Ceramic and glass business news of the week for May 18, 2020

PLANTS, CENTERS, AND FACILITIES

Turkish glass manufacturer GCA plans to double capacity

Turkish glassmaker Gürallar Cam Ambalaj commissioned German engineering company Horn to install a second furnace, which will more than double GCA’s glassmaking capacity. The furnace will manufacture flint glass bottles.

Siemens Gamesa to deliver hybrid plant in Philippines

Siemens Gamesa is set to deliver a hybrid energy project in Puerto Galera on the island of Mindoro in the Philippines. The site already features a 16MW wind power facility with eight Siemens Gamesa 2MW turbines. Siemens Gamesa will now install a 6MW Gamesa Electric lithium battery storage system.

ACQUISITIONS AND COLLABORATIONS

Smart glass manufacturer Click Materials inks major deal to challenge $1b-backed View Inc

Click Materials, a Vancouver-based developer of “smart glass,” inked a major partnership with one of the largest manufacturers of windows for the home, Cardinal Glass, as it looks to challenge the $1 billion-backed View Inc.

CenterOak Partners announces formation of SurfacePrep

CenterOak Partners LLC, a Dallas-based private equity firm, announced the formation of SurfacePrep through a combination of its legacy investment in GNAP and 10 strategic acquisitions over the last 18 months. The combination creates the largest provider of surface enhancement solutions in North America.

OTHER STORIES

Glass experts help to secure £1.5m funding for energy projects

Researchers at U.K.-based Glass Technology Services secured more than £1.5 million in funding for four energy efficiency projects. The funding is part of the Innovate UK “Transforming Foundation Industries: Fast Start Projects” for a number of projects as part of a wider consortium of companies.

Siemens glass head Bernhard Saftig to retire

Siemens’ Head of Vertical Glass and Solar Bernhard Saftig is to retire in early July. Saftig has served Siemens’ glass industry customers for more than three decades. His successor is 44-year-old Tobias Wachtmann, who has been promoted from within the company.

Graphene sensing company awarded Defence grant

Victorian graphene sensing company Imagine Intelligent Materials will receive $271,000 to explore and develop applications using advanced materials in military body armour for the Australian Defence Force.

DOE announces $30m for innovation in critical materials processing technologies

The U.S. Department of Energy announced up to $30 million in funding for research and development that focuses on field validation and demonstration, as well as next-generation extraction, separation, and processing technologies for critical materials.

MARKET TRENDS

Indian refractory makers hit hard as manufacturing grinds to a standstill

The Indian refractory market was sized an estimated ₹9,000 crore as of last year, with the domestic steel industry by far its largest customer. India’s crude steel output fell a record 69.5% YoY in April to 2.8 mln tonnes, while demand contracted a staggering 91%.

New materials make supercapacitors competitive with batteries

A new IDTechEx report explains that while supercapacitors and their variants still only constitute a modest business, new materials and formats will lead supercapacitors to compete head-on with batteries in far more applications.

America has lost 594,300 clean energy jobs—850,000 expected by June 30

A new analysis by Environmental Entrepreneurs, the American Council on Renewable Energy, E4TheFuture, and BW Research Partnership showed nearly 600,000 U.S. clean energy workers lost their jobs since the COVID-19 pandemic began. If nothing is done, the report forecasts 850,000 clean energy workers will file for unemployment by June 30.

NEW PRODUCTS

New book: Heavy Clay Business Breakthroughs

ACerS member Garth Tayler recently published a book, “Heavy Clay Business Breakthroughs,” that reviews organizational characteristics and provides feedback and guidance to business leaders and managers in the heavy clay and ceramic industry.

3D printing application could ‘revolutionise the glass fiber industry’

Cooksongold and Sempsa JP, both part of the Heimerle + Meule Group, are working to 3D print the tip plates of bushings made from precious metal in a project they believe will revolutionize the glass fiber industry.

Electrically heated pit furnance used specifically for annealing aerospace fasteners

L&L Special Furnace Co., Inc. manufactured a fourth high-uniformity, pit-style furnace used for annealing. The furnace is manufactured in accordance with the ASM2750E pyrometry specification. All thermocouple reference ports along with TUS survey ports and recording devices are included.