Ceramic and glass business news of the week for June 27, 2022

PLANTS, CENTERS, AND FACILITIES

Hanson open new concrete plant in central Birmingham

Hanson opened a new ready-mixed concrete plant in Birmingham, Alabama. The site has a large storage capacity, greatly reducing the frequency with which raw materials need to be brought in, and is also rail connected, allowing aggregates to be transported from Hanson’s rail-connected quarries.

Lafarge advances lower carbon portfolio by converting plant’s cement production

Lafarge announced that their Bath Cement Plant, located near Kingston, Ontario, is fully converting its production of general use cement to reduced carbon portland limestone cement, branded as OneCem, the company’s eco-efficient alternative.

Saskatchewan provides additional funding for rare earth processing facility expansion

The Government of Saskatchewan announced an additional $20 million in funding for the Saskatchewan Research Council’s Rare Earth Processing facility. The funding will allow the Facility to move further down the rare earth element value chain with the addition of a metals unit that will produce rare earth metals.

Wyoming Innovation Center opens in Gillette

The Wyoming Innovation Center, a 5,500-square-foot coal commercialization facility, officially opened in Gillette, Wyo. The 9.5-acre site is home to companies and researchers developing commodities like asphalt, graphene, graphite, agricultural char, carbon fiber, and more using coal and coal byproducts.

ACQUISITIONS AND COLLABORATIONS

NSI Industries acquires Lynn Electronics

NSI Industries, LLC, a leading provider of electrical, HVAC, and building technology product solutions, acquired Lynn Electronics, LLC, a manufacturer and supplier of custom fiber optic and copper assemblies for the data center and broadband markets.

Kazera to acquire controlling stake of rare earth elements licenses

Kazera Global PLC agreed to acquire a controlling interest in Great Lakes Graphite Ltd, which holds 100% of three exploration licenses covering the Homa Bay and Buru Hill rare earth elements projects in Kenya.

Hastings to acquire Cadence’s 30% stake in Yangibana rare earth project

Australia-based rare earth company Hastings Technology Metals will purchase a 30% stake in the Yangibana joint venture tenements for A$9m (US$6.2m). The interest is being acquired from Cadence Minerals and its subsidiary Mojito Resources. Hastings will have a 100% stake across the complete Yangibana rare earth tenement package.

CS Energy secures solar portfolio from NYSERDA in US

Australian energy company CS Energy secured three utility-scale solar photovoltaic projects from New York State Energy Research and Development Agency. The three projects collectively have 270 MWac or 365 MWdc of capacity and were awarded under the agency’s fifth annual Renewable Energy Standard request for proposals.

Elkem acquires KeyVest Belgium to grow specialty business in refractories

Elkem ASA entered into an agreement to acquire KeyVest Belgium S.A, a specialist company in the sourcing of materials and production of metal powders to the refractory industry and other segments including advanced ceramics.

GoProto acquired by RE3DTECH

CORE Industrial Partners, a private equity firm, acquired GoProto, a provider of custom manufacturing services with a suite of both additive and traditional manufacturing technologies. GoProto will combine with CORE portfolio company RE3DTECH to form an AM platform focused on production parts using Industry 4.0 capabilities.

DOE joins new federal-state partnership to grow domestic offshore wind supply chain

The U.S. Department of Energy will lead in the development of a comprehensive offshore wind supply chain roadmap as part of its participation in the new White House-led Federal-State Offshore Wind Implementation Partnership.

NIST establishes Low Carbon Cements and Concretes Consortium

The National Institute of Standards and Technology is establishing the Low Carbon Cements and Concretes Consortium. The Consortium efforts are intended to develop measurement solutions and standards to improve quantification of carbon and carbonate in low carbon cements and concretes.

OTHER STORIES

RHI Magnesita discloses CO₂ footprints for all products

An important milestone toward green transformation, RHI Magnesita will make the CO₂ footprints of its around 200,000 products transparent and comparable. All greenhouse gasses “cradle-to-gate,” from raw material extraction to production to packaging to gate, are considered in these CO₂ footprint calculations.

Guinea bauxite miner CBG backs alumina refining push

Guinea will have alumina refineries in the coming years, but these projects are capital-intensive and complex, Guinea’s second-biggest bauxite miner recently said.

Canada lays out rules banning single-use plastics

Canada laid out its final regulations spelling out how it intends to apply a ban on plastic bags, straws, takeout containers and other single-use plastics. The ban on manufacture and import of those six types of items will begin in December 2022, and the ban on sale a year later. By the end of 2025, Canada will also ban export.

MARKET TRENDS

China to overtake EU and US as world’s fastest-growing energy storage market

Global energy storage capacity is predicted to reach 362 GWh by 2025, according to a new analysis by Taiwanese company TrendForce. China is also set to overtake both Europe and the United States when it comes to storage capacity, as it is poised to become the world’s fastest-growing energy storage market within the next few years.

China’s alumina exports soar to fill Russian shortages

China’s alumina exports soared again last month, as buyers in Russia sought to plug a shortfall because of war and sanctions. The 190,000 tons shipped in May brings the year-to-date figure to 380,000 tons, nearly 1,000% higher than the same period in 2021.

NEW PRODUCTS

Electrosciences: Introducing our new ESPY31 Piezoelectric Meter for polymer sheet

In collaboration with aixAACT Systems GmbH, Electrosciences is launching their first commercial product, the ESPY31 Piezoelectric Meter. It includes an integrated load cell, displacement transducer, and charge amplifier, and uses lock-in amplification to create a sensitive measurement device that also accesses other electromechanical properties.

Concrete finishing robot saves 30% on labor, Singapore minister says

Low Yen Ling, Singapore’s minister of state for trade and industry, credited a robot developed in Singapore that polishes the surface of newly-poured concrete slabs with saving 30% on construction labor costs on an innovation center for Japanese contractor Kajima Construction.