South West Aluminium and Henan Zhongfu Aluminium awarded contracts to PAE Technologies for new ALPUR TS2 degassing systems, with start-up planned for end of 2017.

Dieffenbacher will supply a full particleboard plant for Arauco's new facility in Grayling, Michigan, with a planned capacity of 800,000 m³ per year.

Grind Master Group announced the acquisition of SPMS Europe, a French machine tool builder specializing in superfinishing and grinding machines for the automotive industry.

Wood Group agreed to acquire rival Amec Foster Wheeler for $2.7 billion.

Arauco and Dieffenbacher signed supply contracts for a greenfield particleboard plant in Grayling, Michigan, with a planned capacity of 800,000 m³ per year. The contracts were signed at the end of 2016.

Tajmac-ZPS, a.s. awarded a contract to PAMA SpA for the supply, installation and commissioning of a new horizontal machining centre, valued at EUR 1,050,000. The award was made on 2017-04-28.

Koenig & Bauer laid the foundation stone on 14 March 2017 for a new Demo Center for digital and flexo presses at its Würzburg headquarters, with about 2,100 square metres of usable area. The investment totals about 16 million, covering 6 million for building and infrastructure and about 10 million for demo presses.

MAN Diesel & Turbo will deliver two steam-turbine-driven compressor trains, including erection and commissioning, to Dangote Oil Refining Company for its refinery in the Lekki Free Trade Zone, Lagos; delivery expected in 2018.

Festo is investing about EUR 30 million over 2017 and 2018 to expand its Esslingen-Berkheim headquarters, with labs and offices returning after production moved to Ostfildern.

AGCO announced an agreement in principle to acquire the forage division of Lely Group, a manufacturer of balers and loader wagons in Europe. The transaction is subject to regulatory approval and expected to close in Q4 2017.

Keppel Prince Engineering will expand its wind tower fabricating facility in Portland, Victoria, with a $1.97 million investment from the Victorian government. The expansion will create 50 new jobs and increase production capacity from 110 to 175 wind towers per year.

Georg Fischer started construction of a new innovation and production centre in Biel, Switzerland, for its Machining Solutions division. The 24,000 m² facility will employ about 450 people and create 60 new jobs. Investment is CHF 80 million, with operations expected by end of 2018.

Formaplex installed new overhead cranes from Street Crane at its new Voyager Park factory, increasing capacity by 50%. The equipment includes a 30-tonne double girder, a 5-tonne single girder crane and a 132-meter gantry system.

MGS Technical Plastics installed two Sumitomo Systec Servo injection moulding machines and four robots from Sumitomo (SHI) Demag, with a total investment of £400,000. The company also plans to complete an extension to its Blackburn facility by April 2017.

Sumitomo Riko announced it will establish a new production base for flexographic plates in Turin, Italy, to be operated by its subsidiary Dytech-Dynamic Fluid Technologies. The investment is approximately EUR 5 million, with operations expected to start in early 2018.

China Erzhong signed a contract with Guangzhou Qifan for the first batch of 1,200 sets of industrial robot gearboxes. The gearboxes will be used in Qifan's 6KG-800KG industrial robots.

Strip-tillage specialist Mzuri announced a joint venture with Polish firm An-Agro to build a new manufacturing facility in Bydgoszcz, Poland, to meet growing demand in export and home markets. Most machinery produced will be for Central and Eastern Europe.

Kobe Steel's subsidiary Kobelco Construction Machinery will invest approximately ¥4 billion to expand its hydraulic excavator factory in South Carolina, USA, and increase staff to 150 by 2020.

Škoda Machine Tool secured a contract worth over half a billion Czech koruna to supply eight horizontal milling machines, each weighing over 200 tons, to Chinese engineering firm Shandong Longma. The machines will be used to produce wind turbine components.

Bidell Gas Compression, a subsidiary of Canadian Total Energy Services Inc., will repurpose a 100,000-square-foot decommissioned machine shop in Weirton, West Virginia, to fabricate, sell, lease and service natural gas compression equipment. The operation expects around 60 jobs in 2017, rising to 130 by 2019.

Walter Maschinenbau GmbH invested around €6 million to expand its production facility in Kurim, Czech Republic, adding 2,500 m² for assembly and logistics, and a redesigned demo center. The expansion was inaugurated on March 9, 2017.

SEYI Machinery has partnered with ABB to offer metal stamping automation systems, including press and robot combinations. A demonstration cell has been set up at SEYI's headquarters in Taoyuan City.

Private equity firm KKR has acquired a majority stake in Hitachi Koki, including its power tools division, from Hitachi Ltd. The deal values KKR's stake at $1.3 billion.

Poręba 1798 Machine Tools, recently acquired by Rafamet, has secured orders for lathes branded 'Poręba 1798' from customers in India and Iran. The machines will be delivered within the year.

Union MT and Tschudin AG announced a cooperation to share knowledge and promote Tschudin's centerless grinding machine in Taiwan. The partnership takes effect immediately.

Yiyang Rubber & Plastics Machinery Group signed contracts in February 2017 to supply machinery to Sailun (Vietnam), Sumitomo Rubber Industries (Brazil), and an Iranian company. It also reached a preliminary agreement to sell 16 tire vulcanising machines to a Vietnamese firm.

PORĘBA 1798 Machine Tools, a subsidiary of RAFAMET S.A., secured orders for three machine tools: two TRB 135 lathes for a customer in India and one TCF 200 lathe for an Iranian steel industry company. All machines will be delivered in 2017.

hGears signed a lease for a new 17,000 sqm miniGears Suzhou plant at 9 Yangpu Road in Suzhou, China, to support e-mobility growth. The site's inauguration is planned for October 2017 and hGears plans investments of more than EUR 3 million.

Papiery Powlekane 'Pasaco' awarded a contract to Jurmet for the supply, installation, and commissioning of a new slitting and rewinding machine for silicone-coated paper, valued at €1,082,529.

FLSmidth was awarded an order from El Sewedy Cement Company to deliver a cement production line at Suez, Egypt. The order is for engineering, procurement and supply of equipment for the expansion of a cement production line.

GF Machining Solutions held the groundbreaking ceremony for a new innovation and production center in Bözingenfeld, Biel. The plant will produce machine tools and spindles, house R&D and application centers, and create around 450 jobs. GF is investing CHF 80 million, with completion expected by end of 2018.

Humacs Krabbendam B.V. received an order from Enerpac Heavy Lifting Technology for the delivery of the largest CNC lathe from SMEC's range, the SMEC PL80LM. The machine was delivered in Hengelo, Netherlands in mid-February 2017.

Indev Gauging Systems Inc, a subsidiary of Jasch Industries, acquired Automation and Control Technology Inc for $1 million. The combined entity will offer advanced in-line web-based measurement and control technologies.

RotoMetrics and Electro Optic merged to form the world's leading precision rotary tooling company for the label and printing industry. The merger combines RotoMetrics' global distribution with Electro Optic's flexible die technologies.

Valmet will supply two containerboard production lines and automation systems for Nine Dragons Industries at Quanzhou and Chongqing, producing testliner and fluting from recycled fiber, with start-ups scheduled for 2018.

Trimble and K-Tec Earthmovers announced a Trimble Ready factory option for K-Tec scrapers, allowing installation of Trimble GCS900 grade control systems at the factory, available now on 2017 models.

Huafon Microfiber Co. Ltd. has placed orders for 10 complete needling lines from DiloGroup for its new plant in Qidong, Jiangsu, China. Six lines are already in production, two are being installed, and two are scheduled for shipment in the first half of 2017.

Faymonville, a manufacturer of semi-trailers for special haulage, has reached an agreement to acquire 100% of the shares of Industrie COMETTO S.p.A., a manufacturer of heavy modular and self-propelled trailers based in northern Italy.

B&R and Hyundai Heavy Industries signed a global strategic partnership agreement to introduce B&R automation solutions across HHI's operations, including control solutions for ship, plant and power automation.

Dana Incorporated debuted off-highway drivetrain and power-transmission offerings at CONEXPO-CON/AGG in Las Vegas, including a complete drive system for 55- to 110-ton cranes and new Brevini construction solutions.

France's CIM Group, a £678m-turnover rail group, acquired Sheffield-based Mechan, a specialist in rail depot equipment. Mechan will retain its name, management and personnel.

Premier Tech will invest $7 million to expand one of its Industrial Equipment Group plants in Rivière-du-Loup, Quebec, adding 2,300 m² and creating nearly 30 jobs over three years.

LG Algeria plans to build a plant in Algeria to assemble washing machines and air conditioners, in partnership with a local investor. Production of 30,000 washing machines is expected to start in July 2017, creating 100 jobs.

Machine tool manufacturers Wiesser and Union MT have formed a strategic alliance for product co-development and production, effective immediately.

Siemens has been contracted to deliver four SGT-700 gas turbines, driving compressors and generators for the NGL extraction plant in Fahud, Oman, part of the Liwa Plastics Industries Complex. The order came from GS Engineering & Construction on behalf of Orpic.

Siemens and its Dresser-Rand business will supply two gas turbine-driven compressor trains and two gas turbine generator packages for the Liwa Plastics Industries Complex's NGL extraction plant in Fahud, Oman. The order was placed by GS Engineering & Construction for Orpic, and operations are expected in 2019.

Massman Automation Designs appointed Greg Gorski as Vice President and General Manager of EDL Massman in Green Bay, Wisconsin, to succeed founder Ken Carter upon his planned retirement.

Chelyabinsk Tractor Plant (ChTZ) shipped spare parts for B10 and T170 bulldozers to its Mongolian dealer Promtechavtomechanika for repair and maintenance of bulldozers used by coal companies.

KraussMaffei Group has acquired IBS Plamag GmbH, a manufacturer of components and assemblies for mechanical engineering, based in Plauen, Germany.

SAFE S.p.A., part of the Landi Renzo group, finalized the acquisition of a 90% stake in Idro Meccanica S.r.l., a maker of hydraulic-driven hydrogen and RNG compressors. The remaining 10% will transfer once authorizations are obtained.