Americas

The United States, Mexico, Brazil and Canada. Capex, power, and the plant decision, not the press conference.

October 2026

News · Production

Japan will put up to $21bn into two GlobalFoundries chip fabs in New York

The first 300mm fab at Malta is due online in 2029 on about $10bn of Japanese money. A second fab of similar size would need a further $10bn. The US Commerce Department also takes about 4% of GlobalFoundries.

The Industrial Brief · 16 Oct 2026 · 4 min

News · Production

Lockheed Martin puts $300m into its Texas missile parts plant

The Grand Prairie site that machines parts for PAC-3 MSE, THAAD and PrSM will grow past 735,000 sq ft, with a 24-machine Hadrian cell due to run inside the plant from early 2027 under a seven-year deal.

The Industrial Brief · 15 Oct 2026 · 4 min

Now · Materials

Wolfspeed has a conditional offer of a US government loan of up to $1.5bn for silicon carbide and GaN production

The loan from the Department of War's Office of Strategic Capital is not yet agreed. It depends on due diligence, a contribution of at least $750m from other sources and offtake deals with buyers.

The Industrial Brief · 8 Oct 2026 · 2 min

News · Supply Chain

Anduril will build a $3.7bn submarine parts yard in Baltimore, starting with torpedo tubes

The Navy contract that comes with it, worth up to $2.9bn, pays on what the yard actually produces. The Maryland site is due to open in 2030, and a California plant will make the first parts before then.

The Industrial Brief · 7 Oct 2026 · 5 min

News · Supply Chain

Boeing gets a $14.7bn order to triple Patriot missile seeker output in Alabama

The award from Lockheed Martin turns a framework signed in April into a seven-year contract for the seekers that guide PAC-3 MSE interceptors. The price is not yet final, and the work stays in Huntsville.

The Industrial Brief · 6 Oct 2026 · 5 min

News · Supply Chain

US factories paid more for metal in September

The ISM index barely moved, at 54.5. The prices index jumped to 77.9. The buyers who filled in the survey blamed steel, aluminum and tariffs, including new ones on Canada.

The Industrial Brief · 2 Oct 2026 · 6 min

News · Energy

GM is adding a manganese battery at Spring Hill

The Tennessee plant will be fitted for lithium manganese-rich cells for future GM electric vehicles. Building work finishes in 2028. The iron-phosphate cells already made there are for storage, not for cars.

The Industrial Brief · 1 Oct 2026 · 6 min

September 2026

Now · Policy

OMB asks who can make the 86 essential medicines in the United States

Friday’s Federal Register notice is a request for information, not an award. Replies are due 26 October. It covers the finished dose, the active ingredient and the starting material, in the United States or near shore.

The Industrial Brief · 26 Sept 2026 · 3 min

Now · Production

Honda close to a new hybrid plant in Ohio, Nikkei says

The paper puts the figure at ¥300–400 billion and the start of production at 2030. Honda has not confirmed the plant. Reuters carried the report on Thursday.

The Industrial Brief · 25 Sept 2026 · 2 min

News · Energy

GM’s sodium-ion cells are planned for around 2029

A plan with Peak Energy around 2029 is a materials hedge, not a volume programme. Lithium still runs the car. Sodium is the attempt not to need China for the next chemistry.

The Industrial Brief · 22 Sept 2026 · 4 min

News · Policy

Reshoring a pharmaceutical plant takes years

Onshoring agreements can be signed in a quarter. Validated plants, qualified suppliers, and dual-sourced APIs cannot. The calendar is chemical, not political.

The Industrial Brief · 19 Sept 2026 · 5 min

In depth · Talent

Chip plants are going up faster than the technicians to run them

America can pour concrete for chip plants. It cannot yet pour people into them. The shortage is about to set the pace of the industrial build-out.

The Industrial Brief · 18 Sept 2026 · 9 min

News · Talent

Chip plants will need 157,000 more people than America can currently train

A SEMI Foundation analysis puts a hard number on the quiet crisis inside every new U.S. fab — and explains why commissioning crews are still arriving from overseas.

The Industrial Brief · 18 Sept 2026 · 4 min

News · Production

US manufacturing expands for a fifth month

Industrial production has a pulse again. The interesting question is whether this is a cycle or the first print of a structural reshoring.

The Industrial Brief · 17 Sept 2026 · 4 min

News · Production

Siemens and Battery-NY try to industrialize the cell pilot line

A Binghamton-led battery initiative is building a standard automation stack so a research cell can become a production cell without a three-year rewrite.

The Industrial Brief · 16 Sept 2026 · 4 min

News · Automation

Samsung puts on-prem language models on the fab floor

A Paris-announced deal with Mistral will take large models inside Samsung’s semiconductor operations — memory, logic, and foundry — where the data cannot leave the building.

The Industrial Brief · 9 Sept 2026 · 4 min