Manufacturing

Sanjay Dayal, chief executive of BlueScope Steel Asia, talks to Jayne Alverca about the myriad ways in which the company is transforming a commodity into value-added building solutions.

Global automotive manufacturer Nissan is gearing up to double production at its South African plant over the next five years. Managing director Mike Whitfield talks to Gay Sutton about driving up capacity at the plant and localising the supply chain.

Cooper Standard has announced plans for a new manufacturing facility in Craiova, Romania, further expanding its global automotive body sealing and fluid handling businesses.

Headquartered in Novi, Michigan, Cooper Standard is a global supplier of systems and components for the automotive industry. Products include body sealing systems, fluid handling systems and anti-vibration systems.

Sara Lee Corp has agreed to sell its North American dough business to Ralcorp Holdings for around $545 million.

The business had net sales of more than $300 million in the year ended July 2010.

Ralcorp’s CEO said the deal will enable the company to be a private leader in the $1.8 billion refrigerated dough category.

The business, which employs 700 people mainly in Texas and Georgia, will operate as part of the Ralcorp Frozen Bakery Products division after the close of the transaction.

Premium Transmission Ltd, part of the Karan Thapar Group, has divested its automotive gear manufacturing division to Indsur Global Limited.

Indsur Global manufactures insulator castings for the automobile sector at its plant in Halol, India. The acquisition will provide Indsur Group with access to key customers and a strong platform for expansion.

Premium Transmission is a leading manufacturer of industrial gearboxes in India. The automotive gear manufacturing division in Aurangabad serves mainly three wheeler manufacturers in the country.

Reporting its sixth consecutive profitable quarter, General Motors today announced second quarter net income attributable to common stockholders of $2.5 billion, an increase of over 90 percent on Q2 of 2010.

Revenue for the quarter ended 30 June 2011 increased $6.2 billion to $39.4 billion, compared with the second quarter of 2010. Earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) adjusted was $3.0 billion compared with $2.0 billion in the second quarter of 2010. There were no special items in either period.

UK engineering company GKN has agreed to acquire the all-wheel-drive (AWD) components businesses of Germany’s Getrag.

The businesses being acquired are known as Getrag Driveline Products and consist of Getrag Corporation—a joint venture with US-based Dana Corporation—and Getrag All Wheel Drive, a joint venture with Dana Holding Corporation and Sweden’s Volvo.

The first new aluminum smelter to be built in the Arabian Gulf in 25 years has become a catalyst for industrial growth in the region, making Oman an attractive destination for multinationals to locate their facilities.

US component manufacturer Commercial Vehicle Group has acquired Stratos Seating of Sydney, Australia, a seat supplier to the Australian military, truck and specialty vehicle markets.

"This acquisition not only expands our Australian presence in the military and truck markets, but also enhances our overall product offering with the addition of the unique Stratos suspension system and military seating products," said W. Gordon Boyd, president of Commercial Vehicle Group's Seating Systems Group. 

Saudi Arabia’s national oil company, Saudi Aramco, has announced it is to form a joint venture to build and operate a chemicals complex in Jubail Industrial City, Saudi Arabia.

The joint venture, Sadara Chemical Company, will be formed with the Dow Chemical Company of Michigan in the US to build what the companies have called a “world-scale, fully integrated chemicals complex”.