Ceramic and glass business news of the week for July 17, 2023

PLANTS, CENTERS, AND FACILITIES

ASU and Applied Materials to create Materials-to-Fab Center at ASU Research Park

Arizona State University and Applied Materials Inc. announced an alliance, aided by the Arizona Commerce Authority, that brings more than $270 million to create a world-class shared research, development, and prototyping facility—the Materials-to-Fab Center—in the university’s MacroTechnology Works building at ASU Research Park.

Cameroon’s Socaver completes glass furnace investment

Cameroon’s sole glass manufacturer Socaver completed a renovation of its Furnace No. 1. The XAF3.5 billion investment (US$6 million) at the Société Camerounaise de Verrerie site in Douala will increase production capacity by 50% to approximately 100,000 bottles a day.

AGC implements solar power plant in Spain

AGC Flat Glass Ibérica partnered with Helexia España to commission one of the largest rooftop photovoltaic self-consumption plants in Spain. The 4,600-kW plant has 8,800 rooftop photovoltaic modules covering 48,400 m², the equivalent of 10 football fields.

New soda ash factory in China to reduce solar glass prices

China-based Inner Mongolia Berun Group started production at a new natural soda ash factory in Inner Mongolia, China, in late June 2023. The factory, located in Alxa Right Banner, is expected to reach a capacity of 5 million metric tons by the end of this year, accounting for approximately 13.8% of China’s total soda ash production.

Canada’s Neo Performance starts construction of rare earth magnet plant in Estonia

Neo Performance Materials started construction of a manufacturing facility in Estonia to produce rare earth permanent magnets, which are key for both electric vehicles and wind turbines. The manufacturing facility in Narva will be near the company’s existing rare earth separation plant in Sillamäe.

Nth Cycle announces first nickel and cobalt production facility in US

Nth Cycle, a critical metals extraction and recycling startup, announced the commissioning of a 21,000-square-foot refining facility in Fairfield, Ohio. At the heart of the upcoming facility lies Nth Cycle’s groundbreaking electro-extraction technology, which enables recovery of metals from various sources including electronic and refinery waste.

ACQUISITIONS AND COLLABORATIONS

India’s Vedanta to take over Foxconn chip joint venture from holding company

India’s metals-to-oil conglomerate Vedanta Ltd plans to take over from its holding company the ownership of a joint venture with Taiwan’s Foxconn that was set up to make semiconductors.  Vedanta also plans to take over a display glass manufacturing venture from Volcan Investments, Vedanta’s holding company.

CoorsTek closes on Avon Protection Assets in Lexington, Ky.

CoorsTek closed on the acquisition of assets of Avon Protection’s Lexington, Ky. facility on July 1. CoorsTek and Avon jointly announced the signing of the acquisition on Dec. 5, 2022. CoorsTek can now further support and engage with the defense industry, specifically on the development and manufacturing of technical ceramics for body and aircraft armor.

3DCeram will supply 3D-printed ceramic parts for ThrustMe’s space propulsion system

French 3D printing original equipment manufacturer and service bureau 3DCeram was selected to be an official supplier of 3D-printed ceramic parts for French space propulsion manufacturer ThrustMe.

Lithoz and Himed partner to drive 3D-printable medical-grade bioceramics to next level

Lithoz GmbH and New York-based biomaterials specialist Himed entered into a long-term partnership to drive innovation and research of 3D-printed medical-grade bioceramics. This joint effort follows last year’s successful Formnext, where Lithoz received tremendous feedback on the launch of its significantly improved LithaBone HA 480 material.

RWE and Sun’Agri partner to develop agrivoltaic projects in France

German energy group RWE AG partnered with agricultural photovoltaics developer Sun’Agri to work on new agrivoltaic projects across France. Sun’Agri offers a system that combines on one plot of land crops and dynamic photovoltaic panels that are controlled in real time using complex algorithms and agronomic models.

Collaborative partnership brings Ohio’s first construction 3D printer to CDME

The  most widely used 3D construction printer—COBOD International’s BOD2—was delivered to The Ohio State University in January 2023 as part of a collaboration with Pantheon Innovative Builders. The BOD2 prints residential and commercial structures up to 30 feet by 30 feet from concrete and other material mixtures.

OTHER STORIES

Exhibitor registration open for glasstec 2024

Online exhibitor registration for glasstec 2024 is now open. The world’s leading trade fair for the glass sector will be held  at the fairgrounds in Düsseldorf, Germany, from Oct. 22–25, 2024.

Huge phosphate discovery in Norway could fully charge the electric vehicle industry

An enormous new discovery of phosphate rock could have huge implications for the electric vehicle industry. The reserves, discovered by Anglo-Norwegian firm Norge Mining in Rogaland, southwest Norway, are equivalent to at least 70 billion tonnes. This amount is very close to the 71 billion tonnes of world reserves that we already knew about.

Şişecam signs gender equality initiative

Şişecam signed the Women’s Empowerment Principles (WEPs). WEPs are a set of principles established by the UN Women and UN Global Compact that offer guidance to businesses on how to advance gender equality and women’s empowerment in the workplace, marketplace, and community.

Dutch solar body hits back at government ban on agrivoltaics

On July 6, the Minister of Climate and Energy sent a letter to the Dutch Parliament proposing a nationwide ban on solar deployments on agricultural land. In a response letter, Dutch solar trade body Holland Solar said that the decision whether or not to pair solar photovoltaics and agriculture should be left to local authorities.

India, a growing space power, is forging closer ties with NASA

When India’s ambassador to the U.S. signed up his country to the Artemis Accords in June, it signaled the world’s most populous nation—with a growing prowess in spaceflight—could be turning toward the United States as a partner in space exploration.

MARKET TRENDS

New technology could cement Indonesia’s dominance of vital nickel

Indonesia is already the world’s biggest producer of nickel, but the country aims to further increase its lead by harnessing new technologies for extracting nickel from the soil. Exactly how big the environmental impact will prove to be is hard to know, however.

Clean energy tech progress shows new energy economy emerging faster than expected

The pace of deployment of some clean energy technologies—such as solar PV and electric vehicles—shows what can be achieved with sufficient ambition and policy action, but faster change is urgently needed across most components of the energy system, according to the International Energy Agency’s latest evaluation of global progress.

NEW PRODUCTS

New byko-visc RT rotational viscometer

Paul N. Gardner USA announced its new offering: the byko-visc RT rotational viscometer. Available in two models, byko-visc RT and byko-visc RT Lite, each features versatility and compatibility with three different sensitivities and optional accessories.

Heidelberg Materials to produce low-carbon cement from demolished concrete in France

Heidelberg Materials is conducting a large-scale closed-loop recycling project called CIRCO₂BETON. The company will install an industrial scale selective separation platform at its Achères quarry near Paris, where demolished concrete will be crushed and separated. The high-quality recycled sand and aggregates will be used in new concrete.