Rio Tinto to invest $215 million in BioIron facility

Miner and maufacturer Rio Tinto will invest $215 million (US$143 million) to develop a research and development facility in Western Australia to assess the effectiveness of its low-carbon ironmaking process, BioIron, to support decarbonising the global steel value chain. The development of the BioIron Research and Development Facility in the Rockingham Strategic Industrial Area south…

Big River’s big expansion into building panels

Timber products group Big River Industries has broadened its interests in decorative and functional panels with the purchase of Brisbane based Specialised Laminators Qld (SLQ). The NSW manufacturer is a full spectrum timber building and construction product manufacturer from procurement of raw materials through to sale of finished products to end users. It two factories…

Printing to win

By Paul Gover Seconds count in motorsport and anything that can help to beat the clock – even a humble 3D printer – can provide a winning edge. That’s why engineering expertise forms the foundation for the most successful team in Australia’s homegrown Supercars racing over the past decade and why it has a growing…

DroneShield triples capacity with new site

DroneShield has officially opened a new headquarters at Pyrmont, in Sydney’s inner-city, where the drone countermeasures company says it has tripled its R&D and manufacturing capacity. In a statement on Tuesday, DroneShield said the facility hosts its team of 120 and has headroom to produce “$400 million in hardware and software per year”. The new…

Why selling Austal to a foreign bidder ‘beyond explanation’ – by Allen Roberts

Australian Manufacturing Forum member Allen Roberts is incensed that the federal government is comfortable with foreign takeover of our most important sovereign defence manufacturer, shipbuilder Austal, as is @AuManufacturing. Tasked in the Forum with detailing his concerns, minus expletives, Allen reports. Leaving out the expletives, let’s focus on a few obvious strategic points. The government…