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Industrial News

Industrial News

Road project set to spur industrial growth in Weirton

Portion of federal funding to be used to open property for future opportunities

WEIRTON — A portion of the more than $40 million awarded to Brooke and Hancock counties through the recent Congressional spending bill will assist in opening up former steel-making property in Weirton for future economic development opportunities.

Of the funds announced March 11, $3 million was awarded to the Brooke-Hancock-Jefferson Metropolitan Planning Commission, and $1 million to the City of Weirton, with the goal of constructing an industrial access road through the Frontier Crossings development in Weirton.

“The goal is to connect the dots,” Mike Paprocki, executive director of BHJ, explained, noting plans are for the road to stretch from the Cove Road and Weir Avenue intersection, through the property now owned by the Frontier Group of Companies, and eventually lead to Brown’s Island.

Paprocki said while the road would be a public right-of-way, it’s primary purpose would be to carry industrial traffic.

Weirton City Manager Mike Adams expressed appreciation to U.S. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., and U.S. Rep. David McKinley, R-W.Va., for their support of the funded projects in the region.

“That’s a testament to what they think of this area,” Adams said. “That’s their recognition that this is a special place.”

The city manager noted he believes a big selling point for the federal funds being provided was the amount of private funding already invested by the Frontier Group, which has amounted to close to $90 million to prepare the land.

“This site has tremendous potential,” Adams said, adding he feels it is only a matter of time before prospects make a decision to locate operations in the city.

Pat Ford, business development director for the Frontier Group of Companies, also expressed appreciation to West Virginia’s Congressional delegation, as well as to city officials and the BHJ, for their work in obtaining the funds.

“What’s exciting about this news is our voices are heard,” Ford said.

Ford said the Frontier Group has been meeting with numerous prospects about the property, with the potential for $1.2 billion in investment, but the construction of the road is needed for the efforts to move forward.

“There is not a week that goes by we’re not talking to someone,” Ford said, explaining prospects include both national operations planning to grow and international companies looking for a foothold in the U.S. markets.

Once the road is complete, it will further solidify transportation corridors through the region for roadway, river and rail.

“It’s multi-modal,” Paprocki said, adding the development also will further open industrial access in the northern parts of Hancock County and beyond.

In addition to the $4 million for the road project, the area also is set to receive $22.47 million for use in the planned expansion of the Weirton water treatment plant, $10.3 million for improvements to Follansbee’s wastewater treatment system, $1.96 million for water infrastructure improvements in the Beech Bottom Industrial Park and $4 million for improvements to a railroad bridge in the north end of Follansbee.

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Industrial News

City council to consider plans for Hwy 40 industrial business park

Plans are in the works for a new industrial business park in Sarnia.

Monteith Sutherland Limited, has proposed to create a 48 block industrial subdivision on the 158 acre parcel of land on Highway 40, between Kimball Road and McGregor Side Road.

Mayor Mike Bradley said city council will consider a recommendation by city staff to approve draft plans when it meets Monday.

“It’s in the right area, in the industrial sector, it gives us more diversity as it relates to business parks,” said Bradley. “The city has the Highway 402 one, we have the areas around the Research Park, which really are for light use, this is heavy industrial and it fits perfectly into that Plank Road sector.”

If approved, each block or lot would be developed in accordance with an approved Site Plan Control Agreement.

The property is currently zoned Heavy Industrial, which permits a wide range of industrial uses, including manufacturing and processing.

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Industrial News

Reliance-ACRE combine wins race for ailing textile firm Sintex Industries

Reliance-ACRE combine wins race for ailing textile firm Sintex Industries

Lenders to ailing textile firm Sintex Industries Ltd (SIL) have approved a resolution plan submitted by Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) jointly with Assets Care & Reconstruction Enterprise Ltd (ACRE).

The plan (RIL-ACRE) has been duly approved by the 100 per cent members of Committee of Creditors (CoC) as the successful resolution plan subject to approval of National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT), the company informed BSE.

Gujarat based SIL said all four compliant Resolution Plans submitted by four Resolution Applicants were put for e-voting for approval by the CoC members in accordance with the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 (Code) and regulations. The e-voting concluded On March 19, 2022 at 10.00 p.m.

The plan is that existing share capital of the Company will be reduced to Zero. The company will be delisted from the stock exchanges i.e. BSE and NSE.

The lenders to the company include Punjab National Bank, Bank of India, Bank of Baroda, Export Import Bank of India, HDFC Bank and Axis Bank. Lenders – members of CoC – exposure to SIL is about Rs 7,718.72 crore, according to filing with BSE.

SIL has been undergoing substantial financial stress and severe liquidity constraints since last Financial Year. Coupled with changed industrial dynamics, it has been facing time and cost overrun in completion of projects, reduction in subsidies and incentive benefits and Covid related disruptions.

 

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Industrial News

China to strengthen policy support for industrial economy

China to strengthen policy support for industrial economy

China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) Thursday pledged to strengthen policy support to promote stable growth of the industrial economy as challenges remained amid increasing uncertainties.

The regulator will enhance the implementation of policies and measures already in place, such as tax cuts and fee reductions. It will also actively roll out more policies conducive to stabilizing growth, the MIIT said in a statement released after a meeting, urging caution when introducing contractionary policies to ensure the industrial economy operates within a reasonable range.

Further measures will support private manufacturers and enable foreign businesses to increase high-end manufacturing investments, the statement said.

It detailed efforts to expand effective investment in the manufacturing industry, advance applications of new types of infrastructure, and boost green and digital consumption.
The regulator will also strengthen the coordination and cooperation of industrial and financial policies and encourage more qualified enterprises to go public.
China’s industrial production expanded in the first two months of the year, with the high-tech manufacturing sector posting stellar performance, official data showed Tuesday.

The value-added industrial output, an important economic indicator, went up 7.5 percent year on year in the January-February period.
Source: Xinhua

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Industrial News

Koch Industries stays in Russia, backs groups opposing U.S. sanctions

Koch Industries stays in Russia, backs groups opposing U.S. sanctions

As hundreds of major U.S. companies exit Russia over its invasion of Ukraine, Koch Industries is staying put.

The industrial conglomerate — the second-largest privately owned business in America, with $115 billion in annual revenue — is among those defying public pressure and continuing to operate manufacturing plants and sell products across Russia, while up until Wednesday remaining mum on that nation’s relentless assault on Ukrainian cities.

Wichita, Kansas-based Koch has several business lines in Russia, and is among the nearly 40 companies described as “digging in” by refusing to curb or stop business in that nation, according to a tally compiled by Yale University professor Jeffrey Sonnenfeld and his research team.

Koch subsidiary Guardian Industries has two industrial glass manufacturing plants in Russia that employ about 600. Outside of Guardian, Koch employs 15 people in Russia, according to the company.

“While Guardian’s business in Russia is a very small part of Koch, we will not walk away from our employees there or hand over these manufacturing facilities to the Russian government so it can operate and benefit from them,” Dave Robertson, president and COO of Koch Industries, said Wednesday in a statement posted by the company.

Calling Russia’s attack on Ukraine “an affront to humanity” that “violates our company’s values and principles,” Robertson also said the company has provided financial assistance to workers and their families from Ukraine and other aid to those affected in neighboring countries.

“To be clear, Koch companies are complying with all applicable sanctions, laws and regulations governing our relationships and transactions within all countries where we operate,” he added. “We will continue to closely monitor the situation and keep you updated as needed.”

The company’s stance on doing business in Russia drew criticism in some quarters. The New Yorker’s Jane Mayer, author of “Dark Money,” a book about the Koch’s political influence, said the company’s justification is hypocritical.

“Given how small Koch says its Russian operation is, hard not to see this as purely symbolic, sending the message that all of Koch’s talk of rights and liberty means nothing. Making money is what they value,” Mayer tweeted.

Arguing against sanctions

Political groups supported by Charles Koch, the right-wing billionaire who is chairman and CEO of Koch Industries, oppose broad economic sanctions against Russia, according to Popular Information, a left-leaning newsletter run by Judd Legum.

Stand Together, a nonprofit founded by Charles Koch, instead “supports targeted sanctions against Russia in response to its immoral invasion of Ukraine. We also believe that sanctions are a legitimate tool of statecraft. However, broad-based economic sanctions rarely achieve their desired policy outcomes,” Dan Caldwell, the group’s vice president for foreign policy, tweeted on Monday.

Caldwell previously suggested that the U.S. remain neutral on the conflict in Ukraine.

A similar message comes from Will Ruger, president of another Charles Koch-backed group, the American Institute for Economic Research, or AIER, according to Popular Information’s reporting. “The United States can and should do very little for Ukraine,” Ruger said in a March 2 podcast with Reason Magazine, a libertarian publication also supported by Charles Koch. “Ukraine simply doesn’t matter to America’s security or our prosperity.”

Advancing that view, Ruger also shared on social media a Reason video entitled “Why Russian sanctions will fail.”

Another Charles Koch-backed group, Concerned Veterans for America, is also cautioning against sanctions against Russia. In a petition letter, the group urges “restraint as America responds to Russia’s immoral invasion of Ukraine. … We should avoid actions that may aggravate the situation further or have damaging repercussions to American prosperity.”

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