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Trade Wars
3M Proposes $7.4B Deal To Resolve PFAS-Related Injury Claims
3M entered an estimated $7.4 billion broad resolution to settle PFAS-related personal injury claims under the aqueous film-forming foam multidistrict litigation (MDL) in a federal district court in South Carolina, the chemical titan announced Tuesday. Under the agreement, the company’s $5.8 billion present-value commitment will span nine years and includes a $50 million payment in 2026 and no payments in 2027, according to the press release. The deal also includes a $680 million reserve fund set aside for future personal injury claims.
The settlement will address about 99% of current personal injury claims inside and outside the AFFF MDL, which involves between 115,000 and 120,000 plaintiffs eligible to participate. 3M said the agreement is not an admission of liability. 3M set out to accomplish three goals through the settlement: establish the total dollar amount, mitigate risks of the PFAS-related personal injury docket and have the MDL court defer the claims for a period of time, he added. The personal injury settlement is one of three broad areas in 3M’s PFAS litigation docket.
Read more at Manufacturing Dive
3M Closes 16 Factories, Plans Changes At 10 More In Network Revamp
3M has closed 16 manufacturing sites and distribution centers since the start of the fiscal year and will make changes at 10 more facilities over the next 12 months, CEO William Brown said. The network consolidation comes as the industrial conglomerate conducts an operational overhaul that aims to simplify and standardize core business processes, streamline manufacturing and distribution, and reshape the company’s business portfolio, per a securities filing. The initiative targets $1 billion in annual productivity gains by the end of 2027, Brown has told investors since launching the project a year ago.
While shrinking its factory footprint, 3M has also reduced its distribution network, lowering days of inventory on hand, Brown said in March. In time, the company wants to lower the number from the high 90s to the mid-70s, with each day cut representing about $35 million. Along with the network revamps, the company is investing more than $250 million over the next three years in standard, easy-to-replicate automation across factories and distribution centers, Brown told investors in April. The work includes automating warehouses and manual processes within factories.By the end of the year, 3M expects to be at least halfway to its $1 billion target in annualized net productivity.
Read more at Supply Chain Dive
Neros Plans $615M Drone Manufacturing Expansion In US
The Department of Defense issued small drone maker Neros a conditional loan of up to $450 million through its Office of Strategic Capital to support the company’s expansion plans in the United States, the agency announced Monday. The funds will help increase Neros’ manufacturing capacity to produce dual-use small unmanned aircraft systems and ground control systems. The capacity expansion will also enable the company to produce critical components such as motors, radios, flight electronics, sensors and batteries.
The DOD funding puts Neros on the path to manufacture 1 million drones per year by 2028, co-founder and CEO Soren Monroe-Anderson said in a statement. In addition to the Pentagon’s loan commitment, Neros pledged $165 million in equity toward the project, bringing the investment amount to $615 million, the drone manufacturer said in a separate press release.
Read more at Manufacturing Dive
Amazon To Hire More Than 300,000 Workers For Holiday Season
Amazon announced plans to hire more than 300,000 workers across the U.S. for the 2026 holiday season, bumping up its seasonal recruitment target for the first time in three years. The company hired approximately 250,000 holiday workers annually during the last three years. The hiring effort includes seasonal, part-time and full-time positions. Seasonal employees will earn an average of $20 an hour, while full-time operations employees will receive a minimum starting wage of $20 an hour, with average hourly earnings around $24, according to Amazon.
Amazon's hiring push comes as Adobe forecasts U.S. online holiday sales will reach $275.1 billion in November and December, up 6.7% from last year. Adobe also expects $47.5 billion in spending from Thanksgiving to Cyber Monday, which suggests a boost to online shopping as the motivation behind Amazon's increased seasonal staffing plans. Amazon also announced new healthcare access for seasonal employees, with plans starting at $5 a week with $5 co-pays. Beginning Jan. 1, 2027, qualifying seasonal workers scheduled for at least 30 hours a week will be eligible for healthcare coverage on day one, according to reports.
Read more at HR Executive
Kraft Heinz To Divest Its North American Coffee Business In $650 Million Deal
Kraft Heinz announced Wednesday that it will divest its North American coffee unit in a deal that values the business at $650 million on an enterprise basis, as it works to refocus on its core brands. The deal with private equity firm One Rock Capital Partners includes brands such as Maxwell House and Gevalia and is expected to close in mid-2027, the company said in a news release. Kraft Heinz will retain a 30% noncontrolling equity stake in the business. Kraft Heinz said it will use the $500 million of post-tax cash proceeds from the transaction to pay down its debts as it works to prioritize resources where it can accelerate growth.
Also on Wednesday, Kraft Heinz reported third-quarter earnings that beat expectations and raised its 2026 outlook. It now expects organic net sales to be down 0.5% to 1.25%, an improvement from its second-quarter report, which projected that sales could decrease as much as 2%. Steve Cahillane, CEO of Kraft Heinz joined the company in January and paused work on plans to split the company in two, a move that would have reversed the blockbuster $46 billion merger from a decade ago. He said the problems Kraft Heinz faced were “fixable and within our control.” The turnaround efforts have included a $700 million investment back into the business and a sharpened focus on some of its core brands.
Read more at CNBC
GE Supplying Engines for USN Combat Ships
GE Aerospace has drawn orders to supply eight LM2500 marine gas turbine engines for two U.S. Navy Flight III Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyers, specifically the USS Ray Mabus (DDG 147) and USS Robert R. Ingram (DDG 149). Those future vessels will be built by Huntington Ingalls Industries (DDG 147) and General Dynamics Electric Boat (DDG 149.) The DDG 147 is in its pre-construction and authorization phases, while the construction contract for DDG 149 was awarded in May 2026. Neither vessel has a formal construction nor launch date yet.
Outfitted with the Aegis Combat System for tracking and guiding missiles, and supplied with multiple missile varieties, the destroyers are able to stage surface-to-air strikes, tactical land strikes, antisubmarine warfare, and anti-surface warfare. The destroyers are able to perform as primary air defense commanders for carrier strike groups and amphibious ready groups. The first Flight III Arleigh Burke-class vessel of the series was commissioned in 2023, and the USN has ordered up to 25 ships to date. Each ship is powered by four LM2500 marine engines, an aeroderivative gas turbine engine designed and built by GE Aerospace in Evendale, Ohio. It has a simple-cycle, two-shaft design that allows ships to rapidly accelerate from a dead stop to high speeds (over 30 knots/34.5 mph) and shift between cruising and sprint mode.
Read more at American Machinist
Rivian Nears Automotive Profit Landmark
Rivian Automotive Inc.’s automotive division is on pace to begin 2027 with positive gross margins, the company’s incoming finance chief told investors last week. Driving progress toward that profitability landmark—Rivian as a whole has been generating gross profits for more than a year thanks to a software-and-services segment that boasts margins around 40%—is the mid-sized R2, which customers began receiving nearly six months ago. The vehicle has quickly become the company’s top seller and powered a 46% increase in third-quarter deliveries (to 19,248) for California-based Rivian.
That production jump has brought with it efficiencies that are helping offset some of the costs to ramp up work on the R2 at Rivian’s plant in Normal, Illinois. Through the first nine months of third year, Rivian’s adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization have totaled nearly $1.29 billion, an improvement from $1.60 billion in the same period of last year. Chairman and CEO R.J. Scaringe, McDonough and Mulvey expected full-year EBITDA losses to be between $1.85 billion and $1.75 billion, which is at the low end of the forecast McDonough outlined in February. Alongside their third-quarter report, the executives also raised the floor of their forecast for 2026 deliveries to 67,000 from 65,000.
Read more at Industry Week
Samsung To Make AMD, Nvidia Chip Parts At Second Texas Plant, Maeil Business Reports
Samsung Electronics will use its second foundry plant in Taylor, Texas, to produce base dies for high-bandwidth memorychips for AMD and Nvidia (NVDA.O), opens new tab, South Korea's Maeil Business Newspaper reported on Tuesday, citing industry sources. Construction is due to start formally this month, with the plant having secured orders for its entire output, and most of the secured volume is for AMD, according to Maeil.
The plant will use advanced 2-nanometre technology and cover about 2.7 million square feet, roughly 1.5 times the size of the first facility, which has a contract with Tesla, Maeil said. Equipment is expected to be installed from February 2029, with mass production in 2030, Maeil said. Samsung Electronics declined to comment on the matter.
Read more at Reuters
Illinois expected an energy crisis by 2028. But a $5 billion grant for 6 nuclear plants could reverse that
On Oct. 27, the U.S. Department of Energy announced grants to modernize eight nuclear power stations across three states. Of the eight facilities receiving funds, six were located in Illinois, including the Quad Cities, LaSalle, Dresden, Clinton, Byron, and Braidwood clean energy centers. The other two recipients were Maryland's Calvert Cliffs Clean Energy Center and Pennsylvania's Limerick Clean Energy Center. Illinois' six nuclear stations have 11 reactors altogether. Clinton has one reactor, while each of the other five stations has two. Together, they provide a substantial fleet for the nuclear modernization effort, helping to avoid the years of planning and construction it can take to build a new nuclear power facility.
The push to expand electricity production in Illinois followed a warning from the 2025 Adequacy Resource Study, which was a joint product of the Illinois Commerce Commission, Illinois Power Agency, and Illinois Environmental Protection Agency, according to WMBD. The study found that the state's power production could fail to meet demand within just a few years.
Read more at Yahoo
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