Big Three', pulling powder shipments down with it. Thus economic factors swamped the continuing advance in PM automotive applications, which were said to have brought the PM parts content of the typical North American family vehicle to 17 kg in the 2001 model year. An outstanding item at that juncture was the 18% rise in stainless steel powder shipments in 2000, largely attributed to increased use of PM stainless steel auto exhaust parts such as flanges and sensor bosses. General Motors and Ford Motor Co were reported to be major users of PM exhaust parts with Daimler-Chrysler at the sampling stage. Further growth in this area was anticipated, also from Asian 'transplant' and European car manufacturers. Metal Injection Moulding (MIM) powder consumption increased substantially in 2000 and the North American market for MIM parts in 2000 was estimated by the Metal Injection Moulding Association (MIMA)

20

Metal Powders

2

Market Background: Regional Industries and the Automotive Scene

at US$125 million (versus US$120 million for ceramic injection moulded parts). In his last 'State-of-the-North-American PM Industry' address before retiring, MPIF executive director, Don White reported at the 2002 PM World Congress in Orlando, Florida that the North American PM industry suffered a significant downturn in 2001 due to the decline in automotive production and recession in the US. While vehicle production was off about 10%, shipments of ferrous powders for PM parts and friction products declined 12.7% compared with the record set in 2000. Copper and copperbased powders, 85% of which are used in PM, did worse, declining 18%. Nickel powder shipments suffered an even larger decline, plunging over 40% as markets for rechargeable batteries, catalysts and electronics 'took a beating' and were also hit by inventory adjustments. White reported that MIM part production also declined in 2001 to just over US$100 million, but that the outlook for this sector was still positive with major growth markets in automotive, medical devices, electronics and telecommunications applications. White also noted that the North American PM industry in general survived the 2001 recession in the US relatively unscathed and as far as the automotive sector was concerned, it was expected to continue to capture business from castings, forgings and machined parts. He pointed to new engines and transmissions for North American built cars, vans and SUVs that would be launched in coming years, enlarging the market for powderforged connecting rods, and PM planetary carriers, for example. However, PM hot-forged connecting rods were now facing new competition from C70 forged steel bar, long favoured by European carmakers. Brockhaus of Germany had lined up North American business with General Motors and DaimlerChrysler to make C70 forged connecting rods for three new engines at a plant in Canada. White estimated that connecting rods were now consuming about 45 000 tonnes of steel powder annually. The relative merits of powder-forged and C70 forged steel rods is an ongoing debate. The North American PM industry rebounded from its 2001 low during both 2002 and 2003. Reports by David Schaefer (current president of MPIF) and C James Trombino, successor to White as executive director/CEO of MPIF, at the 2003 and 2004 International Conferences on PM and Particulate Materials, in Las Vegas and Chicago, respectively, tracked the recovery of the industry (IJPM, 2003, 39(5), pp31-36 and IJPM, 2004, 40(4), pp27-32). As indicated in Table 2.1, iron powder shipments rose 12.4% in 2002 and another 2% in 2003, bringing the rate close to the year 2000 record. Copper powder shipments were slower to recover, rising less than 10% over the 2002-3 period. The recovery from the short-lived recession was not entirely smooth, with North American PM parts producers reporting rather variable business conditions through the period. This was no doubt related to the production cutbacks announced by the 'Big Three', and resulting in a drop in North American light vehicle production to 15.8 million from 16.7 million in 2002. The year 2004 also began with a very positive trend in the first quarter, which was later toned

MetalPowders 21

2

Market Background: Regional Industries and the Automotive Scene

down a shade but still resulted in a new record being set for ferrous powder shipments. With the continuing struggles of North American car producers over market shares, the PM industry's progress has been based chiefly on increasing the content of PM parts in the current vehicles. This has climbed about 25% since 1999, versus an increase of 43% between 1990 and 1999. Although it is hoped that the North American PM industry is resuming its growth trend or entering a new growth phase, there are a number of challenging factors that have been developing over the past few years. Aside from the inevitable influences of national and international politics and economic cycles, there has been a gradual levelling off in North American car sales on the one hand and an increasing trend to globalization of manufacturing on the other. Furthermore, the recent run up in raw materials and fuel prices is unlikely to see any meaningful near-term reversal, with negative consequences for the sales of SUVs and other vehicles with large V-8 engines, which generally contain the highest level of PM components. It is probably too early to see how in fact the emergence of more environmentally-friendly vehicles such as hybrids and fuel cell powered cars will truly impact the PM industry, but some fall-out is inevitable. The medium and longer effects are discussed more fully at the end of this chapter.

2.1.1 Canada The Canadian PM industry consists of a relatively small number of companies, about a couple of dozen with manufacturing plants, half of which make some kind of PM component. However, only a handful can be considered major players. The most prominent in recent years is Stackpole, operating four plants in Canada, and a leader in production of high-density, high-performance automotive transmission parts. This company has expanded substantially over the past decade and has achieved a high profile for a series of award-winning surface-densified transmission parts. It was purchased by Tompkins plc of the UK in 2003. The other major name in Canadian PM parts fabrication is GKN Sinter Metals, with a large plant in St. Thomas, Ontario. On a much smaller scale, Metal Powder Products Co of Carmel, Indiana, acquired the Sinteris division of Dynagear, in Ontario in 2003. This plant also makes PM parts for auto engines and transmissions. The concentration of Canadian PM parts fabricators in Ontario is undoubtedly related to the proximity of the Canadian and US automotive assembly plants. Canadian automotive production in Ontario topped 2.7 million units in 2004, just ahead of the total output of the state of Michigan, across the border, at 2.6 million. Although there are no published statistics, the Canadian PM parts industry is now believed to consume over 40 000 tonnes/year of metal powders. On the powder production front, over a quarter of North American ferrous powder capacity is located in Quebec, with Quebec Metal Powders Ltd and Domfer Metal Powders providing a complete range of iron and steel powder

22

Metal Powders

2

Market Background: Regional Industries and the Automotive Scene

products. In non-ferrous powders, INCO Special Products, a business unit of INCO Ltd based in Ontario, is the world's leading supplier of nickel powders, expanding its range of products over a number of years into newer application areas such as rechargeable batteries, fuel cells, electronics etc. In Alberta, Sherritt International and Umicore also produce a range of nickel and cobalt powder products including high-purity nickel briquettes for stainless steel manufacture, and fine nickel and cobalt powders for electronics, hardmetals and MIM. Nano-scale nickel powders for electronics applications are now being produced by Canadian Electronic Powders Corp, a spin-off from Noranda, in St Laurent, Quebec.

2.1.2 Mexico The Mexican PM parts producing industry has benefited from the NAFTA treaty as several US and European parts manufacturers have set up or purchased operations to take advantage of the access to the US auto industry. However, the attraction of low cost production in Mexico has begun to dim in recent years in the light of developing PM manufacturers in Asia, particularly China. Well-known groups with plants in Mexico include AMES of Spain, Capstan, Metal Powder Products and Metaldyne Sintered Components of the US, and Sintermetall, belonging to the Schunk group of Germany. PM component manufacturing includes conventional parts such as self-lubricating bearings, filters, engine sprockets, beating caps, as well as powder-forged connecting rods.

2.1.3 U S A The PM industry in the US is so large and diversified that it would take another volume to give it adequate review. In some sectors, eg ferrous PM parts, it is larger than the rest of the world combined. Companies in the US are active in every conceivable aspect of powder metallurgy and particulate materials technology and manufacturing. The industry's trade association, MPIF, is actually a federation of several sectoral associations, and at a recent count boasted over 250 member companies. The largest sector, PM part fabrication, has over 220 members. More than 30 US metal powder producers make every type of powder in commercial use from aluminium to zinc, with the exception of pure nickel powder, which is imported, mainly from Canada. The US PM parts fabrication industry went through a decade of consolidations in the 1990s, with more than 50 acquisitions in the second half of that period. The industry emerged with several strong groups mostly within multi-national suppliers of automotive components. Leading the pack with 7000 employees after buying 13 PM parts companies since 1998, is British-owned GKN Sinter Metals, headquartered in Auburn Hills, Michigan, with plants in 19 US locations in addition to its Canadian operations in St. Thomas, Ontario, and several plants in Europe and other continents. GKN Sintered Metals is part of GKN plc. GKN Sintered Metals

Metal Powders 23

2

Market Background: Regional Industries and the Automotive Scene

reported sales revenue for 2003 of s million (about US$1.2 billion) including US ferrous powder manufacturer Hoeganaes Corp. Other groups with plants in multiple locations are BorgWarner Automotive, Federal Mogul Corp, Hawk Group, Metal Powder Products, and Metaldyne Sintered Components. The financial strength and global reach of these multi-national corporations has increased the competition to supply the auto industry, itself more globalized than ever. With over 70% of PM parts going into the automotive market, this has become by far the most dominant factor in the whole metal powder and PM product industry. Several other international groups have one or more PM operations in the US, including those involved in specialty products. The largest of the remaining independent PM parts fabricators is Keystone Powdered Metal Co, based in St Marys, Pennsylvania, with additional plants in Ohio and North Carolina. Keystone has been a leading parts manufacturer from the early days of the North American industry and is still controlled by the family of one of the founders. However, in early 2005 it was announced that Keystone was looking for a buyer. Keystone is a major supplier to the auto industry with 750 employees and sales of about US$86 million. Much of the change in the industry since the last edition of this report has been on the powder producing side. The most significant development has been the establishment of a new major atomized steel powder plant with an initial capacity of 90 000 tonnes/year by North American HOgan~is, subsidiary of the Swedish H0gan{is AB. The plant at Stony Creek in HoUsopple, Pennsylvania was converted from a dis-used steel plant and the first stage of the investment was completed in October 2001. Bonded powder production was added in 2002. The entry of North American H6gan~is in the atomized steel powder market has intensified competition with established suppliers, most of whom had already increased capacity ahead of expected demand. The success of North American HOgan~is has been quite remarkable in the light of the choppy market conditions of the past few years. It is perhaps due partly to the new plant's ability to reproduce well-known atomized powder grades from its Swedish parent as well as those previously produced by the Pyron Corp that had already been taken over by H6gan~is. Another factor could be that some independent powder users preferred to have a source that was not affiliated with GKN Sinter Metals, a major competitor in parts fabrication. Meanwhile, Hoeganaes Corp, the leading North American manufacturer of ferrous powders, following the acquisition of its parent company by GKN plc, has been consolidating its position as supplier to the now related PM parts fabricators within GKN Sinter Metals, and spreading its wings overseas with sales and distribution centres in Europe and Asia, building a 45 000 tonnes/year powder processing plant in Germany and acquiring Ductil Iron in Romania (see Sections 6.1 and 6.2). In 2001 Hoeganaes Corp increased its atomized stainless steel powder capacity by setting up a new wateratomizing facility in partnership with Electralloy at the latter's plant in Oil

24

Metal Powders

Market Background: Regional Industries and the Automotive Scene

City, Pennsylvania, and later opened a new stainless steel powder blending facility in Ridgway, Pennsylvania. On the non-ferrous powders side, SCM Metal Products Inc, was acquired for US$65 million by Hrgan~is AB in early 2003 from OM Group Inc, of Cleveland, Ohio. Hrgan~is later (in 2004) sold the copper-base powder production business to Gibraltar Steel Corp for US$41 million, but retained the stainless and tool steel production unit in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, as well as the Glidcop dispersion-strengthened copper products. The H0gan/is subsidiary involved in the transaction was renamed North American H/3gan~is High Alloys LLC and continues production of stainless steel, gasatomized nickel alloys and electrolytic iron powders at the Johnstown plant. The SCM copper powder business had sales of about US$45 million in 2003. Gibraltar Steel had sales in 2003 of US$758 million. Zinc Corp of America (ZCA), headquartered in Monaca, Pennsylvania, the largest US producer of zinc metal, zinc oxide, zinc dust and zinc powder, together with its parent Horsehead Industries, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in August 2002. However, operations were continued while a financial reorganization was put in place. Horsehead Industries later exited bankruptcy, selling its assets to Sun Capital. As elsewhere in North America, the prospects for the PM industry in the US is highly dependent on the future of the North American car manufacturers. After the downturn in 2001, the 'Big Three' have faced a number of challenges in efforts to maintain market share against import competition. Also, the rate of increase in PM content in the 'typical' North Americanbuilt family vehicle has been slowing down since the late 1990s, as the 'easier' parts have been converted to PM. Furthermore, as discussed elsewhere in this chapter, some of the significant coming technological changes have yet to seriously impact the automotive manufacturing industry and its suppliers. No other end user sector of the PM industry is likely to take up the slack, since they are collectively dwarfed by the auto industry.

The PM industry in Japan comprises several dozen companies involved in the supply of raw materials and equipment and the manufacture of PM products. The Japanese PM trade association JPMA lists 75 companies as members or associate members, seven of which are overseas, and is believed to represent over 90% of the industry. The Japanese industry is involved in virtually every sector of PM manufacturing and is a leader in PM technology. It is highly geared to the automotive industry and has a number of worldclass facilities. Of all the trade associations, JPMA in its annual reports provides the most comprehensive industry statistics.

Metal Powders 25

2

Market Background: Regional Industries and the Automotive Scene

Table 2.2 Iron-based and Copper-based PM Part Production in Japan 1 9 9 8 - 2 0 0 4 (tonnes)

Iron-based Copper-based

Total

1998

1999

2000

2001

2002

2003

2004

76 600

80 100

88 200

83 200

86 700

92 200

100 000

2900

3300

3900

3100

3300

3000

3300

79 500 83 400 92 100 86 300 90 000 95 200 103 300

Source: JPMA Annual Reports

The tonnage of iron-based and copper-based PM production in Japan for 1998-2004, as reported by JPMA, are shown in Table 2.2. Comparison of these figures with the breakdown into types of PM product given in Table 2.3 suggests that the figures for iron-based and copper-based products correspond closely with the totals for PM structural parts and bearings. It can be deduced that the large majority of PM bearings in Japan are made from ferrous-based powders. After the economic stagnation of the 1990s, Japanese PM component production began to recover after 2001, reaching a new peak of 95 200 tonnes in 2003 followed by an increase to 103 300 tonnes in 2004, which also set a new record. The proportion of these parts manufactured for the automotive industry was 90.2%, up 2.4% in five years from 87.8% in 1999. Thus the Japanese PM industry remains the most highly related to automotive applications in the world, with industrial equipment and electrical applications at a mere 5% each in 2003. Apart from a down year in 2001, Japan's domestic four-wheeled automotive vehicle production has remained flat at just over 10 million since 1999, indicating a continuing increase in the PM content per vehicle. Nonautomotive PM structural parts rose for a third year to 9362 tonnes in 2004 after dropping from a peak in 2000 at 10 960 tonnes. The breakdown of Japanese PM part production by type is shown in Table 2.3. Table 2.3 B r e a k d o w n of Japanese PM Production 1 9 9 8 - 2 0 0 4 (tonnes) 1998 PM Structural Parts 72 328 Bearings 7243 Frictional Materials 555 Electrical Contacts 173 Miscellaneous* 509

Total

80808

1999

2000

2001

2002

2003

2004

75 572 7791

83 369 9007

78 792 7725

83 397 7847

87 821 7559

95 283 8010

613 172 366

718 203 502

690 164 488

688 93 497

671 99 591

718 103 895

84514

93 799 8 7 8 5 9

91 522 96 741 1 0 5 0 0 9

*Includes electrical collectors, but not refractory metals, magnetic materials or cemented carbides Source: JPMA Annual Reports

PM bearings production i.n 2004 recovered to 8010 tonnes from a low in 2003 at 7556 tonnes after peaking in 2000 at 9007 tonnes. The table also

26

Metal Powders

2

Market Background: Regional Industries and the Automotive Scene

shows a parallel trend in PM friction materials but at a much lower level in the 600-700 tonnes range. The increase in PM structural parts production was credited by JPMA to the upturn in the Japanese economy, combined with continuing favourable export performance and recovery in capital expenditure. The value of PM part production in 2004 was u billion (about US$1.1 billion), up 6% from 2003. According to JPMA president Takayoshi Sugiyama, speaking at the 2004 PM World Congress, both domestic and export demand for PM products was now very good. Since Japanese domestic vehicle production had remained relatively flat, the growth in volume of sintered parts was attributed to the growth in new applications, for example emission control products as well as increased application of power-steering related parts and vehicle air-conditioners.

Table 2.4 Japanese Production of Non-Automotive PM Structural Parts 1998-2004 (tonnes) 1998

1999

2000

2001

2002

2003

2004

3953

4687

6037

na

na

na

3672

3802

4133

na

na

na

na

598

733

791

na

na

na

na

9 2 2 2 10 9 6 0

9922

8590

8965

9362

For I n d u s t r i a l Machines

na

For Electrical Machines Others

Total

8223

na = not available Source: JPMA Annual Reports

The production volume of structural PM parts for non-automotive applications has been categorized by JPMA into 'For industrial machines' (agricultural machinery, business machines, construction equipment and general-purpose engines), 'For electrical machines' (air-conditioners, communications equipment, power tools etc) and 'Other'. The breakdown of non-automotive PM structural part production in Japan from 1998 to 2004 is shown in Table 2.4. The production of PM parts for industrial equipment peaked in 2000 at over 6000 tonnes, a new record after an interval of 16 years. This was said to be due to improved sales of photocopier machines and a recovery in exports of construction equipment, sewing machines, textile equipment and the like. In the following years, 2001 and 2002, Japanese production of PM parts in this category declined, believed to be due to the shift of production of copier machines and related items to China. However, the trend was actually reversed strongly in 2003 by an increase of 12.6% followed by an increase of 4.4% in 2004, believed to be due to increased demand from China together with increased exports of construction equipment and growth in other items. Japanese production of PM parts for electrical equipment also peaked in 2000, but did not set a new record. However, this sector has declined significantly since 2000, and production of PM parts for both industrial and electrical uses have been seriously affected by transfer of production to China and elsewhere. Metal Powders 27

2

Market Background: Regional Industries and the Automotive Scene

Table 2.5 Analysis of Japanese PM Bearings Production 1998-2004 (tonnes)

For Vehicles

1998

1999

2000

2001

2002

2003

2004

3189

3246

3629

3781

4058

3979

4207

2367

2687

3045

na

na

na

na

1307

1456

1889

na

na

na

na

375

403

447

na

na

na

na

7243

7791

9007

7725

7847

7559

8010

na

14.5

14.1

na

na

13.8

14.4

For Electrical Machines For Industrial Machines Others

Total Value, u billion na = not available

Source: JPMA Annual Reports

PM beating production in Japan is summarized in Table2.5. As indicated in the table, the production of PM bearings peaked in 2000 at a record 9010 tonnes, up 15.6% from 1999, but fell back in the subsequent years to the range of 7500-7800 tonnes. PM bearings production for transportation vehicles (mainly cars) increased significantly (25%) between 1999 and 2002 before levelling off at about 4000 tonnes. Production of PM bearings for non-automotive applications such as industrial machinery and electric motors etc, peaked in 2000 with strong increases over 1999, but fell in the three subsequent years, due in part to the shifting of production to China and the substitution of plastic bearings for use in ink-jet printers. Production of MIM parts in Japan has risen significantly in recent years, reaching 275 tonnes in 2003 versus 178 tonnes in 2001 and 213 tonnes in 2002. Consumption was going up in cell phone and computer parts, according to Sugiyama. The closely-watched trend in the usage of PM parts in Japanese automobiles shows an advance from 7.2 kg per vehicle in 1999 to 7.6 kg in 2002 and 8.0 kg in 2003, but still lower that the typical figures for North American cars. The distribution of PM parts among the various elements of Japanese-made cars has seen a slight but significant shift over the same period. From JPMA's own researches, the proportion of PM parts used in the engine passed the half-way mark in 2003, at 52%, versus 46.3% in 1999 models. As before, the drivetrain and chassis were the second and third biggest uses at 24% and 15%, respectively. The balance of 9% was made up of parts in electrical, body, fuel and other sectors. As noted elsewhere, Japanese shipments of metal powders have been on the rise again, after stagnating and even declining during the 1990s. In the case of ferrous powders, total shipments in 2003 were up over 33% from 1998. Although a large portion of this is due to recovery and growth in the domestic PM part fabrication industry, exports of iron powder have climbed over 40% since 1998, to a level that would feed a sizeable PM industry. It is

28

Metal Powders

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Market Background: Regional Industries and the Automotive Scene

assumed that much of this powder is used to fabricate components whose production has been transferred out of Japan, mostly to other parts of Asia. According to OECD Secretary-General Donald Johnston, the Japanese economy is picking up, benefiting from robust growth in the US and China, Japan's key export markets. Growth will not be strong but the OECD is forecasting Japanese growth of about 1.5% for 2005 and 2006. The Japanese PM industry is dominated by a number of strong global companies, many of which are household names: Toyota Motor Corp, Kobe Steel, Hitachi Powdered Metals, Mitsubishi Materials Corp, Sumitomo Electric Industries, Kawasaki Steel Corp, (now JFE Steel Corp), Toshiba etc. There is little in the way of foreign ownership in the Japanese PM industry. On the other hand, several Japanese companies involved in PM have major stakes overseas. The strength of the Japanese companies also means that the industry will continue to invest in new technology and materials development. This is witnessed by the annual display of award-winning PM parts at conferences around the world.

There are significant powder metallurgy industries in about a dozen Western European countries. Most of these are reviewed in this section. The basic technology of metal powder production and PM component fabrication was largely pioneered in Europe, for example in Austria, France, Germany, Italy, Sweden and the UI~ Strong developments are still taking place there, although business has expanded to larger markets in North America, Japan and Asia. Western European companies are involved in all phases of metal powder production, PM product manufacturing and applications. Europe is particularly strong in hardmetal production, which represents a bigger share of the total PM industry than in other economic regions. The most recent estimated breakdown of the value of PM products manufactured in Western Europe was given by EPMA at the 2002 PM World Congress in Orlando, Florida. As indicated in Table 2.6, hardmetals represented the largest value in 2001 at ~2135 million (35%), just exceeding the combined value of PM structural parts and semi-finished products (34%).

Metal Powders 29

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Market Background: Regional Industries and the Automotive Scene

Table 2.6 Value of PM Products Manufactured in W Europe 1998 and 2001 (~ million) Ha rd meta Is PM Structural Parts PM Semi-finished Products PM Magnets Diamond Tools

Total

1998

2001

1794 1092 598 884 780

2135 1403 671 976 915

5200

61 O0

Source: EPMA and C Molins presentation at 2002 PM World Congress in Orlando, Florida

Comparison with the estimates for 1998 also given in the table indicates that the PM structural parts sector was growing fastest, averaging 8.4% pa, compared with the total Western European PM products value that increased at an average 5.5% rate over those three years. As a result, the PM structural parts portion increased from 21% to 23%, and from about C I.1 billion to C1.4 billion. Table 2.7 Estimated Market Shares of W European Countries in PM Parts Production 2002 Germany Spain Italy France UK Austria Switzerland Belgium, Netherlands, Scandinavia and Others

25% 20% 14% 9% 9% 7% 4% 12%

100% Source: EPMA and O Morandi, Power Metallurgy 2003, 46 (4), p294

In terms of tonnage of PM parts production in Western Europe, Germany, Spain and Italy are the three leading countries, with 25, 20 and 14% respectively (Table 2.7). These percentages would be slightly reduced if production in Russia, East Europe and Turkey were included. 2002 was a down year for the European PM industry due to the economic situation following the US recession, but, as expressed by Dr Cesar Molins in his EPMA annual report, 2003 was 'at best a transition )rear' to better times. The flurry of mergers and acquisitions in the 'traditional' PM industry more or less came to a halt in 2002. European shipments of PM products fell slightly in 2003 and the usage of PM in European cars remained at an average of 8.1 kg/vehicle for the fourth consecutive year. EPMA's executive director, Jonathan Wroe, noted that with the apparent levelling off in total production of the European automotive industry, growth and development of the PM industry would likely depend on diversification of applications. The success of the Italian PM industry in this direction was cited as an

30

Metal Powders

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Market Background: Regional Industries and the Automotive Scene

example of what could be achieved with concerted effort. The development of new MIM markets beyond the automotive industry was also seen as encouraging. In his keynote address at the 2004 PM World Congress in Vienna, Dr Molins gave a more detailed review of the PM industry performance in 2003-4 and the current outlook. European metal powder shipments for PM of around 160 000 tonnes in 2003 represented about 18% of the worldwide total, estimated at 880 000 tonnes, which was up 5% from 2002. After dipping in 2001-2 with the recession, European PM shipments advanced through 2003 and 2004 to an estimated 170 000 tonnes. Western Europe should see some further recovery in the year ahead, while PM production in East Europe should see continuing higher growth. The recent improvements were seen as a reflection of the increased use of PM in European-built cars. European car sales were also turning upwards after being down in 2002/3. He added that Europe now represented 35% of global annual car sales of around 40 million vehicles. Another positive trend was the steady increase in the number of Western European cars with diesel engines, now approaching 45%, up from 25% in 1998, and could reach 55% by 2010. The more efficient 'clean' diesel engines use slightly more PM parts than petrol engines. A further optimistic sign was the increasing use of automatic transmissions in Europe, estimated to rise to 18% in 2005 from 12% in 2000. The increasing presence of VVT (variable valve timing) 'a good user of PM parts' was another positive sign. The PM parts industry now faces a serious problem in rising raw materials and energy costs. A study made by the German Fachverband ftir Pulvermetallurgie in June 2004 indicated that the combination of powder price increases and higher energy costs (see below) had increased PM part manufacturing costs by an estimated 2.5% in the first half of 2004. Further increases since June made the year-end figure even higher. Some European parts fabricators were now moving production to China. There was also increased pressure on the quality and liability front, as well as from Asian competitors. Another major headache for the European PM industry and its suppliers was the impending new EU legislation REACH that will replace the former New Chemicals Policy. The problem here is that metal powders tend to be regarded as hazardous. There is a need for lobbying to get the correct treatment of metal powders. As Molins said, 'EPMA is on the case'.

2.3.1 Austria Austria has had a long involvement in PM, dating back to the 1920s. In the most recently published review (IJPM, 2002, 38(8), pp26-32), Professor H Danninger noted that the Austrian PM industry was active in virtually all sectors, and was a major player on the global scene despite the country's small population. The small size of the domestic market explains why typically over 90% of the Austrian PM industry's products are exported. Metal Powders 31

2

Market Background: Regional Industries and the Automotive Scene

Austrian metal powder manufacturers are mainly involved in the production of specialty materials- refractory metals and carbides, high-alloy steel powders, as well as aluminium-based powders and granules. Privately-owned Plansee AG in Reutte, Tyrol, makes tungsten, molybdenum, and tungsten carbide powders essentially for internal use in the manufacture of semifinished products. Two other companies also produce tungsten and tungsten carbide powders: Wolfram Bergbau und Hiitten in Styria, specializing in fine and ultrafine tungsten and tungsten carbide powders of high purity, and Treibacher Industrie in Carinthia. Treibacher also produces other carbides, cermets, thermal spray powders and rare earth nickel-base powder for NiMH batteries. Treibacher employs about 600 people and was reported to have an annual turnover of about C200 million. Aluminium-based powders and granules are manufactured by MEPURA GmbH (see Section 6.2) at Ranshofen, north of Salzburg. This company is part of the ECKA Granules group based in F~irth, Bavaria, Germany, and is also active in preparing precursor materials for aluminium foams. MEPURA produced l l 000 tonnes of aluminium-based powders in 2001. B6hler Uddeholm Powder Technology (BUPT) in Kapfenberg, Styria, is a part of B6hler Uddeholm AG, a global market leader in tool steels. B UPT makes gas-atomized HSS powders for HIPing into semi-finished PM tool steels, characterized by a high degree of cleanliness. The products also include cold work tool steels and high-chromium steels for plastic moulding dies. B UPT is the PM producing source for B6hler Ede|stahl of Austria and Uddeholm Tooling, Sweden. Together these companies were reported to cover about 30% of the world market for PM tool steels, estimated by Danninger to be about 10 000 tonnes in 2000. Ferrous sintered parts are manufactured in Austria by two companies that have become global players in recent years: MIBA Sintermetall AG, located in Upper Austria, and Plansee, through its subsidiary Sinterstahl GmbH. Both companies specialize in sintered automotive parts, particularly highstrength components. These groups also operate plants in Germany, Spain, Italy, Slovakia, and the USA. PM friction materials are manufactured in Austria by MIBA Fritec GmbH, which split off from MIBA Sintermetall in 1989. Altogether, the manufacture of sintered components and friction products employs about 800 people in Austria, generating estimated annual sales of over C100 million on 5000 tonnes, representing about 6% of the European total in 2002. The production of hardmetals and tooling systems for metal cutting and wear parts, as well as diamond tools is an even larger item in the Austrian PM industry, with the Plansee companies and Tyrolit Schleifmittelwerke Swarovski KG being major players in these sectors.

2.3.2 France Although a large number of international companies are represented in France, the core of the French PM industry is fairly concentrated. Major consolidations took place during the 1990s and there have been few

32

Metal Powders

2

Market Background: Regional Industries and theAutomotive Scene

significant changes in the present decade. Leading PM structural parts fabricators in Grenoble and Pontoise (Paris region) are under the Federal Mogul flag. Powder production facilities are mainly involved in non-ferrous metals and alloys (copper, tin, aluminium), stainless steels, superalloys and refractory metals. There have been no recent reviews of the French PM industry, and the latest statistics (see Table 2.7) indicate a 9% share of the Western European PM parts production in 2002, a decline from earlier levels.

2.3.3 Germany The German economy bounced back in 2004 with GDP increasing 1.7% versus a decline of 0.1% in 2003, according to figures issued in January 2005 by the German Federal Statistics Office. Despite weak consumer demand, 2004 was the best year for the German economy since 2000, when it grew 2.9%. Based on a growing number of signs, further recovery was expected in 2005, although unemployment was reported to have passed 5 million in the early months of the year. The PM industry in Germany is the biggest in Europe, and until 2002 it was the world's third largest national PM industry (after USA and Japan). In 2003, Germany's production of PM parts and beatings was finally overtaken by C h i n a - a sign of the times. As the Eurozone's largest producer of PM structural parts, beating and filters, Germany still accounted for about a quarter of Western European output in 2003, although this fraction has fallen slightly since 1998 with the rise of the Spanish and Italian industries. (Germany's share of the European parts market drops to 23% if Russia is included.) Several dozen companies are listed in Germany as producers of PM products, including MIM parts, magnets, and hardmetal, diamond and CBN tooling. After remaining relatively static below 25 000 tonnes/year in the early 1990s, German shipments of PM structural parts, bearings and filters began growing at around 15% in 1997, peaking at over 43 000 tonnes in 2001 (see Table 2.8). As the table indicates, German PM production has declined about 10% since the peak. The table also shows that most of the growth in PM production in recent years has been in ferrous parts which have increased about 50% since 1997, while non-ferrous parts have grown by less than 15% and now represent 2.5%-3% of the total. The sales value of the German PM parts output is about ~400 million. About 38% of PM structural parts are for export. In other parts of the German PM industry, sintered hardmetal cutting tools and wear parts amount to C1 billion, while hard magnets account for ~250 million. MIM sales in 2004 are estimated at s million-30 million, up from ~10 million-15 million in 1999.

Metal Powders 33

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Market Background: Regional Industries and the Automotive Scene

Table 2.8 Production of PM Structural Parts, Bearings and Filters in Germany 1997-2003 (tonnes) 1998 Ferrous Non-Ferrous

Total

1999

2000

2001

2002

2003

2004

25 213(E) 29 801 960(E) 951

34 335 930

39 544 1096

42 464 1068

38 079 1042

38 197 1081

26 173

30 752 35 265 40 640 43 532 39 121 39 278

Source: Fachverband fQr Pulvermetallurgie; (E) = Estimate

As the largest European PM parts industry, Germany boasts some heavy hitters. Industry leader GKN Sinter Metals has a collection of seven plants, including technology leaders such as GKN Sinter Metals Radevormwald (PM, PF, bearings, filters, PM-HSS and MIM production). Other names include Schunk Sintermetall Technik, EHW Thale Sintermetall, Sinterstahl Fiissen, Schw~ibische Htittenwerk, Bosch-Tekeda and Bleistahl. Germany has several important domestic powder suppliers, notably BASF and QMP Metal Powders for MIM and PM iron and steel powders, respectively, ECKA Granules for non-ferrous, and HC Starck for refractory and more exotic metal powders. The last two groups are global suppliers with plants around the world in addition to major production facilities in Germany. Tungsten and molybdenum powders are also made by OSRAM in Schwabmtinchen. In recent years there have been some major changes in the industry. In 2001, the Eckart-Werke company was split up into two separate firms, enabling the newly-formed ECKA Granules (see Section 6.2) to concentrate on the non-ferrous powders and granules business. In 2002, ECKA Granules acquired MicroMet GmbH from Norddeutsche Affinerie AG in Hamburg, making ECKA the world's largest producer of copper powders. The MicroMet plant employs 60 people and makes electrolytic copper powders, with sales of about C25 million. MicroMet also makes fine and sub-micron powders in a proprietary precipitation process, for MIM and electronics applications. ECKA is now a leading global producer of non-ferrous powders with 16 plants around the world. H C Starck acquired the molybdenum powder and PM products producer CSM Industries of Cleveland, Ohio, with four plants in the USA, two in the UK and one in Germany. In the PM structural parts sector, GKN Sinter Metals bought two plants in 2002" Schunk's Oberhausen plant and Nichol Portland's facility in Berlin. Mahle Ventiltreib GmbH built a new plant in Liebertingen in 2002 to produce composite automotive camshafts with PM lobes. Finally Cloyes Gear and Products Inc, of Paris, Arkansas, USA, formed Cloyes Europe GmbH in a joint venture with Sumitomo Corp, and built a 4000 m 2 plant in Zittau, near the border with Poland and the Czech Republic. 2.3.4

Italy

The Italian PM industry now ranks third in Europe and is largely composed of PM structural parts fabricators, plus one major powder producer,

34

Metal Powders

2 Market Background: Regional Industries and the Automotive Scene Pometon SpA. Pometon (see Section 6.2) is a producer of steel shot and grit for sand-blasting, shot-peening, marble- and granite-cutting, and also produces ferrous and non-ferrous powders at three plants in Northern Italy. Iron powder and shot production capacity was recently increased to 100 000 tonnes/year. Pometon also produces copper-base, magnesium, tin and zinc powders for a variety of applications. The bulk of Italian powder production is for domestic uses, with exports of ferrous powders running about one-fifth and copper-based at just over one third of production. The domestic consumption of iron powder for PM structural parts in Italy in 2002 was estimated at 20 000 tonnes, the bulk of which was imported, mainly from Sweden. Non-ferrous powder consumption was estimated at 5000 tonnes, while stainless steel powder consumption was about 300 tonnes, up from 200 tonnes in 2001. Table 2.9 Production of M e t a l P o w d e r s and P M Parts in Italy 1 9 9 7 - 2 0 0 2 (tonnes) PM Parts Ferrous Stainless Steel, Non-Ferrous Metal Powders Iron (for PM) Copper & Bronze

1996

1997

1998

1999

2000

2001

2002

17 300

18 560

20 050

21 340

24000

24 150

24 300

1500

1860

2030

2060

2630

2200

2200

3565 1385

4464 2932

4834 3260

5919 4044

6200 4150

6300 4375

Source: ASSINTER and Oreste Morandi, PM, 2003, 46(4), pp294-296

Italian PM parts producers manufacture sintered structural parts and bearings, MIM components, and carbide tools in over 20 plants. The trade association ASSINTER (see Section 6.6.5) gathers quite comprehensive statistics on the progress of the PM industry in Italy, and this account is drawn largely from an article by Oreste Morandi, the current General Secretary of ASSINTER (PM, 2003, 46(4), pp294-296; see also IJPM, 2003, 39(1), pl6). The Italian PM structural parts industry's output grew fairly steadily during the 1990s and peaked in 2000 at 26 300 tonnes of ferrous and copper-based parts, valued at E193 million (Table 2.9). Since then the tonnage and values have flattened off. The Italian PM industry can be expected to continue to develop in parallel with the rest of Europe, although the proportion of PM parts going into the auto sector has traditionally been lower than elsewhere in Europe. This has risen from 50% in 1996 to about 55% in 2002. The balance of applications is found in mechanical devices, D IY equipment and household appliances. The Italian PM industry has also maintained a high level of exports, now valued at over El00 million. Production of MIM parts in Italy is still quite small, at E2.25 million, but growing strongly.

Metal Powders 35

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Market Background: Regional Industries and the Automotive Scene

More than a dozen companies are active in Italy in the production of cemented carbide tools and wear parts. The output of this sector of the industry in 2002 was estimated by ASSINTER at El 50 million, over 60% of which was represented by cutting tools.

2.3.5 Spain The PM industry in Spain has grown very substantially over several decades, notably in the fabrication of PM sintered parts where Spain is now the second largest producer in Europe after Germany, having recently overtaken Italy. The industry in Spain was reviewed in 2002 by Dr Cesar Molins, president of EPMA and managing director of AMES SA (IJPM, 2002, 38(3), pp53-60). There are currently more than a dozen companies in Spain manufacturing metal powders, PM parts, hardmetals, MIM products and equipment for the PM industry. The main producer of metal powders is Metapol SA, since 1996 a subsidiary of Pometon SpA of Italy. Metapol produces about 2000 tonnes/year of nonferrous powders, the bulk of which are exported. The major activity of the Spanish PM industry is in the production of sintered parts and powder forgings. In 2002, the output exceeded 30 000 tonnes, valued at over s million, including about 4000 tonnes of powder-forged connecting rods made in Valencia by Metaldyne for the nearby Ford Motor Co assembly plant. Privately-owned AMES SA is the largest P M group in Spain, established over 50 years ago and operating three manufacturing plants in Spain as well as two overseas factories. One of its Spanish plants is dedicated to the manufacture of sintered self-lubricating bearings, for which it is one of the largest suppliers in Europe. The group has a small facility for the production of copper-based powders, as well as its own tool and die manufacturing and equipment construction departments, relics from the period of Spain's closed economy. AMES specializes in high-precision parts and produces 8000 tonnes of PM components, about 75% of which are destined for the automotive industry. About 85% of the PM parts are ferrous-based, while 80% of production is exported either within Europe or to the USA. Several of the other PM manufacturers in Spain belong to international groups. Sintermetall SA of Ripollet, near Barcelona, has been owned by the MIBA group since 1999. Its staff of 350 specialize in PM automotive parts for shock absorbers, engines and transmissions. The plant produces main bearing caps at the rate of 10 000 per day. Elsewhere in Spain, Polmetasa, part of the Sinterstahl group since 1991, produces shock absorber components and ABS sensor rings at its Mondragon plant where 230 are employed, with an output of 5000 tonnes/year. Another Sinterstahl plant in Asturias province specializes in manual transmission parts and is the European leader in the fabrication of PM synchronizer hubs. Also in Northern Spain, Stadler SA, although one of the smallest sintering

36

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Market Background: Regional Industries and the Automotive Scene

companies in Spain with a staff of 80, has managed to triple its sales during the past decade. Stadler currently manufactures both ferrous and nonferrous parts, primarily for the automotive, hardware and industrial equipment sectors. Finally, two small companies in Northern Spain, MIMECRISA and Tecmin have made rapid progress in production of MIM parts in recent years, while PM-related R&D in Spain is supported by several active research institutes and universities.

2.3.6 Sweden and the other Nordic Countries Of the Nordic countries, Sweden has by far the largest PM industry, and in certain respects ranks only behind the USA and Japan on the global scene. Swedish companies have world-leading positions in ferrous powder production, PM high-speed steels and tool steels, as well as cemented carbides. With one or two exceptions, the PM companies in Denmark, Finland and Norway are smaller firms involved in specialized niche markets. The PM industries in the Nordic countries were last reviewed in 2002 by Jan Tengzelius and Olle Grinder (IJPM, 2002, 38(4), pp19-28). They reported 2001 sales for the Nordic PM companies totalling US$2.6 billion, with 16 000 employees, about half of whom actually work outside the Nordic countries. Powder production in Sweden covers a wide range of products: iron and steel powders for all applications, high-speed steel (HSS) and tool steel powders for HIPing as well as pressing and sintering, and carbide powders for production of hardmetal cutting tools and wear parts. Htgan~is AB, headquartered in the town of H/~gan/is in Southern Sweden (see Section 6.2) is the world's largest supplier of iron and steel powders. The company also produces nickel-based and cobah-based powders for thermal coating at its Coldstream division in Belgium and water-atomized HSS powders at Powdrex in the UK. In Sweden, Htgan~is produces sponge iron powders, water-atomized iron and steel powders, diffusion-alloyed powders as well as insulated iron powders for soft magnetic applications. Overseas, H6gan/is has iron and steel powder production facilities in USA, Brazil, India, China and Japan. It also makes high alloy and stainless steel powders in Belgium, the UK and the USA. In the year 2003, the volume of powders produced was over 350 000 tonnes, valued at SEK3750 million (about US$490 million), up from 286 000 tonnes and US$310 million in 2001. H6gan~is continues to invest heavily in R&D programmes to support its global expansion. Carpenter Powder Products AB (formerly ANVAL Nyby Powder AB) of Torshalla, Sweden, is a leading producer of gas-atomized high alloy steels, including stainless steel, tool steels and HSS powders, as well as nickel- and cobalt-based powders. Much of this powder (primarily tool steel and HSS) is HIPed into billets, bars etc. for further processing. Carpenter Powder Products AB and its sister company Carpenter Powder Products Inc in the USA, are part of Carpenter Technology Corp.

Metal Powders

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Market Background: Regional Industries and the Automotive Scene

In addition to Carpenter, Bodycote Powdermet AB, Metso Powdermet AB, Erasteel Kloster AB and Uddeholm Tooling AB all specialize in the production of HIPed high alloy and stainless steels from gas-atomized powders, some of which is made in-house. Kanthal AB, a fully-owned subsidiary of Sandvik AB, produces materials and systems for electrical heating and control. The products include metallic, intermetallic and ceramic materials. In early 2001, Kanthal acquired the gas atomization plant of Bodycote Powdermet AB, for the production of metallic powders. The plant makes iron-and nickel-based powders for HIPing. Of the small number of PM parts producers in the Nordic countries, four are located in Sweden and two of these make sintered parts for internal use. Total production in 2001 was estimated at about 5000 tonnes. GKN Sinter Metals AB (formerly Kolsva Sinterteknik AB) produces a wide range of components for high strength applications, primarily for the Swedish automotive and transportation industries. The Sandvik group is the largest producer of cemented carbides in the world, with sales of well over US$1 billion and over 9000 employees. The largest company in the group, AB Sandvik Coromant, fabricates carbide cutting tools and tooling systems, with production plants in Sweden as well as 30 countries around the world. Other units of Sandvik fabricate cemented carbide blanks, wear parts, rolls for hot-rolling mills, as well as rock drilling tools. The world's fifth largest hardmetal producer, Seco Tools AB, headquartered in Fagersta, Sweden employs about 1400 of its 4000-strong workforce in Sweden and had sales of about US$410 million in 2001. Also based in Fagersta is Atlas Copco Secoroc AB, one of the world's largest manufacturers of percussive rock drill tools. In Finland, OMG Kokkola Chemicals Oy, part of the US-based OMG group, is the world's largest producer of cobalt products with 2003 output totalling approximately 8000 tonnes, a significant portion of which was fine cobalt powder for the manufacture of cemented carbides and diamond tools. A sister company, Harjavalta Nickel Oy, operates a refinery producing about 60 000 tonnes/year of nickel, including nickel powder for PM applications. On a smaller scale, Tikomet Ltd, in Tikkakoshi, Finland, reclaims hardmetal powders from cemented carbide scrap, and EOS Finland Oy is into rapid prototyping via direct laser sintering of fine steel and bronze powders. Neorem Magnet produces sintered NdFeB magnets. PM companies in Denmark are mostly involved in manufacture of stainless steel components and low-alloy steel parts with close dimensional tolerances, as well as permanent magnets. The most well-known, Dansk Sintermetal A/S, has about 100 employees and is the largest manufacturer of stainless steel sintered parts in the Nordic countries, producing about 1000 tonnes of components annually, mostly for non-automotive markets. Dan Spray A/S, in Taastrup, is using spray-forming technology licensed from Sandvik Osprey of the UK, to produce tool steel and HSS billets for further processing into

38

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Market Background: Regional Industries and the Automotive Scene

semi-finished products. Commercial production began in 2000, with a 2500 tonnes/year capacity plant. Dan Spray has entered into a long-time arrangement with Uddeholm Tooling AB, of Sweden, to process and market the spray-formed billets. Finally, in Norway, metal powders of another kind are manufactured by Hafslund Metall A/S, a wholly-owned subsidiary of FESIL ASA, which operates a ferro-silicon smelter near Sarpsborg. Hafslund MetaU runs a 10 000 tonnes/year water-atomization plant for the production of 15% FeSi powder for the heavy-medium separation of ores and scrap, and 45% Fe-Si powders for use in coatings on welding rods. Elsewhere, two Norwegian companies, Lyng Motor A/S and Smart Motor A/S are using soft magnetic composite materials (SMCs) in electrical machine applications, utilizing the three-dimensional magnetic properties of SMCs.

2.3.7 UK Despite continuing economic growth in the UK during the past decade, the traditional PM structural parts industry has seen a significant decline since the mid-1990s. This has been in part due to the high exchange value of sterling and also overseas competition. As reported by David Whittaker and Alan Cocks (IJPM, 2002, 38(7), pp19-23), the number of PM structural parts fabricators fell from nine in the early 1990s to five in 2002, following various acquisitions and re-organizations. Consumption of powders for PM part manufacture fell to about 15 500 tonnes in 2001, two-thirds of which was imported. The leading parts producer is Federal-Mogul Sintered Products, in Coventry. This operation has grown by specializing in niche automotive products such as valve-seat inserts, valve guides, and piston tings, using proprietary technology. The GKN Sinter Metals plant in Lichfield and BSA Advanced Sintering in Ipswich (formerly Manganese Bronze Holdings) concentrate on automotive structural parts and sintered bronze bearings. The MIM business previously operated by Manganese Bronze was closed down. Altogether, the UK PM parts industry accounted for 8% of the European market, valued at about Cl10 million. Metal powder production in the UK is largely confined to the non-ferrous sector, where major global and European suppliers dominate. INCO Special Products produces nickel powders at the INCO refinery in Clydach, South Wales, Makin Metal Powders (subsidiary of United States Bronze Powders) manufactures copper-based powders in Rochdale, Lancashire, and The Aluminium Powder Co (Alpoco) makes aluminium powders in Holyhead, North Wales, and Sutton Coldfield in the Midlands. Most of the more than 2000 people employed in the UK PM industry are involved in the production of hardmetals, cutting tools, diamond tools, magnets and other specialty products not covered in this review.

Metal Powders 39

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Market Background: Regional Industries and the Automotive Scene

The end of the Soviet era and the 1998 financial crisis in Russia left that country's PM industry operating at a very low level. The same was true for other former Soviet Union countries such as Ukraine and Belarus. As a result of the economic collapse, very little information has emerged from the FSU countries. According to figures quoted by Bernard Williams in the 1 l th edition of the I P M D (2004/5), see Table 2.10, PM production in Russia is slowly recovering after a 10-year slump, with ferrous PM parts production increasing 4% to 12 500 tonnes in 2002. Williams went on to note that signs of growth in Russia were linked to production of new cars, many with West European technology: the average weight of PM parts in a Russian-built car was about 4 kg, only half of the West European average. Table 2.10 Ferrous PM Parts Production in Russia and East Europe (tonnes)

Russia Ukraine Belarus Slovakia Others

1986

1990

2001

2002

32 800 22 270 4800

37 400 22 150 7540

12 000 1500 600 3000 900

12 500 1500 600 3000 1400

18 000

19 000

Total Source: B Williams, IPMD 2004-5, 11th Edition, plO

Possibly the greatest potential for growth in Europe is in Central and East Europe. Poland, Slovakia, Ukraine, Belarus, and other non-FSU countries such as Romania, Bulgaria, Hungary and Yugoslavia produce a combined 7000 tonnes of PM parts. These countries are optimistic about growth due to low production costs. As noted by Dr Cesar Molins, EPMA president, in his address at the PM2004 World Congress (PM, 2004, 47(4), pp309-310), 'the new EU member states and other countries in Central and Eastern Europe represent a significant potential market for cars. Automotive production is relatively under-developed, with current capacity of 4.8 million vehicles but running at only 52% of capacity. Russia has more than one third of the total capacity, followed by Poland at 19% and the Czech Republic (11%). Many new plants are planned in Russia and East European countries, with car production forecast to increase about 8% per annum'. Molins reported 2003 shipments for Russia of 7500 tonnes of ferrous-based powders and 7000 tonnes of copper-based powders, 70% of the latter being exported to the EU. Production of tungsten powders was reported as 3000 tonnes and molybdenum powder at 1500 tonnes. Production of PM parts

40

Metal Powders

2

Market Background: Regional Industries and the Automotive Scene

was close to 10 000 tonnes, with 8000+ tonnes of ferrous and 1500 tonnes of copper-based parts. On the powder production side, Russia has the world's largest source of primary nickel production in Norilsk Nickel, which also has a small plant for the production of carbonyl nickel powders, now mostly exported. In Romania, the main recent news was the purchase of Ductil Iron's atomized steel powders business in late 2003 by Hoeganaes Corp of USA, and the subsequent expansion of capacity to 30 000 tonnes/year.

Growth in the Asian PM industries stalled in the late 1990s, but began to pick up again by 1999 and then advanced significantly in the present decade (Table 2.11). Production of PM parts in Asia, ex-Japan, increased over 80% between 1998 and 2003 and advanced a further 22% in 2004, fuelled by rapid growth in China, Korea, Malaysia and Thailand. The combined total of ferrous-based and copper-based PM part production in 2004 is estimated at 155 000 tonnes.

Table 2.11 PM Part Production in Asia and Australia, ex-Japan 1998-2004 (tonnes) China

Korea Taiwan India Australia Malaysia Singapore Thailand

Total

1998

1999

2000

17 366 18 234 19 500 5860 2288 3240 1480 802

18 913 29 835 18 777 23 478 20 580 21 000 7020 8435 2325 2180 4156 4632 1540 1594 1240 2021

2001

2002

2003

2004

31 207 27 459 17 000 8280 1967 4544 1225 2366

37 491 23 982 21 900 8375 2010 5040 1449 3488

48 597 35 244 22 900 8700 na 5513 1351 4363

62 902 38 416 27 100 na na 6467 1323 6309

68 770 74 551 93 175 94 048 103 735 127 O00(E) 155 O00(E)

na = not available; (E) = Estimate, this report Source: JPMA Annual Reports

In Thailand and Korea, PM part production is heavily geared to automotive applications, as in Japan (see Table 2.12), where it now accounts for 89% of PM parts. In Australia, China, Taiwan and Malaysia, on the other hand, less than half of PM production is for transportation equipment (mainly cars). Some of the Asian countries, such as Malaysia and Singapore are highly involved in production of PM parts for electrical and electronics equipment.

Metal Powders 41

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Market Background: Regional Industries and the Automotive Scene

Table 2.12 Breakdown of PM Part Production in Asia 2003 (%) Transportation

Industrial Equipment

Japan Thailand

89 87

5 10

5 3

1 0

Korea Australia* China Taiwan Malaysia

83 64 44 41 25 21

0 7 28 8 34 0

12 27 19 24 33 79

5 2 8 27 8 0

Singapore

7

6

87

0

India

Electrical Equipment

Other

Source: JPMA annual reports; *Australia figures are for 2002

In his address at the opening session of the 2004 PM World Congress in Vienna, JPMA president Takayoshi Sugiyama (Sumitomo Electric Industries Ltd) reviewed the current state of the PM industries in Asia, noting that 'both domestic and export demand were very good and would continue to grow the industry'. Vehicle production in China increased 35% in 2003 to 4.4 million units, of which 1.8 million were passenger cars (up 84%). Vehicle production in major Asian countries is shown in Table 2.13. China is now the world's fourth largest automotive producer and is expected be No 3 behind the USA and Japan by the end of the decade. Table 2.13 Motor Vehicle Production in Asian Countries 2003 (thousands) Japan China Korea

India

Thailand

Total

10 300 4 400 3 200 1 200 800

19 900

Source: JPMA president Takayoshi Sugiyama at the 2004 PM World Congress in Vienna

2.5.1 Australia The PM industry in Australia consists of a small number of structural parts, bearings and cutting tool manufacturers, plus a couple of notable powder producers. The largest PM parts producer in Australia is ACL Powder Met operating within ACL Bearing Co, a division of Automotive Components Ltd, in Launceston, Tasmania. This company manufactures engine and transmission components in ferrous and non-ferrous materials for domestic and export markets. Typical products include timing pulleys and sprockets, valve seat inserts, ABS sensor rings, water- and oil-pump components and brake parts. ACL PM also makes sintered parts for the white goods and security locking device markets. Copper, copper-alloys and tin powders are produced in the company's own atomizing plant, for in-house PM bearings and structural parts manufacturing and to supply other manufacturers of

42

Metal Powders

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Market Background: Regional Industries and the Automotive Scene

sintered components, friction products, anti-fouling paint additives and chemical products. Intercast and Forge Pty Ltd, and Monroe Australia, a division of Tenneco Automotive, also operate PM plants in South Australia, mostly making automotive components, and consuming about 1000 tonnes/year of ferrousbased powders. Boart Longyear and Sandvik Australia make a variety of hardmetal tools and other parts for drilling, crushing as well as wear parts for the mining and manufacturing industries. Western Mining Co, now called WMC Resources (see Section 6.4.1), the world's third largest nickel producer, with a capacity of over 100 000 tonnes/year of nickel in concentrate, operates a refinery in Kwinana, Western Australia. Nickel matte received from the company's Kalgoorlie smelter is refined to pure nickel by the Sherritt process (see Section 5.2.2) to high quality nickel powder and briquettes. Atomized aluminium powders and pellets are produced in Tasmania by ECKA Granules using hot metal from the adjacent smelter of Comalco. The ECKA Granules plant (see Section 6.2) has a capacity in excess of 12 000 tonnes/year and makes products mainly for use in the refractory industry and chemical applications, and since 2001 for use in pigments and automotive finishes. The Australian economy has been growing strongly since the early 1990s. However, the PM industry has followed a somewhat different path. Sales of the Australian PM industry remained relatively static during the 1990s, in the range of A$19 million-24 million, while the consumption of ferrous and copper-based powders actually declined from about 2700 tonnes in 1995 until reversing this trend in 2002 when the production of copper-based PM parts more than trebled to 178 tonnes for a total of 2010 tonnes (Table 2.14). The breakdown of Australian PM part production shows that automotive applications now represent less than 50% of the total with the balance divided between industrial, electrical and other applications. Table 2.14 PM Part Production and Applications in Australia 1 9 9 8 - 2 0 0 2 (tonnes) PM Parts Production Ferrous-based Copper-based Total

1998

1999

2000

2243 45

2273 52

2130 50

1916 51

1832 178

2288

2325

2180

1967

2010

PM Parts Applications by Sector % Automotive Industrial Equipment Electrical Equipment Other

52 25 23 1

2001

2002

44 28 19 8

Source: JPMA Annual Reports

Metal Powders

43

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Market Background: Regional Industries and the Automotive Scene

2.5.2 People's Republic of China After slowing briefly in the late 1990s, the rate of expansion of the Chinese economy has accelerated since the turn of the century. According to the OECD, China's GDP is expected to grow at between 8% and 9% for the rest of the decade. The boom in the manufacturing sector is illustrated in the production of PM parts (Table 2.15). The combined production of ferrousand copper-based PM parts has more than doubled since 1999. Table 2.15 P M Parts Production in China 1 9 9 8 - 2 0 0 4 (tonnes)

Ferrous-based Copper-based

Total

1998

1999

2000

2001

2002

2003

2004

15 876 1490

18 088 825

26 501 3334

27 487 3720

33 642 3849

44 240 4357

56 968 5934

17366

1 8 9 1 3 29 835 3 1 2 0 7

37 491 48 597 62 902

Source: JPMA Annual Reports

The Chinese automotive market is the fastest growing in the world, with sales recently advancing at 25-30% pa. This has drawn a number of global automotive manufacturers to establish a foothold, resulting in an actual surfeit of supply (in 2004). Nevertheless, vehicle production is forecast to reach 5 million before the end of the decade and 10 million by 2015. The typical passenger car made in China is reported to contain 10.4 lb (4.7 kg) of PM parts. The PM industry in China is still at an early stage of development but is growing at a tremendous pace, at least twice the rate of the overall economy. There are several hundred mostly very small PM parts fabricators in China, but according to observers at the PM Asia 2005 conference in Shanghai, only four or five are able to manufacture highquality PM parts (PM 2 Newsbytes, 18 April 2005). The top three PM producers, according to a report by Peter K Johnson, are Ningbo Tongmuo New Materials Co Ltd, Porite and Shanghai Automotive Co Ltd (SAIC), Powder Metallurgy Works. The last named plant employs over 200 people and has 25 compacting presses. It reported sales ofUS$14.4 million in 2004 and expects to produce US$17 million worth of parts in 2005. They make parts (such as synchronizer hubs) for Volkswagen cars that are manufactured in China. The growth prospects have prompted a number of Japanese, US and European companies to set up manufacturing in China. Sixteen are already there and four more are on the way. The combination of Western (or Japanese) PM technology and low production costs makes this development a very attractive proposition for both the domestic and export markets. International PM companies that have set up manufacturing or joint ventures in China include Porite, mGmini-Gears of Italy, Metaldyne and Mitsubishi Materials Corp. On the powder production side, the current situation has been reviewed in two keynote presentations at the PM Asia 2005 conference. Cui Jianmin and Yuan Yong (PM Association of China Steel Construction Society and Laiwu Iron and Steel Group Powder Metallurgy Co Ltd) reported that there were

44

Metal Powders

2

Market Background: Regional Industries and the Automotive Scene

about 50 manufacturers of iron and steel powders in China, but only four of these produced more than 10 000 tonnes in 2004. The largest 28 manufacturers produced a total of 130 000 tonnes, up from 118 000 tonnes in 2003, and double the production in 1999. About 78% of the output is reduced iron or sponge iron powder made from mill scale or purified iron ore concentrate. According to Jianmin and Yong, several water atomizing units have recently been put into production. In 2002, Atomising Systems Ltd, of the UK, signed a contract with Laiwu Iron and Steelworks in Shandong Province, to build a 40 000 tonnes/year atomized iron powder plant. Laiwu Iron and Steel Group Powder Metallurgy Co Ltd, Gangcheng Laiwu City, Shandong, is the largest iron and steel powder producer in China, using both reduction and atomization process technology (MPR, February 2002, p37; December 2002, p4). H t g a n ~ (China) has been operating an atomized steel powder plant since the mid 1990s, while QMP has recently established a powder mixing and processing plant near Shanghai. Non-ferrous powder production was reviewed by Professor Wang Limin (GRIPM Advanced Materials Co Ltd and Beijing General Research Institute for Non-Ferrous Metals). He said there were more than 10 enterprises producing copper powder in 2004, totalling nearly 10 000 tonnes, mostly electrolytic. Half of this was made by the top three companies, of which the leader was GRIPM Advanced Materials Co Ltd in Beijing, with 3000 tonnes. Atomized copper powder was relatively recent in China, but several companies now had a combined capacity of 5000 tonnes/year, the largest of these being Zhongke Tongdu Powder New Material Co Ltd. It is expected that atomized copper powder will eventually replace electrolytic, due to energy savings, cost advantages and environmental issues. Copper alloy powders were said to be produced by several companies, with annual capacity totalling over 10 000 tonnes. These alloys were tin bronze and leaded bronze powders used to make self-lubricating beatings, filters and bushings. Nickel powder in China is made by four different processes, of which the main one was electrolysis. However, the quantifies were small and the specialist grades used in the rapidly growing rechargeable battery market were imported from INCO in Canada. Nickel powder is also used in the diamond tool industry and to make nickel-based PM products containing heavy metals. China is one of the major consuming countries for cobalt. About 10 enterprises in China were said to be using imported cobalt metal to produce cobalt salts and cobalt powder. Cobalt powder is used in the hardmetal and diamond tool industries, but this application has now been surpassed by consumption in China by the rapidly growing battery industry. Fine cobalt powder is produced in a subsidiary plant of Zhuzhou Cemented carbide Group Co Ltd. Umicore has had a joint-venture cobalt powder plant, Shanghai Blue Lotus Metal Co Ltd, in Shanghai for some years, while in

Metal Powders 45

2

Market Background: Regional Industries and the Automotive Scene

tungsten powders, Xiamen Tungsten Co is the world's largest producer of APT, with over 85% of its 8000 tonnes/year output exported worldwide. In 2001, the Chinese Government implemented an export quota of 16 500 tonnes/year for tungsten powder. This was 600 tonnes less than the figure for 2000 (MPR, April 2001, p6). China's Ningxia Orient Tantalum industry Co Ltd, a tantalum smelting business, reported a 20% global market share for tantalum powder in 2000 (MPR, July 2001, p6). In the same year, China produced 6600 tonnes of sintered NdFeB rare-earth magnets, claimed to be 40% of the world market (MPR, September 2000, p4).

2.5.3 India Powder metallurgy in India has a long history, dating back to ancient times. Its development since WWII has been largely related to the rise of India's automotive industry and has been reviewed in some detail by Professor RK Dube (PM, 2004, 47(1), pp17-28). Much of the early post-war growth was the result of joint ventures and collaboration with European and North American companies. In the 1960s and 1970s, Mahindra Sintered Products, for example, a joint venture between the Mahindra and Birfield (UK) groups, began manufacturing PM products using UK technology, and then later copper, tin and iron and steel powders. During the 1980s, structural parts production grew with the establishment of an Indian car manufacturer, Maruti Udyog Ltd (itself a joint venture between the Indian Government and Suzuki Motors of Japan). Many automotive PM parts such as bearing caps, camshaft and crankshaft pulleys etc, began to be manufactured in India. H6gan~is (India) Ltd was also established at this time. Then in the 1990s, following the economic liberalization, not only did Indian production of passenger cars and other vehicles increase, but a number of international automotive manufacturers began building cars in India. As a result, the PM industry 'benefited from this and from the rapid growth in white goods manufacturing'. According to Professor Dube, there are now over 60 PM manufacturing units producing metal powders, PM structural parts, friction products, selflubricating bearings, sintered bi-metallic bearing strip, cemented carbide tools and parts, as well as HSS tools and refractory metal products. Ferrous powder production in India is dominated by H6gan~is India, which produces a range of sponge iron and atomized steel powders at its plant in Amadnagar, Maharastra. This company is reported to control 60%-70% of the Indian iron and steel powder markets, producing 10 000 tonnes,/year, of which 1400 tonnes is sponge iron and the balance of 8600 tonnes is atomized steel powder. The company has plans to produce Distaloy, Astaloy and stainless steel powders in India, and also to supply other markets in Asia and Australia. Another important producer of steel powders is the Iron Powder Division of Sundaram Fasteners, near Hyderabad, a manufacturer of sintered components. Its output of about 2900 tonnes in FY 2 0 0 2 / 3 was mostly used internally. There are also a few much smaller producers of electrolytic and sponge iron powders. Also on a small scale, British Superalloy Ltd,

46

Metal Powders

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Market Background: Regional Industries and the Automotive Scene

Mehasana, Gujarat, produces water-atomized HSS powders for in-house manufacture of tools and wear parts. Dube reports that about 50% of ferrous powders produced in India are used for making sintered parts, 39% for welding rods and the balance goes into chemical and other applications. India also imports about 2000 tonnes/year of ferrous powders, 300-500 tonnes of which are alloy grades. There are a large number of mostly very small producers of non-ferrous powders in India. Mahindra Sintered Products (now GKN Sinter Metals), which has made copper powders for its own use since the late 1960s, has a joint operation with MicroMet (now ECKA Granules) of Germany, having a capacity for 2400 tonnes/year of water-atomized copper powder. GKN Sinter Metals uses about 600 tonnes/year with the remaining production being marketed by ECKA Granules. Three companies are making atomized copper-lead and copper-lead-fin alloy powders for captive use in the manufacture of bi-metallic beatings for automotive and other engines. These units, operated by Bimetal Bearings Ltd, Kirloskar Oil Engines Ltd and Gabriel India Ltd, produce about 1500 tonnes/year. Copper and copperalloy powders are among a number of non-ferrous atomized powders produced by Metal Powder Co, in Madurai. Total production of about 20 000 tonnes/year is mostly for non-PM grades. This company and several others produce atomized aluminium powders for a total annual output in India of around 30 000 tonnes. This powder is used in non-PM applications such as Thermit welding of steel rails, the production of ferro-alloys, steel de-oxidation, pyrotechnics, paint and explosives. Table 2.16 PM Parts Production in India 1998-2003 (tonnes) 1998 Ferrous-based Copper-based

Total

4500 1360

5860

1999 5625 1395

7020

2000 6950 1485

8435

2001 6807 1473

8280

2002 6900 1475

8375

2003 7200 1500

8700

Source: JPMA Annual Reports

Dube lists two dozen companies in India producing PM structural parts, bearings and friction products. The largest of these is GKN Sinter Metals, formerly Mahindra Sintered Products Ltd, in Pune. (GKN bought the controlling stake in 2002). The other large producers are Sundaram Fasteners Ltd, and Goetze (India) Ltd's Sintered Product Division. The remaining PM producers are very small. As indicated in Table 2.16, PM part production grew 60% in the five years between 1998 and 2003. However, most of this growth (50%) occurred by the year 2000 when output peaked. A new spurt of growth was reported by Dr Cesar Molins at the PM 2004 World Congress, when he said that PM parts production had been forecast to reach 10 000 tonnes in 2004, representing an increase of 17% over 2003. In addition, there are several Indian producers of steel-backed sintered bearing strip, which, according to Dube consume about 1500 tonnes/year of copper alloy powders.

Metal Powders 47

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Market Background: Regional Industries and the Automotive Scene

Automotive applications, which in India includes passenger cars, two- and three-wheelers, light commercial vehicles and utility vehicles, consume about two-thirds of PM production; household appliances use about a quarter, with the remaining 10% going into industrial and other applications. Car production in India has grown from around 400 000 units in FY1997/8 to over 550 000 in 2002/3. While there are more than half a dozen foreign manufacturers operating in India, the car market is still dominated by Maruti Udyog with over 50% share. However, the production of passenger cars is greatly out-numbered by the combined total of scooters, motorcycles and mopeds, which exceeded 5 million in 2002/3. A typical Indian-built car is estimated to contain about 5.5 kg of PM components, while the PM usage in Indian motorcycles has been quoted as ranging between 0.15 kg and 1.2 kg. Growth in demand for cars has been projected at about 8% pa to the end of 2010, according to figures mentioned by Dube, while motorcycles were expected to gain by as much as 14% pa. Healthy growth is thus expected for the PM industry in India, even before considering the future for exports.

South Africa's economy was growing at between 2% and 3% in mid-2004, having improved since the beginning of the new century after a decade in which GDP (now around US$150 billion) grew at between 1% and 2%. The South African metals and minerals industry, continuing a very strong tradition, provides a major portion of the country's exports. The powder metallurgy industry in South Africa consists of a small number of companies mainly serving the coal, diamond and metal mining industries in the provision of hardmetal tools and wear parts, as well as exporting. Carbide and diamond tool inserts are consumed in large quantities by the mining industries and mostly manufactured locally by subsidiaries of large international corporations like De Beers, Sandvik and Boart Longyear. Ken Brookes (MPR, 2000, 55 (11), pp22-41; (12), pp24-26) estimated the production and consumption of hardmetals in 2000 at between 1200 and 1500 tonnes/year. Boart Longyear is South Africa's most global company, represented in 38 countries and employing over 7000 people with a turnover exceeding US$620 million in 2000. (However, Boart Longyear is only a very small part of its parent, Anglo-American Corp). Boart Longyear's South African plant manufactures hardmetal inserts for mining tools, extruded rod for drills and end mills, rolls for steel mills and industrial wear parts. The plant formerly manufactured its own tungsten and tungsten carbide powders but now imports tungsten carbide powders. The only companies reported as producing metal powders are Impala Platinum Ltd, which produces cobalt

48

Metal Powders

2

Market Background: Regional Industries and the Automotive Scene

powder at its base metals refinery near Springs, in Gauteng Province, and Zimco Aluminium Co (Pty) Ltd, Benoni, which makes aluminium powder. The most widely known manufacturer of sintered metal components is GKN Sinter Metal's plant near Cape Town, which makes shock absorber parts, sprockets, bushes and spacers etc, primarily for the automotive industry. Acquired in 1999, it has 100 employees producing 400 tonnes/year of finished parts. Federal Mogul Corp and Powdermet Ltd (now part of the Bleistahl Group, of Germany) also have South African plants manufacturing a variety of sintered structural parts and beatings.

After recovering earlier in the 1990s from the Mexican peso crisis, South American economies suffered from the aftermath of the Asian crisis and the collapse of commodity prices, culminating in the devaluation of the Brazilian currency in 1999. Growth prospects have improved with the continuing boom in the US economy and the recovery in commodity prices, but have been said to be held back by high deficits and political uncertainty. Brazil's economy, constrained by high interest rates aimed at curbing inflation, grew at less than 1% in 2003, but GDP bounced back in 2004, increasing 5.2%, the fastest growth in a decade. According to Brazil's official statistics agency, the improvement was due to record exports and recovery in consumer demand. Economists are said to be expecting Brazil's GDP to expand by about 3.5% in 2005. Brazil's automotive industry produces over one million vehicles per year. The PM industry in South America is largely concentrated in Brazil, with a few additional plants in Argentina and Venezuela. PM parts fabricators in Brazil, mostly making ferrous-based and copper-based sintered parts and beatings for the automotive industry, employ over 1000 people and include a number of well-known names: Brassinter SA, GKN Sinter Metals Ltda, Mahle Metal Leve MIBA Sinterizados and Metaldyne. Metal powders are produced by H/~gan~is Brasil (ferrous and aluminium powders), Metalpo Industria e Comercio (non-ferrous) and Alcoa (aluminium). Htgan~is Brasil (see Section 6.4) opened a new, highly automated annealing and mixing plant in July 2004 at Jacarei, 80 km north of Sao Paulo. The new facility increased capacity and was claimed to be able to produce ferrous powder grades matching those produced at other Htgan~is plants around the world. The original atomizing plant at Mogi das Cruzes remains in production providing raw powders for the new plant as well as welding grades and the aluminium powders. The plant at Jacarei is built on a site that has enough space for eventual construction of a complete plant.

Metal Powders 49

2

Market Background: Regional Industries and the Automotive Scene

The most recent published estimates of metal powder consumption in South America were given by Don White, former executive director of MPIF in a speech at the 2000 PM World Congress in Kyoto, Japan (IJPM, 2001, 37(1). He said that the total estimated iron and steel powder market in South America in 1999 was 20 000 tonnes with Brazil accounting for 17 000 tonnes, and went on to add that the market increased about 10% in 2000 (indicating shipments of 22 000 tonnes for the whole of South America). The ferrous-based PM parts market sector in Brazil was estimated at 12 500 tonnes with the rest of South America at 1000 tonnes, giving a total of 13 500 tonnes. The copper-based PM parts market in Brazil in 2000 was estimated at 1000 tonnes, with the rest of South America only making 60 tonnes for that year.

As already indicated, the major market sector for metal powders is in the manufacture of metal components and other useful products by powdermetallurgical processing. As expressed succinctly in the MPIF's Powder Metallurgy 2004 Facts (www.mpif.org/industry/facts), PM is 'a costeffective method of forming precision net-shape metal components that allows for more efficiently designed consumer and industrial products'. The press- and- sinter process and the powder-forging process are ideally suited to the mass-production of components, taking advantage of the economics of scale. It is not uncommon for the conversion to PM of a component machined from bar stock to result in cost savings of the order of 50%. This is achieved by the elimination of expensive waste material and the lowering of energy and other manufacturing costs through a reduction in the number of process steps. These benefits may also be accompanied by improvements in dimensional control, which in turn means higher quality and productivity. Over the years, the types and designs of PM components have become increasingly sophisticated, resulting in substantial improvements in design and performance of mass-produced products such as automobile engines and transmissions. One-off and short-run PM manufacturing processes such as hot isostatic pressing (HIPing), not only enable economic manufacture of large complex pieces like components for oil- or gas-wellhead drilling equipment, but are sometimes the only way to form components in specialty high-performance materials such as high-speed tool steels, superalloys (for gas turbine engines) and refractory metals like tungsten and molybdenum. The main drivers, then, for the manufacture of metal and alloy components from powders can be categorized as either economics or necessity (no alternative way). Likewise, in the many and diverse applications for loose or

50

Metal Powders

2

Market Background: Regional Industries and the Automotive Scene

uncompacted metal powders, the rationale is provided either by economics or by the provision of special properties, as in welding electrode coatings, thermal spraying, pigments, explosives, food enrichment etc. The production of metal products from powders by virtue of the advantages described above has become an environmentally-attractive option. Eliminating the recycling of waste material, reduction of energy consumption and clean manufacturing (avoidance of the polluting emissions associated with, for example, the melting and casting of metals and alloys in foundries), are the key positive aspects. On the negative side, the release of dusts in the handling of powders is an important concern, especially for the dusts of those metallic elements suspected of being hazardous. Although there are safety procedures and formulations for reducing the incidence of dusting, there is a considerable on-going legislative activity regarding health and safety aspects, particularly in the EU, that is aimed at restricting the use of some metallic powders. The EU's revised New Chemicals Policy regulations, re-named REACH (Registration, Evaluation and Authorization of Chemicals) published in draft form in April 2003, remain a contentious issue for the PM industry and its suppliers. Metals and alloys fall within the definition of chemicals under the regulations. Suppliers are held responsible for the provision of data on health and environmental effects of substances and preparations. Manufacturers will also be required for liability purposes, to preserve records on products for extended periods. Although the aims of the policy are laudable - improving health protection and the e n v i r o n m e n t - compliance will place serious burdens on industry. In addition, some aspects of the regulatory approach have been questioned from the standpoint of scientific validity. European metal industries, including EPMA have been lobbying Brussels for revisions of the proposals in view of the forecast financial impact, especially on smaller companies. There will be much more to come on this issue in the years ahead. For more detail see: Guide to EU Legislation and Environmental Health and Safety in the European PM Industry, 5th Edition, Environment, Health and Safety Group, EPMA, Shrewsbury, 2003, 82pp (www.epma.com).

2.8.1 Rising Raw Materials and Energy Costs Since 2002, as for many other manufacturing sectors, the chief story for the metal powders and PM parts industry has been the spectre of rising raw materials and energy costs. The dominance of the automotive industry as customer has become a mixed blessing. On the one hand, the automotive applications of PM provide a large market for mass-produced components; on the other hand, the automotive companies are so huge that they can more or less dictate pricing to their suppliers. And since there has been little opportunity for the car companies to pass cost increases on to the consumer, due to intense competition, the parts manufacturers are caught in a squeeze, between materials and energy suppliers and the auto customers. As Claes

MetalPowders

51

2

Market Background: Regional Industries and the Automotive Scene

Lindqvist, president of H6gan~is AB, indicated in commenting on the powder producer's 2004 financial results, raw materials price increase was the big headache of 2004. Although H6gan~is introduced raw materials surcharges in its ferrous powder prices from 1 January 2004, they were effectively delayed by up to six months vis-fi-vis the raw materials cost increases incurred in powder manufacture. For high alloy powders, the passthrough of cost increases was effected with a two to four week delay, presumably because these powders were mostly not used in auto applications.

The influence of the automotive industry on the health of the PM parts fabricators, and hence the major metal powder producers can be discussed under three main headings: the overall size and growth of the auto market; the penetration of PM in the different geographical sectors of the auto industry; and the impact of developments in the auto industry itself.

2.9.1 The Global A u t o m o t i v e M a r k e t While the automotive market is most frequently discussed in terms of car sales, the market of interest to the PM industry is, of course, the production of vehicles. The difference between production and sales can be quite marked, as in some Asian countries. Japan, for example, the world's second largest producer, exports more than half the cars it produces. Car and light vehicle production in some of the leading countries in 2004 is shown in Table 2.17.

Table 2.17 Car and Light Vehicle Production in Leading Countries, from Various Sources (million) Country

2004

USA Japan

11.96 10.51

Germany China

5.76 4.4-5.1"

France South Korea Spain

3.7 3.47 3E

Canada Mexico

2.7 1.57

Brazil

>IE

* Figures for China are disputed by some sources E Estimate

Car and light vehicle production in North America (Canada, Mexico and USA) in 2004 was estimated at 16.2 million, up from 15.8 million in 2003,

52

Metal Powders

2

Market Background: Regional Industries and theAutomotive Scene

while production in Japan, which was 10.5 million in 2004, has held in the region of 10 million for several years. Production in Western Europe has remained close to 15 million vehicles. If current trends are maintained, the bulk of future growth in the automotive market will be in the developing economies, with China expected to take the lion's share of the increase. However, the recent experience of the China automotive market provides a cautionary tale concerning the projection of growth forecasts. After China joined the WTO in 2001, there was a sudden boom in sales, prompting leading automotive manufacturers to boost production; but as the Chinese government moved to cool the red-hot market, production ran well ahead of sales by mid-2004 and there was major price-cutting. The prospect of China developing as an 'automotive society' is seemingly rather premature, since the infrastructure is not yet adequate (parking spaces, traffic control, car maintenance and repair services etc). Nevertheless, with the planned production expansions, continuing fierce competition can be expected in the near term. This situation has prompted consideration of exporting surplus Chinese production to Europe and North America! In fact some moves have already begun in that direction. Such a development would appear ironic in the face of US and European car manufacturers efforts to expand their markets by moving to China. It is one more indication of the complexity of the global auto industry. This is not the place to go into more detail on the developments and outlook in general for the auto industry (volumes have been written on these issues). Nevertheless the geo-political events and trends of the past few years are having a profound influence on the financial health of several major players. The ramifications for the auto parts supply industry are far-reaching and the PM industry is no exception. The most obvious aspect already alluded to in the previous section is a result of the intense competition. The large OEMs can use their might to squeeze price concessions from suppliers. Anther aspect is the extent of PM penetration in the various regional sectors of the auto industry.

2.9.2 PM Usage in the Automotive Industries As already indicated, the growth of PM applications in the auto industry varies between the different regions. Table 2.18 shows the development in the weight of PM parts per car for vehicles manufactured in North America, Western Europe and Japan. The wide differences between North Americanbuilt cars and those made in Europe and the Far East is not due to divergent levels of PM technology or to major differences in construction. Rather, the explanation is in the fact that North American vehicles tend to be larger and heavier (with more 6- and 8-cylinder engines) and have more refinements such as automatic transmissions, power steering, power-windows, airconditioning etc. The smaller European and Japanese cars tend to require smaller, lighter components that must consequently have higher specific strength and other properties. This has tended to favour solid wrought materials as opposed to pressed and sintered parts. In Japan, there was

Metal Powders

53

2

Market Background: Regional Industries and the Automotive Scene

another example in the case of connecting rods, where forged steel rods were said to be more price competitive than in North America, so powder-forged (PF) connecting rods have so far not caught on to any great extent. There is a similar story in Western Europe, although PF con-rods have been manufactured there for some time. Another factor that has come into play is the degree of sophistication in the local consumer market and the manufacturing industry. Thus cars made in India are reported to currently contain an average of 5.5 kg of PM parts, while Chinese-made cars currently contain 4.7 kg/car.

Table 2.18 Development of PM Content in Cars, N America, W Europe and Japan 1998-2004, kg/vehicle North America

West Europe

Japan

1998

15.0

7.7

6.7

1999

15.6

2000

16.3

8.1

7.2

2001

17.0

8.1

7.3 7.6

2002

17.7

8.1

2003

18.4

8.1

2004

19.5

8.0*

Sources: American Metal Market, JPMA, EPMA, MPIF * Takayoshi Sugiyama, president of JPMA at the 2004 PM World Congress in Vienna

2.9.3 Auto Parts Makers Squeezed North American auto parts manufacturers are facing some tough years ahead. They are stuck between soaring raw materials and energy costs on the one hand and the relentless demands of the Big Three for price cuts on the other. The situation is doubly negative for Canadian auto parts makers because of the rise in the exchange rate between the Canadian and US dollars and the declining market shares of their largest customers. The problem may be severe enough to cause closure of some Canadian auto parts plants, although it has not been suggested that this would apply to PM plants. Nevertheless, for the North American auto parts market, there does not seem to be any chance of relief in the short term. The prospect of 'profitless growth' does not seem to be a very appealing one. This will be important as the industry moves forward, since progress will be relying more on developing new applications of increased sophistication, as overall volumes of car sales are expected to stagnate for the next few years. As has often been said, as far as the North American automotive industry is concerned, all the easy opportunities for conversion of parts to PM have already been taken, and further growth in PM usage will present increasing challenges in technology and production.

54

Metal Powders

2

Market Background: Regional Industries and the Automotive Scene

2.9.4 Advanced Auto Technology for a Cleaner Environment Automotive manufacturers are being required to produce alternative fuel vehicles to meet fuel economy and emission standards and legislative mandates. There are several varieties of powertrain technology and vehicles that are at different stages of development and implementation. Among I~CSC arc:

9 9 9 9 9

Variable valve timing technology Clean diesel technology Enhanced fuel economy Hybrid-electric vehicles Fuel cells.

All of these have an impact on the consumption of PM parts in the future of the auto industry.

Variable Valve Timing: Is an advanced engine valve control system that can improve fuel efficiency and hence fuel economy. It has been noted that VVT can use additional PM parts, although some existing parts will be made obsolete.

Clean Diesel Engine Technology: Has been promoted in Europe especially because of improved fuel efficiency with the new cleaner diesel fuels. It also uses slightly more PM parts. According to Cesar Molins report at the PM2004 World Congress (see above), the number of Western European cars with diesel engines has been steadily increasing, now approaching 45% and could reach 55% by 2010. Hybrid-Electric Vehicles: Although industry experts say that the internal combustion engine will dominate the market for at least the next 10 years, it is generally acknowledged that hybrid-electric vehicles will increase market share in the next several years. William Clay Ford Jr, chairman of Ford Motor Co, has been quoted as predicting that gasoline/electric hybrid vehicles could account for 20% of new car sales by 2010 (IJPM, 2001, 37(1), p24). All major car manufacturers have either launched or are developing hybrid-electric models. The hot-selling Toyota Prius was named car of the year in 2003 and in 2 0 0 4 / 5 there are more orders than the company can fill. General Motors is attacking so-called gas-guzzling vehicles by bringing out hybrid versions of its pick-up trucks and SUVs. GM had also earlier introduced a 'power-on-demand' system whereby vehicles with six and eight cylinders could use half of the engine's capacity when full power was not required, eg when cruising on the highway. According to a report by W Jandeska (GM Global Powertrain Group) and KS Narasimham (Hoeganaes Corp), future hybrid vehicles will contain fewer PM parts. For example, they may have an internal combustion engine of three cylinders, and transmissions with fewer gear sets. The powertrain in

Metal Powders 55

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Market Background: Regional Industries and the Automotive Scene

such vehicles could contain up to 13 lb (6 kg) of PM parts, while the electric drive could have 3 lb (1.4 kg) and the chassis 6.5 lb (3 kg). Other opinions see the hybrid combination fitted with a four or six-cylinder I C engine. Whatever the answer turns out to be, this adds up to a major downshift in PM content compared with a current typical North American car with conventional drive. The overall impact for the PM industry needs to be examined in the light of prospective market shares, both for hybrids as well as for traditional vehicles from the major North American producers and the Asian and European imports. Nevertheless, even with the expected further growth in the use of PM in traditional North American-built vehicles, an eventual flattening in total automotive PM parts shipments is likely, if not inevitable. In other words, if the North American hybrids' market share rises to 20% by 2010, and the usage of PM in traditional vehicles grows by 10% (the expectation of about 0.5 kg/year has been mentioned), then the overall North American PM auto parts consumption will end the decade more or less where it was in the 2004 model year. Beyond 2010, the picture obviously gets a deal hazier. There seems to be a general agreement in the industry that the long-term solution to reduction of auto emissions and improvement of fuel economy will be the fuel cell. However, despite the vast expenditure on R&D to develop an effective and affordable fuel-cell drive system for passenger cars, Richard Wagoner, CEO of GM, in a mid2004 interview said it was tough to predict when that would happen. 'There was a lot of invention, a lot of investment, a lot of scientific and engineering work that [still] need[ed] to go on so that it was going to take a long time for something like a fuel cell to completely replace internal combustion engines. So [that] we [would] see things like more use of diesels, more use of hybrids, and ... a proliferation of powertrain sources over the next, probably 10-15 years'. Outside North America, the growing automotive markets in East Europe, China and India will likely mask the impact of such changes, while the current lower penetration of PM provides opportunities for expansion that are yet to be exploited.

56

Metal Powders

.)

Global and Regional Markets for Metal Powders 2001-2010

All the brave forecasts for the new millennium were shattered by geopolitical events at the beginning of this decade. In 2001, the North American PM industry suffered its biggest one-year setback in living memory. The drop in automotive production precipitated a 13% fall in shipments of ferrous and copper-base powders for PM parts production. Business bounced back in 2002 with shipments recovering nearly 44 000 of the 51 000 tonnes decline. However, it took until 2004 for a new peak to be reached. The North American PM industry is now facing severe headwinds for the balance of the decade. Downsizing of the US auto industry as Asian car producers continue to grow market share means increased 'off-shoring' of parts manufacture. This trend and the decline in the sales of large SUVs and pick-ups as well as the switch to hybridelectric vehicles will partially offset the continuing success of PM applications in the automotive sector. The European PM industry did not suffer the recession in the US and should fare better in the next several years due to the growth of autorelated manufacturing in Eastern Europe. Although automotive production remains static, Japan's decade-long recession in the PM industry seems to have come to an end. PM structural parts production reached a new high in 2004 for a second year, with the automotive PM sector showing a third consecutive new high. Meanwhile, PM production in the rest of Asia, led by China, has been catching up with Japan, and iron powder shipments for PM will likely pull ahead in the near future. Outside the traditional PM sector involving ferrous and copper-base powders, two main stories both in Asia, are apparent. The phenomenal

Metal Powders

57

3

Global and Regional Markets for Metal Powders 2001-2010

growth in portable electronic e q u i p m e n t - mobile phones, laptop computers, CD players, and the like, has created a huge demand for rechargeable batteries. Nickel and cobalt powders are used in some of these batteries, whose manufacture is increasingly concentrated in Asia. For tungsten resources, China has long been the world's largest source. With its rapid industrialization, China has begun restricting the export of tungsten minerals and focussing on downstream tungsten products such as cemented carbides, creating pressure on other producers and causing sharp price increases. Table 3.1 Summary of Global Markets for Ferrous and Non-Ferrous Powders 2001-2010 (tonnes) Powder Type

2001 (E)

2005(F)

2010(F)

Iron and Steel Copper and Copper Alloy Tin Nickel Aluminium

897 000 55 000 2300 40 000 100 000

1 060 000 65 000 2600 50 000 110 000

1 230 000 80 000 3300 60 000 120 000

34 000 5000

37 000 6000

40 000 7000

Tungsten Cobalt

(E) = Estimate, this report; (F) = Forecast

Figure 3.1 Breakdown of global metal powder consumption by weight 2004 The global market for the types of metal powders covered in this report is currently estimated to exceed 1 300 000 tonnes. As indicated in Table 3.1 and Figure 3.1, this tonnage is predominantly ferrous, at about 80%. Aluminium powder represents the next largest item at about 8%, while copper and the remaining powders are at 5% or below. The figures in this

58

Metal Powders

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Global and Regional Markets for Metal Powders 2001-2010

table also prompt a caution that the estimates and forecasts given here and in the subsequent summary tables in the rest of this chapter are based on very limited data outside of North America and Japan. They should therefore be regarded for the most part as educated guesses. Valuation of global powder consumption is also a highly speculative proposition, as there are virtually no published data. The recent escalation in prices of base metals creates an additional hazard. The figures given in Table 3.2 were based on current (2005) price quotes for standard grades of the metal powders listed. They should be taken as an illustrative guide to the relative value of the various powder markets, rather than an estimate of actual sales. As Table 3.2 and Figure 3.2 indicate, due to sky-rocketing prices, the dollar value of non-ferrous metal powders far exceeds that of the ferrous sector. The latter now represents only a quarter of the total, which amounts to over US$3.7 billion.

Table 3.2 Summary of Global Markets for Ferrous and Non-Ferrous Powders by Approximate Value (US$ million) Powder Type Iron and Steel Copper and Copper Alloy Tin Nickel Aluminium Tungsten Cobalt

2001 (E)

2005(F)

20 IO(F)

790 280 28 800 500 550 250

930 330 32 1000 550 600 300

1080 400 40 1200 630 650 350

Note: Values are expressed in 2005 US dollars, based on approximate typical prices for standard grades (E) = Estimate, this report; (F) =Forecast

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Figure 3.2. Breakdown of global metal, powder consumptio~.~ by approximate value 2004

Industry shipments and consumption figures given in this section are largely derived from statistics published by the three major trade associations: the Metal Powder Industries Federation (MPIF) for North America, the European Powder Metallurgy Association (EPMA) for Europe, and the Japan Powder Metallurgy Association (JPMA) for Japanese domestic consumption as well as other Asian and Oceanic countries. Other figures have been derived from some of the country reviews published in the international literature and through personal contacts. The consumption figures for iron and steel powders are the largest in the metal powder industries in both tonnage and value: they are more carefully studied than any others, and are probably more reliable, even if not completely accurate. The statistics discussed in this section are concerned with both iron and steel powders, including carbonyl and electrolytic iron as well as low-alloy steel powders, but excluding stainless and high-alloy steel powders.

3.2.1 Applications As already indicated, by far the largest application for iron and steel powders is in the manufacture of powder metallurgy components by

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pressing and sintering. In most advanced industrial countries these PM parts are predominantly used in passenger cars. In less developed countries a greater share of PM parts is used in two-wheeled vehicles, trucks, and non-automotive applications such as industrial and agricultural machinery, domestic appliances and hardware. Much smaller quantities of ferrous powders are used in non-PM applications such as coatings for welding electrodes, in photocopiers, and for metallurgical, chemical or other applications. Statistics for iron and steel powders are broken down only into the broad categories of PM part manufacture (including structural parts, selflubricating beatings, and hot-forged parts, but excluding metal injection moulded parts), welding electrode manufacture and other miscellaneous categories. Where possible, estimates have been broken down for bearings and hot-forged parts. There are negligible applications for iron and low-alloy steel powders in the PM wrought, PM filter, hard-facing and brazing and soldering sections.

3.2.2 Global Consumption 3.2.2.1

North America

After a meteoric rise of over 100% during the 1990s, total shipments of iron and steel powders in North America topped out at 404 000 tonnes in 2000. Breaking a trend of nine consecutive record years, the industry then experienced its largest ever one-year decline, collapsing by over 53 000 tonnes (13.2%) in 2001. This was followed by an almost complete recovery in the subsequent two years (Table 3.3 and Figure 3.3). The drastic changes in shipments since the turn of the century have highlighted the shifts in the pattern of consumption that have taken place over the past quarter-century. Thus while ferrous powder consumption for PM part fabrication and friction products increased over 120% between 1990 and 2000, the total for non-PM applications remained in a narrow range between 27 000 and 31 000 tonnes until 2000 before falling to around 23 000 tonnes. As a result, the percentage of iron and steel powders used in PM fabrication has risen steadily from 76% in 1980 to 86% in 1990 and 93-94% in 2002-3. These changes and the overall behaviour of iron and steel powder consumption both up and down, are largely a consequence of the North American PM industry's increased dependence on the automotive sector. In 1995, auto applications accounted for two-thirds of PM parts production, rising to 70% in 2001. These developments are usually ascribed to technological advances in both PM materials and processing that make the mechanical properties of PM components more closely approach those of cast iron and wrought steel. However, economic factors have also played a role, since the amount of PM part usage in the typical North American family vehicle has risen steadily over the years, increasing by 25% between 1999 and 2004 from 15.6 kg to 19.5 kg (Table 3.4). Economic factors have caused

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wide swings in the production of North American-built cars and trucks due to inventory build-up and subsequent de-stocking during slower sales periods. For the domestic North American car producers there has also been a significant trend towards heavier vehicles such as SUVs, pickups and minivans, which generally contain bigger engines and a larger weight of PM components. Following the 2000-2001 recession, these trends are seen to be continuing, but more recently there has been a falling off in sales of large SUVs and pick-up trucks by the Big Three. This has been related to the rise in fuel prices. Table 3.3 North American Consumption of Iron and Steel Powders 1990-2004 (thousands of tonnes) PM Parts & Friction

Welding

Products

Electrodes

169.5 164.8 194.9 231.3 275.3 283.9 289.8 322.2 341.8 373.9 375.3 327.6 370.4 372.9 400.O(E)

13.1 12.2 12.2 14.1 16.3 15.2 15.6 15.3 15.8 14.5(E) 14.5(E) 11.0 11.4(E) 14.0(E)

1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004

Other

Total

16.2 15.6 16.3 15.5 14.9 15.8 12.7 15.8 14.9 13.7(E) 14.2 (E) 11.8 12.2(E) 14.8(E)

198.8 192.6 223.4 260.9 306.5 314.9 318.1 353.2 372.5 402.1 404.0 350.4 394.0 401.7 430.0

(E) = Estimate, this report Source: MPIF

Non-automotive PM parts are used in a wide range of applications. The largest sector, representing about half (Figure 3.4) comprises hand tools, recreational and hobby equipment. Household appliances (washing machines etc) and industrial motors, controls and hydraulics account for just over 21%, while hardware, business machines, and a myriad of miscellaneous applications take up the rest. Between 1995 and 1999, non-auto PM consumption of iron and steel powders grew about 18% to 112 000 tonnes, but has since remained flat (to 2003). It seems although the non-automotive sector of this market has seen a substantial long-term growth, there is not the same driving force to find new applications and technical innovations. The exception here would seem to be the manufacture of miniature precision parts by metal injection moulding (MIM). So far, this technology has found few applications in the automotive sector, and while it is growing rapidly, consumption of ferrous powders is mostly in the form of stainless steel (see Section 4.2.8). The consumption of carbonyl iron powder for MIM has so far

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Figure 3.3 North American shipments of iron and steel powders 1990-2003 (tonnes). Source: MPIF only reached a few hundred tonnes per annum, and has yet to make a significant impact on the overall market for ferrous powders in terms of tonnage, except for the producers of carbonyl iron. Table 3.4 Estimates of Weight (in kg) of PM Parts in a Typical North American Family Vehicle 1992-2004 PM, kg Wt of car, kg % PM

1992

1994

1996

1997

1998

1999

2000

2001

2002

2003

2004

11.3 1422 0.79

12.2 1416 0.86

13.4 1468 0.91

14.1 1473 0.95

14.7 1479 1.0

15.6 1485 1.05

16.3 1490 1.1

17.0 1505 1.1

17.7 1520 1.15

18.4 1530 1.2

19.5

Source: American Metal Market and MPIF reports

North American consumption of iron and steel powders for non-PM applications, about half of which is used in welding electrodes, has seen no overall growth in the past 25 years, and saw a substantial decline (of about 18%) between the turn of the century and 2002, although it bounced back in 2003 to about where it was in 2000. For welding electrodes, the long-term decline can be attributed to several factors, in addition to general economic conditions. The shift off-shore in shipbuilding, the decline of new construction in other heavy industries such as oil refineries and in pipelines, have combined with technological changes to reduce demand. Coated stick electrodes have been increasingly displaced by flux-cored wire electrodes containing less metal powder and by automated processes using wire. Apart from welding, shipments of ferrous powders for cutting and scarfing (see Section 4.5) Metal Powders 63

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Figure 3.4 Breakdown of North American PM parts market 1999 Source: MPIF

have declined dramatically over the past decade or so, to just over 400 tonnes/year in 2001, as a result of downsizing and closures in the steel industry. The other major non-PM application is now in the use of iron and steel powders of various types as carrier core materials in photocopiers (see Section 4.6). This application now accounts for the bulk of miscellaneous non-PM uses in North America, although some of the material is imported. Other miscellaneous applications include chemical and metallurgical uses, as well as food additives, as in enriched bread and cereals. While overall North American shipments of iron and steel powders were slightly up in 2000, the market lost strength in the second half with falling demand for PM parts as the US moved into recession. Production cutbacks by the 'Big Three' auto manufacturers at the beginning of 2001 were also felt by the PM producers. Nevertheless, the PM parts content in the typical US family vehicle continued to rise, by 4.2% to 17 kg for the 2001 model year versus 2000. The auto industry's interest in PM stems largely from its relentless pursuit of cost reduction. New examples surfacing at the 2001 SAE World Congress in Detroit included DaimlerChrysler's 2.7L engine that contains 88 PM parts and GM's Vortec 4.2L inline 6-cylinder truck engine containing 79 PM parts weighing almost 13.6 kg. The economic downturn resulted in a 10% drop in auto production in 2001, and had a larger impact on the PM industry and the consumption of iron and steel powders as the Big Three US manufacturers lost market share to transplants and imported vehicles that use fewer PM parts. By early 2002, prospects for the US auto industry were looking much 64

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brighter, and as reported by MPIF executive director Donald G White in his 'State of the North American PM Industry' address at the 2002 World Congress on Powder Metallurgy and Particulate Materials in Orlando, Florida (IJPM 2002, 38(5), pp31-37), shipments of ferrous powders bounced back about 14% in the first four months of 2002, or close to the annual rate achieved in 2000. He went on to note that while new engines and transmissions would continue to use more PM parts, PM hot-forged connecting rods faced new competition from C-70 forged steel bar. The German company Brockhaus was planning to supply C-70 forged steel con-rods from a plant in Canada, with GM and DaimlerChrysler as first North American customers. While the initial recovery in iron and steel powder shipments was not quite sustained through 2002, ending up 12.4% for the year as a whole, the PM sector of the market benefited from a 5.7% increase in the production of cars and light vehicles" powder consumption came within a couple of percentage of the record set in 2000. Although vehicle production in North America remained flat in 2003, the 4% rise in PM part content of the typical family vehicle enabled total iron and steel powder shipments to come close to the old record with almost 402 000 tonnes. While the prospects for North American powder consumption have been riding on the gradual climb of automotive PM applications, there are some clouds looming ahead that will impact shipments during the next decade or so. On the positive side, there are recent or new applications that have yet to see full implementation. Such items as high-strength planetary transmission carriers and components for variable valve timing systems spring to mind. There are also other opportunities that will open up as PM materials and process developments bring the mechanical properties and performance ever closer to wrought steel. However, the auto industry has been investing heavily to come up with technological improvements that will meet increasing requirements for fuel efficiency. The significance of vehicle weight reduction in this regard was highlighted in an address at the MPIF Auto Suppliers Luncheon Program during the 2004 SAE World Congress, given by Dr Charles L Wu, director of Manufacturing and Vehicle Design, Research and Advanced Engineering, at Ford Motor Co (PM 2004, 47(3), pp223-224). He noted that while fuel efficiency o5 North American built cars had been slowly increasing, vehicle weiga'. tended to creep higher over time, as customers demanded extra feaz.:.:es etc. He went on to say that increased fuel economy requirements a_q( fighter emission standards could both be addressed by selecting materials that saved weight. He then pointed out areas in which PM aluminium and titanium alloys and other lightweight materials could be substituted for steel and cast iron, including some traditional ferrous PM parts. This turn in the focus of automotive designers away from steel and other 'heavy' metals to alternative lightweight materials should be a red flag for the ferrous powder suppliers in particular.

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However, the big question mark hanging over the whole PM industry and ferrous powder suppliers in particular is the future of the internal combustion engine. There seems to be general agreement that fuel cells will eventually replace today's IC engines to a significant degree perhaps in fifteen to twenty years time. In between, as discussed in Chapter 2, the shift to hybrid-electric powered vehicles will gather pace. While these developments will seriously impact auto PM applications, it is so far unclear to what extent the loss of so many engine components, for example, will affect the consumption of ferrous powders. The PM industry needs to keep close watch on these developments so as not to find itself sidelined when design decisions are made for new massproduction items. For ferrous powders there are potentially off-setting applications as soft magnetic components of the electric motor element of the drive train. However, as discussed in Section 4.2.9, it is tough for soft magnetic composites to compete with laminated steel without a complete redesign of the motor.

3.2.2.2 Europe Since its formation in 1989, the European Powder Metallurgy Association (EPMA) has published iron and steel powder shipment statistics (for PM applications only) for the Western European countries, and since 1995 including East European countries. Because of their very different histories and economic situations, West and East Europe will be discussed separately in this chapter. West European consumption of iron and steel powders for PM and estimates for welding and other applications are shown in Table 3.5 and Figure 3.5. After stagnating in the late 1990s, ferrous powder consumption for PM part production surged 11.5% in 2000 to over 148 000 tonnes, but remained essentially flat until 2003 when there was a slight decline to 145 000 tonnes. Western Europe clearly weathered the global economic slowdown better than North America, although its long-term growth rate has been significantly lower, with an increase of about 13.5% since 1999, or just over 3% per annum. Estimates for iron and steel powder consumption in welding and other applications remain extremely elusive, and continue to represent a declining fraction of powder usage.

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Table 3.5 W European Consumption of Iron and Steel Powders 1992-2003 (tonnes)

1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003

PM Parts & Friction Products

Welding

Other

Total

89 500* 73 125" 93 600* 103 124" 103 258* 123 189" 132 113" 133 122" 148 448* 149 814" 147 365* 145 000"

18 000(E)

19 000(E)

125 000t

17 000(E) 17 500(E) 16 000(E) 16 500(E) 16 000(E) 13 500(E) 13 500(E) 13 000(E) 12 500(E) 13 000(E)

18 000(E) 19 000(E) 17 500(E) 18 500(E) 18 500(E) 18 900(E) 21 000(E) 20 000(E) 19 500(E) 20 000(E)

127 000(E) 140 000(E) 136 000(E) 158 000(E) 166 500(E) 171 000(E) 183 000(E) 182 800(E) 179 400(E) 178 000(E)

* EPMA (figures include stainless steel powders) t Prospectusfor H6ganfis AB share issue, 1994 (E) = Estimate, Metal Powders- A Global Survey' of Production, Applications and Markets, 2nd and 3rd Editions and this report

Figure 3.5 W European consumption of iron and steel powders 1992-2003 (tonnes)

The automotive sector continues to take the lion's share of ferrous PM production in Western Europe, remaining steady at 80% since 1994 (Table 3.6). The balance goes into general mechanical and machine

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products (15%), electrical equipment and household appliances (3%) and 2% into miscellaneous applications. The amount of PM material in the average European-buih car rose at about 5.5% per annum between 1995 and 2002, indicating that this sector was responsible for most of the growth in consumption of ferrous powders. Since the actual weight of PM per car is still under half of that in North America, there is potential for continuing growth even though car production in the EU has been relatively static at around 14 million-15 million vehicles for the past decade.

Table 3.6 West European Consumption of PM Parts and Bearings by End Use Sector 2001 Percent

End Use Sector Auto Engines Auto Transmissions Auto Chassis Auto Other Automotive Total Machine Products

35 21 14 10 80 15

Electrical Equipment/Domestic Appliances

3

Other

2

Total

100%

Source: EPMA; and C Molins, pM2TECConference 2002, Orlando, Florida

East Europe and Russia The former Soviet Union (FSU) was a very large producer of PM products in the state-controlled industries. Production reached over 71 000 tonnes in 1990 prior to the collapse of the communist regime. Economic activity declined sharply after the break-up of the Soviet Union, accentuated by the Russian financial crisis of 1998. It has taken about 10 years for PM production in Russia and other FSU countries to show signs of growth. (B Williams, I P M D 2004-5, l lth Edition, pp5-11, MPR Publishing Services Ltd, Shrewsbury, UK). Russia was reported to be showing signs of growth with PM part production in 2002 close to 13 000 tonnes (Table 3.7). Poland and Slovakia also have small but growing PM industries, and with Belarus, Ukraine and other non-FSU countries such as Romania, Bulgaria, Hungary and Yugoslavia, currently produce about another 7000 tonnes of PM parts. East European car production has grown from about 1.65 million units in 1996 to about 2.2 million in 2000. The average weight of PM parts in Russian-made cars is about four kg, which gives ample room for further growth.

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Table 3.7 Ferrous PM Part Production in East Europe and the FSU (tonnes) Russia Ukraine Belarus Slovakia Others

1986

1990

32 800 22 270 4800

37 400 22 150 7540

Total

2000

13 500(E)

2001

2002

12 000 1500 600 3000 900

12 500 1500 600 3000 1400

18 000

19 000

Source: B Williams, IPMD 2004-5, 11th Edition, plO (E) = Estimate, this report

3.2.2.3 Japan Table 3.8 Japanese Iron and Steel Powder Shipments for 1990-2004 (tonnes)

PM 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004

Other Applications

Export

Total

39 510 42 092 44 547 44 694 47 024 49 870 46 202 50 960 51 280 52 553 59 324 60 039 58 957 60 393 62 256

11 641 12 123 11 911 11 692 14 229 19 196 14 847 16 332 15 663 25 827 30 598 30 035 35 553 37 986 36 967

155 123 155 687 154 815 151 337 153 337 165 092 157 356 162 629 155 144 170 425 191 751 187 281 196 545 207 085 217 758

103 981 101 472 98 357 94 951 92 048 96 026 96 307 95 337 88 201 92 045 101 829 97 207 102 035 108 535 118 707

Source: JPMA Annual Reports

Japanese shipments of iron and steel powders for PM, non-PM applications, and exports for 1990-2003, shown in Table 3.8 and Figure 3.6 are from the annual reports published by the Japan Powder Metallurgy Association (JPMA). After doubling in the previous decade to over 100 000 tonnes, PM production suffered a series of recessions in the 1990s, falling below 88 000 tonnes in 1998 due to fallout from the Asian financial crisis. It finally recovered to over 101 000 tonnes in 2000, roughly where it began a decade earlier. So far, since 2000, iron and steel powder shipments for domestic PM production have held above 100 000 tonnes except for 2001, advancing 5% in 2002 and 5.6% in 2003 to set a new record of over 108 000 tonnes, surpassing the previous record set in 1990. According to the most recent reports, another new record was set

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180,000 170,000

II

PM

[~ Otherapplications

160,000 150,000 O9

r- 120,000 C

90,000 60,000 30,000 '90 '91 '92 '93 '94 '95 '96 '97 '98 '99 '00 '01 '02 '03 '04

Year

Figure 3.6 Japanese shipments of iron and steel powders 1990-2004 (tonnes) Source: JPMA

in 2004 at over 118 000 tonnes. There are multiple reasons behind the recent lacklustre performance of the Japanese PM industry. The overall slowdown in the Japanese economy, combined with increased outsourcing of automotive and PM parts production due to the high value of the Japanese currency have outweighed the continuing increase in the use of PM parts in Japanese cars. The latter reached an average of 8.0 kg in 2002-2003, up over 30% since 1990. Thanks to continued growth in non-PM applications and exports, overall Japanese iron and steel powder shipments rose 24% from 1990 to 2000 and a further 6.7% since the turn of the century. Non-PM applications in Japan have grown by about 50% since 1990 to 60 393 tonnes in 2003, while exports have shot up over 300% to 37 986 tonnes in 2003. One of the significant factors in the non-PM sector is the growth in the use of iron powder in 'hand warmers', which have been reported to consume over 25 000 tonnes of iron powder annually. The growth in exports is related to the rise in PM production in China and South East Asia (see next section).

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Table 3.9 Production of Japanese PM Parts an d Products 1995-2004 (tonne s) 1995 Bearings 7641 PM Parts 78 744 Friction Product 522 Electrical Contacts 183 Miscellaneous 629

Total PM Transport Applications

87 7 1 9 67 133

1996

1997

1998

7432 77 963

8248 79 767

7243 72 328

557 184 598

592 174 666

555 173 509

1999

2000

7791 9007 75 572 83 369 613 172 366

718 203 502

2001

2002

2003

2004

7725 78 792

7847 82 397

7559 87 821

8010 95 283

690 164 488

688 93 497

671 99 591

718 103 895

86 725 89 447 80 808 84 5 1 4 93 7 9 9 87 8 5 9 91 522 96 741 105 0 0 9 66 532

69 902

64 105

66 330

72 409

68 870

73 807

78 718

Miscellaneous = Electrical Collectors and Others Source: JPMA/MITI

Figure 3.7 Breakdown of PM structural parts in Japanese vehicles 2003 Source: JPMA

Japanese production of PM structural parts, beatings, and other PM products peaked briefly in 2000 at 93 799 tonnes (Table 3.9), but then fell back. It then recovered to reach new peaks of 96 741 tonnes in 2003 and 105 009 tonnes in 2004, helped by three consecutive years with domestic production of 10 million vehicles. Automotive applications still represent over 80% of the total consumption of PM parts. The breakdown of PM structural parts in 2003 Japanese vehicles, Figure 3.7 shows some changes from the 1998 figures, with engines and transmissions accounting for about 75% of the components, and engine parts alone passing 50% for the first time.

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The outlook for the consumption of iron and steel powders in Japan will still depend on the economy as much as on technological innovations that are ongoing in the auto sector.

3.2.2.4 China The following summary is based on keynote presentations at the PM Asia 2005 conference in Shanghai by Cui Jianmin and Yuan Yong of the PM Association of China Steel Construction Society and Laiwu Iron and Steel Group Powder Metallurgy Co Ltd and reports from attendees. There are about 50, mostly very small, producers of iron and steel powders in China. Four of these each produced over 10 000 tonnes in 2004. The 28 largest producers made 130 000 tonnes of iron and steel powders in 2004, up 10% from the previous year, and double the production for 1998 (Table 3.10). The bulk of China's ferrous powder production is reduced iron made from mill-scale or from purified iron ore concentrate. Water atomized powder represented only 22% of the total in 2003, see Table 3.11. In addition, 500 tonnes of electrolytic iron and 200 tonnes of carbonyl iron powder were produced. Table 3.10 Iron and Steel Powder Production in China 1999-2004 1999

2000

Number of Manufacturers Surveyed 22 Output, Tonnes 65 500 Growth Rate, % 2

22 73 800 11

2001

2002

2003

2004

22 28 28 28 74 800 101 600 118 200 130 000 1.4 35.8 16.13 10

Source: Cui Jianmin and Yuan Yong, PMAsia 2005 Conference, Shanghai, April 2005

Table 3.11 Analysis of Iron and Steel Powder Production in China by Type of Process (tonnes) . . . . . . . . . . . . . Production Process Reduction of Mill Scale Reduction of Purified Concentrate Water Atomization Electrolysis Carbonyl Decomposition

2002

2003

70 350 10 740 19 940 400 200

74 750 16 890 25 950 500 210

Source: Cui Jianmin and Yuan Yong, PMAsia 2005 Conference, Shanghai, April 2005

The sponge iron powder made from purified concentrate was said to be of higher quality than the reduced mill scale due to lower levels of silicon and manganese. The output of sponge iron powder made from concentrate has been increased in recent years, from 10 074 tonnes in 2002, 16 890 tonnes in 2003 to 30 000 tonnes in 2004. More advanced grades of ferrous powder such as pre-alloyed powders, diffusion-alloyed and pre-mixed powders, account for a very small percentage of the market, mostly supplied by non-Chinese manufacturers.

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In contrast to major industrialized countries, PM represents a minor use of ferrous powders, despite the rapidly growing Chinese economy. As shown in Table 3.12 Chinese production of PM structural parts rose from just under 15 000 tonnes in 1998 to over 44 000 tonnes in 2003, according to figures published by JPMA. Furthermore, according to Jianmin and Yong, only about 44% of PM sintered parts are used in the automotive and motorcycle industries. However, the average Chinesemade automobile contains only 4.7 kg of PM parts, compared with much higher levels in Japan, Europe and North America. Not much detail is available on non-PM applications of ferrous powders in China, but Jianmin and Yong mentioned chemical, metallurgical and the medical sector, including recent testing of iron powder as a food additive. Table 3.12 E s t i m a t e d F e r r o u s - b a s e d P M Parts P r o d u c t i o n in East A s i a n C o u n t r i e s , excluding Japan . . . . . . . . . PM Part Production (tonnes) 1998 1999 2000 2001

1995

1996

1997

China 13 741 Korea 16 655 Taiwan 12 500 India 4560 Malaysia 3012 Singapore 874 Thailand 357

14 757 18 615 12 000 5000 3785 996 433

15 092 17 710 14 700 4650 3750 1060 346

15 876 17 178 17 700 4500 3171 1050 802

18 088 18 121 18 480 5625 4091 1025 1240

26 501 22 550 18 850 6950 4573 980 2021

55 5 8 6

57 3 0 8

60 277

65 6 7 0

82 425

Total

51 699

Source: JPMA Annual

27 487 26 160 15 000 6807 4494 768 2366

2002 33 642 23 746 20 000 6900 5008 905 3488

83 082 93 6 8 9

2003 44 240 33 478 21 000 7200 5463 840 4363

2004 56 968 36 491 25 000 8300(E) 6384 788 6288

97 9 8 9 140 O00(E)

Reports

3.2.2.5 Rest of the World

Apart from the figures provided by JPMA for Asian and Pacific Rim countries, there is little in the way of published data for ferrous metal powder consumption in the rest of the world. Central and East Asia, excluding Japan. Estimated ferrous PM production in China, Korea, Taiwan, India, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand, for 1995-2004, as published in the JPMA Annual Reports is given in Table 3.12. After growing at just over 5% earlier, led by Korea and Taiwan, production surged ahead after 1998, gaining over 50% by 2002. Output of ferrous-based PM parts more than doubled in China to almost 57 000 tonnes, overtaking both Korea and Taiwan, which grew at more moderate rates to 36 4,91 and 25 000 tonnes, respectively. China, Korea and Taiwan represent more than 80% of East Asian production. PM production in India also grew over 60% in this period, while Thailand jumped over 600%, admittedly from a very small base below 1000 tonnes.

In addition to PM applications there are significant markets in Asia for welding grade powders, particularly in China, Korea, Taiwan and India.

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When other miscellaneous applications are included the total consumption of iron and steel powders in East Asia are believed to have grown by about two thirds from an estimated 90 000 tonnes in 1995 to about 150 000 tonnes in 2003.

Near and Middle East. Turkey has a number of PM parts producers with a total output estimated at 3000 tonnes. PM part production in the Near and Middle East from Israel to Pakistan has been estimated by EPMA (1994) at about 1000 tonnes per annum. Southern Hemisphere. Ferrous powders are used in PM fabrication and other applications in South America, Australia, and South Africa, Table 3.13. In South America the PM parts market is dominated by the automotive industry, which is concentrated in Brazil and Argentina. Automotive accounts for 90% of PM output, followed by domestic appliances and business machines. The total iron powder market in South America was estimated by MPIF in 1994 at 13 600 tonnes, of which almost 11 000 tonnes were used in PM structural parts and bearings, while the balance was consumed in friction products, welding and other applications. The PM portion was reported to have grown to about 12 700 tonnes by 1997, half of which were produced in Brazil. The total market for iron powder was reported to have grown by 6% pa to approximately 18 000 tonnes in 1999 (Table 3.13). Table 3.13 Estimated Consumption of Ferrous Powders in the Southern Hemisphere (tonnes) _ Australia* South A f r i c a * * South A m e r i c a * * *

Total

1 9 9 4 1995 1 9 9 6 1997 1998

1999

2 275 2 681 2 373 2 358 2 243

2273

1 000 13 600

17 0 0 0

17 000 18 000

2000

2001 2 0 0 2

2130 1916 1832

20 000

21 0 0 0 23 0 0 0

Source: *PMIA (1994) and JPMA Annual Reports **Estimate, Metal Powders: A Global Survey of Production, Applications and Markets, 3rd Edition ***Estimate, DG White, MPIF: IJPM, 2001, 37(1), p19, and with information from South American industry and North American suppliers

MPIF executive director Don White reported on trends in South American PM industries at the 2000 World Congress in Kyoto (I]PM, 2001, 37(1), p19). With about 20 PM parts producers and a handful of metal powder manufacturers, the South American PM industry is dominated by Brazil, which account for most of the PM business in the region. Argentina, Venezuela, and Colombia also have I'M parts plants. He said the total estimated iron and steel powder market in South America in 1999 was slightly more than 20 000 tonnes with Brazil accounting for about 17 000 tonnes. The market increased 10% in 2000, when the ferrous-based PM parts market in Brazil was estimated at 12 500 tonnes, and the rest of South America at 1000 tonnes. Growth in 2001 was projected at 4%, mostly from Brazil.

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PM part production in Australia, mostly ferrous, peaked at 2681 tonnes in 1995, but has been in steady decline since then, to 1832 tonnes in 2002. The auto sector accounted for 45% of total PM sales in 1994, with domestic appliances next in importance at 24%. Very little is known about the ferrous PM industry in South Africa, which has been estimated to produce about 500 tonnes per annum. This is presumed to represent the production in the whole of Africa. There is additional ferrous powder consumption for welding electrodes etc.

3.2.3 Global S u m m a r y and Forecast of Iron and Steel

Powder Consumption to 2010

Actual and estimated consumption of iron and steel powders for the various regions are summarised in Table 3.14. Figures are given for the reported or estimated usage for PM as well as the totals for each region. The analysis indicates that the proportion of ferrous powders used in PM applications continues at a level of about 80%.

Table 3.14 Global Summary of Iron and Steel Powder Consumption 2004 (thousands of tonnes) PM North America* Europe Japan** Asia and ROW

Total

Other

Total

400(E) 172(E) 119 140(E)

30(E) 33(E) 62 70(E)

430 205(,E) 181 210(E)

83 I(E)

195(E)

1026(E)

Source: * MPIF

*9JPMA (E) -- Estimate,this report

Actual, estimated, and forecast consumption of ferrous powders for 2001-2010 are given in Table 3.15 for North America, Europe, Japan, Asia and the rest of the world.

Table 3.15 Global Summary of Iron and Steel Powder Consumption and Forecast to 2010 (tonnes) 2001 North America Europe (E & W) Japan Asia and ROW

350 183 160 150

370* 000(E) 153"* 000(E)

Total

897 O00(E)

2005(F) 420 200 185 255

000 000 000 000

1 060 000

2010(F) 480 230 210 310

000 000 000 000

1 230 000

Source: * MPIF

*9JPMA (E) = Estimate, this report; (F) = Forecast

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Markets for stainless steel, tool steel and high speed steel powders have been grouped together in this section because they are frequently served by the same suppliers. This is mainly because the powders, either gas- or water-atomized, can often be produced in batches in the same equipment.

3.3.1 Applications Stainless steel and tool steel powders have widespread applications as PM structural parts and also in PM wrought-form products where their special properties are required. The corrosion resistance of both austenitic and ferritic stainless steels makes these powders the materials of choice where resistance to atmospheric corrosion or chemical attack are features of the application. Ferritic stainless powders are used, for example, in ABS sensor rings where the combination of corrosion resistance and magnetic properties is needed. Significant growth in stainless PM applications has occurred in recent years owing to the popularity of automotive ABS braking systems and the introduction of PM stainless steel flanges and HEGO sensor bosses for exhaust systems. Applications for PM tool steel and HSS powders include wear-resistant parts such as automotive valve seat inserts and cam lobes, in addition to traditional tool bits and forming tools. Both stainless and tool steel powders are being used to fabricate semi-finished products, an example being mill shapes from extruded gas-atomized powders. Other applications include filters (stainless steel), stainless steel flake for coating applications, and hardfacing by thermal spraying methods (tool steels). Fine powders of both stainless and tool steel are also being used in metal injection moulding.

3.3.2 Global Markets for Stainless and High Alloy Steel Powders While there are limited statistics on shipments of stainless steel powders, the consumption of tool steel powders is an elusive item. This is partly because most of the tool steel and high-speed steel powders are used inhouse by manufacturers that are producing fully dense PM wrought and semi-finished products. So sales of powders are only a fraction of total consumption. The fragmentary information available indicates that this sector went through a difficult patch in the last few years but is now growing again. In 2000, Olle Grinder estimated the worldwide consumption of tool steel and HSS powders at about 14 000 tonnes, of which 12 000 tonnes was for HlPed billets and near-net-shaped parts, 50 tonnes was extruded,

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while 2000 tonnes was used in uniaxiaUy pressed and sintered parts. About 10 tonnes was used in MIM (IJPM, 2000, 36(8), p33). In 2001, the international PM tool steel market was said to be growing and was estimated by Don White in his State of the North American PM Industry address at 14 000 short tons (12 700 tonnes) of which 4000 short tons (3630 tonnes) was in the US (IJPM, 2001, 37(4), p39). Applications included high-speed broaches, hobs, milling cutters, form tools, drills, caps, end mills and thread-rolling dies. In reviewing the PM industry in Austria in 2002, Professor Danninger quoted a figure of 10 000 tonnes as the estimated world market for PM tool steels in the year 2000 (IJPM, 2002, 38(8), pp26-32). He added that the companies Bthler Uddeholm Powder Technology in Austria and Uddeholm Tooling AB in Sweden 'cover about 30% of the world market for PM tool steels'. More recently, in an interview with Peter K Johnson in 2004, Claes Tornberg, consultant and former general manager of Bthler Edelstahl GmbH, Kapfenberg, Austria, estimated the world market for PM HSS at about 10 000 tonnes, growing at 5% (IJPM, 2005, 41(2), pp7-9). He noted that PM materials represented about 10% of the world HSS market.

3.3.2.1 North America Shipments of stainless steel powders in North America just about doubled during the 1990s, rising to a record 6493 tonnes in 1999 from 2700 in 1990. Most of the growth came in the second half of the decade with increasing use of PM in automotive ABS sensor tings and stainless steel components for exhaust systems. Shipment statistics are given in Table 3.16 and Figure 3.8. Since 1999, North American shipment statistics for stainless steel powders have been published as estimates. Because of the small number of domestic producers, some have declined to continue submitting shipment data. However, the recent estimates in Table 3.16 indicate that after rising sharply by well over 10% in 2000, the consumption has remained flat at around 7500 tonnes. Nevertheless, according to forecasts, as the automotive market develops, the total North American consumption should more than double to reach about 18 000 tonnes. This prospect has prompted North American producers of stainless steel powders to expand capacity (See Ametek, Hoeganaes and North American Hoganas, Section 6.1).

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Table 3.16 N o r t h A m e r i c a n S h i p m e n t s of Stainless Steel P o w d e r s 1 9 9 0 - 2 0 0 3 (tonnes) Tonnes 1990

2700

1991

2960

1994

3600(E)

1995

3630

1996

4440

1997

4760

1998

5330

1999

6490

2000

7710(E)

2001

7260(E)

2002

7710(E)

2003

8070(E)

Source: MPIF (E) = Estimate. MPIF did not publish statistics on shipments of stainless steel powders between 1991 and 1995; since 1999, shipments have been estimated due to reluctance of suppliers to furnish data

8000 7000 6000 5000 c 4000

C

3000

2000 1000 0

1990 1991 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 Year

Figure 3.8 North American shipments of stainless steel powders, 1990-2003 (tonnes). Source: MPIF

PM high-speed steels were introduced to North America in the early 1970s for cutting tool applications. Tool steel powders are used in netshape part fabrication as well as PM mill-shapes production, mostly carried out in-house. There are no published statistics for shipments of tool steel powders in North America. In the late 1.980s, the consumption of tool steel powders was estimated at 5000-6000 tonnes, but more recently at about 4:500 tonnes (1997) and 5900 in 1999, growing at

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10-20% per annum. The most important grades are quoted as M-4, CPM10V and M-3. The HIP PM high-speed steel and tool steel powders markets in North America were estimated at 4000 short tons (3630 tonnes) and to be growing at 5-6% annually. In 2002, the North American PM tool steel market was still estimated at 3630 tonnes, so despite suggestions to the contrary, this market seems to be stagnating. In the US, it is claimed that 50% of broaching tools are now made from PM tool steels.

3.3.2.2 Europe Europe is relatively rich in production resources for stainless steel and tool steel powders, with several plants engaged in gas- or wateratomization, or both. Sweden has the world's largest capacity for gasatomized high alloy powders. It appears that there are no published statistics that are collected specifically for consumption of stainless or tool steel powders in Europe. According to EPMA, the small amount of stainless used in PM part fabrication (estimated in this report at much less than 2000 tonnes) is included with other ferrous powders, while the largest fraction is that produced by Anval and converted into semi-finished products as noted earlier, and sold as fabricated PM mill shapes in both stainless steel and HSS, much of this for export. There is a significant market for high alloy powders in thermal coating operations, for wear applications, as in the spray coating of aerospace components and automotive valves, and oil and chemical industry equipment. There is an additional market for the fabrication of filters. The EPMA published estimate of 20 000 tonnes for the volume of semifinished PM products of all materials shipped in 1989-90 is believed to be largely made up of PM stainless steels, HSS, and HIPed superalloys. The volume of pressed and sintered tool steel powders is still very small in Europe despite recent growth, eg in valve seat inserts, and was estimated at about 1000 tonnes in 1995. As in North America, the small number of producers is the likely reason for the lack of published market data.

3.3.2.3 Japan As indicated in shipment statistics provided by JPMA (Table 3.17 and Figure 3.9), Japanese consumption of stainless steel powders jumped about 1000 tonnes in 1999, after remaining stagnant in the previous decade. However, consumption has not advanced beyond the 2700-3000 tonnes range due to the continuing economic difficulties.

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Table 3.17 Japanese S h i p m e n t s of Stainless Steel P o w d e r s 1990-2003 (tonnes) Stainless Steel, tonnes 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003

1716 1787 1372 1539 1597 1862 1710 2757 2991 2680 2949 3263

Source: JPMA

3000 2500 2000 Q~ = C

1500 1000 500 0

1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 Y~.~r

Figure 3.9 Japanese shipments of stainless steel powders 1990-2003 (tonnes) Source: JPMA

Stainless steel powders in Japan are mostly used for PM structural parts and filters. ATMIX Corp (formerly Pacific Metals Co) is also producing ultrafine stainless steel powder for MIM. The major Japanese producer of PM HSS, Kobe Steel, manufactures its own powder in-house at a separate gas atomization facility with about 1000 tonnes/year capacity. Powder statistics from this operation are not available, as the material is for internal use. The most recent statistic found for consumption of tool steel powders in Japan was the figure of 700 tonnes fbr 1986 (up from 300 tonnes in 1982).

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Globaland Regional Markets for Metal Powders 2001-2010

Rest of the World

There appears that there are no published statistics available for the consumption of stainless and tool steel powders in the countries outside North America, Europe and Japan. There are a number of small firms manufacturing stainless steel PM parts and filters elsewhere in the world, mainly in Eastern Europe, Asia and South America. There are relatively few companies listed as supplying tool steel (HSS) sintered parts or PM wrought semi-finished products. Cui Jianmin and Yuan Yong reported Chinese production of atomized stainless steel powders as 220 tonnes in 2002 and 250 tonnes in 2003.

Through decades of development efforts, copper and copper alloy powders have evolved into a sophisticated series of products with properties tailored to a range of applications. Pure copper powders are available in the form of electrolytic, reduced oxide and water-atomized powders. Copper alloys such as fin-bronze, brass and nickel silver, are either air- or water-atomized. Recent developments have included improved infihrant powders, low-inclusion copper powder for blending with ferrous powders in powder forging, uhrafine powder grades for MIM and electronic grades for printed circuits and other applicatons.

3.4.1 Applications of Copper and Copper-Based Powders The largest application for copper powder is in the manufacture of porous, self-lubricating, PM bronze bearings, primarily for the automotive sector, but also for home appliances, electronic equipment and business machines. Sintered bronze bearings are usually made either from pre-mixed copper and tin powders, typically in the ratio 90:10, or from 'diluted bronze' where cheaper iron powder substitutes for at least 50% of the copper and tin. Diluted bronze PM bearings are quite satisfactory in many applications. A small percentage of bearings are made from pre-alloyed copper-tin bronzes. Sintered iron-graphite bearings made from sponge iron with 3% graphite, have been making bigger inroads in the PM bearings market for some time, particularly with users who are buying on price. Copper and copper alloy powders (mainly brass powders) are also used to make conventional PM parts, such as copper PM parts for electrical applications and brass PM parts for the automotive and domestic hardware markets. The second most important application is the use of copper powder as a blended alloying addition in ferrous PM parts (eg iron - 2% c o p p e r - 0.8% graphite). It is used in this way to provide improved sintered strength without diminishing the compressibility of the premix. Elemental and pre-alloyed copper powders are also used as components of infiltrant powders in an alternative process

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that increases the density, strength and hardness of pressed-and-sintered ferrous parts. Finally, smaller quantities of copper and copper-base powders are used to manufacture carbon brushes, steel-backed bearings, sintered friction materials, diamond tools, MIM parts and porous filters. Some copper powder as well as dispersion-strengthened copper powder is fabricated into fully-dense wrought products by canning and extrusion, for production of specialised components where higher electrical conductivity is important, such as in spot-welding electrodes. Outside the PM applications there are significant uses for copper powder and bronze powder as flake in paints and inks, brazing powders and pastes, and for electronics, as well as in chemical applications, for example, catalysts.

3.4.2 Global Consumption of Copper and Copper-Based Powders As mentioned in earlier sections, during the last few decades copper and copper-alloy powders have become a less significant factor in the total metal powder picture. The major reason for this is the considerable rise in consumption of iron and steel powders. Although the total annual consumption of copper-base powders has followed the economic ups and downs more or less in step with ferrous powders, in North America, after appearing to stagnate for many years, consumption rose during the 1990s before flattening off at the end of that decade. And while the Japanese market has remained more or less static for a lot longer, there was growth elsewhere in Asia as well as Europe. A recent estimate of global consumption of copper-base powders in 2002 by P Taubenblat (IJPM 2003, 39(4), pp25-28) gave figures of 22 000 tonnes for North America, 18 000 tonnes for Europe, and the same for Japan and Asia, and 4500 for the rest of the world. These figures suggest there could be some under-reporting in published industry statistics. Nevertheless with expansions and new producers coming on stream in the past decade, there is evidently still a sizeable worldwide over-capacity for copper powder production.

3.4.2.1 NorthAmerica From a low of 17 400 tonnes in 1990, copper and copper-based powder shipments in North America rose nearly 32% to a post-1980 peak of 22 933 tonnes in 2000 (Table 3.18 and Figure 3.10). That represented an average growth rate of almost 3% per annum. Since 2000, copper powder shipments have fluctuated with the economy, dropping 18% in 2001 but bouncing back 9.2% in 2002. All this time the ratio of PM versus other uses remained constant, with PM consuming close to 85% of the total, indicating there were no major shifts in application areas. Despite the attractive properties of copper, eg high thermal and electrical conductivity, it is never likely to regain its earlier prominence in the PM

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world. This is partly due to development of alternative materials, as in the substitution of less-expensive iron-graphite sintered bearings and diluted bronze bearings. Also PM structural parts have evolved into applications where copper-based sintered parts would be inappropriate from the viewpoints of both mechanical properties and cost. Nevertheless, PM self-lubricating bearings have remained the number one application for copper powder at 55%. According to Taubenblat (loc.cit.) 13% of copper powder is used as a blended additive in iron powder premixes, 12% in infiltration applications, 10% in sintered brasses and the balance (10%) in other applications such as friction materials, chemicals, heavy metal alloys, and in the form of flake for coatings, paints, pastes and inks.

Table 3.18 North American Shipments of Copper and Copper-Based Powders 1990-2004 (tonnes) PM Applications (incl Friction Materials)

Other

Total

14 800 13 900 15 800 17 700 17 800 18 300 17 700 19 000 19 400 19 300 19 400 15 900 17 100 17 300 18 600

2600 2400 2400 2700 3100 2800 3100 3200 3400 3600 3500 2900 3500 3200 4300

17 400 16 300 18 200 20 400 20 900 21 100 20 800 22 200 22 700 22 900 22 900 18 800 20 600 20 500 22 900

1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 Source: MPIF

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25

BB PM applications (including friction materials) I--I Other applications r---] [-7 r -

20 co t'c"

15 0 co cor) E3

10

o cF-

'90 '91

'92 '93 '94 '95 '96 '97 '98 '99 '00 '01

Year

'02 '03 '04

Figure 3.10 North American shipments of copper and copper-based powders 1990-2004 (tonnes). Source: MPIF

3.4.2.2 Europe Consumption of copper and copper-based powders in PM applications published by EPMA for Western Europe and including East Europe from 1995 are shown in Table 3.19 and Figure 3.11. As experienced elsewhere in the world, shipments reached a peak in 2000, at 18 500 tonnes, with a 32% rise over 1995, but then lost all that gain by 2002. The copper powder segment is one area in which consumption statistics for North America, Europe and Asia (including Japan) are more evenly matched. However, the figures do throw up one possibly surprising aspect. This is that the ratio of PM consumption of copper-based powders to PM consumption of ferrous powders is much higher in Europe at 9.5%, than in North America or Japan, both of which stood at 5.2% in 2002. Asia, excluding Japan, fell in between at 8.8%. A possible explanation is a greater use in Europe and Asia of copper-based bearings and friction products, as opposed to ferrous based materials. However, it is hard to square this with the fact that the automotive market accounts for 70-80% of PM production in all three zones (North America, Europe, Japan) and through globalization the auto manufacturers have tended towards similar specifications worldwide. There may be another explanation: a higher percentage of Western European copper powder is exported out of the Eurozone than is the case for North America or Japan. Future growth in copper powder consumption in Europe may well depend on economic prospects for East Europe.

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Table 3.19 European Shipments of Copper and Copper-based Powders for PM 1989-2003 (tonnes) Tonnes 1989/90 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003

9900(E) 10 500(E) 9500(E) 9737 13 048 13 784 14 195 14 847 15 914 15 590 17 770 14 455 12 827 13 111

Including East Europe

13 000 14 000 14 500 15 500 16 500 16 000 18 500 15 500 14 000

Source: E P M A ; (E) - Estimate, E P M A

20

"

Or)

C C

"6 rn 10 "O C (/)

0 .,C

I.-

0

'90 '91 '92 '93 '94 '95 '96 '97 '98 '99 '00 '01 '02 '03 Year

Figure 3.11 W European shipments of copper base powders for PM 1990-2003 Source: EPMA and estimates, this report

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3.4.2.3 Japan Annual shipments of copper and copper-based powders in Japan for PM, non-PM uses and exports, provided by JPMA for the years 1990-2004 are shown in Table 3.20 and Figure 3.12. Consumption for PM applications peaked in 1991 at just under 6000 tonnes after years of uninterrupted growth. With the ensuing recessions and recoveries, that level was only approached again in 2000 and 2003-4. Consumption for non-PM applications followed a similar pattern, remaining at around 15% of total consumption. Exports of copper and copper-based powders have also fluctuated since passing 400 tonnes in 1994, ending up at the same level in 2003 but then jumping to 587 tonnes in 2004. Table 3.20 Japanese Shipments of Copper Powder 1990-2004 (tonnes) PM Applications

Other

Export

Total

5818 5964 5563 5325 5600 5584 4894 5379 4784 5138 5567 4990 5321 5631 5880

1162 1336 1136 1062 1084 1064 1003 1033 893 944 1025 946 973 1056 1148

264 368 322 317 444 589 487 524 448 542 636 425 441 458 587

7244 7668 7021 6704 7128 7237 6348 6936 6125 6624 7228 6361 6735 7125 7615

1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 Source: JPMA

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3

8000

Global and Regional Markets for Metal Powders 2001-2010

II PM applications D Other applications

7000 6000 5000 r4000 r

3O0O 2000 1000 0

'90 '91

'92 '93 '94 '95 '96 '97 '98 '99 '00 '01

'02 '03 '04

Year Figure 3.12 Japanese consumption of copper powder 1990-2004 (tonnes) Source: JPMA

The main uses for copper and copper-based powders in Japan are sintered beatings, PM structural parrts and PM frictional materials. These add up to about 80% of domestic shipments. Transportation (primarily motor vehicles) increased its share of PM beatings consumption from 40% to 48% between 1985 and 1990, but this fell back again to 44% between 1996 and 1998. The composition of PM beatings was reported as 60% iron-based and 40% copper-based in 1989, the last year in which this split was noted. Since the late 1990s, a significant growth hs been reported in miniature bearings production for IT equipment such as mobile phones, PCs, DVD players, as well as other applications for micro-motors.

3.4.2.4 China The following notes have been compiled from the presentation on the status of non-ferrous powder production in China, given at the PM Asia 2005 conference by Professor Wang Limin of GRIPM Advanced Materials Co Ltd and Beijing General Research Institute for Non-Ferrous Metals. Electrolytic copper powders have been produced in China since the 1960s, and electrolysis remains the dominant process, although low apparent density copper powder has been produced in recent years by the atomization - oxidation - reduction route. There are more than 10 firms producing a total of nearly 10 000 tonnes/year of electrolytic powder. About half of this powder is produced by the top three companies. Exports of copper powder are mainly electrolytic, going to USA, Taiwan,

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the Middle East, Australia and Japan. In 2002, the level of exports was well under 1000 tonnes and about half of the size of import quantities. Table 3.21 Copper-based PM Part Production in China 1998-2004 (tonnes) China

1998

1999

2000

1490

825

3334

2001 3720

2002 3849

2003

2004

4357

5934

Source: JPMA Annual Reports

According to statistics published by JPMA (Table 3.21), copper-based PM parts production in China grew from 1490 tonnes in 1998 to almost treble this level in 2003, at 4357 tonnes and quadruple in 2004 at 5934 tonnes. It is not clear how nuch of this was made from copper alloy powder. Professor Wang Limin listed applications for copper powder in PM parts for automobiles and domestic appliances (air-conditioners, refrigerators, washing machines and electric fans). China also has a large production of diamond tools, a third of which are exported. Diamond tools are estimated to consume about 3000 tonnes/year of copper powder and copper alloy powder. Over 1300 tonnes/year of copper powder is also used in friction materials, and about 200 tonnes/year of electrolytic copper powder is employed in electrical engineering alloy applications. Other copper powder applications in China include metallic pigments, conducting rubber and slurry applications, which were all reported as continuing to increase. Copper alloy powders were reported to be mainly produced by atomization, with an annual Chinese capacity exceeding 10 000 tonnes, half of national output being produced by the top four companies. The chief alloy produced, 85Cu-6Sn-6Zn-3Pb leaded bronze, represents 60% of total consumption, used in self-lubricating bearings, filters and bushings. This alloy will gradually be replaced by 9 0 / 1 0 and 85/15 tin bronze alloys, in order to eliminate the use of lead. Copper alloy powders were said to be mostly used in PM parts (50%) and diamond tools (40%).

3. 4.2.5 Rest of the World In Asia and Australia (excluding Japan and China) sintered bearings production is believed to be the main use for copper powders. Statistics provided by JPMA for copper-based PM production in Korea, Taiwan, India, Australia, Malaysia and Singapore, are given in Table 3.22. Taiwan and India have led the pack, while copper-based PM production in Korea has fluctuated, ending in 2004 up 9% from 2003 at 1925 tonnes. Singapore is the only other Asian country with significant copper-based PM production, but this has remained static at around 500 tonnes per annum for nearly a decade. Production in Australia perked up suddenly in 2002 to 178 tonnes. In total, the Asian and Pacific Rim countries, ex-

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Japan and China, have come to produce between 4500 and 5500 tonnes, with no overall growth to report between 1998 and 2002, then perking up in 2003-4 to over 6000 tonnes. For South America, there are no published figures for copper powder consumption since the estimate of 2178 tonnes quoted by Johnson for 1993 (I]PM, 1994, 30(4), pp369-372). Local production capacity (in Brazil) is less than 2000 tonnes per annum.

Table 3.22 Asia/Oceania Copper-based PM Part Production, exJapan and China 1998-2004 (t0nnes) 1998

1999

2000

2001

Taiwan

1800

2100

2150

2000

1900

1900

India

1360

1395

1485

1473

1475

1500

n.a.

Korea Singapore Malaysia Australia

1056 430 69 45

656 515 65 52

928 614 59 50

1299 457 50 51

236 544 32 178

1766 511 50 na

1925 535 83 na

4760

4783

5286

5330

Total

2002

2003

2004 2100

4 3 6 5 5800(E) 6400(E)

(E) = Estimate, this report Source: JPMA

3.4.3 Global Summary for Copper and Copper-Based Powders 2001-2010 Tables 3.23 and 3.24 summarize the published consumption figures for copper and copper-based powders for North America, Europe, Japan, Asia and the rest of the world for 2004 and the estimates and forecasts to 2010.

Table 3.23 Summary of Global Consumption of Copper and Copper Alloy Powders 2004 (tonnes) PM North America* Europe (E & W ) * * Japan*** Asia and R O W * * * *

Total

Other

Total

18 600 14 500 5880 14 000

4300 2500 1148 2500

22 900 17 000 7028 16 500

53 0 0 0

10 5 0 0

63 5 0 0

Source: * MPIF; ** EPMA + estimates; *** JPMA; **** JPMA + estimates, this report.

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Table 3.24 Global Summary of Copper and Copper Alloy Powder Consumption and Forecasts to 2010 (tonnes) 2001

2005(F)

2010(F)

North America Europe (E & W) Japan, Asia, ROW

18 886* 18 000(E) 18 200(E)

23 000 18 000 24 500

27 000 21 000 32 300

Total

55 O00(E)

65 500

80 000

Source: * MPIF; (E) = Estimate, this report; (F) = Forecast

Nickel is probably unique among industrial metals in being produced by a few very large corporations, most of whom produce pure nickel in powder form as well as in bulk. The two leading suppliers, INCO and Norilsk Nickel, share half of the global market, with the balance coming from recycling or smaller suppliers. About 60% of nickel consumption is used to make stainless steels, and half of the nickel used in this is recycled metal. Nickel is also used mostly as an alloy, in a wide range of other applications from jet engines to DVDs. According to INCO Ltd's CEO, Scott Hand, the company's sales of nickel in Asia have grown from 40% to 60% of the total over the past decade. It is understood that the story for nickel powder products is similar. China's growing demand for nickel has been compared with Japan's 'great leap forward' some decades ago, when demand grew at an average of 7% pa over a 15 year period. Demand for nickel is also rising in the USA, Japan and to a lesser extent in Europe.

3.5.1 Applications of Nickel and Nickel-Alloy Powders As described in more detail in Section 5.6.9, pure nickel powders are produced by three very distinct routes: by decomposition of nickel carbonyl, by hydrometallurgical processing, and by water atomization of molten nickel. Each of these types of nickel powder has more or less distinct application niches that are related to their properties. Carbonyl nickel powders have the widest range of applications, which include as: 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9

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Metal Powders

Porous plates in batteries and fuel cell electrodes Filters for chemically-aggresive fluids PM structural parts, including MIM (as an alloying additive in sintered steels) Ferrites, permanent magnets and soft magnetic alloys Carbide cutting tools and diamond tools, as a binder Tungsten heavy alloys Catalysts Welding electrode coatings

3

9 9 9 9 9 9

Global and Regional Markets for Metal Powders 2001-2010

Pigments and coatings (in the form of flake) Chemical (nickel salts) Electronic alloys Getters Conductive resins and plastics Electromagnetic shielding.

Hydrometallurgical nickel powder (Sherritt process) is usually compacted into briquettes or rondelles for consumption as an alloying additive in the steel industry, mostly to make stainless steels. Small amounts of hydrometallurgical nickel powder are used for the manufacture of coinage strip by roll-compacting and sintering, or as a starting material in the manufacture of nickel salts. Water-atomized pure nickel powders are used mostly in the production of coinage strip. Nickel alloy powders, on the other hand, are generally produced on a much smaller scale by gas atomization and are used predominately either for hardfacing or as PM superalloys in the production of gas turbine engines and aerospace components. Most nickel-based hardfacing powders are proprietary compositions of the Ni-Cr-B-Si type and are selffluxing during deposition due to the presence of boron and silicon. Cupro-nickel powders are used in the production of coinage strip. High-strength nickel-base superalloys produced by ingot metallurgy for use in advanced gas turbine engines are prone to severe macrosegregation and consequent casting and forming difficulties. Powder metallurgy offers a method for overcoming this problem since the segregation is restricted by the size of the solidified droplets. The fabrication of fully dense nickel-base superalloy shapes by PM processing has attracted considerable development effort over the last several decades and has a significant role in the production of critical jet engine components. High purity spherical superalloy powders are usually produced by inert gas atomizing or by the plasma rotating electrode process.

3.5.2 Global Consumption of Nickel and Nickel Alloy Powders Production of pure nickel powder is largely concentrated in a very few major sources (INCO, Norilsk Nickel, OMG, Sherritt, Sumitomo and WMC Resources). As a result, both production and consumption statistics are closely held. Global consumption figures have been based on estimates and guesses. PM is a minor application compared with other uses. Battery applications have been reported to account for 40-50% of global consumption of nickel powder. The MPIF estimated the 1990 global consumption of pure nickel powder and flake (excluding briquettes) at 20 000 tonnes. This figure compares with export tonnages for Belgium, Canada, West Germany, Sweden, the

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UK and USA, which totalled just over 18 000 tonnes for that year. If briquetted powder was included, the total would have been doubled. A more recent estimate by Johnson (MPIF) for 1993 global consumption of 30 000 tonnes took into account consumption in former Soviet bloc countries, plus China etc, and was more indicative of the increased range of countries than the growth rate of consumption. Johnson's most recent estimate of 45 000 tonnes indicates a long-term global growth trend of about 4% per annum. Speaking at the PM 2003 conference in Valencia, Spain, Lou Koehler, president of Novamet Specialty Products Corp, USA, an INCO subsidiary, reported a growth rate of 4-5% in 2003.

3.5.2.1 North America Since the USA has no domestic producers of primary nickel powder, the MPIF has taken import statistics as a guide to US consumption of nickel powder and flake (Table 3.25 and Figure 3.13). After showing no growth for a decade, consumption shot up over 50% in 2000, only to fall back in 2001 and 2002 to new low levels not seen in over 20 years. The 42.5% plunge in 2001 was ascribed by Don White, executive director of MPIF in his 2002 State-of-the-Industry address to dramatic declines in markets for rechargeable batteries, catalysts and electronics, as well as to inventory adjustments. The market for nickel-cobalt superalloy powders, which is distinct from pure nickel powders, continues to grow because of demand for new PM extruded and forged components for engines such as the PW4084 and 4090 and the GE90 engines used in the Boeing 777 and the Airbus 330 aircraft (IJPM, 1998, 34(5), p33). Table 3.25 US Consumption of Nickel Powder and Flake 1990-2003 (tonnes) N i c k e l P o w d e r & Flake (tonnes) 1990 1991

9130 8890

1992

8980

1993

8710

1994

9070

1995

9500

1996

9700

1997

10 470

1998

9864 (R)

1999 2000

9374 14 424

2001

8300

2002 2003

6967 9124 (R) 9300 (E)

2004

(R) = Revised figures; (E) = Estimate, this report, based on USGS figures to October 2004

Source: MPIF (US consumption based on import statistics)

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I I Nickel powder and flake

12000

9000 C C

6000

3000

'90 '91 '92 '93 '94 '95 '96 '97 '98 '99 '00 '01 '02 '03 Year

Figure 3.13 US consumption of nickel powder and flake 1990-2003 (tonnes) Source: MPIF (US consumption based on import statistics)

PM applications of nickel powder, eg in ferrous premixes, are believed to represent about 20% of US consumption of pure nickel powder. Changes in the consumption of nickel powder in PM could have been brought about by fluctuations in the price of nickel powder which has traditionally been regarded by the PM industry as an expensive raw material. The degree to which shifts have been made from blended elemental premixes to steel powder mixes based on diffusion-alloyed powders or pre-alloys with or without nickel is difficult to determine. The success of iron-nickel materials in MIM part production has clearly not yet made any significant contribution to nickel powder consumption. North American nickel consumption would be incomplete without a discussion of Canadian usage. The major in-house use of hydrometallurgical nickel powder in recent years has been the production of pure nickel strip for coinage by Westaim Corp, which took over the coinage strip business when it was spun off from Sherritt. The powder was roll-compacted then sintered and further rolled and annealed to the required coinage gauge. Westaim shipped nickel strip or coinage blanks to national mints worldwide and also operated its own small mint for striking commemorative medallions or small coinage orders. Coinage blanks made from Westaim nickel were the starting points for the Canadian one dollar and two dollar coins among others. Although the consumption fluctuates with the introduction of new coins (an estimated 300 tonnes of nickel powder was consumed in launching the C$2 coin in 1996), Westaim is believed to have used approximately 3500 tonnes of nickel powder for coinage strip in 1996 and in 2000 it had over 7000

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tonnes/year capacity for coinage strip, dwarfing the usage in PM mixes for structural parts, estimated to consume between 100 and 200 tonnes. After the rush to produce the new Euro coins, the market collapsed and the coinage strip plant has since been idled. Westaim also has over 200 tonnes/year capacity for the production of composite nickel powders, mainly used in aerospace applications.

3.5.2.2 China The following notes have been abstracted from the keynote presentation of Professor Wang Limin at the PMAsia 2005 conference in Shanghai. Nickel powder consumption in China is mostly with imported material. Production in China is mainly by electrolysis, as well as by hydrometallurgy, atomization and carbonyl decomposition. There is a rapidlygrowing demand for specialty grades of carbonyl nickel powder for use in rechargeable Ni-MH bateries. Current consumption of 4000 tonnes/ year is imported from INCO in Canada. Nickel powder is also used in the alloy matrix of diamond tools to improve the strength. Annual consumption for this application was given as 800 tonnes. There was also said to be a 'great demand' for nickel powder in PM products made from heavy alloys by pressing and sintering, but no figures were given.

3.5.2.3 Europe, Japan and the Rest of the World Export statistics from producer countries suggest that consumption of nickel powder and flake in Europe and Japan were each around 5000 tonnes in 1990, Table 3.26. The figures also suggest increasing consumption in Japan (over 6000 tonnes in 1991) but rather more sharply declining usage in Europe (below 4000 tonnes in 1991). The drop in European nickel powder consumption has been related to the shift of battery production to Far East locations, rather than changes in PM usage which is relatively small (of the order of 10%). It appears there are no more recent figures for nickel powder consumption outside of North America. Nevertheless, PM nickel powder consumption is expected to suffer from the recent EC classification of nickel powder as a health hazard. This has prompted PM users to look at alternatives such as pre-alloyed chromium steel powders and diffusion-alloyed grades. Table 3.26 Estimates of Nickel Powder and Flake Consumption in Europe and Japan 1989-1991 (tonnes) Europe (excl UK) Japan

1989

1990

1991

6226 4761

5286 5017

3200(E) 6100

Source: World Nickel Statistics (INSG), courtesy Nickel Development Institute. (E) = Estimate, Metal Powders - A Global Survey of Production, Applications and Markets, 1st

Edition)

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A more detailed breakdown of Japanese nickel powder consumption in 1989-90 was given in Metal Powder Report for September 1991, quoting from Roskill Information Services Letter from Japan. Figures for nickelcadmium batteries, PM products, welding electrode coatings and chemical applications etc, are given in Table 3.27. Production of N i / C d batteries was said to account for close to 60% of the demand for nickel powder. In 1990, battery production reached 620 million units, a 15% increase from 1989, but the increase in the amount of nickel powder used to make batteries was barely 1% higher than the 1989 figure. The consumption of nickel powder for PM applications was said to be in high density, high strength products such as PM structural parts and AlNiCo sintered magnets. Nickel powder consumed in Japan is all imported, chiefly from Canada and the UK. Table 3.27 Nickel Powder uses in Japan 1989-1990 (tonnes) Application

1989

1990

Ni/Cd Batteries PM Products Welding Rods Chemical Products etc

2800 500 250 1410

2819 500 250 1530

4960

5099

Total

Source: Metal Powder Report, 1991,35(9) (Quoted from Roskill's Letter from Japan)

More recent import statistics published by the US Geological Survey indicate Japanese nickel powder and flake imports rising from 6803 tonnes in 1994 to 10 105 tonnes, valued at US$98 million, in 1997 and up 37% from 1996. Japan was said to have exported 697 tonnes of nickel powder and flakes, mainly to France, Hongkong and Taiwan. Actual domestic consumption of nickel powder and flake in 1997 rose to 8000 tonnes. The overall increased demand for nickel was reported to be largely due to increased consumption by the manufacturers of electronic materials, battery materials and stainless steels. Norilsk Nickel in Russia has about 6000 tonnes per annum of nickel powder capacity at a carbonyl nickel plant in Monchegorsk near Murmansk. Domestic Russian consumption of nickel powder is believed to be less than 100 tonnes per annum, down from 2500 tonnes in the previous decade. Exports to the West recommenced in 1998. Nickel alloy powders are known to be produced in Belgium, France, Germany, Japan, Sweden and the UK, and consumed in Europe, Japan and East Asia, but no published figures are available for these activities. The global summary and forecast for nickel powder is given in Table 3.28.

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Table 3.28 Global Summary of Nickel Powder and Flake Consumption and Forecast to 2010 (tonnes) North America Europe (E & W) Japan, Asia, ROW

Total

2 O01

2005(F)

2010(F)

8300* 6000(E) 22 000(E)

10 000 7000 30 000

12 000 9000 36 000

40 000(E)

50 0 0 0

60 0 0 0

Source: * MPIF; (E) = Estimate, this report; (F) = Forecast

Tin is a low melting point metal; tin and tin alloy powders are usually manufactured in batches by air atomization.

3.6.1 Applications of Tin Powder The chief applications of tin powders are as a pre-mix component in the production of PM porous self-lubricating bronze bearings, and as a constituent in soldering alloys and brazing pastes and powders. Tin powders are also used in PM structural parts, friction components such as clutches and brake linings, metal-graphite brushes, diamond abrasive grinding wheels, bronze filters, plasma-arc spraying, chemical applications, pyrotechnics and as tin flake.

3.6.2 Global Consumption of Tin Powder There are no global statistics available for the consumption of tin powders. Global consumption of tin powder seems unlikely to have changed a great deal from the estimate of 2500 tonnes for 1995 given in the second edition of this report, since North American shipments have declined slightly and the economic problems in other regions seem unlikely to have proved beneficial to tin powder consumption, except for China where capacity for air-atomized tin solder powder was recently expanded.

3.6.2.1 North America As indicated in Table 3.29, North American consumption of tin powder has fluctuated within the range of 700-1100 tonnes since 1990. The apparent lack of growth in use of tin powder can be related to two factors: the decline in consumption of premixed bronze powders for PM self-lubricating bearings, partly due to downsizing and partly to substitution by cheaper iron-base and diluted bronze compositions, as well as by plastics; and the compensating rise in the use of tin in other applications. However, there were noticeable recoveries to 1130 and

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1044 tonnes in 1994 and 2000, respectively, followed by a drop to 700 tonnes in 2002 then a rise to 850 tonnes in 2003. Overall, during the past decade, North American shipments of tin powder have ranged between 4-5% of the weight of copper powder shipments for PM applications, indicating the predominant use of tin powder is still in selflubricating bronze bearings. Table 3.29 North American Consumption of Tin Powder 1990-2003 (tonnes) 13n Powder Shipments 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003

910 750 860 1000 1130 975 916 941 975 922 1044 671 696 848

Source: MPIF

3.6.2.2 Europe, Japan and the Rest of the World No statistics for the consumption of tin powders are available for Europe, Japan, or the remaining countries. Rough estimates can be derived for tin powder consumption for Europe and Japan from the indicated volume of PM bearings. Thus by assuming a 9 0 / 1 0 copper/fin composition for the bronze content of PM beatings materials, we can postulate current tin powder consumption in Europe to be about 700 tonnes, and about 1000 tonnes in the rest of the world. The status of non-PM usage for tin powder is unknown. The global summary and forecast for tin powder is given in Table 3.30. Table 3.30 Global Summary and Forecasts for Tin Powders to 2010 (tonnes) North America Europe (E & W) Japan, Asia, ROW

Total

2001

2005(F)

2010(F)

671" 700(E) 800(E)

900 700 1000

1100 800 1400

2200(E)

2600

3300

Source: * MPIF; (E) = Estimate, this report; (F) = Forecast

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Aluminium powder is manufactured in atomized and flake forms. The most important uses of aluminium powder are in metallurgical and chemical manufacture, solid fuels for rockets, in pyrotechnics and explosives, and for the manufacture of aluminium flake. The use of aluminium powder in PM structural parts is increasing but very minor. Aluminium PM applications in the automotive sector include camshaft bearing caps, mirror brackets, shock absorber parts, gerotors and pumps. Magnesium powder is produced by atomization and by comminution.

3.7.1 Applications of Aluminium and Magnesium Powders Applications for aluminium powders are mainly related to its low density and chemical reactivity, or strong affinity for oxygen. One of the earliest uses of a|uminium powder, in explosives, continues in applications such as in blasting agents for rock mining, in solid fuel for rockets and in fireworks. Each launch of the Space Shuttle requires an estimated 160 tonnes of aluminium powder. Fine and superfine spherical powders are used in rocket propulsion fuels. The energy release and reactivity of aluminium powder is put to use in the metallurgical industry where a major application is in the production of chromium metal and ferro-alloys. Other metallurgical uses include exothermic welding, eg of steel railroad tracks, and powder-lancing of steel or concrete (in combination with iron powder). The chemical industry is another important consumer of aluminium powders, where it is employed as a catalyst in organic reactions, as well as to produce compounds such as aluminium chlorohydrate, a constituent of body deodorants and anti-perspirants. Pure and super-pure aluminium powders are milled to produce paste and flake that find application in paints for decorative finishes or for protective coatings on exposed structures. Aluminium flake used as metallic pigment for paints and coatings is made in 2 types" 'leafing' and 'non-leafing', according to the application. Leafing pigments processed to rise to the surface of the paint, reflect heat in roof coatings and can protect non-aluminium structures such as bridges and storage tanks from the weather. Non-leafing pigments processed to remain suspended in the paint or coating, provide the polychromatic metallic finish for cars, trucks and other items such as inks and football helmets. Aluminium powders are also used in the production of PM parts for structural and non-structural applications in the transportation, business machine and aerospace areas. Aluminium PM products generally fall into

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two main categories" pressed and sintered, and prealloyed PM mill shapes (including MMCs). For pressed and sintered parts, aluminium powder and elemental alloy powders or master alloy powders are blended then pressed and sintered to yield net or near-net shapes. Advantages of aluminium PM include" light weight, corrosion resistance, high thermal and electrical conductivity, good machinability and excellent response to a variety of finishing processes. The most successful recent application for aluminium PM parts is the camshaft bearing cap in the cylinder head assembly for GM's dual-OHC Northstar engine. This part was specified as PM early in the Northstar development because of both its inherent machanical properties and the potential to reduce manufacturing steps. The cap has been in production since January 1992 with no failures in either test engines or in the field. Other pressed and sintered aluminium PM applications in the automotive sector include shock-absorber parts, mirror brackets, gerotors and pumps. An alternative version of aluminium PM takes advantage of rapid solidification technology (RST) to produce prealloyed materials having higher strength, toughness, fatigue, corrosion, and elevated-temperature performance than possible with conventional ingot technology. These powders are produced by a rapid solidification atomization process. The RST powders are vacuum hot-pressed into billets, then fabricated into products by standard metal working equipment, and machined using customary aluminium procedures. RST alloys can be blended with ceramic powders such as silicon carbide to produce PM based MMCs that have 'next generation' properties in areas of stiffness, fatigue, wear etc. Some of these have already been successfully flight tested, eg in the Eurocopter. Magnesium and magnesium/aluminium alloy powders are mainly used for flares and other incendiary devices. Other applications include" 9 9 9 9

the manufacture of chemical reagents for use in the pharmaceutical and fine chemical industries; metallurgical reductant in the manufacture of beryllium and uranium metals; the desulphurization of molten iron and steel. flux additive in welding electrode coatings.

Magnesium powder is mostly used in the pure elemental form but some Mg-AI alloys are used as mentioned above for flares and photoflashes, and in metallurgical desulphurization applications.

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3.7.2 Global Consumption of Aluminium and Magnesium Powders The global consumption of atomized aluminium powder and flake is believed to have remained at about the same level for the last few years. Unfortunately there are no statistics available to permit an estimate to be made of consumption figures for magnesium powder.

3. 7.2.1 North America Table 3.31 N o r t h A m e r i c a n C o n s u m p t i o n Flake 1 9 9 0 - 2 0 0 3

of A l u m i n i u m

Powder and

Tonnes 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003

32 470 31 300 26 940 26 760 39 650 33 600 31 010 40 300 43 590 48 790 51 230(E) 45 O00(E) 45 360(E) 45 360(E)

(E) = Estimated shipments due to reluctance of suppliers to provide data Source: MPIF

The totals of North American consumption of aluminium powder and flake are shown in Table 3.31. As the table shows, there have been several sudden and large changes in consumption of aluminium powder and flake since 1990. The rather trendless variation of the previous two decades was broken when shipments rose above 40 000 tonnes and stayed there through 2003. As with other metal powders in North America, shipments peaked in 2000, reaching a new estimated record of 51 230 tonnes. Although the MPIF reported rapid growth in PM aluminium parts in 1999 and 2000, PM grade aluminium powder shipments were a mere 1227 tonnes in 1999. So far, this application has not reached a level high enough to impact the overall shipment statistics. Prospective increased interest from design engineers in the auto sector could change this, as some estimates indicate a potential market for PM aluminium of 'over 25 000 short tons' (23 000 tonnes). At the 2004 MPIF Auto Suppliers luncheon Program in Detroit, guest speaker Dr Charles Wu, director, Manufacturing and Vehicle Design, Research and Advanced Engineering, Ford Motor Co, talking about the role of PM in future automotive

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materials, gave a very encouraging outlook for aluminium PM components (PM, 2004, 47(3), pp223-225). There was great interest in improving fuel economy by reducing vehicle weight. He said there was a role for PM aluminim and titanium, as well as moulded plastics, aluminium castings and extrusions, magnesium castings and stamped aluminium. He went on to note a recent USCAR project in which PM aluminium oil-pump gears and AI-MMC connecting rods were developed. He indicated that there were also opportunities for lightweight PM in non-traditional areas such as body structures, chassis, and interiors. However, it seems these new projected PM uses for aluminium powder are moving very slowly.

3. 7.2.2 Europe, Japan and the Rest of the World The market for aluminium PM parts in Europe for 1993 was estimated by Lindskog at about 200 tonnes. He added that there was also an interest in aluminium foam and porous aluminium for shock and sounddampening applications in vehicles. The total European market for atomized aluminium powder in 1993 was estimated at 20 500 tonnes, down from 24 500 in 1991. The breakdown of the atomized aluminium market in 1991 is shown in Table 3.32. As indicated, the major application areas identified were in the chemical and metallurgical industries which consumed more than 60%. Table 3.32 Breakdown of European Market for Atomized Aluminium Powder 1991 M a r k e t Sector

Chemical Industry Ferro-alloys Exothermic Reaction Traders Explosives Others Total

Tonnes

8888 5143 2425 2035 912 5172 24 500

% 36 21 10 8 4 21 100

Source: H-C Neubing, Eckart-Werke, Germany (Metal Powder Report, Sept 1994, p14)

There are apparently no statistics available for the consumption of magnesium powders in Europe, although they are used in the metallurgical, chemical reaction and pyrotechnics areas at least, as in North America. There is a lack of recent statistics for either aluminium or magnesium powder usage in Japan. Shipments of about 16 600 tonnes of aluminium powder as raw material for flake for paints and printing inks were reported for 1986, up from 13 000 in 1982. In the same year, about 800 tonnes of atomized aluminium alloy powder was used in PM applications

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(up from 400 tonnes in 1982). As reported by Peter Johnson (IJPM, 1997, 33(1), p17) the Powder Metal Products division of Sumitomo Electric Industries Ltd makes aluminum PM products by three methods: cold isostatic pressing (CIP), forging, and conventional pressing and sintering. Automotive air-conditioner parts are made from an aluminium/silicon alloy by CIPing, extrusion and cutting. He estimated the total PM aluminium powder market in Japan at about 2000 tonnes. No statistics have been uncovered for either aluminium or magnesium powder in the rest of the world. There are atomized aluminium powder plants in Australia, Brazil, China, India, Ireland and Bahrain but consumption figures for the markets served are unavailable. The global summary and forecast for aluminium powder is given in Table 3.33. Table 3.33 Global Summary of Aluminium Powder and Flake Consumption and Forecasts to 20!0 (tonnes) 2001

2005(F)

2010(F)

North America Europe (E & W)

45 000" 25 000(E)

46 000 28 000

50 000 32 000

Japan, Asia, ROW

30 000(E)

36 000

43 000

100 O00(E)

110 0 0 0

125 0 0 0

Total

Source: * MPIF; (E) = Estimate, this report; (F) = Forecast.

Titanium metal and titanium alloy powders originate from two distinct sources" commercial purity titanium powder is generally derived from primary titanium sponge production by screening out t h e - 1 0 0 mesh sponge fines. Titanium alloy powders, on the other hand, are usually produced by gas atomization or from solid wrought alloy by 'noncontact' processes such as the Plasma Rotating Electrode Process (PREP) (See Section 5.3.4) The low density, high strength, good corrosion and oxidation resistance, and excellent bio-compatibility make titanium and its alloys attractive for many applications. The major drawback- high material and procesing c o s t - has prevented titanium from enjoying wider use. Currently the aerospace industry consumes over 40% of approximately 65 000 tonnes of conventional wrought and cast titanium produced annually. Other uses include chemical, architectural, sports equipment and medical devices. So far there are only small niche applications for titanium in the automotive sector.

Primary titanium metal is produced by reduction of TiCI 4 with magnesium or sodium. The resulting titanium sponge is purified by vacuum arc melting and requires many expensive processing steps to

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produce semi-finished products and finished components. Production of titanium powder by either gas atomizing or by centrifugal atomizing is difficult and expensive. Gas atomized titanium powder has been quoted as costing s (US$45-110) per kg, while crushed sponge is about s (US$27) per kg (Mark Hull, PM, 2004, 47(1), pp12-14).

3.8.1 Applications of Titanium and 11tanium Alloy Powders The attractive properties of titanium mentioned above make it a seemingly ideal material for any number of applications in automotive, aerospace, medical devices etc. Despite significant R&D efforts over several decades, very little success has been achieved in developing aerospace applications for PM titanium alloys. Although a major quantity of wrought titanium alloy is used in aircraft structures and gas turbine engines, so far due to a variety of factors, including the high cost of clean titanium alloy powder, no critical rotating parts have been put into production using PM titanium. PM titanium has a very small share of the non-aerospace market for titanium, in such areas as medical devices and chemical processing, where the low density and outstanding corrosion resistance are key factors. More recently, there have been several development projects aimed at producing high quality titanium powder at much lower cost than conventional products. The FFC process, developed by Fray, Farthing and Chen at Cambridge University uses pigment grade titanium dioxide to form cathodes in an electrolytic cell with molten calcium chloride at 800~ The cathodes, after reduction to metallic titanium, can be crushed to give 12-micron powder with purity up to 99.8%. The FFC prrocess is being commercialized by QinetiQ in the UK in a licence agreement involving British Titanium. Alloy powders can be produced by reducing mixtures of oxides. QinetiQ has indicated that evaluation quantities of commercial-pure titanium and Ti-6AI-4V alloy powders would be available in mid-2004. Major cost reductions in the process are expected in the next few years. Among other novel processes being pursued, International Titanium Powder (ITP) in the US has developed a near-continuous version of the Hunter process, in which TiCI 4 is reduced by sodium to produce powder and is currently at the pilot scale stage. For all these new processes, questions remain about the quality of the final product and the additional processing required to provide a useful powder, as well as the economics of operation.

3.8.2 Global Consumption of ~tanium and Titanium Alloy Powders There are no available statistics on the current use of titanium metal and alloy powders. The total consumption in the industrialized countries is

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estimated to be not more than a few hundred tonnes, mostly in PM wrought products, such as Ni-Ti wire. The BCC report estimated US titanium-based PM products to be worth US$400 000 in 1998, and expected to remain a very small market in the near term, rising to US$700 000 by 2003. The global market for gas-atomized titanium alloy powders has been estimated at about 50 tonnes in 2003 (M Hull, loc

cit.).

Tungsten is distinguished by having the highest melting point (>3400~ among metals and by its very high density (19.3g/cm3), over twice that of iron. Like other refractory metals, tungsten has high wear resistance and corrosion resistance. However, it has poor resistance to oxidation at temperatures above 500~ and requires surface coating protection or a non-oxidizing atmosphere for elevated temperature service. Because of its high melting point, tungsten is usually extracted from ore concentrate and reduced to the metallic form as powder, via intermediate compounds. Tungsten became important at the beginning of the 20th century on account of its application as an alloying element in tool steels, and in the form of filament wire for incandescent lamps. The application of tungsten powder in tool steels was eventually replaced by ferro-tungsten, but a decade later the development of tungsten carbide-cobah 'cemented carbide' or hardmetal cutting tools, originally for filament wire-drawing, led to the growth of a global industry that now consumes more than half the world's production of tungsten. By far the largest deposits of tungsten ores are in China, which continues to be the world's leading producer of tungsten concentrate.

3.9.1 Applications of Tungsten Powder As indicated above, the largest application of elemental tungsten powder is in the production of tungsten carbide. As shown in Table 3.34, close to two thirds of world tungsten metal production is used in hardmetals, while in the USA the figure is now said to be over 50% (2003), but down from 70% in 2000. According to the International Tungsten Industry Association (ITIA), the annual worldwide consumption of tungsten carbide has grown to nearly 30 000 tonnes. Other uses such as alloy constituents in high speed tool steels, and other alloy steels, fabricated tungsten and tungsten alloy products, superalloys and chemicals etc. each consume between 5% and 25% of overall world tungsten supplies. Chemical uses are mainly in the form of catalysts, pigments and hightemperature lubricants.

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Table 3.34 Breakdown of Tungsten Metal Applications 2003 Application Hardmetals Alloy Constituent in Tool Steels etc Fabricated Tungsten Chemicals & Others

W Europe

USA

Japan

China

62%

60%

45%

40%

24% 6% 8%

21% 15% 4%

25% 10% 20%

48% 4% 8%

Source: ITIAWebsite

Tungsten carbide used in the majority of hardmetals is normally produced via tungsten metal powder by carburization, although alternative processes exist. The trend is for tungsten carbide to represent an increasingly larger fraction of applications for tungsten, eg in the form of grade powders. Tungsten carbide grade powders are the raw material for the production of hardmetal tools and wear parts. Each powder particle contains all of the ingredients of the specified grade: tungsten carbide, cobalt and alloy additives, plus wax binder to serve as a die-wall lubricant. The manufacture of tungsten metal wire and filaments for electric light bulbs and halogen lights is an important segment of fabricated tungsten materials. Tungsten wire has unique properties that make it suitable for incandescent lamp filaments. This application consumes about 2000 tonnes per year worldwide. PM tungsten heavy alloys (W-Ni-Cu or W-Ni-Fe) fabricated by isostatic pressing or conventional PM are used in ordnance applications in the form of kinetic penetrators, also as (aircraft) counterweights and in radiation shielding. Other applications for alloys based on tungsten powder include electrodes, electrical contacts, heat sinks used in high-speed computers and cellular phone base stations, hardfacing alloys, and sporting goods (golf club head inserts and darts, and the replacement of lead in fishing weights and small arms ammunition).

3.9.2 Global Consumption of Tungsten Powder World tungsten supply continues to be dominated by China. Starting in 1999, the Chinese Government has controlled the release of Chinese tungsten in the world market. As well as regulating production and the level of exports, the Chinese Government has been gradually shifting the balance of export quotas towards value-added tungsten materials and products. China has also become a major tungsten consumer. Since industry stocks do not appear to fluctuate wildly, worldwide consumption of tungsten products can be interpreted from the combination of global mine production, scrap reccycling and shipments/draw-downs from National Defence Stockpiles. According to the US Geological Survey (USGS), the tungsten content of world concentrate production Metal Powders 105

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has risen an estimated 61% from 37 000 tonnes in 1998 to 59 500 tonnes in 2003. During this period, China's share went from 81% to 83%, while Russia's share was estimated to have fallen from 8% to 6%. The rise of 3000 tonnes in non-Chinese production is accountable by the re-start in 2002 of the North American Tungsten Corp Cantung mine in the North West Territories of Canada. As indicated in the USGS report, demand for tungsten tends to follow general economic conditions. Worldwide consumption of tungsten metal in all forms, including ferrotungsten and intermediate powder products for the production of tungsten carbide, has fluctuated between 40 000 and 50 000 tonnes during the last couple of decades, according to the ITIA. The North American tungsten market has been estimated to be similar to that in Europe and to represent about one-third of the world market of about 45 000 tonnes in 2000 (Peter K Johnson, IJPM, 2000, 36(4), p45). Global consumption of tungsten is expected to grow modestly at 2-3% over the next few years in tandem with the world economy. This upswing has been predicted to cause a shortage in supply following mine closures and production cut-backs during the recession. The current distribution of consumption indicates China as a major user with about 25%, the balance being split between the former Soviet Union countries (14%) and the other industrialized countries (61%). China currently accounts for over 80% of the supply of primary tungsten in terms of ores and concentrates, the other main producers being in the former Soviet Union. Over the long term, demand for tungsten in the form of tungsten carbide is being adversely affected by improvements in carbide tools that provide longer tool life, and by increasing use of cermet and ceramic tool bits. By the end of the 1980s, these developments were estimated to have reduced the demand for tungsten in the form of tungsten carbide by 10-15%. According to Klaus Dreyer and Henk van den Berg, Widia GmbH, Germany, 'the market for inserts and tool holders was not expected to show any growth because of the Asian crisis. On the other hand, die and wear parts were expected to grow at a modest pace of 2%/year, while the market potential for solid hardmetal round tools was set to grow at 12%/year, reflecting the increasing substitution of HSS tools by hardmetal tools.' (MPR, 1999, 54(4) ppl4-19).

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Table 3.35 Breakdown of Hardmetal Tool Market in 1997 (US$ million) Europe

%

1570 430 300

68.3 18.7 13.0

Inserts/Toolholders Round Tools Die & Wear Parts Total

2300

100

World

5100 1400 950 7450

%

68.4 18.8 12.8 100

Source: Dreyer & van den Berg

US Defence experts have been reviewing the use of tungsten for armourpiercing projectiles as a replacement for depleted uranium (DU) due to the high cost of environmental clean up associated with DU. The clean up of D U rounds fired during the Gulf War conflict has been reputed to have cost over US$1 billion. Replacement of lead in ammunition, medical, and sporting goods applications, is another potential new market for tungsten heavy alloys as well as pure tungsten metal. Environmental pressures are encouraging companies to look at alternative high density materials to replace lead in fishing weights, medical X-ray shielding, and sporting arms ammunition (lead shot and bullets). This market has been estimated to have the potential to grow to an eventual level of 5000-6000 tonnes/year.

3.9.2.1 North America Table 3.36 shows the shipments of tungsten and tungsten carbide powders in the USA between 1990 and 2003 as recorded by the MPIF. The figures suggest lower levels of tungsten powder consumption after 1990, but these picked up from 2000 and rose to a new peak estimated at 2270 tonnes in 2002 although the year-to-year shifts are rather irregular and difficult to interpret. Also, recycling accounts for up to 37% of tungsten carbide production in the USA.

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Table 3.36 US Shipments of Tungsten Powder and Tungsten Carbide Powder 1990-2003 (tonnes) Tungsten Metal

Tungsten as Tungsten Carbide

1990

2250

4550

1991 1992

1900 1300

4450 4100

1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001

1700 1300 1310 710 620 1330 1390 1760 1588(E)

4700 5650 na 5700 6280 6560 5380 5851 5262 (E)

2002 2003

2268(E) 2722(E)

4840(R) 4775(R)

Source: MPIF; (E) = Estimate; (R) = Revised figures

In the latter part of the 1990s and into 2001, the supply side for primary tungsten was a major concern. Between 1994 and 2002 there was no tungsten mine operating in North America. The gap was filled by recycling and by shipments from former Soviet Union defence stockpiles, but the latter petered out at the end of th decade. In 1999, the US Defense Logistics Agency initiated a plan to release tungsten materials from the national Defense Stockpile. Shipments began in 2000 when over 1800 tonnes of 'tungsten content' was shipped. However, the US continues to rely on imports for two-thirds of its tungsten supply. Overall US tungsten shipment statistics from 1999 to 2003 are given in Table 3.37. Imports from the re-opened CanTung mine in Canada began in 2002. Imported concentrate from Canada replaced imports from Russia, which declined to 4% of total tungsten imports in 2001. Imports from Canada jumped to 2500 tonnes or 27% of total imports in 2002 and climbed futher to 3000 tonnes in 2003. However, China remained the chief source, supplying half of US imported tungsten raw materials. Unfortunately, due to cancellation of two major contracts, North American Tungsten was forced into bankruptcy in 2003 and the CanTung mine was again closed. Following improvements in market conditions, negotiations were underway a year later and the mine was expected to re-open once more in the summer of 2005.

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Table 3.37 US Net Production of Tungsten and Tungsten Carbide Powders 1999-2003 (tonnes) Hydrogen-reduced Tungsten Powder Tungsten Carbide Powder from Tungsten Powder Total

1999

2000

2001

2002

2003

4540

5290

5190

7970

5350

3960

4490

4330

4070

3680

8500

9780

9520

12000

9030

Source: US Geological SurveyTungsten Annual Reports

Table 3.38 US Imports, Exports and Consumption of Tungsten Powders 1999-2003 (tonnes) Imports Exports (Gross) (Tungsten content, estimate by USGS) Consumption, Tungsten Powder Consumption, Mill Products made from Tungsten Powder

1999

2000

2001

2002

2003

310 889

593 583

947 712

642 620

1090 1420

711

467 2270

569 2360

496 3790

1130

1860

W

1290(E) 1600(E) 1700(E) 2500(E)

Source: US Geological Survey;W = withheld to avoid disclosing company proprietary data E = Estimate, this report

According to the USGS, US net production of hydrogen-reduced tungsten powder peaked in 2002 at 7970 tonnes, but otherwise has remained in the 4600-5600 tonnes range since 1998 (Table 3.37). Production of tungsten carbide powders from tungsten powder on the other hand has been declining steadily since 1999, dropping to 3680 tonnes in 2003. On the consumption side, shipments of tungsten powder have apparently doubled between 1998 and 2003 from 1330 tonnes to an estimated 2722 tonnes, according to figures published by MPIF (Table 3.36). The same table shows tungssten carbide powder shipments have declined more or less steadily since 1998 to 4800 tonnes in 2003. As indicated in Table 3.34, cemented carbides represent 60% of US consumption of tungsten. The balance is mostly used in mill products (from powder) and as an alloy addition in steels and superalloys. As well as being tied to the general state of the economy, these product categories are particularly influenced by the health of the automotive, aerospace, mining and oil and gas exploration industries. All of these have experienced difficulties since 2000. While there was strong recovery in 2003, the US tungsten market faces a number of cross-currents. One of these is the increasing trend in China towards the export of semi-finished and finished products. On the other hand, US defence spending and the production, starting in 2003, of 'green ammunition', in which tungsten replaces lead or depleted uranium, could result in consumption of an

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additional 2000 tonnes or more of tungsten powder by 2006. Nevertheless, advances in cutting tool technology, such as the development of improved coating processes and compositions, are extending the life of cemented carbide and high-speed steel tools, raising productivity but reducing the demand for tungsten carbide (Michael Payne, 'US Tungsten market', ITIA Newsletter, December 2002).

3.9.2.2 Europe There appears to be an absense of up to date statistics on the consumption of tungsten powder in Western Europe. Austria, France, Germany and Sweden are believed to be the main countries involved in tungsten product manufacturing and export, although this is likely to be largely concerned with tungsten carbide powder and hardmetal tools. Ralf Eck (MPR, 1993, 48(12), pp32-36) gave a figure of 8700 tonnes for the 1990 consumption of tungsten in Western Europe, of which approximately 5400 tonnes would be as tungsten carbide while about 900 tonnes were used in tungsten metal and alloys. Germany is believed to account for half of European consumption, while Sweden's hardmetal tool industry uses about a quarter.

3.9.2.3 Japan and the Rest of the World In line with the rest of the industrial world, production of tungsten products in Japan slumped during 1991 and 1992. This was reflected in tungsten powder shipments that fell by more than 20% in 1992 to 2635 tonnes. More recent statistics from Japan are not available.

China Tungsten heavy alloys have been produced in China for more than 30 years. A variety of W-Ni-Fe and W-Ni-Cu alloys are made for use in gyrorotors, counterbalances, hot-forging anvils, radiation shields, and military materials. In addition, a comprehensive industrial complex has been built for production of cemented carbides with a total output of up to 5000 tonnes. Production of hardmetals in 1992 has been estimated at 4000 tonnes, implying a consumption of about 3500 tonnes of tungsten powder. China also uses a substantial amount of tungsten as alloy addition in steelmaking.

Korea Although closure of tungsten mining activity was announced in 1993, Korea continued to manufacture tungsten metal and tungsten carbide powders as well as hardmetal products. About 100 tonnes of tungsten powder was produced in 1995, down from 1500 tonnes in 1991. On the other hand, tungsten carbide production increased to 2500 tonnes in 1995 versus 1100 in 1991. The tungsten powder was used to make tungsten wire and heavy alloys. Most of the tungsten carbide powder was

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exported. (I-H Moon, W-J Lee & J-W Lee, IJPM 1992, Vol. 28(4) pp 413--416; I-H Moon and W-J Lee, IJPM, 1997, 33(2), pp15-18).

Russia In the former Soviet Union (FSU) hardmetal and refractory metal powders such as tungsten and molybdenum were manufactured and fabricated into finished products by the state enterprise SOYUZTVERDOSPLAV. Since the political changes in 1991, the Russian plants of this industry have been formed into TVERDOSPLAV Inc, except for the Moscow Integrated Hardmetal Plant (MKTS), which became Sandvik Moscow when Sandvik acquired a majority ownership in 1994. MKTS manufactures cemented carbide components for use as machine tools, rock drilling tips, and wear parts. Plants in Ukraine (hardfacing materials and tungsten wire) and in Tashkent Region, Uzbekistan, came under the control of the FSU. Since that time, Russian hardmetal production was reported to have declined steeply (down 57% in 1992-1993). The only exports of this industry are said to be from the hydrometallurgical plants (Source: K Cherniavsky, MPR, 1995, 50(4), p28). At the PM2004 World Congress in Vienna, Dr Cesar Molins, president of EPMA reported Russian shipments of 3000 tonnes of tungsten powder and about 2000 tonnes of tungsten carbide parts. The global summary and forecast for tungsten powder is given in Table 3.39. Table 3.39 Global Summary of Tungsten Powder Consumption and Forecasts to 2010 (tonnes) Region North America Europe (E & W) Japan, Asia, ROW

Total

2001

2005(F)

2010(F)

6850* 13 000(E) 14 000(E)

7000 12 000 18 000

7500 12 500 20 000

34 O00(E)

37 0 0 0

40 000

Source: * MPIF; (E) = Estimate, this report; (F) = Forecast

Molybdenum is a refractory metal used mainly as an alloying element in low-alloy, stainless and tool steels, cast irons, and superalloys, to improve mechanical strength, toughness, wear resistance and corrosion resistance. In these applications molybdenum is used chiefly in the form of molybdic oxide, although ferromolybdenum is also employed. Molybdenum has significant uses as a refractory metal in chemical applications, also in catalysts, lubricants and pigments. Metallic molybdenum is mostly

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produced in the form of powder which is processed into mill shapes by HIPing and then sintering at about 2100~ Hot-working is done at 870-1260~ Molybdenum forms a volatile oxide when heated in air above 600~ so high temperature applications are limited to nonoxidizing or vacuum environments. In the PM field, moybdenum is used as an alloying constituent of low-alloy and stainless steel powders, as well as tool steel powders. Molybdenum ore reserves are mostly located in the western mountains of North and South America. According to the International Molybdenum Association (IMOA) website, the USA was the largest producer of molybdenum until 2002, when it was overtaken by China, which produced over 30% of world supply that year. Including Canada and Chile, the Americas produced about half of the total, down from 60% in 1999. Due to increasing uses, demand in the western world doubled during the 15 years to 1998, when worldwide mine production peaked at 136 000 tonnes. Since 2000 mine production has fallen slightly to 125 000 tonnes in 2003. A significant amount of molybdenum for metallurgical applications is produced as ferro-molybdenum by smelting of the oxide. Production of ferro-molybdenum in the western world is in the order of 20 000 tonnes/year. According to data on the IMOA website, estimated global consumption of molybdenum rose to 140 000 tonnes in 2000 but has levelled off since then. The breakdown of consumption by regions (Table 3.40) indicates that Western Europe continues to account for about 35% of world consumption, with the USA just over 23% and Japan around 15%. Consumption in China and the rest of the world has increased nearly 40% since 1999 and now representes over 27% of the total. Table 3.40 Estimated Overall Consumption of Molybdenum by Region 1999-2002 (tonnes) 1999

2000

2001

2002

49 000 31 000 19 000 8000 20 000

50 000 35 000 22 000 8000 25 000

51 000 33 000 21 000 9000 27 000

50 000 32 000 22 000 10 000 29 000

129 000

140 000

141 000

142 000

W Europe USA Japan China Rest of World

Total

Source: IMOA Website

3.10.1

A p p l i c a t i o n s for M o l y b d e n u m

Powder

The main metallurgical use for molybdenum powder is of course to fabricate wrought forms of the metal and its alloys. Applications of PM molybdenum in the form of sheet, rod, wire and tube are mostly for high temperature service, electrical contacts and resistance welding electrodes. The high temperature applications include furnace parts, heating

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elements, rocket nozzles etc, and usually employ alloys such as TZM (Mo + 0.4/0.55% Ti + 0.06/0.12% Zr) which has greater high temperature strength than pure molybdenum. Other applications include permanent magnets, cemented carbides, hard-facing spray powders, and PM lowalloy steels made from diffusion-alloyed and blended elemental powders.

3.10.2 Global Consumption of Molybdenum Powder According to the IMOA, global consumption of molybdenum in chemicals and as molybdenum metal (presumably a combination of fabricated molybdenum and molybdenum powder) was estimated at 20% of total molybdenum consumption, or approximately 26 000 tonnes in 1997. Analysis of North American figures suggests that this could be broken into 7% for chemicals, 7% for molybdenum shipped as powder, and 6% shipped as mill products. This last figure is consistant with an earlier estimate given by R E c k (MPR, 1993, 48(12), pp32-36) for 1988, in which worldwide consumption of molybdenum was put at 97 000 tonnes, while 5000-5500 tonnes were consumed in the form of PM fabricated molybdenum and alloys. On the other hand, Kneringer and Stickler (IJPM, 1996, 32(5) quoted worldwide production of molybdenum powder at 5200 tonnes, indicating a somewhat lower percentage for this segment of molybdenum usage. IMOA figures (www.imoa.org.uk) indicate that global molybdenum consumption continues to grow at about 2.5% per annum, a growth rate previously established for the US market (MPGS, 3rd Edition).

3.10.2.1 North America According to figures published by MPIF and reproduced in metric units in Table 3.41, shipments of molybdenum powder in the USA have been static at an estimated 2250 tonnes since 1992. Shipments of molybdenum powder have exceeded those for tungsten powder only since 1990. Molybdenum metal powder statistics published by USGS tell a slightly different story. Thus Table 3.42 indicates a peak in molybdenum powder production in 2000 at 5180 tonnes, falling to 3490 tonnes by 2003. The production of mill products from molybdenum powder has ben in decline since 1990, falling sharply from 2400 tonnes to 1090 tonnes in 2003. According to the latest reports from USGS, molybdenum powder consumption rose during 2004, with mill products made from powder running at an annual rate of about 1500 tonnes in July/August, compared with the average for the previous year.

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Table 3.41 US Statistics for Molybdenum Powder 1990-2003" Powder Shipments, Imports, Exports and Mill Products made from Powder (tonnes) Powder Shipments 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003

Imports

Exports

Mill Products from Powder

66 113 306 210 262 321

203 168 195 125 77 110

1700 1630 2200 2050 2250 2410

2250(E) 2100(E) 2250(E) 2250(E) 2250(E) 2270(E) 2270(E) 2270(E) 2270(E) 2270(E) 2270(E) 2270(E) 2270(E) 2270(E)

Source: MPIF and USGS; E = Estimate

Table 3.42 US Molybdenum Metal Powder Statistics 1999-2003 (tonnes) Gross Production Mo Powder used to make Other Products Net Mo Powder Production Shipments Mill Products made from Mo Powder US Exports US Imports

1999

2000

2001

2002

2003

4090

5180

5120

2700

3490

2200 1880 580

3000 2190 730

4340 771 771

2190 513 601

2730 760 739

2400 362 114

2190 300 137

1910 219 172

1040 122 39

1090 308 57

Source: USGS

3.10.2.2 Europe, Japan, China and the Rest of the World Overall statistics for worldwide molybdenum consumption indicate that the US represented just under a quarter of the total in 2002. The only recent published figure for consumption outside of North America is thc 1500 tonnes of molybdenum powder produced in Russia and mostly shipped to the EU countries in 2003, as reported by Cesar Molins at the PM2004 World Congress in Vienna. With no other recent statistics for Europe, Japan or the rest of the world, it is hard to make any analysis for molybdenum powder markets in these regions. From the overall consumption figures given by IMOA (Table 3.40), Japan plus Europe still represent about half of worldwide usage, while China and the rest of

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the world have gained a few percent of the total over the past several years.

Because of its use in critical industrial and military applications, cobalt has long been regarded as a strategic metal. Despite shifting trends in recent years, the major single application of cobalt is in the production of nickelbased high-temperature alloys, or superalloys, which now consume about one quarter of available cobalt. These alloys are mainly used in the critical components of aircraft jet engines and land-based gas turbine engines, and are largely produced by conventional metallurgical processing, with only a very small fraction produced by a powder route. Refined cobalt is currently available from three types of source: from primary extraction and refining of ores and concentrates, frequently as a by-product of copper or nickel production; from the recycling of cobaltbearing scrap, eg hardmetals and rechargeable batteries; and thirdly from stockpiles such as the US Government's Defence Logistics Agency (DLA). According to the Cobalt Development Institute (CDI), about a quarter of primary refined cobalt is produced as powder, either intentionally, or as a result of the type of refining process employed, eg hydrometallurgy. The remainder is produced as cobalt cathode from electrowinning, or as cobalt salts and compounds. The CDI, which includes the majority of cobalt producers worldwide in its membership, lists at least seven companies supplying cobalt and or its alloys in powder form. Over the last few decades, cobalt metal supply and pricing have been subjected to wide swings mainly due to the location of important cobaltbearing resources in politically unstable countries. However, statistics published by the CDI show that the global availability of refined cobalt has grown steadily over the past decade (Table 3.43). From a low of just over 17 000 tonnes in 1993, the estimated supply reached just short of 41 000 tonnes in 2002. However, a decline in overall demand since 2000 has had a major impact on cobalt prices, with the LME 99.3% pure refined metal price falling from about US$15/pound in early 2000 to about US$6/pound in October 2002, a level not seen since 1988. The decline in demand was attributed by the CDI as mainly due to weakness in the superalloys and batteries markets. Long-awaited increases in cobalt production from new nickel-recovery projects have still not materialized and several of these have been put on hold or closed down.

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Table 3.43 Global Availability of Refined Cobalt 1995-2003 (tonnes) CDI Members Other Producers* DLA** Deliveries

Total

1998

1999

2000

2001

2002

2003

2004

25529 6494 2310

25705 7689 1679

26219 9401 3083

27853 10225 1893

30164 9759 1284

31406 11502 1987

32711 15193 1632

34333 35073

38703 39971

41207

44895 49536

* Including RSA, Brazil, India and China. **US government Defence Logistics Agency Source: Cobalt Development Institute (Cobalt News, April 2005)

Table 3.44 World Markets for Cobalt 1996-2002: Breakdown by Application (%) Application Sector

1996

1998

2000

2002

Superalloys (Ni/Co/Fe) Hardfacing Alloys Magnets - All Types Hardmetals & Diamond Tooling Catalysts, Various Types

25 7.1 10

24.3 6.9 8.5

26 7 9.8

24 7 7

14.5 9.6

15.2 8.8

14.3 8.5

15 10

Chemical and Miscellaneous* Batteries

28.8

27.5

26.9

28

5

9.5

7.5

10

Form Employed Metal (little powder) Metal & powder Metal & powder Powders, fine & very fine Metal, compounds, salts Chiefly cobalt salts and compounds Compounds (little powder)

*Including colours (glass, ceramics, etc), feedstuffs, anodizing, recording media, electrolysis, Cu electrowinning, tyre adhesives, soaps, driers Source: Cobalt Development Institute (including Website)

The breakdown of global cobalt consumption by application is shown in Table 3.44, where trends between the various sectors can be traced from 1996 to 2002. All markets for cobalt have increased over the past decade as the total market has doubled during that period. The most dramatic rise has been in the use of cobalt products in rechargeable batteries, mostly for mobile communication devices and lap-top computers. This application has grown from practically nil in 1990 to about 10% of total cobalt consumption by 2002. Despite a drop of 20% in the sales of cellphones in 2001, this rechargeable battery application was forecast to consume 7000 tonnes of cobalt by 2005. (Source: D Elliott, Falconbridge International, at Ryan's Notes Conference, October 2003; Cobalt News, 2004 (1), pp10-13). Another sector of cobalt applications that was forecast to grow rapidly is the use of cobalt catalysts. The two main areas of growth have been CoMo hydrogen desulphurization (HDS) catalysts for desulphurizing of hydrocarbon products and cobalt acetate for purified terephthalic acid (PTA) production. PTA is mainly used in the production of polyester fibre and polyethylene terephthalate (PET). The growth in PET has been in resins and films for commercial packaging applications, such as soft-drink bottles.

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Government legislation in the EU and USA concerning cleaner fuels means that refineries will have to lower the average sulphur level in petroleum products. In the USA, for example, average sulphur levels in gasoline must be lowered 90% by 2006. This has led not only to increased catalyst use but also to the development of new catalysts for the conversion of natural gas to synthetic crude that can be further refined to products like diesel fuel. Two-stage conversion of natural gas to diesel and other products is part of the solution in meeting clean fuel legislation. Large-scale commercial gas-to-liquid (GTL) plants are expected to start up in the next few years, and Elliott forecast this could boost cobalt consumption by 'well over 2000 tonnes' by 2015. While overall demand for cobalt now seems healthy, a major threat on the horizon is the EU's New Chemical Policy (now re-named REACH), which could restrict market access for cobalt (See Section 2.8). Elliott noted that the CDI and its member companies were working hard to ensure that there was a balance in legislation, and that decisions made were based on scientific facts. Cobalt Resources

Cobalt is a strategic metal to the USA, which is the world's largest consumer but has no mine or refinery production. A large portion of primary cobalt has for a long time been produced in politically unstable African countries and the metal has experienced occasional supply shortages and volatile price fluctuations. The US government has maintained significant quantifies of cobalt metal in the National Defence Stockpile. Sales of excess cobalt from the stockpile have contributed to US and world supply in recent years. Recycling of cobalt-containing scrap materials also contributes to supplies, sometimes as much as one third. Primary cobalt concentrates, metal and chemicals originate from many different countries: Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, China, Congo (formerly Zaire), Finland, Japan, Morocco, Norway, Russia, South Africa and Zambia. Mainly due to political difficulties in African countries, primary cobalt production fell significantly between 1986 and 1993, causing supply shortages. As a result, a number of projects were pursued to develop alternative sources of the metal. Some of the more ambitious projects are based on the recovery of nickel and cobalt from lateritic deposits in Australia and South East Asia. The main driving force for these projects is to produce nickel metal at lower cost by pressure acid leaching followed by solvent extraction. Cobalt metal is obtained as a byproduct. Some of these refineries will use hydrometallurgical processes that result in nickel and cobalt metal in powder form. As a result of recovery in African production in the second half of the 1990s, and other expansions, primary cobalt supplies were expected to rise significantly beyond the year 2000. According to the CDI, total cobalt consumption in all forms, outside the former Soviet Union, rose steadily during the

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1990s despite the recessions in Asia and elsewhere. Demand is projected to continue rising for the next several years. Reviewing worldwide supply and demand estimates at the 1999 Cobalt Conference, Peter Searle of Resource Strategies, Exton, PA, said that total world consumption 'probably dropped by a few hundred tonnes [in 1998]' mainly due to the collapse in demand in the CIS, while Western countries consumption rose by 2-3%. He saw a steady increase in demand in the next few years. On the supply side, he did not expect the recent oversupply position to be maintained, owing to reduced production in Africa and Russia, and delays in the start-up of Australian lateritic ore developments. The current shortfall would be eliminated by 2001 with the new production developments. After recent volatility, he expected cobalt metal prices to drop back to an annual average o f U S $ 1 5 / l b (US$33/kg), but prospects for much cheaper cobalt were some way off, after acid leaching projects were producing consistently. So much for 1999 predictions" subsequent events in 2001 caused a drop in aerospace construction and cell-phone sales, with a resulting collapse in the cobalt price and the failure/ postponement of several new cobalt projects.

Cobalt Production and Consumption in China: China has limited cobalt resources, so imported ores and concentrates are processed in several plants, some of which have increased capacity in recent years. There is strong demand for cobalt in China from hardmetal and battery applications. About 50 enterprises are engaged in the production of cobalt and cobalt Compounds, with an annual capacity in 2002 of 4600 tonnes of cobalt content. Chinese production of hardmetals increased rapidly during the past decade, reaching about 10 000 tonnes in 2001, but declined in 2002 with the slowdown in the world economy. The Chinese market for cobalt in rechargeable batteries has also grown rapidly in recent years with the popularity of mobile phones. In the 2001-2005 'Five-year Plan', output of NiMH batteries would increase from 80 million to 300 million in 2005, partly replacing the Ni-Cd batteries used in electric tools and cars. Output of Lithium-ion batteries used in PC Notebooks and cell phones was estimated to reach 338 million in 2005 vs. 80 million in 2001. The breakdown of China's cobalt consumption in 2002 is estimated in Table 3.45. Table 3.45 Breakdown of Cobalt Consumption in China 2002 Hardmetals Magnets Batteries Glass and Pottery Catalysts Diamond Tools Driers Source: CDI (Cobalt News, April 2004, p5)

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25% 17% 15% 14% 11% 4% 3%

3

Global and Regional Markets for Metal Powders 2001-2010

3.11.1 Applications of Cobalt Powders The chief applications for cobalt powders are as the binder material in cemented carbides and as the matrix in diamond tools, which is the next largest application. Other applications include PM cobalt-based superalloys, eg in automotive valve-seat inserts and medical devices, hardfacing alloy spray powders and sintered permanent magnets. A more recent application is the rolling of cobalt powder into strip used in artificial diamond production, and to produce special alloys such as Stellites in thin sections. Cobalt powder is also used as an addition to nickel electrodes in N i / C d and NiMH batteries, although cobalt compounds are mainly used in this application. Cobalt powder is also used in addition to cobalt chemicals, in the production of Lithium-ion batteries

3.11.2 Global Consumption of Cobalt Powders There are no published statistics on the production or consumption of cobalt powders. Although there are more than a score of sources for cobalt metal and chemicals, only a handful of companies are producers of pure cobalt and cobalt-based alloy powders. The largest of these is the OM Group, the world's largest producer of cobalt. Other producers include the Metals Enterprise refinery in Fort Saskatchewan, Canada (a Joint Venture between Sherritt International Corp and General Nickel Co SA of Cuba), as well as Umicore, Eurotungstene Poudres, France, HC Starck (Germany) and Hrgan~is Belgium SA. As indicated earlier, about one quarter of refined cobalt is produced in the form of metal powder. This would put current global cobalt and cobalt-based powder production at over 10 000 tonnes. However, a significant portion of this is produced in powder form by virtue of the refining process (eg the Sherritt hydrometallurgical process) and sold in the form of briquettes. The market for cobalt powder is somewhat smaller, in the range of 6000 tonnes. World cobalt metal demand is expected to increase as the economies of the major consuming countries improve. However, the CDI has pointed out that changes in technology and increases in recycling and economy of use since the late 1970s have dampened cobalt growth. The global summary and forecast for cobalt powder is given in Table 3.46.

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Table 3.46 Global Summary of Cobalt Powder Consumption and Forecasts to 2010 (tonnes) Region

2 O01

2005(F)

2010(F)

North America Europe (E & W)

1000(E) 1500(E)

1000 2000

1200 2300

Japan, Asia, ROW

2500(E)

3000

3500

5000(E)

6000

7000

Total

(E) = Estimate, this report; (F) = Forecast

3.11.3 Cobalt Substitution Past cobalt supply concerns and price volatility especially the dramatic rise of the recent past have raised interest in looking for substitutes for cobalt in many of its applications. An example in Japan was for cobalt in cast magnets and rare earth magnets (NdFeB vs Sin-Co). In the rechargeable battery application, efforts have been made to substitute nickel and manganese for cobalt, for example in the Ni-MH battery sector. R&D work is also progressing in Japan to switch from cobalt to nickel and manganese in lithium-ion batteries but so far this is not believed to be in production. In the cemented carbide and diamond tool markets there have been a number of investigations aimed at substituting nickel or iron powders. A recent example has been the development of a range ultrafine alloy powders containing cobalt, copper and iron to replace pure cobalt powders as binder materials in diamond tool manufacture. (Rimlinger, 1999 Cobalt Conference, see Metal Powder Report, 1999, 54(10), p24). Meanwhile, more recently, the EU has been moving to improve the recycling of rechargeable batteries, and this has been gathering pace although the results so far have been very modest.

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End User Industry Analysis

Markets for the common metal and alloy powders may be analyzed from several perspectives: for example, by application area, by metal or alloy type and by geographic or economic area. In this chapter, the markets for metal powders will be broken down and briefly described by type of application.

As indicated in the Introduction, applications of metal powders have multiplied over the past few decades. This is true both for applications where powders are used in consolidated form as well as applications for unconsolidated powders. Table 4.1 gives an indication of the current applications of metal and alloy powders consolidated by pressing and sintering (PM), powder-forging (PF), metal injection moulding (MIM), hot isostatic pressing (HIP) and PM wrought techniques. These consolidation processes and their applications are discussed in more detail in Sections 4.2.1 to 4.2.7. Table 4.2 lists selected applications of loose (unconsolidated) powders by end use sector. The more important of these applications are discussed in Sections 4.3 to 4.10. Table 4.1 Current Applications of Consolidated Metal Powders

(PM = pressing & sintering; PF = powder forging; MIM = metal injection moulding; HIP = hot isostatic pressing)

Application Area/ Components

Consolidation Method

Metal/Alloy Type

Aerospace Brake Linings Counterweights Jet Engine Components Engine- Mount Support

PM PM HIP PF

Copper, Lead, Tin Tungsten Heavy Alloys Nickel-base Superalloys RST Aluminium Alloy

Agriculture Parts for Farm Machinery

PM, PF

Iron, Steel, Copper, Bronze

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End User Industry Analysis

Table 4.1 Continued

Application Area/ Components

Consolidation Method

Metal/Alloy Type

Agriculture continued Lawn & Garden Equipment

PM

Iron, Steel, Copper, Bronze

PM, MIM PM PM

Iron Iron, Steel Platinum Alloy, Iron

PM PM Wrought

Copper, Tin, Iron Steel, Aluminium, Graphite, Bronze Tungsten, Silver Alloys Iron, Copper, Tool Steel Iron, Aluminium Iron Copper, Iron, Tin, Graphite, Brass Iron, Steel, Copper, Tin, Nickel, Aluminium

Automotive Airbag Components Air Conditioners Alternator Regulator, Contacts, Pole Pieces Bushings, Bearings

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Contacts Fuel Pump Parts Shock Absorbers Spark Plugs (Body) Brake Linings

PM PM PM PM PM

Engine Parts (Gears, Sprockets, Bearings, Bearing Caps, Cams, Connecting Rods etc) Power Steering Parts ABS Sensor Rings Exhaust Flanges Hot Exhaust Gas Sensor Bosses Starter Motor Frame Transmission Parts Valve Seats, Valve Guides

PM, PF

Coinage

PM-wrought

Electrical/Electronics Brushes, Contacts

PM

Lead Frames, Wires Motor Pole Pieces Relays

PM-wrought PM PM

Solenoids Electrodes

PM PM

Hardware Door Lock Parts

PM

Brass, Bronze, Iron, Stainless Steel

Industrial (General) Bearings and Bushings

PM

Copper, Tin, Lead, Bronze

PM PM PM

Iron, Steel Iron, Stainless Steel Stainless Steel

PM PM PM, PF PM

Stainless Steel Iron Iron, Steel, Copper Tool Steel, Stainless Steel Nickel, Cupro-nickel Copper, Silver, Tungsten, Iron, Tin, Platinum Nickel, Iron, Copper Iron, Iron/Silicon . Iron, Nickel, Molybdenum Iron Tungsten, Copper, Silver

4 End User Industry Analysis

Table 4.1 Continued Application Area/ Components

Consolidation Method

Metal/Alloy Type

Industrial (General) continued Bonded Asbestos Brake Linings Cutting Tools, Dies Filters (Liquid, Gases)

PM PM, HIP PM,PM-wrought

Zinc, Graphite, Brass Tungsten, Cobalt, HSS Bronze, Nickel, Stainless Steel, ~tanium

Magnetic Permanent Magnets

PM

Pole Pieces

PM

Iron, Nickel, Cobalt, Aluminium, Molybdenum Iron, Cobalt, Si-Fe

Medical and Dental Prostheses Orthodontic Brackets Surgical Scissor Parts Other Surgical Devices

HIP MIM MIM MIM

Superalloys Stainless Steel Stainless Steel Stainless Steel, "13tanium

Nuclear Engineering Filters

PM

Fuel Elements

PM

Stainless Steel, Nickel Alloy Iron, Stainless Steel

Office Equipment Photocopier Parts

PM

Fax Machine Parts

PM

Business Machines

PM, MIM

Ordnance Armour-piercing Cores Anti-personnel Bombs Frangible Bullets 'Green' Ammunition Projectile Rotating Bands Proximity Fuse Cup Rocket Launcher Parts

PM PM PM PM PM PM PM

Tungsten, Copper, Nickel Iron Iron, Lead Tungsten Copper, Iron, Brass Nickel Stainless Steel, Aluminium

Recreation Golf Clubs Sporting Darts Hunting Knives Gun Parts

PM PM PM PM, MIM

Tungsten, Iron, Brass Tungsten Brass, Stainless Steel Iron, Steel, Nickel, Stainless Steel

Iron, Stainless Steel, Bronze, Aluminium Aluminium, Steel, Stainless Steel, Bronze Iron, Steel, Stainless Steel, Brass, Aluminium

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Table 4.1 Continued Application Area/ Components

Consolidation Method

Metal/Alloy Type

Recreation continued Fishing Rod Reels

PM

Outboard Motors Sailboat Hardware

PM PM

Iron, Brass, Stainless Steel Brass, Steel Stainless Steel, Bronze

Source: MPIF

Table 4.2 Selected Applications of Unconsolidated Metal Powders Application Area

Metal Powder Type

Abrasive Shot Cleaning Metal Shot Media

Iron, Steel, Stainless Steel

Alloy Production Steels, Aluminium Alloys Agriculture & Food Animal Feed Animal Medication Chelate Fertilizers Food Enrichment Fungicides Seed Cleaning & Coating Soil Conditioning Aerospace Heat Shield Coatings Rocket Fuel Wear Spraying/Repairing

Automotive Body Solder Polychrome Body Finishes Spark Plug Corrosion Protection Building & Construction Aerated Concrete Asphalt Roof Coatings Caulking Compound Decorative Plastics & Linoleum

Lancing (of Concrete) Protective Coatings for Canvas Awnings and Decks Pipe Joint Compounds

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Nickel, Lead, Manganese, Ferro-alloys, Iron, Aluminium Iron Cobalt Iron Iron, Copper, Manganese Copper Iron, Aluminium Iron, Copper Aluminium Aluminium Nickel/Chromium, Nickel/Aluminium, Stainless Steel, Molybdenum, Cobalt Alloy Steel, Aluminium, Lead Aluminium Zinc Aluminium, Iron Aluminium Aluminium Iron, Brass, Copper, Aluminium, Stainless Steel Iron, Aluminium Aluminium, Zinc Zinc, Lead, Copper

4 End User Industry Analysis

Table 4.2 Continued Application Area

Metal Powder Type

Chemical (including Catalysts)

Aluminium, Lead, Tin, Copper, Iron, Nickel, Manganese, Cobalt, Molybdenum, Tungsten

Coatings Decorative, Corrosion-resting, Heat-reflecting, Anti-fouling, Paints and Lacquers Fabric Coatings Hardfacing

Vacuum Metallizing

Aluminium, Brass, Bronze, Copper, Lead, Stainless Steel, Zinc Aluminium Nickel and Cobalt Alloys, Stainless Steel, Tool Steel Nickel Iron, Aluminium, Zinc, Tin, Nickel Alloy, Copper, Bronze, Stainless Steel Aluminium, Copper, Zinc

Electrical & Electronics Printed Circuits Rechargeable Batteries

Copper Nickel, Cobalt

Industrial (General) Flame Cutting & Scarfing Fluids for Magnetic Clutches

Iron, Aluminium Stainless Steel

Industrial Explosives Mining

Aluminium

Slurry Coating Spray Coating

Joining Brazing Powders and Pastes

Coated and Tubular (Flux-cored) Electrodes for Arc Welding Soldering Thermic Welding Medical & Dental Insulin Production Prevention of Infection of Open Wounds

Copper, Nickel, Cobalt, Brass, Aluminium, Nickel Alloys Iron, Nickel, Manganese, Stainless Steel "13n,Tin-lead Alloys Aluminium Zinc Aluminium, Nano-silver

Metal Recovery Copper Cementation Gold Cementation Metals from Solution Chromium Reduction

Iron Zinc Aluminium Aluminium

Non-Destructive Testing Magnetic Particle Inspection

Iron

Metal Powders 125

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Table 4.2 Continued Application Area

Metal Powder Type

Nuclear Engineering High Density Concrete High Density Rubber

Iron Lead, Brass

Office Equipment Recording Tapes Toner-carriers for Copying Machines Metallic Inks

Iron, Cobalt Iron, Nickel Copper, Brass, Aluminium

Personal Products Cosmetics Fingernail Lacquer Floating Soap

Zinc, Aluminium Aluminium, Copper Aluminium

Plastics Filling & Reinforcing Body Solders Cements for Repairing Castings and Metal Parts Tools and Dies

Steel, Aluminium, Lead Iron, Stainless Steels, Aluminium Iron, Aluminium

Pyrotechnics Fireworks, Flares

Aluminium, Iron, Magnesium

Sound Proofing Acoustical Plastics

Lead

Waterproofing Concrete Roof Coatings

Iron, Aluminium Iron, Aluminium

Source: MPIF

For historical reasons, the state of development and exploitation of metal powders differs significantly between the major economic zones. Developments over the past four decades indicate that the West European and Japanese markets arc following broadly along the same lines as North America, although at different rates of progress. Since the post-war growth of the powder metallurgy industry has been largely driven by the development of mass-produced cars, it is not surprising that North America accounts for close to half of the global activity in production and application of metal powders. To simplify the discussion of the market breakdown by application, the present situation in North America will be reviewed here separately. Significant differences in other areas, where they occur, arc brought out either here or in discussion of the geographic breakdown elsewhere in the report. As indicated in Table 4.3, with the exception of aluminium and nickel, the fabrication of PM parts completely dominates all other applications for the common metal powders. For the metal powder types listed, PM applications consumed an estimated 401 000 tonnes or 83% of the 485 000 tonnes shipped in

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North America in 2003. This figure climbed 4% (up from 78%) over the four years to 1999 primarily due to the surge in automotive PM consumption and a further 1% in the subsequent four years to 2003. If aluminium, nickel, cobalt and molybdenum powders are excluded, the percentage climbs to 92%, the highest level ever obtained. Table 4.3 also indicated that ferrous materials (iron, steel and stainless steel) represent approximately 95% of the powders shipped for PM applications (compared with about 84% for all applications). The differences in applications between the various metal powder types have been reviewed in Chapter 3. Because of a lack of statistics, a global breakdown of consumption by end use is not possible. Table 4.3 North American Consumption of Metal Powders for PM Applications vs Total Metal Powder Shipments 2003 (tonnes) Material

For PM

Total S h i p m e n t s

% PM

Iron and Steel Copper-based Stainless Steel Aluminium Tin Nickel

372 900 17 300 7300 1000 680 2000

401 700 20 532 8074 45 360 850 9124

92.8 84.3 90.4 2.2 80.0 21.9

401 2 0 0

485 640

82.6

Total

Source: MPIF and estimates

Table 4.4 gives an estimated breakdown of 2003 North American metal powder shipments by five categories of application: PM, welding electrodes, photocopier powders, cutting and scarfing, and others. Table 4.4 Estimated Breakdown of North American Metal Powder Consumption by End Use (tonnes) Application PM: (including Bearings, Friction Materials and Powder-forging) Welding Electrodes Photocopier Developers Cutting and Scarfing Other Applications Total

1994 Consumption

% of Total

2003 Consumption % of Total

303 300

78.6

401 200

82.6

16 300 11 500 2000 53 500

4.2 3.0 0.5 13.9

14 000 13 000 500 56 950

2.9 2.7 0.1 11.7

385 700

100

485 640

100

*Includes pigments, coatings, paints, plastics, fuel propellant, explosives, flame-spraying, chemical, metallurgical and miscellaneous uses

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The continuing dominance of PM applications means that there have been only gradual shifts in the relative positions of various application areas over the past decade. There appears to be no substantial new growth in applications outside the PM sector that would change their relative positions. Following significant increases in consumption of metal powders for PM applications during the 1990s, further growth in the consumption of metal powders in North America will continue to depend on the development of automotive PM applications and on the health of the auto industry. After declining sharply in 2001, the combined consumption of metal powders for PM and PF components recovered almost to its 1999 level by 2003. The fraction of metal powder shipments consumed in PM applications moved up a notch to 82.6% (+1%). In the short term, modest increases averaging 3-4% per annum can be expected, mostly in the consumption of ferrous powders for PM. It is expected that the next few years will see a further increase in this sector in the use of higher density and high performance PM and PF components. Over the longer term, metal injection moulding (MIM) will become a significant factor in the volume of the total metal powder market, but not for several years yet. Due to changes in their respective end use markets, consumption of ferrous powders for welding electrode coatings and for cutting and scarfing are expected to remain relatively stagnant following their slow decline over the past decade or so.

4.2.1 PM Structural Parts The manufacture of solid components directly from metal powders by compaction and sintering can be considered the basic or core technology of powder metallurgy. The products are generally described as PM structural parts to distinguish them from porous bearings and filters on the one hand, and fully densified powder-forged parts and PM wrought and semi-finished products on the other hand. The sequence of process steps for the manufacture of traditional pressed and sintered parts is illustrated in Figure 4.1. Elemental or prealloyed metal powders are first mixed with small percentages of powdered lubricants, and for ferrous materials frequently with fractional percentages of graphite powder. After blending to a homogeneous mixture, the 'premix' is delivered to the die cavity of a compacting press where it is pressed to a pre-determined shape and density by the action of upper and lower punches and other moveable parts of the tool set. Following compaction, the 'green' part is ejected from the die and passed to a sintering furnace where parts are usually placed on a wire-mesh conveyer belt which slowly takes them through a pre-heat or delubrication zone followed by a high temperature

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zone in which the powder particles 'fuse' together. Blended graphite and alloy elements diffuse or dissolve into the matrix particles. The furnace is equipped with a protective atmosphere to avoid oxidation of the parts. The parts emerge from the cooling zone of the sintering furnace ready for finishing operations such as de-burring, plating, heat-treatment, or occasionally re-pressing and re-sintering. Final machining operations are usually restricted to drilling of holes, machining of undercuts or other features that could not be accommodated in the compaction tooling. The major constraints in design of PM parts relate to the size of press and the extraction of the compacted part from the die by ejection with the lower punch. The latter restriction prohibits the presence of undercuts as well as holes running transverse to the pressing direction. As mentioned earlier, such features can be added by machining after sintering, or by the combining of two or more pressed and sintered pieces by welding, brazing or mechanical means.

Figure 4.1 Schematic of process steps for the manufacture of pressed-andsintered PM parts Reference: MJ McDermott, 'PM Parts Fabrication Experience with ANCORBOND (Binder Treated Premixes': presented at the MPIF 1990 PM Conference, Pittsburgh, PA The press size limitation refers to the maximum part diameter that can be compacted. Since, for example, ferrous powders are normally pressed at 400-700 MPa, this limits the part cross-section to a circle of about 15 cm diameter for a 1000 tonne press. Presses larger than this are uncommon in the PM industry. Hence a lot of attention has been given in the past to the compressibility of ferrous powders, which has been improved substantially over the past three or four decades.

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By far the largest fraction of pressed and sintered parts are made from ferrous materials, either plain iron or steel alloys, including stainless and high alloy steels. Other PM components are fabricated from pure copper, brass, bronze, aluminium or other non-ferrous alloys. These PM applications have largely been developed by providing energy-saving and cost-effective substitutes for cast or machined-bar components, most frequently in the mass-production environment of the automotive industry. Until relatively recently (late 1980s) more than 90% of North American PM automotive components were single-press-and-sinter pieces with densities up to 7.2 g/cm 3. More recently the development of higher density (7.3-7.5 g/cm 3) parts by double pressing and high temperature sintering has enabled the PM process to be successfully applied on an increasing number of highly-stressed automotive components. The introduction of patented technology for warm compaction in the mid1990s and other developments promises to accelerate the advance of PM to higher density and higher performance applications due to cost savings and other advantages. Warm Compaction: In May 1994, Hoeganaes Corp and Cincinnati Inc announced a new process designed to achieve higher density in a single compaction step (while conventional compaction of ferrous powder has a limit of about 7.2 g/cm3). By heating the powder and the die to about 300~ (140~ densities between 7.3 and 7.5 can be obtained in one pass with moderate compacting pressures, up to 690 MPa (50 tsi). Warm compaction is accomplished with the aid of a polymer high temperature lubricant. The resulting compacts can be sintered in the normal way. The result is PM material having higher mechanical and dynamic properties. By avoiding double pressing, the cost of production can be significantly reduced. Another advantage of the process is that the green parts have markedly reduced tendency to cracking and exceptional strength, enabling them to be machined in the green state if desired. Warm compaction promises to open up many new applications because it offers an economic method for achieving densities between conventional PM and powder-forging. Leading compacting press suppliers now offer warm compaction equipment or retro-fitting, and several hundred warm compacted parts are reported to be already in production, in North America, Europe and Asia. A new binder-lubricant system introduced recently by Hoeganaes Corp (AncorMax D) allows compacted density to be improved by at least 0.1 g/cm? without heating the powder, and using press tooling that has to be heated only to 60~176 Other process improvements designed to raise the mechanical properties of PM components include high velocity compaction, die-wall lubrication, densification in sintering using fine powder additions, and

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post-sintering densification by surface rolling. Some of these are at various stages of development while others are already in production. A good review of these developments from a European automotive perspective is given in a two-part article by David Whittaker in IPMD, 1 lth Edition, 2004-5, pp31-47. Automotive v e r s u s n o n - a u t o m o t i v e applications: Applications for PM parts in North American cars and light trucks etc can run to several dozen components per vehicle, particularly when PM bearings and powder forgings are included along with PM structural parts. Naturally, the degree of PM part usage varies between different car manufacturers and between models of the same manufacturer. In a given car, the highest usage of PM parts tends to be in engines and transmissions (particularly automatics), followed by steering gear and chassis components. Cars with power steering, power brakes, and electrically-operated 'gadgets' tend to have more PM parts than less luxurious vehicles. Hence, there is a wide variation in the weight of PM usage per car. In the 2004 model year, the PM part content of the typical North American family vehicle is estimated at 19.5 kg. This is up almost 20% from the 2000 model year and about double the average usage in cars made by European and Asian producers. Some North American SUVs already contain as much as 60 pounds (27.2 kg) of PM. According to the MPIF (Schaeffer and Trombino, IJPM, 2004, 40(4), pp27-32), the PM content of North American vehicles will increase by at least one pound (0.5 kg) annually in the next three years. Due to overall cost savings, the 'Big Three' OEMs are continuing to design more PM parts, particularly for new engines and transmissions. Ford Motor Co appears to be the leader, already averaging 21.8 kg/vehicle, with about 95% of Ford engines containing PF connecting rods. New Ford engines will contain 9.9-11.8 kg of PM parts and its V-8 diesel engines have further potential for the replacement of castings and machined parts by PM. In a presentation during the 2004 SAE World Congress in Detroit, Dr Charles Wu, director, Manufacturing and Vehicle Design, Research and Advanced Engineering, Ford Motor Co, (PM, 2004, 47(3) pp223-225) emphasized the need for weight reduction in future vehicles and spoke of potential applications for light weight components made from PM aluminium, titanium, magnesium, composite materials and intermetallics. These could include connecting rods, cam-shaft bearing caps, valves, balance-shaft gear sets, sprockets, electronics base plates, rocker arms, oil-pump gears, piston pins, cylinder liners, brackets and piston-cap inserts. The new V-8 Hemi engine in DaimlerChrysler's Dodge Ram, Durango SUV and the Chrysler 300C sedan contains 13.6 kg of PM parts, with

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some of these vehicles containing as much as 27.2 kg of PM. New transmissions going into production at the Big Three will include new PM hubs, sprockets and oil-pump gears. PM is also being considered to replace cast differential bearing caps that could add about 1.9 kg of PM parts per vehicle. PM high strength gears are also being tested for transmission applications. Manual transmissions offer a new opportunity for high-strength gears, especially combined automatic/manual transmissions that are popular in Europe. However, Schaeffer and Trombino pointed to a dilemma for the North American PM parts industry, resulting from the loss of market share by the Big Three to 'transplant' auto producers and imported European and Asian cars that use much less PM. They indicated that the North American PM industry needed to make a concerted effort to sell PM to transplants that use about 50% less PM by weight in an average vehicle, compared with the Big Three producers. The prospects for PM automotive components are also clouded by the levelling off in North American car sales. As discussed elsewhere, US automakers such as GM have continued to offer cash incentives and low/zero interest financing in order to bolster flagging sales. Also the spike in fuel prices from early 2004 has ominous implications for the future sales of SUVs and other large passenger vehicles with big engines that have the largest weight of PM parts. This had already begun to bite in early 2005 as sales of big SUVs declined significantly. The same factors will accelerate the trend towards smaller vehicles and hybrids. Non-automotive applications for ferrous PM parts include off-road vehicles and farm equipment, household appliances, business machines, lawn and garden equipment, power handtools and sporting goods. Nonferrous structural PM parts tend to be little used in automobiles but are found in appliances, business machines and domestic hardware such as brass door lock components. The North American market for non-automotive PM parts appears to have shown a new lease of life during the 1990s after showing no growth in the previous decade. In 1999, the output of non-automotive parts reached an estimated 120 000 tonnes, a new record. This conflicts with the widely-held belief that the growth in North American powder consumption has been almost entirely due to the automotive sector. After the drop in 2001, the non-automotive consumption of PM appears to have recovered to the 1999 level by 2003.

4.2.2 PM Bearings Powder metallurgy is involved in two major classes of bearing materials that have been established for many years: self-lubricating porous PM bearings and non-porous PM steel-backed bearings.

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Self-lubricating PM bearings represent one of the original applications of metal powders, dating back to the 1920s. The advantage of porous beatings is that the pores can be filled with lubricating oil, so that the beating may not require further lubrication during the entire service life of the equipment in which it is fitted. In addition to these self-lubricating beatings, there are some heavy duty applications where supplemental lubrication is provided through an external oil reservoir. PM selflubricating bearings can be found in almost every type of machine or component requiring rotary motion. Examples include the automotive, home appliance, consumer electronics, business machine, farm, garden and marine and industrial equipment sectors. Porous self-lubricating beatings comprise three main types of material: 9 9 9

Sintered bronze (90% copper- 10% tin, with or without graphite) Sintered iron and iron-graphite Sintered iron-bronze ('diluted bronze')

Sintered bronze bearings are made from elemental copper and tin powder, prealloyed bronze powder or mixtures thereof. Compaction and sintering are arranged to allow about 25% porosity for subsequent impregnation with oil. Sintered bronze bearings are suitable for general use except with stainless steel and are relatively expensive, but offer good corrosion resistance. The iron-based and iron-bronze beatings (about 50% Fe) are less expensive and can be used in less severe applications and where there is no danger of galvanic corrosion in aqueous fluids. Iron-graphite beatings containing up to 3% graphite have supplanted 9 0 / 1 0 bronze and diluted bronze in many applications. For example, in Japan, copper-based beatings have been reported as representing 40% of the PM bearings market vs. 60% for iron-based. Japanese manufacturers have also developed an iron-copper bearing material made from copper-coated iron powder, specially suited for high speed rotation in the 15 000 rpm range. This material allows economical manufacture of small size beatings for use in consumer electronics equipment, for example. Porous PM bearings represent some of the largest volumes for single parts in the PM industry and are manufactured by the billions of pieces per annum at high production rates. The global market for sintered PM beatings is estimated to be worth several hundred million dollars but is relatively static except in a few developing countries. North American consumption of metal powders in the manufacture of porous PM beatings, for which there are no reported figures, has changed little in the past few years and is estimated to have remained at about the same level as in 1999 (see Table 4.5). For comparison, the JPMA has reported production of 8010 tonnes of PM beatings in Japan in 2004 (versus 7791 tonnes in 1999, and up 6% from 2003). The value of bearing

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production in 2004 was u billion versus u million) in 1999 and up 5% from 2003.

billion (about US$150

Table 4.5 North American Consumption of Metal Powders in Porous Self-Lubricating Bearings 1992, 1994, 1999 (tonnes) Component Powder Copper Iron Tin

Total

Estimated consumption, tonnes 1992

1994

1999

7000 5000 700

8000 6000 800

8500 7500 850

13 0 0 0

15 0 0 0

17 0 0 0

For heavy duty applications, roll compaction of alloy powders is used to produce composite bearing materials such as those in automotive engine bearings. For example, complex aluminium-base-alloy powders containing finely dispersed lead-tin alloy particles are roll-compacted with pure aluminium powder to form a composite strip that is subsequently sintered and then roll-cladded to a steel backing strip. The pure aluminium acts as a bonding layer to ensure a durable bond to the steel backing and hence satisfactory performance of the sleeve bearing fabricated from the composite. Changes in US automotive emission standards led to the use of these composite bearing materials to replace traditional copper-lead sleeve-bearing components. It is believed that most of the roll-compacted bearings are manufactured in-house from proprietary materials and no statistics on this activity appear to be available.

4.2.3 PM Hot-Forged Parts Powder forging is a two-step process that involves fabrication of a PM preform by conventional pressing and sintering, followed by forging of the (porous) preform into a substantially densified final shape. The mechanical properties of the resulting powder-forged part are comparable with those of similar composition material forged from wrought bar. In certain instances, properties of powder-forged materials such as fatigue strength can be superior, due to freedom from directionality, improved homogeneity of alloy composition and the absence or a reduced level of flaws and inclusions. Technical and commercial development of powder forging began in the 1960s and 70s, chiefly aimed at ferrous components for automotive applications, but commercialization of the hot-forging process did not really take off until the 1980s. Some of the technical problems- including excessive die wear during the hot-forging operation and the availability of high-purity steel powder having a sufficiently low level of inclusions- were eventually solved. The precision hot-forging of PM preforms saves material by eliminating scrap. It also saves machining costs by reducing the number of operations necessary. In the case of powder-forged connecting rods, the savings in 134

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machining costs have been quoted as 30%. These economies have to be set against the additional process cost of pressing and sintering and the fact that the raw materials, iron and low alloy steel powders, are generally more expensive than the forging bar stock they replace. This in the past was partly due to the use of expensive alloy elements such as nickel and molybdenum in modified 4600-type alloy steel powders. Cheaper alternative alloy elements such as manganese and chromium have tended to be excluded because they oxidize during the powder manufacturing and PM processes and ruin the properties of the resulting forging. For this reason, lower cost iron-copper-graphite blended elemental compositions with additives to improve machinability have found favour over pre-alloyed powders in hot-forging of PM connecting rods. In early work in the 1970s, PF connecting rods were made by GKN for the Porsche 928 engine but this programme was abandoned. Fullydensified PM hot-forged connecting rods have been in production in Japan (Toyota 'Camry') since the early 1980s. The most successful application of powder-forging (PF) to date is the programme undertaken by Ford Motor Co, which introduced PF connecting rods in the 1.9L Escort engine in 1987. A major contribution to this success was the development by Ford of 'fracture-splitting', which enabled the big-end to be assembled without machining, providing improved fit tolerance as well as savings. PF rods were being used in eight Ford engines by 1996, and in 95% of Ford engines by 2004. Among advantages claimed for the PF connecting rods are better weight distribution, which extends bearing life and confers improved engine performance, reduced machining operations, and favourable cost in comparison with alternative options. PF con-rods have reached a market share of 60% in North American engines, with production requiting over 45 000 tonnes/year of iron powder since 2000 (Table 4.6), replacing both cast iron and conventionally forged steel rods. According to the MPIF, over 500 million PF con-rods have been produced to mid-2004. However, advances in hot-forging of C70 wrought steel bar threaten to curtail further increases in PF market share. While the Big Three have increasingly employed PF con-rods, European auto manufacturers have favoured C70 wrought steel. Brockhaus, of Germany, has a plant in Canada that is expecting to supply C70 con-rods for the GM L850 fourcylinder 2.2 litre engine, the DaimlerChrysler C6 six-cylinder 3.5 litre engine and the DaimlerChrysler 2.4 litre turbo engine for the PT Cruiser. The C70 wrought steel rods are claimed to be less expensive than PF rods.

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Table 4.6 North American Consumption of Iron Powder for Powder Forging Iron Powder Usage

1994

1997

1999

2001

~18 000

27 000-32 000

41 000-45 000

over 45 000

Source: MPIF

As indicated in Table 4.6, consumption of iron powder in PF more than doubled in the five years from 1994 to 2000/2001. On the production side, while there were several companies in North America supplying PF connecting rods, as a result of the industry consolidation, the business is now shared between Metaldyne Sintered Components (formerly MascoTech) and GKN Sinter Metals. Each has several plants in the US, Mexico, Germany and Spain. Metaldyne, originally as Exotic Metals Inc of Ridgway, Pennsylvania, began its powder forging development programme with Ford in 1984. GKN Sinter Metals bought Borg-Warner's powder-forging operations in Romulus, MI and Galipolis, OH, in addition to its previous purchases of Delco-Rem3; in Mississippi and Krebsoge in Germany. GKN supplies PF con-rods to GM and Chrysler. Other significant automotive applications of powder forging include automatic transmission clutch races (both inner and outer clutch races), lock-up converter parts and ring gear blanks, some of these being for trucks and some for cars. Future applications could include main bearing caps and transmission gears. Applications of PM hot-forging outside the automotive industry are hard to find because of the high capital cost of the production facilities, requiring a large volume of parts to justify the investment. In Europe and Japan where PF has so far made limited inroads except with Ford (Europe), alternative possibilities have been pursued to find an even more economical route using high density pressed-and-sintered or warm-compacted PM rods. So far these have only got as far as the development stage. Light alloy rods of aluminium alloy or titanium have also been studied but are still under development.

4.2.4 PM Cutting Tools and Wear Parts High speed tool steels are widely used for cutting and forming tools, as well as for wear parts. High speed steels (HSS) are highly-alloyed high carbon steels with a tough martensitic matrix having a dispersion of hard carbide particles that provide wear resistance and can maintain their hardness to relatively high temperatures, for example during machining at high speeds. In many applications, particularly those requiring higher cutting speeds, HSS have been replaced by cemented carbide, cermet, and ceramic inserts fabricated by the PM route. However, because of

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their superior toughness, HSS still retain an important role as cutting tool materials, and their use has expanded into a wider range of applications such as forming dies, automotive valve seats and shaft bearings for gas turbine engines. Much of the more recent success of HSS has been due to the possibility of forming them into high density parts via powder metallurgy. It is also partly because wrought tool steels made by conventional ingot metallurgy have a strong tendency to segregate during solidification in a mould, with resulting coarse, non-uniform microstructure that makes shaping difficult and restricts toughness and grindability of finished products. Consolidation of HSS powders into finished parts provides improved hardness, toughness and grindability, as well as expanding the range of compositions beyond those that can be fabricated by ingot metallurgy. PM tool steel components are produced by two main routes: wateratomized HSS powders are compacted to net shape parts in a die, followed by high-temperature vacuum sintering to achieve 100% density; alternatively, gas atomized HSS powders are HIPed to provide densified billets or blanks for subsequent forging and rolling into rods, bars or other mill shapes that can be fabricated into finished tools such as hobs, cold-forming tools and shape cutters for gear cutting, end-mills etc, as with wrought HSS. In 2000, Olle Grinder (IJPM 2000, 36(8), p33) estimated that the pressed and sintered route consumed 2000 tonnes or 14% of HSS powders globally, and indicated more recently that this figure was not believed to have changed much. The PM wrought approach (HIPing and extrusion) was the dominant one, consuming about 85% of HSS and tool steel powders, and is discussed in the next section.

4.2.5 PM Wrought and Semi-Finished Products The previous sections dealing with PM part fabrication have been concerned with the production of more or less finished components direct from powder. By contrast, there is a considerable sector of the powder metallurgy industry that is involved in the processing of powders into mill products - billets, sheet, strip etc - by the combination of conventional metalworking and specialized PM techniques. Such processing may include one or other of the following procedures for consolidation of the metal powder to near full density: 9 9 9

powder rolling extrusion of containerized powder; and cold or hot isostatic pressing.

The densified product of this first step may then be further processed by rolling, extrusion or forging, to produce a mill shape, billet, sheet, strip or wire of theoretical density.

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Selection of the processing route depends both on the powder being processed as well as the desired final shape and properties. The large-scale deformation that takes place ensures that the powder particle boundaries are completely broken up; the resulting metal or alloy may then have a structure indistinguishable from conventional cast and wrought material. In certain instances, eg tool steels, the micro-structure in PM wrought material is significantly finer than achievable with conventionallyprocessed material. A wide variety of metal powders are processed commercially into wrought PM products. These include nickel and cupro-nickel coinage strip, high-strength and high temperature aluminium alloys, stainless and high speed tool steels, superalloys, refractory metals and many dispersionstrengthened alloys such as aluminium SAP alloys, titanium DS and copper-base DS alloys. These latter alloys use the canning/evacuation/ hot extrusion process; others include beryllium, which is toxic, and molybdenum which oxidizes on heating. One of the main reasons for choosing a powder route for these materials is the difficulty of processing by ingot metallurgy, eg high melting point, brittleness of the alloy, poor castability or workability, heavy segregation etc Tungsten, molybdenum, tantalum and similar refractory metals fit into this category. The manufacture of tungsten filaments for electric light bulbs is the classic example of a PM wrought product that could not be made by conventional routes. Worldwide consumption of tungsten powder for this application is estimated at about 2300 tonnes for 2003, growing at the rate of 3.5%/year for the past decade or so. Probably the largest example of PM wrought fabrication is the production of stainless, superalloy and HSS mill products, which amounts to several thousand tonnes/year in North America and over 10 000 tonnes/year in Europe. Most of the latter is manufactured from Swedish gas atomized powders. PM tool steels and high speed steel mill products form the major portion, estimated at 12 000 tonnes in 2000 (Grinder, Ioc. cit.) and are produced from gas atomized powders by hot isostatic pressing to near full density followed by hot rolling the billet to final mill shape. Powder extrusion of ferrous materials was estimated by Grinder at 1500 tonnes, of which HSS and tool steels represented just 50 tonnes Absence of segregation and the achievement of a fine uniform microstructure results in improved properties such as enhanced grindability, improved wear resistance and improved combinations of hardness and toughness. These benefits are achieved economically at the higher levels of alloy contents, eg where the combined levels of W, Mo and Co exceed 20%. Powder metallurgy fabrication of high strength aluminium alloys has been extended beyond substitution for ingot metallurgy alloys of similar composition. New alloys have been developed that rely on powder

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processing of rapidly solidified materials, as well as dispersion strengthened alloys synthesized by mechanical alloying. Dispersionstrengthened PM alloys of commercial significance also include iron- and nickel-based superalloys and copper-based alloys. Most of these materials are relatively new and produced in very small quantifies for highly specialized applications. Mention should be made of metal matrix composites, some of which are produced by the PM route into semifinished wrought shapes.

4.2.6 PM Filters and Porous Parts Porous metal parts are used for filters, damping devices, flame arrestors, metering devices, self-lubricating beatings and battery electrodes. Compared with competing materials, sintered metal powders provide preferred design and performance characteristics, such as high strength, heat and corrosion resistance, durability, shock resistance and controlled porosity and permeability. The most commonly used powders include: bronze, stainless steel, nickel and nickel-based alloys, titanium and aluminium. Refractory and precious metals are also used, but less frequently. Porous metal products are usually made by (low-density) compacting and sintering, gravity sintering, sheet-making, cold isostatic compaction plus sintering, or metal spraying. Filters constitute one of the major applications of porous metals. Sintered bronze filters are used for filtering air in pneumatic systems, and fuel in automotive fuel pumps and oil-burners. Bronze filters are usually made by gravity sintering of spherical 9 0 C u - 10Sn bronze powders. AISI 316 type stainless steel filter materials for filtering liquids in the food and chemical industries are frequently made by compacting and sintering. For making porous stainless sheet, loose powder mixed with a resin is spread in a mould, lightly pressed at a temperature that cures the resin, then sintered. During sintering the resin decomposes. The resulting porous sheet can be densified by repressing and sintering, then formed into large hollow cylinders and seam-welded. For corrosion resistant or heat resistant filter applications, where stainless proves inadequate, nickelbased alloys or titanium are frequently used. Inconel and Hastelloy are used in acidic waters where stainless suffers severe corrosion, and also in high temperature and other severely corrosive applications. Porous titanium offers excellent corrosion resistance for filtration applications in certain corrosive environments. Spherical titanium powder, produced by the rotating electrode process, is also used to make porous titanium in sheet form with controlled porosity. Another large application of porous metals is in self-lubricating bearings, of which pre-mixed bronze powder is the most common material used (see Section 4.2.2 PM Bearings). Carbonyl nickel is frequently used to

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fabricate porous metal electrodes for alkaline batteries and fuel cells, by gravity sintering one mm. thick sheet or strip. Other applications of porous metals include surgical implants and transpiration cooling in gas turbines and rocket engines. There are no known statistics for the production of porous metal filters and similar products, for which the materials and applications are extremely diverse as indicated.

4.2.7 PM Friction M a t e r i a l s Metallic friction materials are used as the energy-absorbing component in brake linings and clutches for cars and trucks, earth-moving equipment, machine tools (clutches) and aircraft etc. Brake linings retard the relative movement between two surfaces, and heat resulting from the contact is dispersed through the lining material. Clutch facings transmit the energy of a power source to another mechanism which is brought to the speed of the power source. Metallic friction materials are produced by compacting and sintering mixtures of metal powders and frictionproducing non-metallic materials such as silicon dioxide or aluminium oxide. The sintered friction material consists of a dispersion of frictionproducing ingredients in a metallic matrix. Sintered metal friction materials are made in a wide range of compositions, depending on the application. In general, metallic friction materials can be classified as either copper- or iron-based. Table 4.7 gives ranges of compositions of some metallic friction materials.

Table 4.7 Nominal Compositions of some Copper-based and Ironbased Friction Materials Composition, V t % Type

Cu

Fe

Pb

Sn

Zn

Silicon Graphite Dioxide

Copper-base

65-75

-

2-5

2-5

5-8

2-5

10-20

Iron-base

10-15

50-60

2-4

2-4

-

8-10

10-15

Source: Metals Handbook, 9th Edition, Volume 7, p702

Many friction materials contain additional proprietary ingredients. The major trends in recent years have been the elimination of asbestos and the growth in the use of iron powder, the consumption of which has reached several thousand tonnes/year in North America. The metallic friction segments are compacted at low density and sintered under pressure to bond them to steel backing plates, or, alternatively, brazed, welded, riveted, or mechanically fastened to the supporting member. There are no published statistics for the consumption of metal powders used in friction products in North America or Europe. Annual reports of JPMA indicate PM friction products production of around 700 tonnes in recent years, but this does not seem to represent the likely level of

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consumption in Japanese-built cars. The global consumption of ferrous and non-ferrous powders in friction products must add up to several thousand tonnes annually, with growth more or less tied to automotive production and the general economy.

4.2.8 Metal Injection Moulding Metal injection moulding (MIM) is now an established near-net-shape PM process practised by scores of companies around the world. In the process, ultra-fine metal powders are mixed with an organic binder to make a pasty mixture with the consistency of toothpaste. This mixture is extruded into a shaped die cavity in an injection moulding machine similar to those used in the plastics moulding industry. After removal of the binder, the green part is sintered at high temperature. The fine particle size of the powder promotes the sintering reaction, which enables a high-density part to be fabricated even though the injection moulding feedstock may contain only 50% by volume of metal powder particles. The MIM process is chiefly applicable to small (