Morgan Advanced Materials highlights fire protection, wear and chemical corrosion resistant materials for offshore oil & gas applications at OTC 2013

Morgan Advanced Materials announces that it will be showcasing a broad range of its products for the oil and gas production and exploration industries at the 2013 Offshore Technology Conference in Houston, Texas. Morgan will be displaying a wide range of products and solutions, including fire protection, brazed assemblies, piezoelectric ceramic components, CVD Diamond and DLC coatings, and carbon and silicon carbide seals and bearings. The group’s new FireMaster Rigid Enclosure System will be on display. The system uses high-efficiency insulation materials providing a robust, weather protective enclosure solution for all equipment requiring jet fire protection, especially those with very low critical temperature limits. Also on display will be a variety of materials ideal for ceramic liner sleeves in large diameter tubes used in downhole drilling. Morgan’s alumina and Halsic-R recrystallized silicon carbide materials are ideally suited for highly demanding and harsh wear applications. Halsic-R features high thermal conductivity, thermal shock resistance, and good mechanical strength at high temperatures. While Morgan’s Alsint 997 alumina material provides good mechanical strength and electrical resistivity, operates at high temperatures, and is resistant to chemical attack.

PANalytical cosponsors event for female students and professionals on high-tech future

Did you choose a technical study or have you worked in the high-tech industry in Twente or abroad? Do not miss the event ‘High-tech future for women in Twente’ on Tuesday, May 14 in Rabotheater Hengelo, Netherlands. This special event is organized by high-tech companies PANalytical, DEMCON and Thales. It will be a day entirely devoted to the high-tech woman. Together we discuss the many opportunities and challenges we face in the technical world and it will be a day full of inspiring speakers, stimulating debates and surprising twists. Watch a short video of whom you might meet on May 14.

Resodyn Acoustic Mixers adds regional demonstration dates MN/IL/TX in May

Resodyn Acoustic Mixers has announced the dates for a demonstrations of their line of innovative industrial mixers. Demonstration appointments are available from May 13 though 24 in Minnesota, Illinois, and Texas pharmaceutical, technical, research, and industrial corridors. Resodyn manufactures noninvasive mixers for processing and materials applications in both production and laboratory environments. Demonstrating substantively faster mixing times and exceptionally high levels quality and dispersion, Resodyn sales engineers’ appointments include on-site prrof of technology uses both generic and customer-supplied materials. Demonstration reservations can be made by emailing.

Refractron’s Izory zirconia ceramic high-temperature valve bushings

A bauxite processing facility picked Izory zirconia ceramic trunnion bushings for use in high-temperature trunnion mounted ball valves to improve their longevity. Two years ago, a Texas valve company contacted Refractron to discuss the possibility of making Izory ceramic bushings for high temperature trunnion mounted valves used in the processing of bauxite materials. This valve company manufactures a variety of valves for controlling various fluids in many severe service applications. The valves range in size from ½” to 60″ in diameter. Typical application industries are power generation, oil and gas, refining, chemicals, pulp and paper, gasification, synfuels, mining, steam, and more. For our client, the application required a trunnion bushing that could withstand continuous use at 1,200ºF. The application had very little thermal shock, but had consistent high temperatures. At 1,200ºF, trunnion bushings made of polymer-based materials fatigue and wear; metal trunnion bushings fatigue, corrode, and wear. When the bushings made of polymers and metals suffer failure, it reduces or even stops the ability to open and close the valve properly. This valve failure would cause delays in the manufacturing process, and has the potential to cause injury to people in the area if the valve would crack or break. Trunnion bushings made with Izory Zirconia ceramic have no issue handling the high temperature, corrosion, or wear. Also, the coefficient of thermal expansion of Izory Zirconia ceramic for the trunnion bushing was very close to the expansion rate of the metal trunnion and the mating metal valve housing.

FDA grants premarket approval for new ceramic-on-ceramic total hip system

DePuy Orthopedics Inc. announced that the FDA has granted premarket supplement approval for its Ceramax Total Hip System with Biolox delta ceramic-on-ceramic 36-mm large femoral head. According to a company press release, this premarket supplement approval for the 36-mm size follows the initial PMA approval of the Ceramax Hip 28-mm size in 2010. With the launch of the Ceramax System this summer, the company’s Pinnacle Acetabular Cup System will offer the only FDA approved ceramic-on-ceramic bearing surface with Biolox delta femoral head, a next generation nanocomposite ceramic material with high strength and toughness. The Ceramax Hip System expands the Pinnacle Hip Solutions portfolio of high performance instruments, advanced implants, materials and solutions designed to provide surgeons flexibility in techniques and procedures and provide pain relief and a smooth range of motion for patients. In a clinical study of 264 patients who required hip replacement surgery for non-inflammatory degenerative joint disease, the researchers found no significant differences between the Ceramax System to a ceramic-on-polyethylene hip replacement in adverse events or survivorship. Patients also had similar pain relief and improved function and range of motion.

Ceramic Fuel Cells Ltd. £5.0 million (A$7.6 million) fund raising

Further to its announcement on April 30, 2013, Ceramic Fuel Cells Ltd., a developer of generators that use fuel-cell technology to convert natural gas into electricity and heat for homes and other buildings, has announced that it has conditionally raised £5.0 million (A$7.6 million). The company has conditionally raised £4.3 million (A$6.5 million) through the issue of secured convertible loan notes to a number of institutional investors and a further £0.7 million (A$1.1 million) through the placing of 32,710,300 new ordinary shares of nil par value in the company. Commenting on the fund raising, CEO Bob Kennett says, “Having proved the commercialization of our technology we are now rapidly moving towards a major increase in the volumes sold by the company. This fund raise will allow us to meet the working capital requirements of the initial phase of this ramp up and the Board considers that it would be in the best interests of shareholders to raise these funds in this manner to allow the company to take advantage of these opportunities.”

Cement industry regulations will clean up air, but could cost jobs

(The Express-Times) An officials with Essroc Cement says the company will comply with stricter environmental regulations by 2015. Delaying new federal environmental regulations on the US cement industry by two years will lead to increased health risks and missed work days due to sickness, environmentalists say. But, imposing those regulations immediately would cripple the cement industry and could cost jobs across the country and in the Lehigh Valley at three local plants, according to at least one lawmaker. The updated rules change the monitoring method and limits for particulate matter: a mixture of extremely small particles and droplets, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. The new requirements dramatically reduce the emission of mercury, acid gases, particulate matter and total hydrocarbons from existing cement kilns across the country and ensure that emissions from new kilns remain low, says EPA spokeswoman Enesta Jones. The EPA won’t impose the restrictions until 2015 to allow some companies more time to reevaluate their emissions control strategies, Jones says.Cement plant grows greener to be of service

Cement plant grows greener to be of service

(KnoxvilleBiz.com) At the Cemex cement plant in Knoxville, what became a robust sustainability initiative and trend-setting conservation program began simply as an effort to be of service. ”Back then, it was an effort to be supportive of the community,” says Antonio DeLuca, the local plant manager. By “back then,” DeLuca means 15 years ago, before many local companies were thinking green. In the late 1990s, as communities were searching for an alternative way to dispose of tires in lieu of open burning and dumping, the Environmental Protection Agency asked Cemex to help investigate a solution. The cement-making process involves a large kiln in which rock mined for the purpose undergoes a thermal reaction process. Fired largely with fossil fuels, Cemex developed a process that utilizes tires. A resulting solid byproduct is also used as an ingredient in the cement. Cemex has burned 986,000 tires since 2010, contributing to a 9 percent reduction in the plant’s fossil fuel requirements. And, company executives continue to seek to turn waste into energy. At a sister plant in Georgia, peanut and pistachio shells provide 100 percent of the fuel for its thermal process. Tests are now underway to determine what type of waste stream might be viable in East Tennessee. One experiment, for example, used discarded items from the recycling sorting process.

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Corning announces expansion of clean-air products facilities

Corning Inc. announced that its board of directors has approved a capital expenditure plan of approximately $250 million to increase manufacturing capacity of the company’s diesel emissions control products. The majority of the investment will increase capacity at the Erwin diesel facility near Corning, which manufactures large ceramic substrates and filters for heavy-duty diesel engine, truck, construction, and agricultural equipment manufacturers worldwide. “Important heavy-duty regulations in China and Europe, as well as for non-road vehicles, take effect over the next two years which could double demand for our products by 2017,” says Mark Beck, executive vice president, Corning Environmental Technologies & Life Sciences Business Group. Corning’s diesel plant in Erwin began manufacturing large substrates in 2004 and now also produces particulate filters for heavy-duty applications. The company has already completed two facility expansions to accommodate global market growth. Corning said spending on the $250 million project will occur over a three-year period and will not change the company’s previous capital spending forecasts for 2013 and 2014. The latest project is expected to be operational in 2015 and to create an additional 250 new full-time positions if market demand grows as expected.

Infab Refractories: Excelling in a hot market

Infab Refractories Inc. is a descendant of Eastern Refractories Co, which opened a branch office in Lewiston on Holland Street in the 1940s. The Lewiston satellite was located strategically with a rail siding, for delivery of the refractory firebricks needed to service the boilers of various power plants, paper mills and manufacturing plants. The company was sold to a national contractor in the late ’90s and was soon re-sold, becoming employee owned in 2004. David Collins, the principle owner of Infab Refractories, is the grandson of the first regional manager of Eastern Refractories, Ted Collins. Infab Refractories has expanded its client base through the manufacture of custom-made, removable insulation blankets and various other high-temperature products under the direction of owner Jean (John) Bergeron and former owner Dick Marston at their current location on the corner of Whipple and Summer streets in Lewiston.

Minerals Technologies reports Q1 earnings of $0.53 per share, a 4 percent increase over 2012

Minerals Technologies Inc. (reported net income of $18.8 million, or $0.53 per share for the first quarter 2013, compared with $18.0 million, or $0.51 per share in the first quarter of 2012, a 4-percent increase. “We began 2013 with solid operating performance, which generated a record in profit for both Minerals Technologies and our Specialty Minerals segment,” says Joseph C. Muscari, executive chair. “During the quarter we saw organic growth from new satellites ramping up in Asia, and we also announced three new commercial agreements for our FulFill technology, two in North America and one in South America.” The company’s worldwide sales declined 2 percent to $251.3 million from $257.1 million in the first quarter of 2012. Foreign exchange had an unfavorable impact of 1 percentage point of this decline, and two fewer days in the quarter affected sales by an additional 2 percentage points. Operating income was $27.1 million, a 1-percent increase over the $27.0 million recorded in the prior year’s first quarter.

Fiber cement has cost and durability on its side

(Washington Post) Fiber cement, a century-old material, has become popular in recent decades as a cheaper, more durable alternative to wood siding. It used to be reinforced with asbestos until the 1980s, when that hazardous substance was eliminated from its manufacture. Now the material is typically made with cement, sand, wood fibers and additives. In recent years, designs made from the mixture have expanded from wood-grained boards to paneling resembling brick, stone and stucco, and contemporary furnishings. “We use it on about 90 to 95 percent of our remodeling and addition projects,” says Bill Millholland, executive vice president of Case Design and Remodeling of Bethesda. “I can’t think of much we are doing that is not fiber cement. It looks like real wood siding, but it doesn’t decay, and it’s fire-resistant.” James Hardie Industries is the largest producer of the material in the country, and its HardiePlank siding “has become the Kleenex of fiber cement,” Millholland says.

Tanzania: Cement output to double in two years

(Tanzania Daily News) Tanzania’s total cement production is expected to more than double over the next two years, thanks to the new entrants, which expect to amplify competition. The current four firms that produce Twiga, Simba, Rhino and Tembo brands have a combined installed annual capacity of 3.75 million [metric] tons and output is expected to reach 8.65 million tons per year in 2015. The new producers are Dangote Cement, Lake Cement, and Lee Building Material plus the existing firms’ expansion expected to boost production by 4.9 million tons per annum. Tanzania Securities’ CEO, Moremi Marwa, says the firms are taking advantages of increased cement demand pushed by construction activities that grew at an annual average rate of eight per cent over the past five years. “We expect local demand to grow at over 10 per cent if infrastructure investments are sustained at the current levels and the economic momentum remains as projected,” Marwa says. The demand, currently standing at four million tons, has been growing at a compound annual growth rate of 10 per cent over the past five years to 2012. “We note that Tanzania is currently a net importer of cement, importing about 500,000 tons per annum or 12 per cent of the total consumption,” the CEO says in a cement analysis report. He adds, “We estimate that current sector utilization of the installed capacity is 90 per cent, offering minimal room for upside unless the projected new capacity is added.”

New battery anode with four times the capacity of conventional materials

XG Sciences Inc. announced today that it has launched a new generation of anode materials for lithium-ion batteries with four times the capacity of conventional anodes. The new anode material is produced through proprietary manufacturing processes and uses the company’s xGnP graphene nanoplatelets to stabilize silicon particles in a nano-engineered composite structure. The material displays dramatically improved charge storage capacity with good cycle life and high efficiencies. “We are pleased to announce the immediate availability of this new high-capacity anode product,” says Rob Privette, vice president of energy markets. “Our new silicon-graphene anode material, when used in combination with our existing xGnP graphene products as conductive additives, provides significantly higher energy storage than conventional battery materials. This is great news for applications like smartphones, tablet computers, stationary power and vehicle electrification that use rechargeable lithium-ion batteries. We are working with battery makers to translate this exciting new material into batteries with longer run-time, faster charging and smaller sizes than today’s batteries.” Privette says that the exact performance of the new anode materials will depend on the specific battery formulations used by the cell manufacturer, noting that XGS has demonstrated capacity of 1500 mAh/g with low irreversible capacity loss and stable cycling performance in life tests.

3M LED Advanced Light and 3M Molecular Detection System honored with Edison awards

3M announced that two of its recent technologies have received prestigious honors from the Edison Awards, a program conducted by the non-profit organization Edison Universe, which is dedicated to fostering future innovators. The company’s 3M LED Advanced Light received a Gold Edison Award in the Lighting category while the 3M Molecular Detection System earned a Silver Edison Award within the Diagnostic/Analytic Systems category. Nominees were judged by a panel of more than 3,000 leading business executives including previous winners, academics, and leaders in the fields of product development, design, engineering, science and medicine. The evaluation criteria used for this comprehensive, peer-reviewed process emphasized themes of concept, value, delivery and impact. The 3M LED Advanced Light—the company’s first-ever bulb—couldn’t be more appropriate for an innovation award named after Thomas Edison. The 3M LED Advanced Light provides an option that’s just as bright as a traditional bulb, and with its special Light Guide Technology, it shines in all directions. Developed with 3M multilayer optical film, adhesives and heat management technologies, the stylish bulb provides long-term cost savings but doesn’t compromise on energy efficiency.

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New LED streetlight design curbs light pollution

Recent innovations in LEDs have improved the energy efficiency of streetlights, but, until now, their glow still wastefully radiated beyond the intended area. A team of researchers from Taiwan and Mexico has developed a new lighting system design that harnesses high-efficiency LEDs and ensures they shine only where they’re needed, sparing surrounding homes and the evening sky from unwanted illumination. The team reported their findings in the open-access journal Optics Express. The proposed lamp is based on a novel three-part lighting fixture. The first part contains a cluster of LEDs, each of which is fitted with a special lens, called a Total Internal Reflection lens, that focuses the light so the rays are parallel to one another instead of intersecting. These lens-covered LEDs are mounted inside a reflecting cavity, which “recycles” the light and ensures that as much of it as possible is used to illuminate the target. Finally, as the light leaves the lamp it passes through a diffuser or filter that cuts down on unwanted glare. The combination of collimation and filtering also allows researchers to control the beam’s shape: the present design yields a rectangular light pattern ideally suited for street lighting, the researchers say. In addition to cutting light pollution and glare, the new model could also save energy. A general LED street light could reduce power consumption by 40 to 60 percent. The increased efficiency of the proposed design would likely save an additional 10 to 50 percent. Furthermore, the module would be simple to fabricate, since it comprises just four parts, including a type of LED bulb commonly used in the lighting industry.

Theoretical and practical electrical engineers join forces to create broadband metamaterials

The union of theory and practice makes broadband, low-loss optical devices practical, which is why two groups of Penn State engineers collaborated to design optical metamaterials that have custom applications that are easily manufactured. In the past, to control the optics of metamaterials, researchers used complicated structures including 3-dimensional rings and spirals that are difficult if not impossible to manufacture in large numbers and small sizes at optical wavelengths. From a practical perspective, simple and manufacturable nanostructures are necessary for creating high-performance devices. ”We must design nanostructures that can be fabricated,” says Theresa S. Mayer, Distinguished Professor of Electrical Engineering and co-director of Penn State’s nanofabrication laboratory. Designing materials that can allow a range of wavelengths to pass through while blocking other wavelengths is far more difficult than simply creating something that will transmit a single frequency. Minimizing the time domain distortion of the signal over a range of wavelengths is necessary, and the material also must be low loss. The design team looked at existing fishnet structured metamaterials and applied nature-inspired optimization techniques based on genetic algorithms. They optimized the dimensions of features such as the size of the fishnet and the thicknesses of the materials. One of the transformative innovations made by the researchers was the inclusion of nanonotches in the corners of the fishnet holes, creating a pattern that could be tuned to shape the dispersion over large bandwidths.

UNL team’s discovery yields supertough, strong polymer nanofibers

University of Nebraska-Lincoln materials engineers have developed a structural nanofiber that is both strong and tough, a discovery that could transform everything from airplanes and bridges to body armor and bicycles. Their findings are featured on the cover of the American Chemical Society’s journal, ACS Nano. “Our discovery adds a new material class to the very select current family of materials with demonstrated simultaneously high strength and toughness,” says the team’s leader, Yuris Dzenis, McBroom Professor of Mechanical and Materials Engineering and a member of UNL’s Nebraska Center for Materials and Nanoscience. Dzenis and colleagues developed an exceptionally thin polyacrilonitrile nanofiber, a type of synthetic polymer related to acrylic, using electrospinning. Dzenis suggests that toughness comes from the nanofibers’ low crystallinity. In other words, it has many areas that are structurally unorganized. These amorphous regions allow the molecular chains to slip around more, giving them the ability to absorb more energy.

Battery and memory device in one

Resistive memory cells (ReRAM) are regarded as a promising solution for future generations of computer memories. They will dramatically reduce the energy consumption of modern IT systems while significantly increasing their performance. Unlike the building blocks of conventional hard disk drives and memories, these novel memory cells are not purely passive components but must be regarded as tiny batteries. This has been demonstrated by researchers of Jülich Aachen Research Alliance. The new finding radically revises the current theory and opens up possibilities for further applications. The research group has already filed a patent application for their first idea on how to improve data readout with the aid of battery voltage. In complex experiments, the scientists from Forschungszentrum Jülich and RWTH Aachen University determined the battery voltage of typical representatives of ReRAM cells and compared them with theoretical values. This comparison revealed other properties (such as ionic resistance) that were previously neither known nor accessible.”The demonstrated internal battery voltage of ReRAM elements clearly violates the mathematical construct of the memristor theory. This theory must be expanded to a whole new theory–to properly describe the ReRAM elements,” says Eike Linn, a specialist for circuit concepts.

The hard X-ray nanoprobe at NSLS-II: A big microscope to tackle challenges at the nanoscale

(Berkeley National Lab/YouTube) A worldwide race is on for scientists to develop ever more powerful X-ray microscopes. With ultra-high resolution X-ray optics at ultra-bright synchrotrons—such as the 120-meter-long Hard X-Ray Nanoprobe (HXN) being developed for the National Synchrotron Light Source II (NSLS-II) at Brookhaven Lab—researchers will see structure and chemistry deep inside natural and engineered materials as they address some of the biggest questions in materials science, physics, chemistry, environmental sciences, and biology. Unprecedented capabilities, however, bring critical technical challenges, but scientists at Brookhaven Lab are on the job. In this video of the 486th Brookhaven Lecture, Yong Chu illustrates unique challenges and innovative approaches for X-ray microscopy at the nanoscale. He also discusses measurement capabilities for the first science experiments at NSLS-II. Chu joined the Photon Sciences Directorate at Brookhaven Lab as group leader for the HXN beamline at NSLS-II in 2009.

MSU student’s research on bio-cement selected as one of the top posters in US

The innovative research of a Montana State University student, Neerja Zambare, a senior from Pune, India, majoring in both chemical engineering and biological engineering, was selected as one of the country’s undergraduate researchers for her poster about a bio-cement that effectively plugs cracks near wells and drilling sites. Zambare exhibited her research poster, “Biofilm induced biomineralization in a radial flow reactor,” at the Council on Undergraduate Research’s Posters on the Hill Exhibition April 23-24 in Washington, D.C., one of the country’s most prestigious undergraduate research fairs. Zambare was accompanied by Robin Gerlach, MSU professor of chemical and biological engineering and Zambare’s research mentor. Gerlach said Zambare convinced him that she would be the right person to join his lab group in the Center for Biofilm Engineering. The group trained her and then asked her to join a project that the lab had been working on for some time—a bacterium that makes calcium carbonate and has potential applications in sealing ponds, plugging cracks emitting carbon dioxide near carbon sequestration wells as well as abandoned wells.

Improved sensitivity of magnetic measurements under high pressure in miniature ceramic anvil cell for a commercial SQUID magnetometer

(arXiv) Two modifications have been made to a miniature ceramic anvil high pressure cell (mCAC) designed for magnetic measurements at pressures up to 12.6 GPa in a commercial superconducting quantum interference (SQUID) magnetometer. Replacing the Cu-Be piston in the former mCAC with a composite piston composed of the Cu-Be and ceramic cylinders reduces the background magnetization significantly smaller at low temperatures, enabling more precise magnetic measurements at low temperatures. A second modification to the mCAC is the utilization of a ceramic anvil with a hollow in the center of the culet surface. High pressures up to 5 GPa were generated with the “cupped ceramic anvil” with the culet size of 1.0 mm.

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• The economic conditions allowed the Vetropack Group to increase its turnover by 2.5 percent. However, the price adjustments that were needed because of rising costs could only be implemented to a limited extent. Profit margins are therefore lower but still at a good level. The sale of two sites in Switzerland that were no longer needed for production led to an increase in profits by 42 percent.

• Photovoltaics manufacturer and project developer Centrosolar plans to dispose of its solar glass operations due to falling market prices and sales volumes. The main determining factor for such final decision was the fall in revenue, down €2.2 million in the previous year to negative €12.6 million ($16 million) in 2012.

• Float glass manufacturer, Saint Gobain Glass India, said it would invest Rs 1,000 crore in various projects over the next two years; while Rs 800 crore would be invested in their new facility coming up in Bhiwadi in Rajasthan, and Rs 100 crore each would be pumped into the company’s existing facility in Chennai and the newly acquired Sezal Glass’ float glass plant in Gujarat.

• Reflecting the European auto glass business constriction, Saint-Gobain is closing a Belgium-based windscreen factory, impacting 263 jobs. Auto sales, upon which the auto glass unit is dependent, have continued to decline as the European market continues to deal with the fallout of the debt crisis.

• With a reduction in glass production during the October-December quarter 2012, soda ash producers of India are witnessing a fall in demand and are now operating at lower capacities. Soda ash is a prime requirement in glass making. Demand from the glass industry has declined mainly on account of slackness in the real estate and automobile sectors.

• ThyssenKrupp Polysius has won a contract from PT Holcim Indonesia Tbk., Jakarta, to build a second cement plant near the town of Tuban on the northern coast of the island of Java. The contract is worth around $250 million and the plant is scheduled to start production in 2015.

• With effect from Feb. 26, 2013, Allegra Capital GmbH of Munich, Germany, has taken over the shares of the Vesuvius Group in Vesuvius VGT-DYKO. This assures that the company can continue its 125-year business.

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Credit: The Freedonia Group Inc.

The Freedonia Group has just issued a new report about the market for refractory materials, “Refractories to 2016,” and, generally speaking, the outlook is good worldwide, including the view on North America and Western Europe, where refractory demand has ebbed and flowed quite a bit over the last decade.

As noted in the headline, Freedonia predicts an average global growth rate—in terms of metric tons—of 3.4 percent per annum to 46.3 million metric tons. The outlook for revenue is even better, with Freedonia predicting that refractory sales will climb 5.3 percent per annum to $46.5 billion in 2016.

Freedonia notes that revenue growth is not as strong as gains registered in the 2001-2006 period, something the research group attributes to “moderation in raw material costs and refractory prices.” However, Freedonia also notes that revenues have and will continue to grow faster than tonnage because of the gradual shift in demand from ordinary iron and steel production (now about three-fifths of the demand) to more specialized and longer-lasting applications that can command more premium pricing. The use of more efficient manufacturing methods is another factor.

Thus, for example, Freedonia points out, “Due to their greater use of more costly, high quality products, the US, Western Europe, and Japan will account for a somewhat larger share of the world refractory market total in dollar terms (19 percent) in 2016 than they will in tonnage (14 percent).”

Freedonia’s report also has good news for North, Central, and South American as well as Western European, which should be welcome information for those getting ready to attend the big refractory ceramics meeting next week (the combined ACerS’ St. Louis Section–Refractory Ceramics Division Symposium) in St. Louis, Mo.

As noted in the charts above and below, while Freedonia predicts that tonnage in North America and Western Europe likely will never return to pre-2006 levels, the group points out that overall sales will continue to grow for producers, again a reflection of the shift to more specialized refractory items.

Credit: Freedonia Group Inc.

Credit: Freedonia Group Inc.

In the 2011–2016 period, Freedonia predicts, not surprisingly, that the Asia/Pacific region will post the largest tonnage increases. It will be followed by the Africa/Mideast region, Central and South America, and Eastern Europe.  Freedonia, in particular, notes continued strong demand in China, which “alone will account for more than seven-tenths of all refractory volume gains between 2011 and 2016, due both to additional growth in its huge steel, cement, and other heavy manufacturing industries and to the use of less sophisticated production methods in steelmaking and other important markets than those utilized in economically advanced nations, resulting in greater refractory use in per unit of output terms.”

As reflected in the top table, Freedonia also makes what I find is a fascinating prediction about Central and South America for the 2016-2021 period, when robust growth in tonnage (4.3 percent per annum) is expected for the region, a rate that may surpass Asia. Freedonia analyst Ken Long explains via email, “Market advances in Central and South America will be stimulated by a strong acceleration in steel production growth and supported by a rebound in aluminum output after a period of decline. Brazil, which accounts for the lion’s share of the region’s metals production, will post the largest refractory sales gains.” He also writes, “construction spending in Central and South America will continue to rise nearly as quickly from 2016 to 2021 as during the 2011-2016 period, boosting regional consumption and output of cement and flat glass… helping to offset slower growth in the metal markets.”

Another interesting takeaway from the Freedonia report is the relative change in the size of the regional markets between 2001 and 2021. For example, it predicts that the percentage of world shipments in terms of dollar value will have shrunk from 16.6 percent to 6.6 percent for North America and 24.1 percent to 11.1 percent for Western Europe—trends that are sure to be grist for the mill at next week’s symposium.

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