|
Trade Wars
Merck Reveals $70B US Expansions, Breaks Ground In Virginia.
Merck (MRK.N), opens new tab said on Monday it is expanding its investments in the U.S. to more than $70 billion, as the drugmaker looks to scale up its manufacturing and research footprint in the country. Global drugmakers have been rushing to boost their U.S. investment to shore up their manufacturing capacity, after President Donald Trump urged the industry to make more medicines domestically rather than importing active ingredients or finished medicines.
Merck said on Monday it has begun the construction of a $3 billion pharmaceutical manufacturing facility in Elkton, Virginia, and confirmed the $70 billion includes total investments announced so far this year. The site in Virginia is expected to generate 500 jobs, a significant increase beyond the original scope of a $2 billion investment and 300 jobs, said Virginia governor Glenn Youngkin.
Read more at Military + Aerospace Electronics
Hillenbrand Selling To Private Equity Firm In $3.8B Deal
Industrial equipment manufacturer Hillenbrand has agreed to be acquired by investment firm Lone Star Funds. The deal is valued at $32 per share, which equates to a total value around $3.8 billion. “The Board carefully reviewed a range of potential strategic alternatives, including interest from a number of parties, and determined that this transaction is in the best interest of Hillenbrand and its shareholders,” Chairperson Helen Cornell said in a release noting the board unanimously approved the transaction. The transaction is expected to close by the end of Q1 2026. Once completed, Hillenbrand will shift from a publicly traded corporation on the New York Stock Exchange to a privately held company.
Hillenbrand employs nearly 10,500 people worldwide across its two main divisions, Advanced Process Solutions and Molding Technology Solutions. The company operated 23 facilities that span the U.S., Europe and Asia, as of its latest annual report. Like many manufacturers, Hillenbrand has encountered headwinds related to tariffs. Its customers have exhibited “cautious order behavior” and delayed project decisions due to economic and tariff uncertainty, CEO Kimberly Ryan said on a fiscal Q3 earnings call in August. Revenue in the quarter dropped to $599 million, down 24% from the previous year’s Q3 revenue of $787 million.
Read more at Manufacturing Dive
DARPA Researchers Ask Industry For Ideas In Computation, Sensing, And Intelligent Systems
U.S. military researchers are asking industry for innovative ideas in math, computation, and processing; complex, dynamic, and intelligent systems; sensing, measuring, and affecting; and materials, manufacturing, and structures. Officials of the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) in Arlington, Va., issued a pitch-day solicitation (DARPA-PA-26-01) on Thursday asking for ideas with the potential to create strategic surprise in pursuit of national security goals.
Of interest are new multiscale and multiphysics materials, structures, interfaces, and fabrication approaches to phonon-engineered, hybrid, and nonequilibrium states of matter; ways to convert or transfer energy; and material systems for sensing and processing. This can involve energetics and propulsion technologies; new means for on-site production; and new means for achieving resilience against shock, blast, and other high-energy impulses.
Read more at WSJ
Vietnam's Budget Carrier Vietjet Ends Operations Of Chinese-Made COMAC Aircraft, Sources Say
Vietnamese low-cost carrier Vietjet stopped operating two Chinese-made COMAC C909 aircraft on October 18 after a six-month lease contract for the planes expired, two sources familiar with the matter said. The C909s were introduced in Vietnam less than a week after Chinese President Xi Jinping visited Hanoi in April, highlighting the political significance of the launch as a gesture of deepening strategic and economic ties between the two countries.
The lease marked the first use of Chinese aircraft on domestic routes in Vietnam including Hanoi–Con Dao and Ho Chi Minh City–Con Dao, and was a major breakthrough for COMAC, which has struggled to have its planes used abroad. One of the sources said the termination was due to high operational costs linked to foreign crew and maintenance services, and regulatory constraints under Vietnam's aviation laws. Vietjet had an agreement for the jets to be operated by crew from China's Chengdu Airlines, Reuters has reported.
Read more at Reuters
Cocoa Supply Crunch In West Africa Raises The Cost Of Halloween
New survey data shows Americans who plan to celebrate Halloween expect to spend an average of $192 in 2025, opens new tab, up from $172 last year, with candy the top purchase. Among those handing out treats, the average planned candy spend alone is about $70. There are reasons why chocolate costs more this year: A severe supply crunch in West Africa is pushing cocoa costs to historic highs. Meanwhile, chocolate makers are passing along earlier cost spikes via higher shelf prices and smaller package sizes.
Here are three ways to avoid getting spooked by Halloween costs:
- Buy early, buy once: Every October, I brave the crowds at Costco and buy giant 90-ounce bags of chocolate, Warehouse clubs tend to offer the best per-piece value. Right now, those big bags seem scarce.
- Mix it up: Blend chocolate with non-chocolate treats, (Sour Patch Kids and Nerds are fan favorites) to lower the average cost per piece while keeping kids happy.
- Set a piece budget: Our rule is one piece per kid early in the evening—extra for familiar faces and especially creative costumes. If there's a surplus later, we loosen the reins.
Read more at Reuters
Whirlpool To Invest $300M In Ohio Plants
Whirlpool plans to invest $300 million in two of its laundry manufacturing facilities in Ohio, the company announced Wednesday. The Michigan-based manufacturer expects the investment to create up to 600 new jobs at its operations in Clyde and Marion, Ohio. The Clyde facility is the largest washing machine plant in the world, according to Whirlpool, and the Marion factory produces dryers. The investment will receive financial assistance from economic development agency JobsOhio along with tax credits from the State of Ohio, according to the company.
About 80% of appliances the company sells in the U.S. are built in the country, using components sourced both domestically and internationally. Whirlpool said that figure is three times greater than the average of its major competitors. Plus, 96% of the steel it uses across its portfolio of brands, which also include KitchenAid and Maytag, is sourced within the U.S. Competitor GE Appliances, which is owned by China based Haier, plans to spend more than $3 billion in the U.S. over the next five years to expand its air conditioning and water heating portfolio and install automation at nearly a dozen facilities. The company has been working to move production back to the U.S. from Mexico and China.
Read more at Manufacturing Dive
Steelmaker Cleveland-Cliffs Looks Into Rare Earths Mining
Cleveland-Cliffs is looking into building a rare earths mining business, CEO Lourenco Goncalves told investors Monday. The steelmaker has two sites in Michigan and Minnesota where geological surveys have found indications of rare earths, Goncalves said in a statement on Cleveland-Cliffs’ third-quarter earnings. “We are working with the geologists to assess whether these deposits could become commercially viable — that’s where we are at,” Goncalves told analysts on the company’s earnings call later Monday morning. “We are a mining company, this isn’t new territory for us.”
The U.S. has only one commercial rare earth mine. The Defense Department struck a deal in July with the mine’s owner, MP Materials, that included an equity stake, a price floor and an offtake agreement. Investors have been speculating that the Trump administration will strike similar deals with other U.S. companies that are trying to stand up domestic rare earths mines and processing facilities. Cleveland-Cliffs’ sites in Michigan and Minnesota, if sucessful, would align the company with the administration’s “broader national strategy for critical mineral independence,” Goncalves said.
Read more at CNBC
FAA Approves 737 MAX Production Rate Increase
Boeing Commercial Airplanes has been approved by the Federal Aviation Administration to increase its 737 MAX production rate, from 38 to 42 aircraft per month. The authorization was made October 17, more than 20 months after the FAA established oversight of 737 MAX production in the aftermath of the January 2024 incident that revealed safety and quality lapses in the program.
Boeing Commercial Airplanes has been approved by the Federal Aviation Administration to increase its 737 MAX production rate, from 38 to 42 aircraft per month. The authorization was made October 17, more than 20 months after the FAA established oversight of 737 MAX production in the aftermath of the January 2024 incident that revealed safety and quality lapses in the program. Boeing Commercial Airplanes has been approved by the Federal Aviation Administration to increase its 737 MAX production rate, from 38 to 42 aircraft per month. The authorization was made October 17, more than 20 months after the FAA established oversight of 737 MAX production in the aftermath of the January 2024 incident that revealed safety and quality lapses in the program.
Read more at American Machinist
Transportation Secretary Duffy Says Musk’s Spacex Is Behind On Moon Trip And He Will Reopen Contracts
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said Monday that Elon Musk’s SpaceX is falling “behind” the U.S. timeline to return to the moon with Artemis and he will open the contract to other companies. “We’re not going to wait for one company,” Duffy, who is currently the acting NASA administrator, told CNBC’s “Squawk Box” on Monday. “We’re going to push this forward and win the second space race against the Chinese. Get back to the moon, set up a camp, a base.”
SpaceX is among the various contractors participating in NASA’s Artemis mission, which aims to establish the “first long-term presence on the Moon” and prepare for missions to Mars. Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin, Boeing, Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman are also supporting the mission. The company launched its eleventh Starship test rocket earlier this month following a string of stumbling blocks and explosions. Firefly Aerospace’s Alpha rocket exploded last month, shortly after the Federal Aviation Administration cleared it to continue testing.
Read more at the CNBC
|
