Press Releases
Abakan Closes $1 Million Loan to Complete Its First Full-Scale Clad Pipe Manufacturing Facility
October 04, 2012
MIAMI--(GLOBE NEWS WIRE)-- Abakan Inc. (OTCQB ABKI) (“Abakan”) today announced that its subsidiary MesoCoat Inc., has closed a low-interest $1 million loan under the State of Ohio’s Innovation Ohio Loan Fund which allows MesoCoat to complete construction and equipment installation of its first full-scale clad pipe manufacturing facility in Ohio.
Abakan expects the construction and installation to be completed in December, 2012 and after two months of production trial runs, this facility should begin commercial production in March, 2013. Unlike Abakan’s planned 4-line clad pipe production facilities in Brazil, Canada, and Middle East that have production capabilities of 120 kilometers of clad pipe annually; this first facility in Ohio would be a 1-line clad pipe demonstration and low rate initial production facility. Design production capacity for the Ohio plant is 25-30 kilometers equivalent of clad pipe per year, or $60-80 million in revenues, but actual production will be lower as the plant is partially dedicated to production qualification and short run orders supporting the full production plants planned for 2013/2014 operations.
Abakan CEO, Robert Miller, stated “Earlier this year we commenced market entry for our PComP™ nanocomposite coatings which have been fabulously received by our industry partners, and our equity investment in MesoCoat coupled with the $1 million state loan, cooperative agreement with Petrobras, and continued support of the US Department of Energy has positioned ourselves for market entry in 2013 for our CermaClad™ fusion-clad pipe product line which can be produced with higher quality and up to 40 times faster than competing weld overlay technologies. This facility allows us to demonstrate full scale production of large area fusion claddings, and generate significant revenues as we begin commercial cladding operations in the next 4-5 months. The Ohio facility would be one of the largest clad pipe manufacturing facilities in North America, and we have plans to further expand production capabilities at this facility to serve the domestic oil and gas, energy generation, and mineral processing market needs for wear and corrosion resistant products, as well as the rapidly expanding Shale Gas exploration and production market in Ohio and neighboring regions. In the past few months we have also made significant progress in our global expansion plans.”
About Abakan Inc.
Abakan Inc. (ABKI) is the parent company of Mesocoat Inc, and invests in additional companies that have developed transformational technologies on the cusp of commercialization. Abakan is the largest shareholder in MesoCoat Inc, and has a significant position in Powdermet Inc., each of which is a nanotechnology material science company involved in technology development and commercialization. MesoCoat is focused on metal asset protection and life extension by providing advanced wear and corrosion solutions, while Powdermet is focused on metal formulations as well as advanced energy management solutions. MesoCoat was recently recognized by Forbes as one of ‘The Most Promising American Companies’ and was the highest ranked material science and nanotechnology company. MesoCoat’s technologies have been recipient of four prestigious R&D 100 awards, a Technology Innovation Program Award (TIP) for 100 year life coatings by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), two NorTech Innovation Awards for breakthrough materials and surface engineering solutions, and several other federal and state grants and awards. Powdermet is a nationally recognized nanotechnology and advanced materials research and development organization that has won approximately 100 federal and state awards, along with several technology innovation awards like R&D 100 and the NorTech Innovation Award.
Forward-Looking Statements:
A number of statements contained in this press release are forward-looking statements. These forward looking statements involve a number of risks and uncertainties including technological obsolescence, market acceptance of future products, competitive market conditions, and the sufficiency of capital resources. The actual results Abakan may achieve could differ materially from any forward-looking statements due to such risks and uncertainties. Abakan encourages the public to read the information provided here in conjunction with its most recent filings on Form 10-K and Form 10-Q. Abakan’s public filings may be viewed at www.sec.gov.
Abakan Inc.
Robert Miller, Chief Executive Officer
Phone: +1-786-206-5368
Email: [email protected]
www.abakaninc.com