Manufacturing

A new taskforce to transform Perth’s southern industrial precinct into an advanced industries hub has selected former Tianqi Lithium boss Phil Thick as its industry advisor.

Austin Engineering has delivered its 1,000th truck body to Rio Tinto's iron ore division, while Forrestfield-based Schlam won a $110 million contract from BHP.

Robotic bricklaying company FBR is set to bank $11 million after offering up discounted shares at 4.5 cents to institutional investors and collecting a research and development refund.

Battery materials business EcoGraf has scored an offtake with South Korea’s Posco, sending its shares up by more than 32 per cent.

DevelopmentWA has lodged environmental documents to further develop its Kemerton industrial estate, while Albemarle has revealed delays to its Kemerton lithium plant.

With several projects under way, the state also needs to develop markets for its recycled products in pursuit of a circular economy.

Podiatrist and business owner Rachael Ferguson has persevered through the pandemic, landing another retail deal for her new pain relief product.

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Civmec has secured three maintenance and capital works contracts worth $130 million with mining majors Rio Tinto and BHP, taking its total order book to more than $1 billion.

Adbri has highlighted the importance of domestic manufacturing as it commenced a major upgrade of its Cockburn Cement operations and evaluates regional investments.

AMTE Power and InfraNomics are planning a 200,000 micro cell battery production line in Kwinana.

Henderson-based shipbuilder Austal has been contracted to build two steel vessels for the US Navy.

Jason Signmakers has become a national market leader after completing its fourth and largest acquisition.

Shares in FYI Resources have fallen sharply for the second day running after the Perth company announced details of a $US250 million joint venture with Alcoa of Australia.

Rio Tinto is planning to purchase some of its iron ore rail cars from local suppliers, in what would be a small but notable boost for WA manufacturing.

Australia's manufacturing sector has practically stalled, hit by supply chain disruptions and labour shortages not seen in decades.

The critical minerals sector will become the latest to receive a special concessional loan deal from the federal government, with $2 billion on the line.

NRW Holdings’ Primero Group has been contracted to build a lithium processing plant in the Northern Territory and a vanadium electrolyte manufacturing facility in Western Australia.

Business News spoke to three businesses about their decision to manufacture in Perth and the benefits it has brought to their operations.

ASX-listed Hastings Technology Metals has lodged federal environmental documents for a rare earths processing plant near Onslow in the Pilbara.

David Singleton-led Austin Engineering has won a suite of new contracts, including with mining services companies NRW Holdings and Perenti.

Wesfarmers-backed Covalent Lithium has signed a lease for its planned Kwinana refinery project with the state government.

One of WA’s most prominent defence industry executives is set to jump ship and take a senior role with global shipbuilder Luerssen.

The state government must cut environmental approval times and rethink its new onshore export ban to make Mark McGowan’s gas-powered manufacturing plans a reality, a report shows.

Austal suffered a sharp drop in revenue and underlying earnings in the year to June, on the back of a strengthening Australian dollar, COVID-19 and decreasing support work in the US.

David Singleton-led Austin Engineering will invest $6.5 million to improve its manufacturing facilities in Perth and Indonesia.

WA company Cannaponics has been given the all-clear to start construction of its medicinal cannabis manufacturing hub in Collie.

Marine technology manufacturer VEEM is expecting to post a 34 per cent jump in revenue in the past 12 months, to nearly $60 million.

Western Australia is set to gain more than 30 new electric vehicle charging stations, as part of a $25 million fund to assist in a nationwide rollout.

Christian Porter says he’s taking the long view in his new portfolio, sharpening the focus of industry policy and hoping to improve research commercialisation.

Perth company Zella DC has secured federal government funding for half the cost of developing its next generation of micro data centres.

Perth manufacturer UON has scored a notable win in the long-running legal battle over the intellectual property for its submersible pumps.