Ceramic and glass business news of the week for September 6, 2021

PLANTS, CENTERS, AND FACILITIES

Inside Pacific Northwest National Lab’s 5G Innovation Studio

This fall will mark a year since buildout of the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory’s 5G Innovation Studio. The studio was the first and remains the only major deployment of Verizon-provided next-generation wireless capabilities within a national lab.

Rath builds new pre-assembly area at Budapest production site

Refractory technology provider Rath Group built a new pre-assembly area at its production site in Budapest, Hungary. The newly refurbished and modernised pre-assembly area was completely rebuilt on 400 m2 and equipped with reference markings for angle marking.

Ciner Group to invest US$228.9 million in Ankara manufacturing facilities

Turkish glassmaker Ciner Group will invest 1.9 billion liras (US$228.9 million) in its Ankara manufacturing facilities. The company will produce 237,250 tonnes of glass bottles annually as part of its new investment in Ankara Sincan. Part of the money will also be invested in Ciner Group’s Bilecik glass plant.

ACQUISITIONS AND COLLABORATIONS

Plibrico acquires refractory manufacturer Redline Industries, Inc.

The Plibrico Company, a supplier of monolithic refractories and construction services, announced that it has completed the acquisition of Redline Industries, Inc. Based in Chicago, Ill., Redline Industries, Inc. is recognized as a first-rate supplier of low-cement refractory castables and gun mixes.

German developer acquires solar rights in Italy

Blue Elephant Energy signed a land use and development agreement with multiple landowners to secure over 156 hectares of land in Sicily, Italy, for the development of several solar power plant projects. The projects are expected to reach ready-to-build status by the end of 2022.

Generac accelerates clean energy developments with acquisition of Apricity Code

Generac Holdings Inc., a global designer and manufacturer of energy technology solutions and other power products, announced the acquisition of Apricity Code Corporation, an advanced engineering and product design company located in Bend, Oregon.

CMP Pumping acquires Febcon Concrete Pumping

Concrete & Materials Placement, a concrete pumping company serving the Carolinas, announced the strategic acquisition of Febcon Concrete Pumping, a Michigan-based concrete pumping company. As an industry leader in concrete pumping, this step further expands CMP’s footprint across the Southeast.

Ferrovial sells concrete unit to US group Martin Marietta for $140 million

Spanish conglomerate Ferrovial agreed to sell its U.S. unit Southern Crushed Concrete to Martin Marietta Materials for about $140 million. Ferrovial, which also operates airports and toll roads, said last month it had agreed to sell certain non-strategic assets but did not give details. The deal is pending approval by regulatory authorities.

Nissan, Waseda University testing new recycling process for electrified vehicle motors

Nissan Motor Co., Ltd. and Waseda University announced the start of testing in Japan of a jointly developed recycling process that efficiently recovers high-purity rare-earth compounds from electrified vehicle motor magnets. The testing is aimed at enabling practical application of the new process by the mid-2020s.

Assembrix, other companies demonstrate secured, cross-continent, distributed AM

Assembrix, together with Boeing, EOS, 3T Additive Manufacturing, and BEAMIT, successfully demonstrated secured, cross-continent, distributed additive manufacturing: a fully controlled 3D printing solution remotely connected to EOS 3D printers, directly.

Caracol, NextChem debut one-piece, 3D-printed composite sailboat

Large-scale additive manufacturing specialist Caracol debuted Beluga, a 3D-printed sailing boat prototype manufactured in a single piece using recycled polypropylene and 30% short glass fiber. Beluga is the product of a joint research project between Caracol and NextChem, a green energy company that produces MyReplast recycled plastic materials.

OTHER STORIES

GPD Finland postponed until 2022

The Glass Performance Days event in Finland was postponed until 2022. The organizing committee was said to have been very optimistic to hold GPD 2021 as a physical and online event in October 2021, but due to COVID-19, it was postponed until the end of February or early March 2022.

3D manufacturing of electronic gear may get its own PLI-like scheme

The Indian Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology may quickly come out with a production-linked incentive form of scheme for additive manufacturing of electronic elements. In recent conferences, the IT Ministry reached out to electronics part makers to grasp their requirements so an appropriate coverage could possibly be designed.

Japanese eco-tourism resort taps ClearVue solar glass for greenhouse

ClearVue Technologies took an order to supply its patented solar glass technology for use in a greenhouse at a high-profile eco-tourism and wellness project in Japan. The 187 glazing panels will be integrated into the roof of a strawberry greenhouse that forms part of the Aqua Ignis Hot Springs project in the Fujitsuka area of Wakabayashi-ku, Sendai City.

Ireland has at least 34 companies in the space industry—what’s our role in the space race?

An article by TheJournal.ie talks about Ireland’s role in the space industry. According to tech and telecommunications consultant Mark McCarville, “Ireland’s place is more of a component or subsystems supplier”—part of the supply chain for space missions or satellite launches, rather than organizing them.

Durham battery storage firm FlexGen raises $150M to speed up grid transition

FlexGen Power Systems raised a $150 million equity commitment from investors, including from private-equity giant Apollo Global Management. The fundraise, one of the largest in North Carolina this year, will be used to hire more employees and increase research & development as the company tries to keep up with booming demand for battery storage.

US’s first hydrogen-powered ferry launches in Bellingham

A hydrogen-powered ferry, the first of its kind in the United States, launched in Bellingham, Wash. This new boat, the Sea Change, features motors powered by two hydrogen fuel cells and can carry 75 passengers.

DOE panel finds US falling behind in basic energy sciences

An FYI article summarizes a new draft report released by the Department of Energy’s Basic Energy Sciences Advisory Committee that found the U.S. is losing ground to Europe and China in several key research areas supported by the Basic Energy Sciences program.

MARKET TRENDS

Global sand and gravel extraction conflicts with half of UN Sustainable Development Goals

According to a new study led by researchers at McGill University and the University of Copenhagen, the human and environmental costs of sand and gravel extraction on lower- and middle-income countries have been largely overlooked.

DOE reports highlights record growth, declining costs of wind power

The U.S. Department of Energy released three reports showing record growth in land-based wind energy, significant expansion of the pipeline for offshore wind projects, and continued decline in the cost of wind energy generation.

Global advanced ceramics market, 2021–2025

A new report by Research and Markets forecasts that the advanced ceramics market is poised to grow by $2.90 billion during 2021–2025, progressing at a compound annual growth rate of over 5% during the forecast period.

NEW PRODUCTS

Alteo launches REal, a new range of alumina solutions for refractories

To support refractory producers in their growth, Alteo launched REal, a new range of alumina solutions for refractories.

3M Glass Bubbles enable designers to create faster, reliable 5G infrastructure & devices

3M is introducing Glass Bubbles from 3M for 5G, the newest member of its high-strength hollow glass bubbles product line. Glass Bubbles provide a unique low-loss, high-speed, high-frequency resin additive for composite materials that designers  use to build 5G devices and assemblies.

DG+Design: Market research across solar, energy storage, electric vehicle segments

DG+Design, a marketing and creative agency focused on clean energy and sustainable brands, announced the launch of cleantech market research and policy products across solar energy, energy storage, and electric vehicles. Fourteen reports are now available for purchase from the DG+ website.