Ceramic and glass business news of the week for August 28, 2023

PLANTS, CENTERS, AND FACILITIES

German consortium plans 5-GW vertically integrated solar module production

German solar module maker Heckert Solar, photovoltaic product distributor Wattkraft, and Europe’s largest solar glass manufacturer Intefloat are planning to invest around €2 billion (US$2.18 billion) in three different manufacturing facilities that will produce everything from polysilicon to solar modules.

New climate center at UConn will support weather innovation, energy resilience research

A new, state-of-the-art weather and climate facility led by researchers at the University of Connecticut and the University at Albany will help safeguard the energy industry of the future. To date, 14 companies have elected to join the new center as industry partners.

Nuvoco strengthens presence in Pune, Mumbai with two new ready-mix concrete plants

Nuvoco Vistas Corp. Ltd., India’s fifth-largest cement group in terms of capacity, inaugurated two new RMX plants in Kharadi (Pune-II) and Kandivali (Mumbai) as part of its ongoing efforts to expand its Pan-India footprint.

Sun Glass invests 1 billion INR in Indian glass production site

Sun Glass installed an 80 tpd furnace at its container glass manufacturing plant in Firozabad, Uttar Pradesh, India. Its new furnace will bring the capacity of the Firozabad container glass plant up to 230 tpd.

Oregon’s largest glass-bottle recycler fined 10^th time for emissions violations

The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality issued a $213,600 penalty to Owens-Brockway Glass Container, Inc. for violating emissions standards required under its operating permit and for failing to comply with an interim agreement to limit pollution. The company is Oregon’s largest glass-bottle recycler.

ACQUISITIONS AND COLLABORATIONS

Peru’s Unacem acquires US cement plant for US$300mn

Unacem, Peru’s largest cement company, acquired a U.S. cement plant from Martin Marietta Southern California Cement for US$317 million. The Tehachapi plant in California has a capacity of 1 million short tons a year of cement, 940,000 tons of clinker, and recorded sales of US$114 million in 2022.

3DCERAM Sinto and SINTX collaborate to develop materials and tech for ceramics AM

3DCERAM Sinto, Inc. and SINTX Technologies, Inc. announced a collaboration to develop multiple novel resins and processes for the additive manufacturing of ceramic products. The collaboration is focused on the biomedical and investment casting industries.

Notre Dame receives one-of-a-kind system for materials analysis from US Navy

The United States Navy has transferred NAUTILUS, a one-of-a-kind system for materials analysis, to the University of Notre Dame. Unlike other spectrometers, NAUTILUS combines two separate processes for materials analysis: secondary ion mass spectrometry analysis along with single-stage accelerator mass spectrometry.

OTHER STORIES

Owens Corning announces chief financial officer transition

Owens Corning announced that chief financial officer Ken Parks will be stepping down from his role effective September 15 to pursue another professional opportunity. Todd Fister, who has served as president of the company’s global Insulation business since 2019, will succeed Parks as CFO.

GlobalGlass Group changes name to Vaider Group

GlassGlobal Group, the owner of Steklarna Hrastnik and SFS Paraćin, will change its name to Vaider Group. The renaming aims to provide a more efficient corporate management and positioning in the glass packaging market.

NETL hydrogen safety review report now available

The National Energy Technology Laboratory released a hydrogen safety review report that reviews and summarizes the unique safety challenges involved with the production, transportation, and storage of hydrogen.

MARKET TRENDS

Taiwan’s companies make the world’s electronics—now they want to make weapons

Taiwanese private companies are pivoting into the defense sector and making weapons, and U.S. defense contractors are exploring ways to manufacture and design noncore components of their weapons systems in Taiwan.

New US tariffs to hurt solar exports from southeast Asia

Renewable power developers blasted a U.S. government decision to place new tariffs on solar exports from southeast Asia. At issue is the conclusion of a 17-month Commerce Department trade probe that found some solar manufacturers are using southeast Asian processing to dodge duties that counteract Chinese subsidies and below-market pricing.

UK cullet export to Europe increases by 31%

British Glass found that the export of glass cullet from the U.K. to mainland Europe rose by 79,000 tonnes last year—a 31% increase compared to 2021.

EVs expected to dominate aerogel applications by 2025

Growth in the aerogel market has been somewhat slower than some would expect, due largely to competition with lower-cost incumbent insulation materials. However, the emergence of aerogels as a fire protection material for electric vehicle batteries provides a new and rapidly growing opportunity for the aerogel market.

NEW PRODUCTS

Touch the color with the new color2view

Paul N. Gardner USA (Gardco) announced the new BYK-Gardner color2view benchtop spectrophotometer. By combining several, different measurement methods, the color2view becomes an objective eye that evaluates visual color impression in its entity.

Renishaw Central delivers the factory of the future, today

Renishaw Central is a new smart-manufacturing data platform that collects, presents, and initiates accurate process and metrology data. The platform connects to measurement devices across the manufacturing process and provides insights that manufacturers can use to analyze, identify, predict, and correct process errors before they occur.

Haver & Boecker Niagara introduces educational guides

Haver & Boecker Niagara announced two new educational guides that expand its dedicated PROcheck service program. The service examines the potential in every segment of an operation’s screening process to solve material handling challenges and to keep equipment running at peak performance.