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Albermarle to be restructured following Rockwood acquisition

By Adam Page
Published: Wednesday, 21 January 2015 on http://www.indmin.com/

After completing its merger with lithium producer Rockwood Speciality Holdings Inc. last week, speciality chemicals producer Albemarle is now focusing on having a flexible and forward-looking lithium strategy.

US-based Albemarle Corp. is being re-structured into three global business units; Chemetall Surface Treatment, Refining Solutions and Performance Chemicals.

"The new company will be structured to leverage its complementary fit, especially between lithium and bromine, allowing us to capitalise on our long-term lithium strategy while providing immediate scale and ability to leverage its similarities with bromine," said Luke Kissam, Albemarle's CEO.

Chemetall Surface Treatment will supply products for metal pretreatment. The company's lithium and bromine businesses meanwhile will sit in its Performance Chemicals business arm, as this will supply speciality chemicals to the industry as well as fire safety solutions.

The Refining Solutions business arm will consist of the heavy oil upgrading and clean fuels technologies businesses, which could also see some bromine usage, as the company is developing clear brine fluids, used in offshore drilling and water treatment.

Each unit will have a dedicated teams of sales, R&D, processers, manufacturing and sourcing and business strategists.

Rockwood’s investors 

Albemarle has proposed changes to investors regarding the material terms of the security agreement relating to a set of senior notes issued by Rockwood Specialties Group Inc. The new arrangements would enable Albemarle to file periodic reports with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and make such filings available to investors.

Albemarle completed its acquisition of Rockwood Holdings on 12 January 2015, in which Rockwood became a wholly-owned subsidiary of Albemarle. It also led to Albemarle fully and unconditionally guaranteeing the senior notes.

As of 16 January 2015, there are $1.2bn worth of of senior notes outstanding. Both companies are offering to pay each shareholder a cash payment of $2.50 per $1,000 worth of notes.

NTT Com to acquire data centre firm e-shelter

NTT claims third largest data centre player slot in Europe

NTT Communications (NTT Com) will acquire 86.7% of issued shares in e-shelter, an operator of data centre services in Germany.

The acquisition will make NTT the third largest data centre presence in Europe.

e-shelter manages approximately 90,000 square metres of data centre space in four major German cities, including Campus Frankfurt 1, Europe's largest data centre with some 60,000 square metres of space. It also possesses space in Zurich, Switzerland and Vienna, Austria.

e-shelter data centres service multinational enterprises working in finance, ICT services, government, healthcare, telecommunications and digital media.The company's infrastructure includes its own 120 MW electrical substation for stable.

NTT Com hopes the acquisition will strengthen its ability to meet increasing European demand for data centre and cloud services and allow it to provide more efficient services to migrate customer systems to the cloud. The EU data centre market is growing at 9% annually, according to the research firm Gartner.

NTT Com operates 130 data centres worldwide and it already has a European presence in the UK, France, Germany and Spain.

"As our multinational customers expand beyond EU borders, and undergo rapid ICT evolutions, they are increasingly demanding globally seamless ICT solutions," says Rupprecht Rittweger, CEO of e-shelter.

To meet their demands ahead of our competitors, we believe that the best way to ensure e-shelter's growth and development is in partnership with NTT Com, which has a commanding presence in Asia and is a leading provider of ICT services worldwide. At the same time, we look forward to strengthening NTT Com's global ICT infrastructure and market share with our strong presence in Europe."

Currently, Investa owns 51% of e-shelter's issued shares and the remaining shares are owned by ABRY Partners. NTT Com will provide more than half of e-shelter's new board of directors.

Originally published on www.cbronline.com on 3rd March 2015

IBM sued over alleged money-losing semiconductor offload

IBM sued by shareholder who alleges stock inflation before sale of unit

IBM is facing a securities allegation after court papers where filed by a shareholder who says it committed securities fraud, reports Reuters.

The complainant alleges that IBM inflated its stock prices by failing to record its semiconductor unit before its Q3 2014 results in October last year.

The entire unit's value had fallen to around $1 billion, including personnel and intellectual property, meaning that hard assets probably had no or negative market value.

On 20 October 2014, it sold the unit for $1.5 billion to GlobalFoundries, an affiliate of Abu Dhabi investment fund Mubadala Development, and took a related $4.7 billion pre-tax charge.

The complaint says that before selling the unit, IBM inflated its stock price by carrying the unit's property, plant and equipment assets on its books at $2.4 billion, when it should have known the assets were worthless.

IBM's share price fell 9% over the next two trading days after the unit's sale, wiping out more than $18 billion of market value.

The lawsuit names three IBM officials as defendants and it seeks class-action status on behalf of shareholders from 17 April to 17 October 2014.

"Defendants presented a misleading picture of IBM's business and prospects," the complaint said.

"When the truth about the company was revealed to the market, the price of IBM common stock fell precipitously," they added.

Originally published on www.cbronline.com on 3rd March 2015

Mobility platform addresses demands of the wearables era

Good Technology launches platform and app for enterprise mobile data security.

Good Technology has launched a secure mobility platform for mobile apps and wearables, dubbed the 'Good Dynamics platform'.

The Good Dynamics platform allows users to safely access and store confidential information like business data on wearable devices. It does this via Good-secured apps which utilise mobile identity and access management features including two-factor authentication and access control.

The Good Work app enables users to access this information via smartphones, tablets and wearable devices such as a wristwatch or fitness tracker. Good Work supports Android Wear which allows users to respond to emails, update calendars, push notifications and accept or reject meeting requests.

"As more connected devices proliferate across the enterprise, it's imperative to understand the implications they present so that organizations can permit increased employee productivity without endangering sensitive data," said Christy Wyatt, chairman and CEO of Good Technology.

The Internet of Things (IoT) takes secure mobility beyond smartphones to include connected cars, vending machines and other non-traditional connected devices in the enterprise.

International Data Corporation (IDC) estimated that by 2020 there would be approximately 30 billion connected IoT units, with the market worth an estimated $3.04 trillion.

"Wearable devices give people powerful new ways to access the information and services that are most important to them, whatever they may be," said Rick Osterloh, president of Motorola Mobility.

"While much of the focus has been on consumers, there is also a huge opportunity for wearables to better connect people to the productivity services and applications that have become so essential in the workplace," he added.

Originally published on www.cbronline.com on 2nd March 2015

“On the brink of revolution” for tech and public sector

techUK hosts Public Services 2030 conference

"We are on the brink of revolution," says Gordon Morrison, techUK's director for tech for government, at the techUK Public Services 2030 Conference. Morrison is referring to the way in which the digital industry and government integrate and engage with one another.

The London conference was opened by Cabinet Office Minister Francis Maude MP (pictured) who stated: "Digital is one of the areas in which Britain is recognised to be world leading and it is part of the government's long-term plan for a stronger economy."

techUk's CEO, Julian David, said that the technology companies it represents welcome this sentiment: "We see the idea of government as a platform that can lead in a revolution to public service delivery."

David said that in all cases of successful digital enterprise from Estonia to Silicon Valley, "the public sector has played a major role in making that happen."

Maude noted that phrases like 'online government project' used to evoke concern due to notable failures such as the NHS computer system. However, Maude said the government is striving to be more efficient noting that 300 government websites have been shut down to be replaced by one, gov.uk. This is part of the government's attempt to modernise its digital infrastructure.

He also said that the government had saved £90 million by changing the way in which ICT contracts were set up, so that they had more clarity, were open to a wider range of applicants and didn't surpass a lifetime value of over $100 million unless under exceptional circumstances.

Maude also celebrated the success of British-based start-ups saying, "You do not need to be big to succeed you just need to be good." He pointed to examples like small Liverpool-based Scraperwiki which had help the migrate website content to gov.uk.

Speakers offered insights into how the digital public sector would change between now and 2030.

Pilgrim Beart, CEO of 1248, said that openness and data will be major drivers: "If we can do that then we can create an ecosystem of applications using analytics to turn data into information, something that the public and the private sector can get and participate in."

Other speakers also noted some of the uncertainties, Dr Sally Howes of National Audit Office said that it had yet to be established how to fully understand the monetary value in the digital government. Meanwhile, Air Vice-Marshall Mark Neal of the Ministry of Defence said that the "nature of risk" needed to be established when assessing proposals.

Julian David said that it is keeping in mind that there is an election this May: "We look forward to engaging with the next government and we are already meeting with the head of the civil service...to say we think this government platform is a fantastic opportunity to British-based tech businesses and of course British citizens."

Originally published on www.cbronline.com on 4th March 2015

Is the UK economy IoT ready yet?

Analysis: UK stakeholders discuss the future potential of IoT at the techUK Public Services 2030 conference

'How far away are we from seeing the Internet of Things (IoT) in our personal and business lives?'

This question was put before attendees of techUK Public Services 2030 conference opened by Francis Maude MP and techUK CEO Julian David. Using electronic voting devices 75% of attendees said they expected to see it within the next 5 years.

Forecasts from stakeholders vindicated their vote; Cisco believes that within 5 years the number of connected devices worldwide will have grown from 12-13 billion to 50 billion. Meanwhile McKinsey and Company says that IoTs could have a potential economic impact of $2.7trillion to $6.2 trillion across sized applications by 2025.

"It has to happen in 5 years," says Julian Bowery of the Department for Communities and Local Government. "It is not excusable for us to be talking about a technology that is here now and allow cultural issues to get in the way."

Attendees also voted IoT and data analytics as the two areas in which the UK could show the most leadership in. However, almost everyone agreed that a lack of understanding regarding IoT was the biggest barrier to its success.

Gary Atkinson, director of emerging technologies at ARM, noted that the IoT infrastructure is out there and operates on a lower bandwidth than the mobile network it runs parallel with.

Daniel Byles MP says in terms of IoT's adoption, "it comes down to business and real world cases, it comes down to why would we do this, how would we do this." Byles noted that many local government authorities may well see this as an unnecessary add-on, especially when under financial pressure.

However, Byles believes that central government can give local a "nudge" when it comes to the latter bidding to the former for construction contracts. Byles says this can be done without mandates but by simply asking them how they will ensure technology is up-to-date and that they are making the best business choice. Byles hopes that within time it will be seen as a risk not to adopt the IoT changes that we are seeing in today's risk takers like Milton Keynes and that within time the UK will be exporting IoT smart cities to other nations.

Geoff Snelson, director of strategy for Milton Keynes council, outlined how data was being attained through a number of IoT systems throughout Milton Keynes which showed the number of available parking spaces and had sensors on bins to alert waste removal when they were overflowing.

"To get people to volunteer data there needs to be some contract of understanding that there will be some benefit that accrues back," Snelson said.

Sarah Eccelston of Cisco says that consumer demand will drive the public sector once expectations of service are raised in the private sector: "They are simply not going to tolerate being able to wear a T-shirt that can connect them to the internet but the government can't provide their 85-year-old grandmother who has Alzheimer's a t-shirt that connects the grandmother to the internet so that they know she's lost."

Looking ahead to 2030 Atkinson suggested that, "digital identity, assigned at birth, is kind of the way we should be going and then as you go through your life different services and capabilities are added to that."

However, as Robert McNamara of techUK noted that the issue of privacy and security is one area that needs to be addressed before any kind of IoT system can be put in place.

Originally published on www.cbronline.com on 6th March 2015

Equinix invests $277m in 5 new IBX data centres

The new IBX data centres will be built across four continents.

Equinix has announced plans to open five new International Business Exchange (IBX) data centres across four continents.

Equinix is investing $277 million to build the centres in New York, Singapore, Melbourne, London and Toronto. This will create 4,200 new cabinets and add over one million square feet of new data centre space, increasing Platform Equinix's scale by more than 10%.

New York, Secaurcus, will be home to the NY6 data centre, serving financial, media and enterprise companies with premium colocation services.

Over the border in Canada, the TR2 data centre will be a a state-of-the-art Equinix data center located downtown, just one mile (1.6 km) from TR1 -- home to one of Canada's most robust trading ecosystems.

Moving to a the Asia-Pacific continent, the SG3 data centre will be located in Singapore. This date centre will be the company's largest data center in Asia-Pacific.

Melbourne, a hub for software companies, will house the ME1 data centre, while London's Slough will home the LD6 data centre.

The LD6 data centre marks a major milestone for Equinix as well as the UK's digital sector. The flagship UK data center was built to meet escalating demand for interconnection capacity across the region's fastest-growing campus and is a virtual financial center with 25 percent of European equities trades originating inside Equinix.

"In today's digital economy, the demand placed on interconnectivity has reached a new high. In a world where cloud dominates IT strategies and enterprise business models are interdependent, interconnection is a make-or-break proposition," said Greg Bryan, a senior analyst at TeleGeography.

Originally published on www.cbronline.com on 5th March 2015

Ericsson to use cloud to tap into data centre resources

Ericsson's Cloud System to transform data centre resources.

Ericsson and ABB, a power and automation technology engineer, have joined forces as they seek to transform how data centre resources are architected, optimised and managed.

The Ericsson Cloud System will be integrated with ABB's Decathlon data centre infrastructure management system (DCIM). The combined solution will enable one end-to-end view and management of total facility and equipment operations.

Ericsson says that customer benefits include energy and maintenance savings at the same time as improved reliability and performance.

Data centre operators will gain the opportunity to automate and govern operations across not only compute, storage, network hardware and software, but also power, cooling and other IT management systems. This fully integrated solution is designed to significantly improve ease of use, efficiency and sustainability.

"As the data centre market matures, owners and operators are starting to demand the same control and automation capabilities common to other complex, mission-critical environments," said Peter Terwiesch, President, Process Automation, ABB.

"Our alliance with Ericsson extends the automation of physical, mechanical and electrical infrastructure right to the heart of IT workload management. It will provide the technology for data centre and cloud operators to optimize IT workloads, saving operating costs while improving reliability and the performance of their data centres," Terwiesch added.

Cloud networking has developed rapidly over the past several years being adopted by those who appreciate its faster data delivery, improved application performance and increased operational efficiencies for mission-critical workloads.

The market size is expected to grow to $30.5 billion by 2018, which translates into a compound annual growth rate of 29%, according to 451 Research.

Originally published in www.cbronline.com on 3rd March 2015

Lancashire Council defer decision on Cuadrilla fracking plans to later date

By Adam Page
Published: Wednesday, 28 January 2015 on indmin.com

The decision comes as something of an anti-climax after the UK Parliament said it would not impose a moratorium on fracking earlier in the week and suggested that shale gas exploration in the country was getting closer to being a reality.

Lancashire County Council's Development Control Committee deferred its decision on whether to grant Cuardilla Resources planning permission for shale gas exploration to sites at Preston New Road and Roseacre Wood, in Lancashire, northwest UK.

The decision to defer came after Cuadrilla submitted additional information to its application, following an earlier council decision that said it should be rejected due to fears that the hydraulic fracturing (fracking) would be too noisy.

"The additional information we have provided on further mitigation measures will, we believe, fully address the noise and traffic concerns raised by the planning officer’s in their recommendation to refuse planning permission for both sites," Cuadrilla said in a statement.

"This additional information will be assessed by the planning officers and there will now be an opportunity for the public to properly review and comment on this," it added.

Barbara Richardson, chair of the Roseacre Awareness Group which is opposing the application, says she was disappointed there had been a referral but understood the legal pressures the Council was under.

"We believe we have quite a strong argument to get the planning application refused," Richardson told IM.

"However looking back on it now I think we will have more time to build on the evidence we already have to show that there are more reasons to reject the application," Richardson added.

Richardson said that she has written to the council to ask what mitigating circumstances Cuardilla provided. She said that from the group’s perspective, the main issue was the traffic and noise that the development would bring to the area.

"For the local residents it is quite a stressful time because we have another eight weeks now, probably, before it goes to the committee again," Richardson said.

The fate of Cuadrilla’s fracking plans could be pivotal for the future of shale gas exploration in the UK, which could open up the country as a market for oilfield minerals that can be used in the fracking process such as silica or 'frac’ sand, barites (barytes), bentonite, borates, bauxite and kaolin.

Orocobre says that lithium oversupply will not be an issue as it moves towards commercial production

By Adam Page
Published: Friday, 06 February 2015 on indmin.com

Orocobre is at the last stage of its qualifying process and it is hoping that within a few months it can begin commercial production and become a major global lithium supplier. It says that last year’s fears about lithium oversupply have not come to fruition because it is one of the few juniors to deliver results.

ASX and TSX-listed Orocobre Ltd. has said that it will be able to be a profitable player in the lithium market, dismissing fears expressed by established companies that newcomers like itself will saturate the market.

James Calaway, Orocobre’s North American chairman, told IM that, "we have a fairly robust growth in demand across the world."

"There is a little bit of expansion going on in China but as for the rest of the world, there is really no material increase," Calaway added.

Calaway says that when lithium prices were being negotiated for 2014 there was an impression amongst end-users that the lithium market would be oversupplied. He said that this led to customers "feeling muscular" when in negotiations but Calaway feels this has changed now.

"End users are more concerned with securing supply rather than price," Calaway explained.

Companies like Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile (SQM) has said it is worried about new suppliers disrupting lithium prices and saturating the market.

"What we see is a stable situation in the sense of volumes and in the side of SQM we see a strong market growing," Patricio Contesse, CEO of SQM, said during a conference call for its Q3 2014 results.

"[There have been announcements] of newcomers this year that have not been successful given they are in the equivalent of the Chapter 11 in Canada," Contesse added, referring to RB Energy, which halted all operations at its Quebec lithium project at the beginning of October 2014 and temporarily dismissed staff after it failed to secure the funding required to maintain operations.

$39m in new investment

Yesterday, Orocobre announced that it has raised approximately A$50m ($39m*) through an A$40m placement to domestic and international investors and a $10m underwritten share purchase plan.

Orocobre outlined that A$28m of the proceeds will fund the operations of its Olaroz lithium plant in Argentina, which was ramped up to commercial production within the last week.

"We are very pleased with the result of the raising in what are difficult conditions for resource companies," said Richard Seville, Orocobre’s managing director.

"We are now well funded to take Olaroz and the company through to the next stage of development, becoming a profitable operating company," Seville added.

Approximately 15.7m shares will be issued pursuant to Orocobre’s 15% capacity on the ASX, at a price of A$2.55/share. This is still subject to shareholder approval, which will be assessed at a general meeting in March.

The company is also announcing a share purchase plan which will be capped at A$15m, of which $10m will be underwritten. Shareholders will be invited to invest up to $15,000 each.

"Although we welcome some new shareholders onto the register, we are honoured by the ongoing support we have received from our existing shareholders in this raising. We will continue to work hard to build on the shareholder value that we have delivered to date," Seville said.

Olaroz plant

Orocobre says that its Olaroz plant has approximately 20,000 tonnes of lithium carbonate equivalent (LCE) in the pond system. It also claims the lithium inventory is growing at around 2,100 tpm LCE, according to current well pump rates.

"The majority of our material will be going to Japan, Korea and the US," James Calaway, Orocobre’s North American chairman, told IM.

"We will not only be supplying end users but also large producers, who are needing more supply," Calaway added.

Lithium demand is forecast to rise thanks to growing acceptance of electric vehicles (EVs), consumer electronics and energy storage.

In November 2014, Olaroz started producing primary lithium carbonate. Since then, the focus has been on commissioning the purification and drying/micronising circuits.

Since April 2011, Olaroz’s pilot plant has been distributing lithium carbonate to customers which Orocobre say will make the approval process a maximum of three to six months.

Toyota Tsusho Corporation, the company’s project partner, has finalised several customer contracts for 2015 output and it expects that the remainder will be completed during the first half of 2015.

Orocobre is now considering whether to increase the life of Olaroz with its phase II expansion. It is also looking into developing its other lithium assets in Argentina.

*Conversion made February 2015

Simbol Materials cuts jobs and halts activity at demo lithium plant

By Adam Page
Published: Thursday, 05 February 2015 on indmin.com

Simbol says that it is now seeking investors to help it commercialise its lithium production. However, EnergySource, the provider of its brines, says that it will take a different management team to realise the potential of Simbol’s lithium extraction process.

US-based Simbol Materials LLC has ceased activity at its Hudson Ranch geothermal lithium carbonate plant in Calipatria, California, US, and made 40 of its workers redundant.

Simbol said that operations have been inactive since December 2014.

"We completed the engineering studies and we are now in the mode of collecting investment infrastructures," Simbol’s CFO, Pete Sunada told IM.

"We thought we did not need to spend any more money on the operation at this point in time," Sunada said, adding, "nobody would start an investment discussion once the engineering is completed. It goes in parallel so it is ongoing," Sunada explained.

However, according to EnergySource, a renewable energy company that has provided Simbol with the geothermal brine used to test its lithium-extraction process, Simbol ran out of funds for the operations.

"We understand that last week, Simbol terminated senior management and most of the staff," Dave Watson, EnergySources CEO, told IM.

"Remaining Simbol employees are currently in the process of shuttering the demonstration facility they operate adjacent to our John Featherstone geothermal plant," Watson added.

Amongst those made redundant was David Edwards, Simbol's director of manufacturing. He follows Simbol’s CEO John Burba, who resigned last week.

Watson said that while EnergySource was disappointed with the latest news from Simbol, he said it was not surprised.

He told IM that previous management had failed to effectively implement the strategies necessary to achieve lithium extraction at the Hudson Ranch project, despite using "proven" technologies.

"We remain hopeful that new ownership and management sees the potential of the Simbol technology and we stand ready to support a new effort that demonstrates good prospects for success," Watson said.

Simbol’s plans

Last month, Simbol said that it would start construction on its first commercial lithium extraction plant at Salton Sea in California’s Imperial Valley, according to local newspaper The Desert Sun.

It said it wanted to produce 16,000 tpa lithium carbonate equivalent (LCE) from its 50MW power plant.

Simbol has already demonstrated its geothermal method at the plant, which will extract lithium, manganese and zinc to be transformed into materials suitable for batteries by using by-products from the plant, such as CO₂, waste water and condensate. According to Simbol, this is less dependent on weather conditions than the solar evaporation technique used by the majority of lithium brine producers.

"We believe Simbol’s technology is viable and proven at the demonstration facility," Watson told IM.

Watson suggested that new ownership would be the best option for company to realise its commercial objectives.

"We would expect a new ownership team to pursue a purchase of Simbol and its assets, as well as a transaction with EnergySource," Watson added.

In 2011, Simbol began operating its high-purity lithium carbonate demo plant and has already provided manufacturers with lithium carbonate and hydroxide to be tested in the cathodes of lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries.

Towards the end of 2013, the company succeeded in producing lithium carbonate with a purity in excess of 99.9% using geothermal brine at its demonstration plant located near the Salton Sea.

The brine Simbol will be using is rich in sodium chloride, meaning it can avoiding buying in soda ash as a feedstock ingredient. It says that because the plant is close to sea-level and to port means that it doesn’t have to ship brines to a secondary processing facility.

The company is seeking to supply the electric vehicles (EV), energy storage applications and electronic goods markets that are after Li-ion batteries. It is anticipating a massive growth in demand from the Asian market.

In 2010, Japanese trading house Itochu Corp. acquired a minority stake in Simbol securing the sole rights to market Simbol’s future products in Asia.

Lithium-ion batteries looking to store the green revolution, not just to drive it

By Adam Page
Published: Wednesday, 24 December 2014 on indmin.com

California is following Hawaii’s lead in using lithium-ion phosphate batteries to storage its energy. The Golden State is aiming to install 1.3GW of storage by 2040 and CODA Energy is taking the first steps with this.

US-based CODA Energy’s behind-the-meter lithium-ion phosphate energy storage system in the Los Angeles basin is now interconnected and operational. The 1,054kWh/510kW system is comprised of electric vehicle (EV) battery cell packs.

"CODA Energy set high goals for this year. We now have proven solutions that cover the full spectrum of our commercial and industrial customers’ needs for peak power and energy," said Peter Nortman, CODA Energy’s COO and CTO.

The project was developed under a contract with South Coast Air Quality Management District (AQMD) and co-funded by California’s Self-Generation Incentive Program (SGIP). The project hopes to demonstrate the scalability of CODA Energy’s peak shaving product architecture by managing demand charges for its facility headquarters in Monrovia, California.

Light up the sky: CODA Energy will be powering the Los Angeles basin with an energy storage system powered by Li-ion phosphate batteries.

"Our behind-the-meter active and interconnected storage systems range from a 40kWh UL listed energy storage appliance to this 1,054 kWh scaled and tailored aggregation solution," he added.

The system is comprised of two networked and aggregated multi-tower systems that can operate in concert or deliver independent services. CODA hopes its scalable hardware and proprietary networking software gives its system configuration ample flexibility and the potential to operate across a local or regional level.

New storage market

At this year’s Battery Show in Michigan, speakers underlined the importance of diversifying the use of lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries, like those being used by CODA. Enersys’ president, Dave Shaffer, insisted that battery producers must be geographically and technically adaptable to preserve the future sustainability of the market.

John Gagge, vice president for reserve power sales and service at EnerSys Americas, highlighted the growing energy demands of major cities and emphasised that there was a major opportunity for energy storage providers.

Archan Padmanabhan, stationary energy storage specialist for EV maker Tesla Motors Inc., spoke of the company’s drive to develop stationary energy solutions that will allow Tesla to meet its target of enabling widespread, sustainable transportation.

"It’s not just important to have EVs on the road, but to have them charged by cleaner sources of energy," said Parbmanabhan.

French battery maker Saft is currently developing a Li-ion energy storage system for the Hawaiian island of Kauai to regulate its electricity supply from renewable sources. The rest of Hawaii is seeking to transform its energy distribution system by 2017.

At the Battery Show, Kamen Nechev, chief technology officer at Saft, said that while performance advantages and storage ability remain key determinants of battery demand it will ultimately be costs that define whether the technology is viable.

The high cost of R&D and the varying demands of the technically multifaceted industrial sector are major obstacles that need to be overcome for projects to be workable. As a result, new sources of raw material are likely to be needed to prevent price inflation as demand from the battery sector grows.

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Compare and contrast the way BBC News, ITV news and Channel Four News report the same political news story?

Curran and Seaton (p.341-3) believe that each of these channels has its own distinct purpose and take on news events; that the BBC try to purvey an image that its audience are ‘participants’ in the great actions of the nation, that commercial channels like ITV popularise the news medium and Channel 4 cater for the interests of a minority audience in a way that extends the idea of public service broadcasting. This theory was reinforced by their coverage of Culture Secretary Maria Miller’s resignation from cabinet on the 9^th April 2014 following a scandal over her expenses.

The expenses scandal was a story that first broke in 2009 when The Daily Telegraph newspaper revealed that most MPs had been spending taxpayer’s money on personal items. According to Blumler and Coleman (p.141-2) it caused a, ‘seemingly enduring stain upon the entire political class grew as public indignation exploded.’ Expenses became what Bennett and Lawrence (p.25) refer to as a ‘news icon’ because it symbolised larger cultural themes in British society, namely widening isolation between the elected and the electorate. Expenses led to ‘intensive public discussion’ (Bennett and Lawrence, p.26-7) where the topic appeared in a range of media including documentaries and films (Brooke, p.244-8).

Miller’s resignation was a major story in and the fact it involved a matter that had captured the public’s imagination meant it required extensive attention. All the channel’s evening bulletins led with the story and dedicated at least two packages and a two-way with their political editors offering commentary. The BBC dedicates 10 minutes to the story in its 30 minute bulletin, ITV dedicates 8 of 30 minutes, and Channel 4 covers the story for 22 minutes by including two live studio interviews in its 45 minute programme.

All use the same footage of Miller giving an interview where she explains her decision by saying she doesn’t want to be a distraction. The interview is a close-up shot so the audience can register her emotions (Erikson, p.630), which is something that the BBC and ITV voiceovers draw the audience’s attention to. All use the footage in the tease; Channel 4 use it at the beginning of the programme before any of the presenters have spoken while the BBC and ITV have the presenters introduce the clip as part of a trail of other news-stories. Evidently the BBC and ITV saw the story as just one of the stories that happened that day whereas Channel 4 saw it as the story of the day.

Channel 4 and ITV edit Miller’s interview as, “it’s become clear to me that this has become an enormous distraction and it’s not right that I’m distracting from the incredible achievements of this government.” BBC edits this last line out and include her saying, “I hoped that I could stay but it’s become clear to me that this has become an enormous distraction.” The BBC also uses the footage to end the first package with the reporter cuing it as, “her emotional decision to quit.” Miller then gives a statement with frequent stumbles: “I, I want to make sure the… situation… is is clear to everybody and make sure I can…move on.” Then the reporter closes the package by saying how the country has not moved on from expenses. In terms of what Esser (p.417) refers to as a ‘news situation’, Miller’s interview would be deemed a ‘partially controlled situation’ because while the story comes about because of wrongdoing the interview itself isn’t adversarial and Miller is able to get a message across about herself and the government. Zaller (p.127) hypothesised that the more strenuously politicians try to control news coverage; the more journalists will resist covering them. The BBC probably saw her line endorsing the government as an attempt to control the situation and therefore used the clips that exclusively focused on Miller’s decision.

When cuing their opening packages ITV and the BBC open by referring to Miller’s words about her resigning because she’d become a distraction, they both follow this by quoting opposing interpretations held by the leaders of the Conservative and Labour Parties. Alternatively Channel 4 starts with a two-way of its political editor giving commentary, this is cued by a more interpretive script which says expenses had not been forgotten, Miller was ‘pushed’ and asks the questions; what does this mean about MP’s integrity, Cameron’s judgement and the safety of Miller’s seat? 

All of the packages comment on press criticism about Miller, they all represent this by showing headlines while Miller walks in slow-motion in the background and the reporter gives commentary via a voiceover.  The story first emerged in the press so it needed to be mentioned by all, the fact the story had been running for a while meant that voiceover simply summarised this part of the story so that it only takes up 10 to 15 seconds because it was old news. Channel 4 was the only one to attribute headlines to newspapers which gives a clearer understanding of the public debate by knowing who was making the comments; this also served the programme’s narrative because one of those newspapers’ editors is interviewed later on and the Telegraph’s role in the scandal is discussed in detail.

Prime Minister’s Questions (PMQs) feature in all the packages, Jones (p.177) notes that PMQs is one of the few things to feature regularly in news packages from inside Westminster due to the potential for debate and noise. PMQs from that day featured lively exchanges between Cameron and Miliband as both questioned each other’s leadership ability in statements that led to loud cheers from their parties. All the packages edit in both ‘scoring’ points against each other and show them each shaking their heads as the other speaks. The BBC does feature more footage than the others, including Cameron stressing that politicians are honest and Miliband saying this story is about Cameron’s apologist attitude towards unacceptable behaviour. The BBC and Channel 4 packages precede the PMQs section with the same sound-bites of Cameron stating earlier in the week that he believed Miller should keep her job, whereas ITV state this was his stance in a voiceover by the reporter. ITV probably chose not to focus too much on Cameron’s U-Turn because they felt their subsequent opinion poll about him was critical enough. All the broadcasters try to be fair, balanced and impartial by covering both sides of the political argument. (Jones,p.172)

BBC and ITV both briefly show and analyse Miller giving a 37-second apology for her expenses in the Commons a few days before. The BBC comment on how brief it is and ITV suggest it was made grudgingly, both presenting her as showing contempt to the accusations against her. This is what Ekström and Johnanson (p.64) define as a ‘talk scandal’ in which a political career is jeopardised by a verbal utterance. Alternatively Channel 4 believes this was just part of the reason for her resignation and is only touched upon briefly in the political editor’s analysis. Instead they say ‘the final straw’ was Miller’s aide appearing on television saying this scandal was a ‘witch-hunt’ against Miller, this led to the Prime Minister then pressuring her to resign. The BBC mention Cameron’s backroom role in her resignation, while ITV simply refer to his “opaque” response to the question of whether he was involved in her resignation during PMQs in which Cameron says people should accept Miller’s reasons at face value.

ITV does not discuss Miller’s expenses scandal in detail only saying she was initially found not guilty of the charge by a Labour member. Channel 4 and BBC analyse the complex details of her mortgage claims and the legality of it through voiceovers and text graphics.  Channel 4 goes into the most detail about the following cabinet re-shuffle by saying there are only three women sitting on it and the new Women’s minister has had the equalities responsibility removed from her brief because she voted against gay marriage. BBC mentions the number of women and who assumed Miller’s job while ITV just says who has new roles.

All broadcasters follow this up with a package set in Miller’s seat of Basingstoke which includes vox pops from constituents. BBC and ITV use answers which focus more on the subject of expenses and how politician’s treat the system, ITV even suggest people are ignorant of the fact that the regulatory system for expenses is independent from MPs based on one of the answers they get. Both the BBC and ITV use graphics and voiceovers to explain how the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (IPSA) has changed. BBC ask Conservative MP Gerald Howarth whether it is right for Westminster to still be involved in any way with expenses to which the MP replies yes. ITV ask a committee member for IPSA whether people are aware things have changed to which he replies they need to get the message out. They also do interviews with MPs Nick Clegg and Nadine Dorries who have opposing views over whether MPs should have expenses. Channel 4 has a more specific focus because it uses answers that reflect Miller’s reputation in the town and ask the public and the UKIP candidate there whether she might lose her seat to UKIP at the next elections. Both Channel 4 and the BBC close the package by mentioning Miller will get £17,000 in compensation for resigning from cabinet, but only Channel 4 clarifies that she has promised it to a local charity. ITV look into popular opinion further by referring to their ‘exclusive’ online polls asking about Miller’s resignation and Cameron’s handling of the affair.

All conclude with two-ways by their political editors, according to Jones (p.174) it is done this way to suggest their input is a conversation with the presenter rather than a lecture because the former is more engaging to the audience. The political editors have the last say on the matter, with ITV and the BBC’s commenting after the package and Channel 4’s featuring at the beginning and end of the news; this means they are the audience’s lasting impression on the story (Esser p.421). Both the ITV and BBC editors focus on how angry the public are about expenses and how Miller and Cameron underestimated that and therefore made blunders. ITV finish by saying that’s the end of the matter while BBC says UKIP will exploit this scandal. Channel 4 focuses more on the workings of power; saying Cameron had appeased backbenchers, Miliband had missed an opportunity to score a goal at PMQs, the Telegraph was probably unfair in portraying Miller’s guilt and how Miller made things worse for herself by having aides spread messages about a ‘witch-hunt.’

Channel 4 follow their second package with the presenter saying they had tried to get an MP to interview in the studio but none were available. The expenses scandal was embarrassing for the majority of Westminster therefore it is understandable that many would have wished to make themselves unavailable. (Dalen, Albæk, Vreese, p.151) Davis (2009, p.205) notes that the primary reason politicians speak to the media is to get publicity which is reflected by all the packages; input from the main parties primarily comes from sourced material like PMQs and Miller’s interview, the only exception is Clegg and Howarth defending the expenses system. Otherwise the political figures who do speak have something to gain from publicity; Dorries has a chance to attack expenses, UKIP to publicise itself and IPSA raise awareness of their work which ITV say is being overlooked.

Channel 4 interviews Nigel Farage and a former Telegraph editor in live two-ways. Both are characterised by adversarial questions. Farage is criticised for UKIP’s ‘appalling’ record for expenses in the European Parliament, Farage adopts a tactic of self-repair to re-focus the issue by saying he is using EU funds to get Britain out of EU which is a matter some of the electorate agree with. (Ekström p.690) The Telegraph editor is asked whether criticism of Miller was due to her involvement with Leveson and support for gay marriage, the editor gives a ‘minus response’ where he denies the suggestion and distances himself from it by saying this is about preventing MPs ‘marking their own homework’ when it comes to expenses. (Schegloff, p.59)

Curran and Seaton’s theory about the channels are largely vindicated. The BBC and ITV’s coverage are both rather surface accounts of what happened and interpret it almost exclusively as being about Miller and expenses. The BBC tries to involve the audience in the story by commenting heavily on the public’s anger over expenses and ITV expresses similar views while trying to engage popular opinion with its poll. Channel 4 is catering for those who have a special interest in politics by including more detail, open questions and interpretation about the scandal itself and its repercussions, thereby giving the audience more information to base their judgements on. Channel 4 also challenges assumptions the other channels made, first by asking whether press coverage of Miller was fair and that it was right she resign and secondly by challenging the assumption that UKIP can exploit this.
                                                                                                         

Bibliography

Bennett, W. and Lawrence, R. (1995) News icons and the mainstreaming of social change. Journal of Communication 45(3): 20–39.

Blumler, J. and Coleman, S. (2010) Political Communication in Freefall: The British Case—and Others? International Journal of Press/Politics 15(2) 139–154.

Brooke, H. (2010) The Silent State: Secrets, Surveillance and the Myth of British Democracy, Windmall.

Chapman, J. and Kinsey, M. (2009) Broadcast Journalism: A critical introduction, Routledge.

Curran, J Seaton, J. (1997) Power Without Responsibility, Routledge.

Dalen, A., Albæk, E. and Vreese, C. (2011) Suspicious minds: Explaining political cynicism among political journalists in Europe, European Journal of Communication 26 (2) 147-162.

Davis, A. (2007) Investigating Journalist Influences on Political Issue Agendas at Westminster, Political Communication, 24(2) 181-199.

Davis, A. (2009) Journalist-source relations, mediated reflexivity and the politics of politics, Journalism Studies 10 (2) 204-219.

Ekström, M. (2009) Announced refusal to answer: A study of norms and accountability in broadcast political interviews. Discourse Studies 11 (6) 681-702.

Ekström, M. and Johansson, B. (2008) Talk scandals. Media, Culture & Society 30(1) 61–80.

Eriksson, G. (2011) Adversarial moments: A study of short-form interviews in the news. Journalism 12 (1) 51-69.

Esser, F. (2008) Dimensions of political news culture: sound bite and image bite news in France, Germany, Great Britain, and the United States. International Journal of Press/Politics 13(4) 401–428.

Franklin, B. (ed.) (1992) Televising Democracies, Routledge, London.

Franklin, B., Hamer, M., Hanna, M., Kinsey, M., & Richardson, J.E. (2005) Key Concepts in Journalism Studies, Sage.

Hudson, G. and Rowlands, S. (2012) The Broadcast Journalism Handbook, Pearson

Jones, N. (2009) Reporting Politics. in  Chapman, J. and Kinsey, M. (eds.) Broadcast Journalism: A critical introduction, Routledge, pp.171-180.

Lee, F. (2012) The life cycle of iconic sound bites: politicians’ transgressive utterances in media discourses. Media, Culture & Society 34(3) 343–358.

Negrine, R. (1999) Parliaments and the Media: A Changing Relationship? European Journal of Communication 14 (3) 325-352.

Robinson, N. (2009) Moats, Mortgages and Mayhem http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00lh47j

Schegloff, E. (2007) Sequence Organisation in Interaction: A Primer in Conversation Analysis. Cambridge.

Zaller, J. (1998) The Rule of Product Substitution in Presidential Campaign News. Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science 560 (Nov.) 111–28.

Critical review of Frank Esser's Dimensions of Political News Cultures

Frank Esser, Dimensions of Political News Cultures: Sound Bite and Image Bite News in France, Germany, Great Britain, and the United States, The International Journal of Press/Politics October 2008 13: 401-428.

Professor Frank Esser’s 2008 study into the length of sound and image bites in broadcasting in four western democracies forms the statistical basis of an analysis of media coverage in those nations during political election campaigns. This enables him to assess the value of multiple hypotheses made about media and political cultures involved in these countries. Primarily it seeks to test Patterson’s (1993: 74-5) assertion that candidates in countries like the USA have become ‘voiceless’ due to the decline of their verbal input into election coverage and as well as Bucy and Grabe’s (2007) theory that image is becoming increasingly important in political and journalistic cultures due to it subconscious impact upon audiences.

Ultimately this allows Esser to make conclusions about the levels and manner of journalistic intervention in the broadcasting of election campaigns. In professional journalism, the media structure influences the extent of journalistic interventionism in the political structure. This model asserts that interventionism occurs when public opinion is distrustful of political institutions. Media that has achieved a high status of independence, especially from political control, is more likely to be interventionist. Consequently interventionist reports are made up of sound bites of politicians that tend to be rather short whereas those from the journalists tend to be longer. High interventionism in an election campaign also leads to “a smaller amount of election news coverage in general.” Journalists as opposed to politicians or the subject being enabling them to “increase their influence, authority, and prestige.”

The statistical basis of the study was compiled by a multinational team of ‘coders’  categorising material from Germany, France, the UK and the USA in order to calculate the time amounts that feature in tables dedicated to things like news situations and images bites. At times it is missing a miscellaneous option, meaning answers can seem oddly specific and limited especially when it comes to news that is regarded as anti-candidate, where apparently you can only use television editing to be rude in three ways. The quantitative nature of the study also can lead to ambiguities as to the significance of terms such as ‘interventionist’, although this is defined as a time in which a journalist makes professional interpretations it does not state whether this means the news is biased, objective or impartial. Qualitative information is provided in the form of context on occasions, usually to explain exceptions and national uniqueness.

By mapping the television news in these countries, Esser reaches the conclusion that the French media is the most deferential (and ‘civilised’) towards politicians, giving politicians a greater voice and responding more favourably to their attempts to manage the news so they can prepare for a situation. British and German media’s tendency for interpretation in news reports leads to a moderately interventionist broadcasting culture, with the British media being more cooperative to politician’s attempts to manage the news despite using it as a platform to challenge politicians and put them on the defensive. Esser interprets findings about US news culture, with its briefer sound bites, as vindicating Zaller’s theory that high levels of news management leads to a more sceptical and hostile media because the media’s desire for independence. However Esser refutes the suggestion that this means US media is exclusively about confrontational campaigning when it comes to sound bites, noting that there is still ample ‘substance’ within them, which leads him conclude that the US just get to the point quicker.

The study does limit itself to a western-centric analysis and bases its conclusions upon two of the largest channels in those nations, excluding News International channels such as Fox News and Sky News which could have led to a more nuanced view of contemporary western broadcasting. As a result Esser encounters only one exception (Germany’s RTL channel) to his conclusion that organisational differences between market-oriented and public interest-oriented newsrooms do little to determine sound bite usage in news as opposed to national differences.

Bibliography

Bucy, Erik P., and Maria Elisabeth Grabe (2007) ‘Taking Television Seriously: A Sound and Image BiteAnalysis of Presidential Campaign Coverage, 1992–2004’, Journal of Communication 57(4), pp.652–75.
Frank Esser (2008) ‘Dimensions of Political News Cultures: Sound Bite and Image Bite News in France, Germany, Great Britain, and the United States’, The International Journal of Press/Politics, Vol.13, pp.401-428.
Patterson,Thomas E. (1993) Out of Order,  NewYork: Knopf.

FMC Corp.records higher minerals revenue and earnings in Q4 2014

By Adam Page
Published: Thursday, 05 February 2015

FMC has been a leading global producer of lithium and soda ash for several years. With the sale of its soda ash arm it has now concentrated its mineral focus onto lithium which it believes will enjoy an uptake in prices as interest in energy storage picks up.

US-based FMC Corp. has reported record soda ash production for the final quarter of 2014, while its lithium operations continue to improve, despite the challenges it faces at its facilities in Argentina.

According to its full year 2014 results, released late yesterday, FMC’s minerals segment recorded earnings of $166.7m in 2014, a 30% rise on 2013. During Q4 2014, earnings reached $47.9m, a 32% rise compared to Q4 2013.

Lithium revenues for the three months ending December 2014 were 3% lower when compared to Q4 2013. However, revenues for the full year were up 15% and earnings in the business were up approximately 125%, due to strong operational performance and higher volumes.

Last year, restructuring cost the lithium segment $9.1m, while the continued work at an environmental site incurred a corporate charge of $6.2m.

Speaking during a conference call today, Pierre Brondeau, CEO of FMC, said that its lithium portfolio had been "mixed" in 2014. He stated that there was an increasing interest in lithium, leading to a "tightening in carbonate supply and demand."

FMC did not disclose its lithium and soda ash production levels in its quarterly results.

Overall, the company posted revenue of $1.1bn in Q4 2014, a 3% decline on the previous year.

Shifting focus

With the agreed sale of its Alkali Chemicals business — the largest natural soda ash producer in the world — to Tronox, FMC will change its name to FMC Lithium.

Brondeau said that this was part of a wider company strategy to create "a more focused portfolio."

"In Lithium, we are optimistic that demand for downstream products, particularly for energy storage applications, will continue to grow rapidly," said Brondeau.

FMC anticipates higher prices for lithium hydroxide and carbonate based on the fact that the energy storage sector is growing at double digit rates. It expects earnings to be in the range of $15m to $25m in 2015.

The company produces a variety of lithium chemicals at its Hombre Muerto operation in northern Argentina. It noted that operational costs have been hit by Argentina’s import restrictions, which make it difficult to deliver certain critical engineering components.

"Despite strong underlying performance in our lithium business, we are unable to produce consistent results across multiple years due to the challenges of operating in Argentina's high-inflation environment," Brondeau said.

"We want to reduce costs as much as possible," Brondeau added, noting that, "adverse currency conditions in Argentina could be a significant headwind to earnings".

Brondeau also said that FMC would continue to take an interest in the electric vehicles (EVs) market despite a decline in energy prices.

"Gas prices are not the drive when you decide to buy a Telsa; it is part of it but it is not the driver," Brondeau said, pointing out that those who were likely to be interested, "will look beyond one year gas prices".

FMC expects the agreed sale of Alkali Chemicals and the agreed purchase of Denmark-based agricultural supplier Cheminova to be completed in Q1 2015. FMC believes that the sale can cut its debt pile following its $1.8bn purchase of Cheminova in September 2014.

€9.5bn EU glass industry still robust market for industrial minerals

FEVE say that while glass may be regarded as an “old-fashioned” industry continues to attract major investment, offers unique recycling opportunities and is very resilient in terms of supply and demand. Europe’s glass industry continues to be a strong market for industrial minerals, including silica sand and soda ash, particularly in container glass, as the latest figures from the FEVE show.

The European Union’s (EU) glass container industry contributes €9.5bn ($10.6bn*) annually to EU gross domestic product (GDP), according to an Ernst & Young study commissioned by FEVE.

Although the raw materials used in glass, which include silica sand, carbonates, quartz and soda ash, are easily available to European manufacturers, Feve believes that the supply concentration of these minerals could pose a risk for downstream consumers.

The industry invests up to €610m per year to innovate and maintain a network for 155 container glass plants across the EU, equaling 10% of the industry’s operational costs every year.

"For sand and soda ash in Europe we have a situation which is close to a monopoly," Fabrice Rivet, FEVE’s technical director, told IM.

"We have Solvay for soda ash and we have Sibelco for sand and so this maybe a challenge for the glass industry, it is not a pure monopoly but it is close," Rivet added.

Resilience in end markets 

Food and drink packaging is the main end market for container glass, often
finding buyers in the alcohol and perfume industry.

"We have seen a slight decrease in production, especially in 2009, [when it] decreased by about 4%," Michael Delle Selve, FEVE’s senior communications manager, told IM.

Delle Selve said that compared to flat glass and fibreglass, which are primarily used in construction, container glass can largely maintain its appeal despite competition from plastics, metal cans and Tetra Pak in the packaging sector.

"So we can say that we are quite resilient and, okay, we are not growing at a high pace but let’s say that with the crisis, there was an effect but it was acceptable," Delle Selve said.

Delle Selve feels that one of the main challenges the glass industry faces is its "old-fashioned" image, which he believes is in need of renewal.

Challenges

Delle Selve says that the glass container industry wants to work in a "friendly framework" in the EU.

"One of the main challenges is to keep this circular economy competitive and that is where we also need the support from policy-makers, we need their help in decreasing the cost of energy, the legislative burden for said industries," Delle Selve said.

"We see more and more [legislation on] energy consumption, carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions," Rivet told IM.

"That adds an additional burden in terms of cost to our members and that is really very difficult to cope."

FEVE says that it is looking at ways to reduce its CO₂ footprint, by using biomass as an energy source in processing as opposed to fossil fuels and producing lightweight bottles to reduce energy usage.

Recycling

FEVE celebrates the fact that container glass’ reusability allow it to function within a circular economy.

According to Ernst & Young’s study, seven out of every ten bottles gets recycled in the EU, meaning one tonne of recycled glass saves 1.2 tonnes of virgin raw materials and cuts CO2 emissions by 60%.

"So the future for us is to put into the loop the remaining 30% in the bottle-to-bottle loop because we actually want to recycle more glass," says Delle Selve.

"But again we need the support of other actors because the bottle-to-bottle loop does not just involve the glass industry but also consumers, the local authorities, the collection organisations, it is really a loop."

FEVE argue that this and the fact glass is the most inert packaging material according to science, appeals to consumer’s desire for safe and reliable materials.

*Conversion made January 2015

Originally published at: http://www.indmin.com/Article/3420703/95bn-EU-glass-industry-still-robust-market-for-industrial-minerals.html