NEW CASTLE, Pa. – AMG Critical Materials N.V. on Wednesday announced that operations have begun at its chrome metal production facility here, becoming the sole producer of chrome metal in the United States.

The Netherlands-based company said last year that it would construct two new buildings at 207 Frenz Drive and open the plant in 2026 to support large end users of chrome metal in the U.S. market. AMG also operates a titanium alloys and coatings operation at the site. 

According to a press release, AMG Chrome – a subsidiary of AMG Critical – invested $15 million and plans an annual capacity of 6,500 tons. The new facility addresses a long-standing deficit in the U.S. critical materials supply chain as chrome metal is a key ingredient in advanced alloys, and demand is accelerating, the company said. 

The metal is essential to the nickel-chromium superalloys in jet engines to space-launch vehicles, including rockets such as SpaceX’s Starship, and to clean-energy systems such as solid oxide fuel cells. In establishing a significant U.S.-based production facility, AMG is helping to secure a domestic source for this essential material.

“Chrome is now being recognized at a level commensurate with its strategic importance to modern manufacturing – a long-overdue acknowledgment of its essential contribution to the industry,” Heinz Schimmelbusch, chairman of the management board and CEO, said in a statement. “Chrome metal enhances the performance, durability and heat resistance of advanced alloys. And with our new high-purity chrome metal facility, AMG is onshoring the production of a material deemed critical for U.S. national security.”

Until Wednesday, the United States imported 100% of its chrome metal, a supply-chain and national-security risk that places chrome metal among the most critical of materials.

The last chrome metal plant in the U.S. closed in 2006.

Over the past several years, AMG Critical Materials has invested more than $400 million into its U.S. operations, including facilities that produce chrome, vanadium and titanium, the company said. These investments reflect AMG’s long-term commitment to strengthening domestic manufacturing and supporting critical material supply chains.

Pictured at top: A photo of a turbine. (AMG Chrome)