Ceramic and glass business news of the week for February 13, 2023

PLANTS, CENTERS, AND FACILITIES

XRAI Glass picks Saudi Arabia as entry point for Middle East expansion

XRAI Glass, a maker of augmented reality glasses that translate speech to closed-caption text for hearing-impaired users, chose Saudi Arabia as the entry point for its expansion into the Middle East. The London-based company is seeking to work with the right manufacturers in the kingdom.

Onsemi chip site in East Fishkill to be company’s largest, most advanced

Once Onsemi completed its $430 million acquisition of a chip plant in East Fishkill, New York, it retained the more than 1,000 workers employed by GlobalFoundries and hired 100 more. Onsemi has committed $1.3 billion to the site, some of which is being spent now and some of which will be invested in the future, such as for a planned expansion.

Ford reportedly plans to build a $3.5 billion EV battery factory in Michigan

Ford plans to announce a partnership with China’s Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. to build a $3.5 billion iron phosphate battery plant in Michigan. Ford is advancing the project despite uncertainty around the Inflation Reduction Act clause that states automakers cannot get the consumer EV tax credits if their vehicles have batteries made by a “foreign entity of concern.”

NioCorp’s rare earth demonstration plant showing strong rare earth recovery results

NioCorp Developments Ltd.’s demonstration-scale processing plant at L3 Process Development in Quebec, Canada, successfully produced a high-purity mixed rare earth concentrate from NioCorp’s integrated demonstration plant. These results support the technical feasibility of separating several key high-purity magnetic rare earth oxides.

Rigaku to supply two electron diffractometers to UK’s leading crystallography facility

The National Crystallography Service is a critical component of  the U.K.’s research infrastructure. To ensure the NCS continues to provide cutting-edge capabilities, they will establish the National Electron Diffraction Facility, which will feature Rigaku XtaLAB Synergy-ED electron diffractometers.

ACQUISITIONS AND COLLABORATIONS

Arch Cutting Tools acquires Custom Carbide Cutter

Arch Cutting Tools Corporation, an industry leader in high-performance custom tooling, announced the acquisition of Custom Carbide Cutter Inc., a Cincinnati company that provides high-quality cutting tools to manufacturers and distributors.

Wolfspeed and ZF announce partnership for future silicon carbide semiconductor devices

Wolfspeed Inc., a global leader in silicon carbide technology, and ZF, a global technology company enabling next-generation mobility, announced a strategic partnership that includes the creation of a joint innovation lab to drive advances in silicon carbide systems and devices for mobility, industrial, and energy applications.

Orion Engineered Carbons has new distribution partnerships in Central America, Caribbean

Orion Engineered Carbons, a specialty chemicals company, signed new distribution agreements with Guatemala-based Divsa and Dominican Republic-based Terrachem s.a. to represent Orion in Central America and the Caribbean.

SCG Ceramics and Huawei Technologies team up for energy storage

SCG Ceramics Plc and Huawei Technologies have teamed up to develop energy storage technology, aiming to serve factory operators that adopt renewable energy. SCG Ceramics will jointly develop the technology through its Susunn Smart Solution Co.

OTHER STORIES

Nobel Prize Summit on countering misinformation and building trust in science

The Nobel Prize Summit Truth, Trust, and Hope will bring together Nobel Prize laureates and other world-renowned experts and leaders for a global dialogue on how to stop misinformation from eroding public trust in science, scientists, and the institutions they serve. The summit will take place May 24–26, 2023. Registration opens in March.

Spring TRX meeting agenda and venue announced

America Makes, in partnership with the University of Texas at El Paso, will host the 2023 Spring Technical Review & Exchange meeting on March 7–8 at the Hotel Paso Del Norte in El Paso. TRX showcases the ongoing and successful America Makes projects portfolio by sharing the R&D of additive manufacturing within the Institute’s contracted project efforts.

American Elements announces new Fusion Energy Division

American Elements announced the launch of a new Fusion Energy Division to expand the company’s production of certain high purity oxides, stable isotopes, refractory metals and alloys, high-temperature ceramics, laser crystal raw materials, and molten salts.

Abrasive Technology announces new managing director

Abrasive Technology, LLC, a U.K.-based developer and manufacturer of superabrasive products for the dental, aerospace, medical, and industrial end markets, announced that Jim Barnhart was promoted to managing director.

Şişecam boosted its sales to TRY 95.3 billion in 2022

According to year-end financial results for 2022, Şişecam’s consolidated net sales reached TRY 95.3 billion (US$5.8 billion). In the same period, international sales accounted for 63% of Şişecam’s total sales.

MARKET TRENDS

As Greenland’s ice melts, glacial sand deposits may offer a welcome economic opportunity

Each season, millions of tons of sediment flow from melting glaciers into the ocean, adding landmass to the largest island in the world. According to a research paper published in Nature, three out of four Greenlanders support extracting and exporting sand—so long as they are the ones in charge of managing the resource.

New Jersey adopts first-of-a-kind low carbon concrete law

New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy recently signed the New Jersey Low Embodied Carbon Concrete Leadership Act into law, setting in motion the implementation of a state-led approach to eliminating embodied carbon emissions in concrete that is the first of its kind in the United States.

China records higher aluminum, alumina trade with Russia in 2022

China’s primary aluminum imports from Russia rose for the sixth straight month in December 2022, while alumina exports also rose sharply, customs data showed January 20. The trade numbers between the two countries assume significance as China’s total aluminum imports from global destinations dipped sharply in 2022.

China pulls back from global subsea cable project as US tensions mount

China has cut its participation in an internet cable project to link Asia with Europe, as tensions grow between Washington and Beijing over control of the physical infrastructure that transmits the world’s online traffic.

NEW PRODUCTS

Katek unveils silicon carbide inverter for residential applications

Katek Memmingen GmbH is currently manufacturing its 4.6 kW coolcept fleX three-phase inverter with silicon carbide semiconductors from U.S.-based Navitas Semiconductor.

Diodes Inc. releases its first silicon carbide Schottky barrier diodes

Diodes Inc. announced the release of its first silicon carbide Schottky barrier diodes. The devices are suitable for AC-DC, DC-DC, and DC-AC switching converters, photovoltaic inverters, uninterruptible power supplies, and industrial motor drive applications.

LuxWall raises $33 million funding to scale production of their ‘Net Zero Glass’

LuxWall, a startup producing Net Zero Glass technology, is announcing its $33 million Series A funding round. The latest funding will go toward scaling the production of their Net Zero Glass technology at LuxWall Factory 1, the company’s first purpose-built commercial factory.

First electric concrete mixer truck unveiled by Volvo Trucks

Volvo Trucks delivered the first fully electric heavy-duty concrete mixer truck to CEMEX last week. Volvo says the EV truck will begin operating at a ready-mix concrete plant in Spandau in Berlin this month. The battery electric truck is the latest development from a 2021 agreement to collaborate and develop emissions-free transport.

Clay to decarbonize concrete

After two years’ work, CHRYSO’s Research & Development teams, in collaboration with their counterparts from Bouygues Construction and Hoffmann Green Cement Technologies, developed a decarbonated clay concrete. It is based on a patented H-EVA cement by Hoffmann that does not contain any clinker.

High volume bulk material dumper for single or multiple containers, vessels

A new high-volume open-chute dumper from Flexicon allows discharging of nondusty, free-flowing, and/or agglomerated bulk materials from multiple drums or boxes simultaneously, as well from Gaylords, totes, or bins individually.