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New facility to dramatically reduce price of titanium alloy powder

Metal additive manufacturing (AM) specialist Amaero is constructing an $8m titanium alloy gas atomisation powder manufacturing facility capable of producing aerospace-grade titanium at approximately half the cost of its nearest competitor.

The facility, which is being built in Victoria, Australia, will serve the defence, aerospace and tooling sectors with its titanium, which despite being produced at half the cost will still be of the highest standard, according to Amaero. The new site is expected to produce annual revenues of approximately $30m when fully operational.

The world supply chain source of origin for titanium alloy is currently dominated by China and Russia, which effectively set the world market price.

The new plant, which will be constructed and commissioned over an 18 month period, is therefore expected to position Amaero as a supplier of choice for defence, aerospace and critical manufacturing segments in allied nations.

Amaero has already signed a Memorandum of Understanding with a metal powder supply company that has established market channels for metal powder sales, with the firm now in the process of negotiating a collaborative distribution agreement. 

‘In addition, we have already received letters of support for this project from two of the five largest defence companies globally indicating strong potential demand for Ti64 powder from a competitive Australian source for specific commercial and military applications,’ said Amaero CEO Barrie Finnin.

Amaero’s technology fellow Dr James Sears, who is one of the world’s foremost authorities on titanium powder atomisation, commented: ‘My career of many years working with gas atomisation, powder metallurgy and AM technologies has led me to this point. This project is a culmination of many years of experience and research and it is my pleasure to provide technology leadership to the Amaero team that delivers this project, which will become the global benchmark for titanium alloy powder manufacturing.’

Once completed, the new manufacturing facility will position Amaero as the ‘only fully vertically integrated metal 3D printing company globally’, according to Finnin. ‘Our facilities enable us to manufacture and supply powders along with 3D printing machines and ancillary equipment, as well as manufacture parts for small and large scale production contracts,’ he said. ‘Amaero also provides specialised R&D services via one of the world’s largest specialised metals R&D team to assist countries and major corporations develop greenfield AM operations from concept to development and ongoing manufacturing.’

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