Nutec Group announced effective Feb. 1, 2023, Genaro F. Cueva will step down from the position of CEO, remaining in his position as Chairman of the Board. He will be replaced as CEO by Daniel Llaguno, currently president, Nutec Fibers Division. This transition had been announced internally back in September 2022.

Hotwork USA joined Munich, Germany-based Robur Industry Service Group as of December 2022. Hotwork USA specializes in refractory dryout and other furnace services utilizing proprietary equipment. The Lexington, Ky.-based company is partnering with Robur companies Excelsius and Fios to service clients with industrial furnaces. The move gives Robur Industry Service a truly global approach in furnace service offerings for clients in the metals, glass, cement and hydrocarbon industries.

Austrian refractories manufacturer Rath successfully developed the refractory lining of a test roller furnace for the ceramics industry

“The Bright World of Metals,” the slogan for the joint staging of four technology trade fairs – GIFA (15th International Foundry Trade Fair with Technical Forum), Metec (11th International Metallurgical Trade Fair), Thermprocess (13th International Trade Fair and Symposium for Thermal-Processing Technology) and Newcast (6th International Trade Fair for Castings) – will be held June 12-16 at the fairgrounds in Düsseldorf, Germany. Every four years, these trade fairs are the meeting place for companies from around the world. The exhibits will be complemented by a versatile ancillary program consisting of seminars, international congresses, symposia and lecture series.  

The Board of Directors of HarbisonWalker International (HWI) signed an agreement to be acquired by Platinum Equity, a global investment firm operating companies in a broad range of business markets. The acquisition plan ensures HWI’s continued growth in the supply of refractory products and services. The transaction is expected to be completed in the first half of 2023. Platinum Equity announced plans in July to acquire Imerys SA’s High Temperature Solutions business (HTS), a provider of refractory solutions serving more than 6,000 customers primarily in Europe and Asia, in a transaction that is expected to close by the end of the year. Once both acquisitions have been completed, HWI and HTS will combine into a global business with increased reach and scale.

RHI Magnesita, a global supplier of refractory products based in Austria, acquired the Indian refractory business of Dalmia Bharat Refractories Ltd. (DBRL). The acquisition will significantly increase RHI Magnesita’s presence in the Indian refractory market, with forecast steel production growth in India of 12% in 2022 and a 7-8% compound annual growth rate until 2030. Through the consolidation of DBRL’s production into RHI Magnesita’s existing operations, significant network optimization synergies will be captured. The company employs approximately 1,200 people in India and produces more than 300,000 tons of refractory annually from five refractory plants and raw-material sites. The acquisition will add production capacities in important industrial regions in the south and west of India where RHI Magnesita currently has no assets.

This article considers the production deficits, logistics turmoil and demand surges that contributed to supply-chain disruptions that were brought into focus with the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Refractory maintenance, though vital, can often be a logistical and financial burden. This is especially true for large facilities that rely on kilns, coolers, preheater towers and risers for day-to-day operation. These facilities stand to lose upward of $50,000 a day in production if their refractory can’t stand up to the heat.

Registration is open for IHEA’s Fundamentals of Industrial Process Heating online learning course, which begins October 24 and runs for six weeks. Throughout the online course, students learn safe, efficient operation of industrial heating equipment, how to reduce energy consumption and ways to improve the bottom line. The curriculum includes the basics of heat transfer, fuels and combustion, energy use, furnace design, refractories, automatic control, and atmospheres as applied to industrial process heating.

PRCO America Inc. began production at its refractories manufacturing plant in Mayfield, Ky., in August 2022. At full production, the plant – the company’s first in the United States – will produce 50,000-60,000 tons of resin-bonded refractory products for the steelmaking industry annually and employ approximately 50 people. The facility will produce resin-bonded magnesia carbon, resin-bonded magnesia-alumina-carbon and resin-bonded alumina refractory ceramic shapes used to line steel-processing furnaces.