PLANTS, CENTERS, AND FACILITIES

Vital Metals unearths ‘ultra-high-grade’ rare earth oxides at Nechalacho

Vital Metals unearthed “ultra-high-grade” rare earth oxides in what managing director Geoff Atkins claims are “among the highest grades of any rare earth project in the world.” The high-grade REO was intersected at the North T resource within the company’s Nechalacho project in Canada’s northwest territories.

Pilkington IGP expands plant in Ostroleka, Poland

Pilkington IGP, an insulated glass manufacturer in Poland, announced its intention to develop further its manufacturing plant in Ostroleka. The planned site extension is expected to double the production efficiency and provide further employment opportunities.


ACQUISITIONS AND COLLABORATIONS

MDU Resources acquires prestressed-concrete business

MDU Resources Group, Inc. announced it acquired the assets of Oldcastle Infrastructure Spokane, the Washington-based prestressed-construction business previously owned by Oldcastle Infrastructure. The Spokane operation produces precast and prestressed concrete components for projects throughout Washington, Idaho, and Oregon.

Sibelco acquires two Italian glass recycling sites

Materials group Sibelco acquired two glass recycling activities, Emiliana Rottami and Emill, through a bankruptcy auction in the Bologna region of Italy. Emiliana Rottami is an obsolete glass recycling plant with valid permits. Emill is a glass fines recycling plant. Both were part of the same group which went bankrupt in 2019.

Packaging testing service looks to ensure glass vials’ adequacy

Italy-based Stevanato Group, a producer of glass primary packaging for pharmaceuticals, announced an agreement with Pfeiffer Vacuum Technologies to provide characterization testing services for container-closure systems.

HP and Rösler sign AM cooperation agreement

AM Solutions, Rösler Group’s brand name for all activities around additive manufacturing, and HP announced a contractually fixed cooperation agreement covering development of new equipment solutions in field of automated post-processing of 3D printed components.


OTHER STORIES

Agenda released for HPC4Mfg Industry Engagement Day conference

The Department of Energy’s Advanced Manufacturing Office and National Laboratories will host a High Performance Computing for Manufacturing Industry Engagement Day conference focused on “Spurring Innovation in U.S. Manufacturing Through Advanced Computing.” The conference will be held April 15–16, 2020, in Chicago.

North America beer sales impact O-I results

Owens-Illinois saw full year net sales drop from $6.9 billion in 2018 to $6.7 billion in 2019. Its CEO, Andres Lopez, said a “significant decline” in its North American beer business was partly to blame.

Solaire Expo Maroc 2020 in Casablanca promotes solar energy

The ninth Solaire Expo Maroc exhibition is set to take place February 25–27 in Casablanca. The exhibition, first launched in Marrakech in 2012, aims to gather international markets in order to invest in Morocco and Africa more widely.

Glass Futures wins £7.1m UK government contract to investigate decarbonizing the sector

Glass Futures won a £7.1 million contract from the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy in the United Kingdom to look at innovative scenarios to decarbonize the glass manufacturing process in line with “Net Zero” targets.

America Makes elects additive manufacturing leaders to Executive Committee

America Makes announced the appointment of 11 additive manufacturing leaders to its new Executive Committee. The committee members, including three government representatives and eight figures from nonprofits, academia, and industry, were brought on board to serve in advisory capacity on strategy, policy, and advocacy for a two-year term.


MARKET TRENDS

Cobalt supply can meet demand for electric vehicle and electronics batteries

According to research published in the American Chemical Society journal Environmental Science & Technology, supplies of cobalt are adequate in short term, but shortages could develop later if refining and recycling are not ramped up or made more efficient.

Acceleration in global electric power transmission & distribution equipment market

A recent Freedonia Group report forecasts global demand for electric power transmission and distribution equipment to reach $172 million in 2023. Rapid development of power infrastructure in developing countries will drive an acceleration in global market growth, as electricity consumption continues to rise.

Impacts of coronavirus containment effort ripple through global economy

An IHS Markit article overviews some of the impacts on the global economy due to the recent coronavirus outbreak. The effects are most pronounced in household consumption and somewhat mitigated in the industrial sector because factories are seasonally idle during this period.

Author

Lisa McDonald