Austrian rare earths and chemicals specialist Treibacher Industrie AG opened a sales company in Toronto, Canada, last month, taking what it sees as an important strategic step to extend its position and increase customer support levels in North America. The new sales company is being set up by a team lead by Jon Dodge, who until now has managed the American market from the United Kingdom. “We have developed a solid business base in North America and the new subsidiary will further enable us to add value to existing customers and to develop new and innovative markets,” he said. Treibacher operates in four main markets: rare earths and chemicals; high-performance materials; steel and foundry products and recycling. Rare earths are used in ceramics, electronics, catalysts, special types of glass and as a key constituent of electrodes for rechargeable batteries and flints. Rare earth oxides are used as spray powder materials, as ingots for electron beam physical vapour deposition of thermal insulation coatings, as face coat material in the precision casting industry, and high-performance grinding beads for wet-grinding processes. The product portfolio also includes a broad range of carbide, boride and nitride powders which are basic raw materials for hardmetal and for non-oxide ceramic components.