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Daily industrial news and top headlines for plant and maintenance managers
Pressure On Bangladesh, Retailers To Fix Factories
May 6, 2013 2:14 pm | by Farid Hossain, Stephen Wright, Associated Press | CommentsIn the aftermath of a building collapse that killed more than 530 people, Bangladesh's garment manufacturers may face a choice of reform or perish. The shoddily constructed building's collapse has put a focus on the high human price paid when Bangladeshi government ineptitude, Western consumer apathy and global retailing's drive for the lowest cost of production intersect.
TX Fertilizer Plant Targeted By Thieves In Past
May 6, 2013 2:11 pm | by Nomaan Merchant, Associated Press | CommentsBurglars occasionally sneaked into and around a Texas fertilizer plant in the years before a massive, deadly explosion — sometimes looking for a chemical fertilizer stored at the plant that can be used to make methamphetamine, according to local sheriff's records.
China City Quashes Protest Against Petro Plant
May 6, 2013 10:28 am | by Didi Tang, Associated Press | CommentsResidents say they are worried the plant would pollute the air and water, and question why the plant is being built in a region prone to earthquakes. Pengzhou is in the same fault zone as the 2008 Wenchuan quake that left 90,000 people dead or missing, and for an earthquake last month that killed at least 196 people.
LG Chem To Begin MI Production In July
May 6, 2013 10:26 am | by The Associated Press | CommentsAn advanced battery maker said it plans to launch commercial production of automotive lithium-ion battery cells in southwestern Michigan in July. LG Chem Michigan Inc., a subsidiary of South Korean company LG Chem, announced Sunday night that test runs have begun at the facility in Holland and that it anticipates shipping products by the end of the summer.
CAT To Close Toronto Factory
May 6, 2013 10:25 am | by The Canadian Press | CommentsHeavy equipment giant Caterpillar Inc. says it is closing a tunnel-boring machine factory in Toronto by mid-2014, throwing 330 workers out of a job. Caterpillar acquired the facility in 2008 when it bought Lovat Inc. and got into the tunnelling business, but now says the plant is no longer a "strategic growth opportunity" and will be shut down.
TX Plant That Blew Up Carried $1M Policy
May 6, 2013 10:22 am | by Christopher Sherman, Associated Press | CommentsThe Texas fertilizer plant that exploded last month, killing 14 people, injuring more than 200 others and causing tens of millions of dollars in damage to the surrounding area had only $1 million in liability coverage, lawyers said Saturday.
Moberly Dismissed From Mamtek Investor Lawsuit
May 6, 2013 10:20 am | by The Associated Press | CommentsThe city of Moberly and its industrial development agency have been dismissed from a civil lawsuit filed by spurned investors in the failed Mamtek artificial sweetener factory. The Columbia Daily Tribune reported that a Cole County judge on April 25 dismissed the city and the Moberly Industrial Development Authority from a 2012 suit filed by Shelter Insurance Cos. and the Waddell & Reed investment brokerage.
Solar Plane Lands In AZ, First Leg Of U.S. Trip
May 6, 2013 10:18 am | by Bob Seavey, Susan Montoya Bryan, Associated Press | CommentsAlone in the single-seat cockpit and high above the American Southwest, pilot Bertrand Piccard could hear only his plane's gear box and the quiet whine of four electric motors. No noisy jet engines. He's flying Solar Impulse, considered the world's most advanced sun-powered plane.
ALCOA Expanding TN Plant For Auto Making Needs
May 3, 2013 5:08 pm | by The Associated Press | CommentsALCOA says resurgent auto manufacturing is creating demand for its aluminum products and it will expand its plant in Tennessee. The Daily Times first reported the company will create 200 new jobs with a $275 million expansion of its rolling mill in Alcoa, Tenn. Some 400 construction jobs will be created in building it.
Clean Technology Investors Shift Focus To Drilling
May 3, 2013 5:08 pm | by Jonathan Fahey, AP Energy Writer | CommentsA decade ago, large investors in so-called clean technology had a straightforward goal: finance companies that would help eliminate the world's dependence on oil, natural gas and coal. But as profits from wind, solar, biofuels and other alternatives consistently fell short of expectations — and as the fossil fuel business boomed — things got complicated.
Survey: China Manufacturing Growth Is Slowing
May 3, 2013 5:08 pm | by The Associated Press | CommentsChinese manufacturing growth slowed in April as global demand weakened, adding to signs its shaky recovery might be weakening, a survey showed Thursday. HSBC Corp.'s purchasing managers index fell to 50.4 from March's 51.6 on a 100-point scale on which numbers above 50 show an expansion in activity.
GM Is Buying 'Factory One' Facility In Flint
May 3, 2013 5:08 pm | by The Associated Press | CommentsGeneral Motors is buying the original Durant-Dort Carriage Co. facility, a century-old building in Flint known as "Factory One" that officials say was the automaker's birthplace. GM North America President Mark Reuss signed an agreement Wednesday to purchase the 133-year-old, 25,000-square-foot facility, MLive.com reported.
U.S. Factory Orders Down 4 Percent In March
May 3, 2013 5:08 pm | by Martin Crutsinger, AP Economics Writer | CommentsOrders to U.S. factories fell in March by the largest amount in seven months but a key category that signals business investment plans managed a small increase. Factory orders dropped 4 percent in March, reflecting a big plunge in the volatile category of commercial aircraft, the Commerce Department reported Friday.
Fire At TX Formosa Plant Leaves 16 Hurt
May 3, 2013 5:08 pm | by The Associated Press | CommentsA fire at a South Texas petrochemical plant has left 16 workers hurt — including two critically — and the ethylene purification area shut down. A spokesman for Formosa Plastics Corporation, U.S.A. said Friday that the cause of the fire at the Port Comfort plant remains under investigation.
U.S. Employers Add 165K Jobs In April
May 3, 2013 9:59 am | by Christopher S. Rugaber, AP Economics Writer | CommentsU.S. employers added 165,000 jobs in April, and hiring was much stronger in the previous two months than the government first estimated. The job increases helped reduce the unemployment rate from 7.6 percent to a four-year low of 7.5 percent.
