Supply Chain

Vancouver – October 14, 2026 -- The U.S. Department of War has committed $450 million to The Elmet Group, the largest federal tungsten investment so far, as defense procurement rules barring tungsten from China, Russia, Iran and North Korea take effect on October 14, 2026.

Washington pairs equity investment with a $2 billion stockpile contract

The September 14 package includes a Defense Logistics Agency contract with a ceiling of $2 billion for tungsten supply to the National Defense Stockpile. The contract carries a guaranteed funded commitment of $150 million. The investment is funded through an initial $200 million drawdown at closing, in exchange for redeemable preferred equity and warrants for up to 19.9% of Elmet's common stock.

About $150 million is allocated to restarting and expanding ammonium paratungstate conversion at the Springer Tungsten Complex in Imlay, Nevada, through a majority-owned joint venture.

Hickory, N.C. – October 14, 2026 -- Transportation Insight (TI) has launched TI Infinity, an AI-powered Decision Intelligence platform built on a logistics book that covers $14.4 billion in managed client spend and 2.8 billion audited shipments a year.

TI Infinity replaces historical reporting with continuous analysis of live transportation data

The platform combines continuous monitoring, predictive analytics, anomaly detection, scenario modeling and conversational intelligence. It analyzes market, spend and performance data to identify trends, emerging risks and opportunities without requiring users to know what to look for. Shippers can query their data in plain language, investigate what is driving a change, evaluate potential outcomes and determine the next best action.

St. Charles – October 14, 2026 -- CuBE Packaging Solutions Inc. is investing more than $30 million to expand its U.S. manufacturing facility in St. Charles, Illinois, adding new high-speed injection molding machines and integrated end-of-line automation to raise domestic production capacity.

CuBE funds multi-phase build-out through 2027

The investment covers renovation of the facility and a multi-phase installation of injection molding equipment and automation. The initial phase is complete and in production. Additional phases are underway and planned through 2027.

The St. Charles plant entered production in late 2025. It anchors CuBE's U.S. manufacturing footprint and complements its flagship site in Aurora, Ontario, described by the company as one of the largest single-site food storage injection molding facilities in North America.

Lake Orion – October 13, 2026 -- American Battery Solutions (ABS) has introduced Aventor, an 800-volt heavy-duty battery platform delivering 113 kWh of energy and 358 kW of peak discharge power, with customer samples planned for 2027 and production starting in Q1 2028.

Aventor is designed, engineered and assembled in the U.S. with domestically sourced cells, and is built to support BABA-compliant OEM programs. Initial capacity is set at 6,000 battery packs annually, or approximately 0.7 GWh.

Aventor claims 300 Wh/L volumetric density and up to 200 Wh/kg

The platform is rated at 300 Wh/L volumetric and up to 200 Wh/kg gravimetric energy density. ABS says it supports fast charging from 10% to 80% in 42 minutes or less, a metric aimed at high-utilization applications where charging time affects productivity.

Columbus – October 13, 2026 -- Vertiv (NYSE: VRT) has appointed Frieda He as Chief Procurement Officer, placing a executive who oversaw more than $3 billion in annual global spend at Polestar in charge of its global procurement organization.

He will focus on strengthening supply chain resilience, enabling growth, optimizing cost and value, and driving supplier quality. Her remit covers Vertiv's portfolio of end-to-end power and thermal management solutions for data centers, communications networks, and commercial and industrial applications.

Columbus – October 13, 2026 -- Vertiv (NYSE: VRT) has completed its acquisition of ThermoKey S.p.A., adding heat rejection and heat-exchange manufacturing capacity in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) as AI factories and high-density data centers drive demand for thermal systems. The release does not disclose financial terms.

ThermoKey adds heat-exchange and dry cooler technology to Vertiv's thermal chain

ThermoKey supplies heat-exchange solutions and dry coolers, and its technology is compatible with low-GWP and natural refrigerants. Vertiv says this complements its existing portfolio and lets customers optimize for performance, site conditions and growth. The company already uses ThermoKey technologies in select thermal solutions.

Columbus, Ohio – October 13, 2026 -- Vertiv (NYSE: VRT) has opened a manufacturing facility in Johor, Malaysia, to serve rising demand for AI and high-density computing infrastructure across Southeast Asia, North Asia, Australia and New Zealand. The site is expected to bring hundreds of skilled jobs to the region once fully operational in 2027.

The plant adds regional manufacturing, engineering, logistics and deployment capacity in one of Southeast Asia's fastest-growing industrial markets. Vertiv cites the site's regional connectivity and proximity to key technology and customer hubs.

Johor plant handles manufacturing, assembly and full-scale witness testing

The facility covers end-to-end manufacturing, assembly and full-scale witness testing of thermal and power infrastructure. Vertiv says validated performance reduces deployment risk and speeds time to capacity for enterprise, cloud and colocation customers.

Columbus, Ohio – October 13, 2026 -- Vertiv has deployed a three-rack SmartIT integrated AI infrastructure configuration at the Naval Postgraduate School (NPS) to support the school's new NVIDIA DGX GB300 system, converting an existing facility into a high-density, liquid-cooled environment.

NVIDIA supplied the DGX GB300 system. Vertiv provided and deployed the supporting physical infrastructure, engineering expertise and installation services needed to bring the environment online. The project covers education, research, digital engineering, modeling and simulation.

Singapore – October 13, 2026 -- NEU Battery Materials has closed an oversubscribed US$7.6 million funding round to scale the recovery of battery-grade lithium from lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries, following the commissioning of its 1,300-ton-per-year Singapore factory.

Shift4Good and SGInnovate co-lead the round with new and existing backers

Shift4Good, a venture capital platform investing in the decarbonisation and resilience of transport and energy, and SGInnovate, a Singapore government-backed Deep Tech investor, co-led the financing. New investors Lotus Singapore Group and M7 Holdings joined, as did existing backer Paragon Ventures I.

The capital will fund the ramp-up of battery-grade lithium production from LFP feedstock, including cathode production scraps and end-of-life black mass. It will also fund international expansion.

Austin, Texas – October 13, 2026 -- Aeon Industrial has placed more than 10,000 of its MERC high-voltage electronic safe-and-arm devices into production, one of several milestones behind its selection to the inaugural 2026 Austin Deep Tech 50.

Aeon wins eight-figure defense contract and Army interceptor selection

The vertically integrated defense manufacturer secured a key eight-figure defense contract in recent weeks. It was also selected for the U.S. Army's interceptor challenge with its layered air and missile defense architecture.

The MERC production order followed successful performance at the Department of War's Drone Dominance initiative. MERC is a low-cost safe-and-arm device that supports time, proximity, and impact fuzing across drones, missiles, and interceptors.

Aeon also delivered ahead of schedule on a complex U.S. Army contract covering development of an all-up weapon system and warhead, including successful live testing.