Ceramic and glass business news of the week for March 25, 2024

PLANTS, CENTERS, AND FACILITIES

Landmark Ceramics UST, Inc. to expand manufacturing in Tennessee

Landmark Ceramics UST, Inc. officials announced the company is investing $71.9 million to expand its tile production in Mt. Pleasant, Tenn. This expansion increases Landmark Ceramics’ footprint by more than 400,000 square feet and increases its installed production capacity to 80 million square feet a year.

Simpolo Vitrified strengthens position in Rajasthan with opening of showroom in Sikar

Simpolo Vitrified, a leading player in the Indian ceramics industry, inaugurated its exclusive tiles and sanitaryware showroom in Sikar, Rajasthan, an area of more than 2,000 sq. ft.

Capsol Technologies selected for carbon capture study at Cauldon cement plant

Capsol Technologies was selected to conduct a study on its carbon capture technology at Aggregate Industries Cauldon cement plant in Staffordshire. Owned by the Holcim Group, the company’s plant will undergo a feasibility study by Capsol Technologies for its CapsolEoP carbon capture system.

East African Portland Cement shuts down for major upgrade

East African Portland Cement closed its Athi River plant in Kenya for a US$3 million upgrade to boost production capacity. The current production capacity of the plant is 310,000t/yr. The upgrade should increase that capacity to 1Mt/yr.

Connecticut glass plant reopens under new owner

Soon, glass will once again be cleaned, tempered, and insulated at a Norwich, Conn., fabrication plant that has been idle since late 2023. The 180,000-square-foot facility was the former home of Naverra Glass before the company closed late last year. The plant is now home to Bensalem, Penn.-based Glass Enterprises.

ACQUISITIONS AND COLLABORATIONS

Silfab Solar chooses SolarCycle for recycled glass

Silfab Solar, a North American photovoltaic manufacturer, announced an agreement with SolarCycle to purchase ultralow-carbon domestic glass for its U.S.-made solar panels, expanding Silfab’s existing solar panel recycling partnership with SolarCycle.

Netherlands joins Close the Glass Loop partnership

The Netherlands is the first new country to join the Close the Glass Loop partnership since its inception back in June 2020. Close the Glass Loop is an industry platform launched by the European Container Federation that aims to unite the glass collection and recycling value chain.

Groupe Pochet and Koa Glass form glass beauty agreement

France’s Groupe Pochet and Japan’s Koa Glass signed a partnership to share their glass expertise and meet the needs of the glass beauty market. They will share their expertise on hot glass and decoration techniques, as well as pooling the development and production capacities to meet the needs of the market in the different geographical areas.

Google, Microsoft, and Nucor announce clean energy initiative

Google, Microsoft, and Nucor announced they will work together across the electricity ecosystem to develop new business models and aggregate their demand for advanced clean electricity technologies.

White House and Intel will work together to support US semiconductor leadership

The U.S. Department of Commerce and Intel Corporation reached a nonbinding preliminary memorandum of terms to provide up to $8.5 billion in direct funding under the CHIPS and Science Act to strengthen the U.S. supply chain and reestablish U.S. leadership in semiconductor manufacturing.

OTHER STORIES

One local concrete company is hiring more women

There are more than 12,000 concrete workers in the U.S., but Zippia reports only 3% were women in 2021. Chandler Concrete in Virginia is making strides in hiring more women.

World’s biggest solar company LONGi to cut tens of thousands of jobs

China’s LONGi Green Energy Technology, the world’s biggest solar power manufacturer, is set to cut almost one-third of its workforce in an effort to slash costs as the industry struggles with overcapacity and tough competition.

Why Colombia’s first rare earths mining project has gotten so toxic

Following the announcement of Colombia’s first rare earths mining project, Climate Tracker reports on the incomplete licenses, unreal expectations, bad relationships with indigenous populations, and suspicion of planted minerals that surround the venture, which seeks to extract minerals critical for the energy transition.

Semiconductor master’s program will offer hands-on experience in rapidly growing industry

Starting in the fall of 2025, The University of Texas at Austin will offer a new master of science in engineering with a major in semiconductor science and engineering. The program will give students a deep understanding of the science of semiconductors and how to engineer and manufacture these devices.

MARKET TRENDS

NSF: US still leads world in R&D spending but faces ‘crisis’ in STEM workforce

The National Science Foundation’s biennial report on the state of U.S. science and engineering found that the U.S. continues to spend more on R&D than any other country. However, the report highlights that the U.S. is particularly dependent on STEM workers born outside the U.S.

New York City is becoming an unlikely carbon capture hub

Incentives, demand for low-carbon spaces, and a strong local talent pool are making New York City into a hub for clean tech businesses, including those focused on carbon capture and utilization.

The global effort to make an American microchip

The Biden administration is investing $39 billion to help companies build more factories in the United States to bring more of this supply chain back home. But even after U.S. facilities are built, chip manufacturing will remain decidedly global.

NEW PRODUCTS

Golden Solar delivers an enhanced solar warranty

Gansu Golden Solar Co. Ltd., a specialist producer and supplier of solar photovoltaic heterojunction cells and modules, announced their introduction of an enhanced limited warranty pertaining to the aforesaid modules.

Diablo Tools introduces an new range of carbide teeth rough-in hole saws

Diablo Tools introduced the Demo Demon carbide teeth rough-in hole saw. This saw offers up to 50x the cutting life of standard hole saws with up to 5x faster hole making.