CNPC Powder announces California production and R&D facility

CNPC Powder, a global supplier of metal powders for Additive Manufacturing headquartered in Vancouver, Canada, has begun construction of a new production and R&D facility in California, USA. The move is said to strengthen its commitment to the North American market and support growing demand for domestic metal powder supply chains.

The company plans to produce powders in a range of particle size distributions for applications including Laser Beam Powder Bed Fusion (PBF-LB), Directed Energy Deposition (DED), Metal Injection Moulding (MIM), thermal spray, and Hot Isostatic Pressing (HIP).

CNPC explained that manufacturers are placing greater emphasis on domestic supply chains, shorter qualification cycles, and improved process traceability. The California facility has been designed to address these requirements, providing US customers with faster access to its alloy portfolio, local technical support, and greater supply chain control for applications in aerospace, automotive, consumer electronics, medical, energy, and industrial sectors.

The company expects the facility to reduce delivery times for many North American customers from several weeks to a matter of days, while also enabling closer engineering collaboration and on-site implementation support.

Initial production is expected to begin in the first quarter of 2027. The 2,000 m² facility will house up to six fully automated atomisation production lines for aluminium powders, titanium alloys, nickel-based superalloys, stainless steels, and other speciality alloys for industrial-scale Additive Manufacturing.

Advanced atomisation technologies

The California facility will deploy CNPC Powder’s portfolio of atomisation and powder-processing technologies to produce spherical, low-oxygen powders for demanding Additive Manufacturing applications.

Core production technologies will include:

• Vacuum Induction Gas Atomisation (VIGA) for high-purity nickel alloys, steels, and speciality alloys
• Electrode Induction Gas Atomisation (EIGA) for reactive materials such as titanium alloys
• Plasma Rotating Electrode Process (PREP) for aerospace and medical-grade powders
• Plasma Spheroidisation (PS) to enhance powder flowability and particle uniformity
• AMP Platform (Advanced Metallurgy Powder), the company’s proprietary production platform, incorporates real-time monitoring, closed-loop process control, and quality management

According to the company, these technologies enable control of particle size distribution (PSD), sphericity, satellite formation, oxygen content, and powder flow characteristics, all of which influence build consistency, density, surface finish, and mechanical properties.

CNPC Powder stated that its production architecture has been developed to support both powder repeatability and scalability, which it considers key factors in broader industrial adoption of Additive Manufacturing.

Closed-loop powder recycling

The new site will incorporate a closed-loop recycling system intended to convert production scrap, used components, and waste powder into recycled titanium and aluminium powders. The company stated that these materials will be supplied with SCS carbon certification.

According to CNPC Powder, the recycled powders offer more than 60% reduction in carbon emissions in alignment with customer sustainability objectives and US clean manufacturing initiatives. The powders are qualified for high-volume Additive Manufacturing production applications.

Material portfolio

The facility will initially focus on materials widely used in industrial AM applications, including:

• Aluminium alloys, including Scalmalloy, for lightweight aerospace and automotive applications
• Titanium alloys, including Ti-6Al-4V, for aerospace structures, orthopaedic implants, and lightweight components
• Nickel-based superalloys, including Inconel 718, Inconel 625, and Hastelloy-series materials
• Steel alloys for medical and industrial applications
• Copper alloys

Custom alloy development services will also be offered for customers requiring enhanced weight reduction or heat, corrosion and wear resistance.

Alloy development and certification centre

Alongside production operations, the California facility will include an alloy development and rapid certification centre staffed by application engineers and materials specialists.

The centre will support:

• Rapid prototyping and small-batch alloy development
• Powder parameter optimisation for customer AM platforms
• Material characterisation and validation
• Qualification and scale-up support
• Collaborative development of next-generation AM materials

CNPC Powder stated that this engineering support model is intended to help customers reduce qualification timelines and accelerate the commercial deployment of new Additive Manufacturing applications.

Supporting industrial growth

The California investment forms part of the company’s strategy to expand regional manufacturing and technical support capabilities in key metal powder markets.

CNPC Powder currently supplies customers in the aerospace, automotive, medical, electronics, and industrial sectors and holds certifications including ISO 9001, IATF 16949, ISO 13485, and SCS recycled content certification.

“Additive Manufacturing is entering a new phase where material consistency, localised supply, and engineering responsiveness matter more than ever,” the company stated. “Our California facility is designed to help manufacturers scale AM production with stable, eco-friendly, and cost-efficient materials, delivered faster, with deeper technical support, and a more resilient supply chain built closer to where innovation happens.”

www.cnpcpowder.com