Ceramic and glass business news of the week for August 8, 2022

PLANTS, CENTERS, AND FACILITIES

RHI Magnesita expands into Florida with North American headquarters

RHI Magnesita, a leading global supplier of refractory products, systems, and solutions, announced its selection of Tampa, Fla., as its North American headquarters. The new headquarters, which the company plans to open in spring 2023, will serve as the corporate hub for the company’s current infrastructure in the United States, Canada, and Mexico.

Mexico’s Vitro to build 2 glass factories in Egypt

Vitro, a leading glass producer in Mexico, is planning to build two factories in Egypt with around $400 million in investments. A factory for manufacturing glass will be set up spanning 350,000 meters, while another factory will be built on a 150,000-meters land for the production of containers.

Calucem plans $35 million specialty cement facility in New Orleans

Specialty cement manufacturer Calucem, a subsidiary of Spain-based Cementos Molins, will enter the U.S. market by developing a $35 million manufacturing facility in eastern New Orleans. Calucem is the world’s second-largest producer of calcium aluminate cement.

ACQUISITIONS AND COLLABORATIONS

Nikola acquiring energy storage technology company Romeo

Nikola Corporation and Romeo Power entered into a definitive agreement in which Nikola will acquire Romeo, an energy technology leader delivering advanced electrification solutions for complex commercial vehicle applications, in an all-stock transaction.

SCHOTT establishes stand-alone company for its pharma business

SCHOTT legally established a stand-alone company for its pharma business to advance its growth strategy. The pharma business will operate under the new name SCHOTT Pharma AG & Co. KGaA.

Tesla inks battery materials deals with two China suppliers

Tesla Inc. signed new long-term deals with two of its existing Chinese battery-materials suppliers, Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt Co. and CNGR Advanced Material Co., for ternary precursor materials.

OTHER STORIES

glasstec 2022: International Architecture Congress on September 22

The International Architecture Congress “Foresight. Sustainable architecture with glass” will be held on Sept. 22, 2022, during glasstec in Düsseldorf. The Congress is a cooperation project between glasstec, the Chamber of Architects North Rhine-Westphalia, the Technical University TU Dortmund, and the architecture trade journal DETAIL.

Kent Heath named CEO of Rigaku Americas Holding Inc. and prez of Rigaku Americas Corp.

Rigaku Americas Holding Inc., the North American subsidiary of Rigaku Corporation, Japan’s leading manufacturer of X-ray analysis, measurement, and testing instruments, announced Kent Heath as its new CEO. Heath was also named president of Rigaku Americas Corporation.

MP Materials profit more than doubles on higher rare earths prices

Rare earths miner MP Materials reported a better-than-expected quarterly profit due to rising demand and prices for the materials used to make electric vehicles and a range of consumer goods. The price MP received per tonne for its oxides rose more than 90% to $13,918 per tonne amid rising demand, especially from the electric vehicle industry.

China suspends sand exports to Taiwan

China’s Ministry of Commerce said that it would suspend natural sand exports to Taiwan, just hours after U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi arrived in Taipei. Before Pelosi landed on the island, China temporarily halted imports of some food products from Taiwan.

MARKET TRENDS

The US made a breakthrough battery discovery—then gave the technology to China

An Oregon Public Broadcasting article looks at how the U.S. Department of Energy allowed the technology and jobs related to vanadium redox flow batteries to move overseas to China, violating its own licensing rules while failing to intervene on behalf of U.S. workers in multiple instances.

NEW PRODUCTS

The Gill Corp. announces novel Gillcore HF fiberglass honeycomb core

The Gill Corp. announced the new Gillcore HF fiberglass honeycomb core, which, developed in response to industry demand from aerospace customers, meets all AMS 3715 requirements. The core is produced with a substrate consisting of woven fiberglass cloth reinforced with heat-resistant phenolic resin over traditional aramid fiber substrates.