• Anchor Glass Containers, part of Ardagh Group, is to receive 6.6 megawatts in low-cost electricity, which will allow the company to retain 340 jobs and invest approximately $37.2 million in its US facility.
• Gerresheimer has increased its pharmaceutical glass production capacity at its Lohr, Germany, plant with the installation of a new furnace.
• Asahi Glass Co. has halted production at a solar-cell glass plant in Tennessee to prevent the build-up of excess inventory, the Nikkei reports in its Oct. 8 edition. The plant, in the city of Kingsport, has seen inventory swell to roughly four- to five-months worth as local demand slumped due to the influx of cheap Chinese solar cells.
• The company LINGL/DE was awarded the contract for the construction of a high-temperature tunnel kiln for refractory products including the related kiln car circulation system by the company Gouda Refractories in the Netherlands.
• ArcelorMittal Atlantique and Lorraine met with its central works council to discuss its intention to present a proposal for the future of its Florange plant. Given the continued economic difficulties affecting the French and European economies, the company wishes to propose to permanently close the liquid phase and concentrate efforts and investment on the high-quality finishing operation, which employs more than 2,000 employees.
• Shares in mineral sands producer Iluka have been hit hard after price-cutting by arch competitor Rio Tinto—and Iluka’s own strategy of maintaining supply “discipline” in an effort to bolster prices—saw its sales revenue slashed by more than half in the September quarter.