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October 2014
31 October 2014
As the world’s leading producer in many industrial minerals industries, Imerys results are always a good indication of the state of the market. These are strong results —with the exception of fused minerals, which have yet to pick up — showing that new areas of growth, such as talc in polymers in automobiles and lithium-ion batteries, are starting to affect even traditional producers.
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29 October 2014
Optimism industry has returned to growth; European market too mature to expand far.
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29 October 2014
Steel makers target higher quality, lower volumes; Manufacturers urged to adapt to changing needs
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29 October 2014
The approval of a £2.8m project to construct a natural gas pipeline at its refractory plant would allow the UK-based refractories manufacturer to lower costs and remain competitive in the refractory market worldwide.
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28 October 2014
The sale of its paper chemicals and water treatment (APW) business to Japanese water treatment company Kurita Water Industries will allow Israel-based speciality chemicals producer to cut costs and focus on its core businesses in the agriculture, food and engineered materials markets.
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28 October 2014
Almatis does not have the debt problems of its holding company — the importance of the sale to the alumina producer would be the transfer of the business from a company has had to be light on spending, to one which, if purchasing assets, seems likely to have a significant drive and capacity for investment in Almatis’s operations.
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24 October 2014
Vesuvius has outlined the challenges it — and other refractories producers — are facing: bearish foundry markets and low capacity utilisation in steel. However, its belief in its strategic model and its high value products means it will likely retain its position as the leading refractories producer.
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23 October 2014
Following Indonesia’s export ban on raw materials, China has started to see a shortage in bauxite supply, which has forced the country’s alumina companies to reduce production and diversify bauxite sources. This is likely to push the mineral price higher.
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20 October 2014
A year after Chinese authorities took the decision to clean up the refractory industry in China, IM takes a look at progress made so far and the impact of the shut downs on the industry as a whole.
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17 October 2014
The JV with Midas is part of the company’s strategy to spin out its priority projects to allow it to focus on the development of its HPA project. It will also bring the company one step closer to becoming a mineral sands supplier as Midas evaluates the economic viability of the project.
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15 October 2014
The sale of Tata Steel’s UK sites could impact demand for associated refractory minerals. At the moment it is unclear how Klesch Group will run the sites being sold – whether output will be optimised to match demand, or continue at the same pace. However, the sale casts uncertainty on the market.
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14 October 2014
The opening of the new plant is a further step into Asian markets for UK-based Morgan Advanced Materials. The company is hoping to provide a range of high technology markets in Asia, including automotive, aerospace, medical, and electronics users
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13 October 2014
RHI halts acquisition of magnesite mine in Turkey; Sharp increase in barite prices due to Indian delayed tender and increased royalties
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09 October 2014
An increase in sales and shipments of its alumina products could indicate an uptick in demand from refractories and speciality alumina producers, which source their raw material from Alcoa.
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08 October 2014
The company has flatly contradicted reports that it plans to shut down its refractories manufacturing facility in China, saying that it intends to continue developing its business in the region despite tough market conditions.
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08 October 2014
By supplying an evaporator train upgrade to Canada-based pulp and paper producer Domtar, Valmet will improve the company’s production efficiency and consolidate its leadership as a supplier of technical services for pulp, paper and energy industries in the North American market.
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08 October 2014
Baker Hughes rig count data shows a sustained rise in oilfield drilling over the past year for the US. Despite strong geopolitical instability in large production regions, oil prices have fallen recently on the back of strong US domestic production and Japanese plans to restart nuclear reactors. This raises the question of whether can the US sustain the frac sand boom on lower oil and gas prices, and whether the rest of the world due a fall in rig counts as demand falters.
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07 October 2014
The Minerals Technologies Inc. subsidiary has confirmed that its manufacturing facility in Suzhou, China, is still operational, but the company has suffered from the downturn in the global refractories market and is rumoured to be planning to close the plant down.
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07 October 2014
The WFA plant in Bahrain came online in July this year and represents France-based Imerys’ first venture of this kind in the Middle East, in partnership with local investment groups. The project has enjoyed local encouragement as it fulfils a number of the Gulf State’s economic objectives.
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03 October 2014
The development of a well-established hydrochloric acid leach process, to recover high-purity alumina (HPA) from its aluminous clay assets in Australia, will allow AMMG to reduce operating costs and become competitive with current HPA producers in the world.
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02 October 2014
By signing a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Indonesian bauxite and alumina producer, PT Antam, the Danish engineering company is consolidating its position as an equipment supplier in Indonesia – an industrial minerals-rich country in which FLSmidth already has an established presence.