Archive / Materials

Materials

Metals, powders, composites, and the molecules that move industry.

October 2026

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

September 2026

News · Materials

Brussels puts a floor under electrical steel

From 25 September the EU will quota grain-oriented electrical steel and set a minimum price. The cheap Asian coil that fills transformers and wind nacelles just got a number.

The Industrial Brief · 21 Sept 2026 · 4 min

August 2026

In depth · Materials

Metal printing is moving out of the prototype shop

The parts that have moved into production are the ones a mill was never going to make well: internal channels, conformal cooling, and spares whose tooling cost more than the lifetime demand.

The Industrial Brief · 28 Aug 2026 · 7 min