Saving sinking ceramics

One of the oldest industries in Sri Lanka with export earnings of US$42 million, employment to 10000 and 95% value addition to raw material, is on the brink of collapse. The dozen companies represented by the Sri Lanka Ceramics Council gathered forces to appeal to the government and policy makers to address their plight last week.
The industry is suffering under the weight of unrealistic taxes on gas, high energy costs and cheap international competition.

* 10 ceramics
companies closed in last five years
* ‘Unfair’ and
‘illogical’ duty on gas a burden
* Appeal to the
government to save the industry“We need help to go on,” Dankotuwa Porcelain Chairman Sunil Wijesinha stated. “Unfortunately, we are a small sector and our voice is not loud enough.”
Stating emphatically that many ceramic companies were on the brink of closing down, creating huge economic and social repercussions to the thousands of families depending on the industry, due to the ‘unfair’ raise in costs of inputs, Wijesinha said that they are asking for policy makers to be more sensitive to their issues. “All we are asking for, are gas prices and other energy prices at international market rates- so we can compete with our global competitors.”
Despite the high costs, the three porcelain tableware manufacturers (Dankotuwa Porcelain, Noritake Lanka Porcelain and Royal Fernwood) who are more affected by global factors, had maintained their markets through high quality products aimed at the high end customer.
Effects of gas price hikes
The industry which is highly energy intensive, attributes 50% of the total cost of production to this input. However, the new tax of Rs. 27.50/kg imposed by the government since February end, has resulted in a 35% increase of the cost of gas. “The price of gas in the world market is Rs. 56/kg, while we are paying Rs. 120/kg for it here,” Wijesinha informed, “International buyers demand lower prices for our products are based on international trends which we can’t provide at these rates.”
Currently the ceramics industry consumes 1.1 million kgs of gas on reduced levels. “This costs the industry an additional Rs. 32 million a month. Putting things into perspective, the main competitors to ceramics from Sri Lanka include China, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia and Bangladesh and they have their own natural fuel resources. “While Thailand pays Rs. 35/kg and Bangladesh pays Rs 18/kg, we pay Rs. 125/kg for gas,” Dankotuwa Porcelain chief Operating Officer, S. Mallawaraachchi explained.
“We’re not asking for subsidies,” Lanka Walltile Managing Director Mahendra Jayasekara informed, “Let us be competitive.” Lanka Walltile is the biggest consumer of LPG in the industry with a requirement of 550 MT each month amounting to Rs. 15 million. “We are currently paying an excess $300 per metric ton. The world market prices are at $456 while we pay $800 per metric ton of gas.”
Royal Fernwood Managing Director, Jagath Pieris called the new duty on gas, ‘illogical and unnecessary’ urging the government to take action to protect the three remaining tableware manufacturers. “Within the last five years over 10 ceramics firms including four large ones have shut down because they couldn’t handle the costs. We have a highly skilled labour force and the know-how to create world class ceramics. If the situation doesn’t change, many more companies will also be compelled to shut down.”
(NN)

Engineers crack ceramics production obstacle

ScienceDaily — Engineers at the University of Leicester have invented a new technique in the manufacture of ceramics that has the potential to save the industry time and costs while reducing wastage.
The novel method takes away the traditional ‘trial and error’ approach to manufacture of ceramics and instead applied new computer modelling techniques to the manufacturing process.
Researchers at the University of Leicester, led by Professor Jingzhe Pan of the Department of Engineering, focused on a critical step in the manufacture of ceramics known as ‘sintering’.
Professor Pan explained: “Ceramics constitute vital domestic, industrial and building products, and are perhaps indispensable in our modern society. However, manufacturing advanced ceramics even in this era of ‘precision’ techniques is still very much a ‘trial and error’ process.
“Ceramics are produced from firstly compacting powders into a solid, and then firing the powder compacts in a process called ‘sintering’. During this, powders are heated to a temperature where they adhere to each other. At this stage, materials are essentially re-packed more closely, such that overall volume decreases (shrinks), whilst the density increases. Ceramics are intrinsically brittle making post-production alterations in dimensions very difficult. Failure to accurately estimate the final dimensions of ceramic parts, therefore lead to a waste of materials, time and money. “
Professor Pan’s technique helps to minimise errors during the sintering process. He said: “By predicting change in dimension during sintering is challenging, requiring extensive data on the material in question. Obtaining the required physical data has been difficult and expensive.
“Our method simply uses density measurements of different ceramics during sintering in our computer software that can predict changes in dimensions, even before production begins.
“This method does not depend on the physical properties of any one ceramic material - it simply uses densification data from a small sample of the material and extrapolates the data, such that it can be applied to larger quantities used in manufacturing. It can thus, be applied to a wide range of ceramics”.
Professor Pan, who has been investigating this process for the last 10 years, added that the ceramic industry is aware of the enormous potential of computer and mathematical modelling, and of the benefits of shifting emphasis from historical data to a more predictive approach. However, several challenges need to be overcome before this method reaches daily application in industry.
For example, the system will need to be converted into a more ‘user-friendly’ format for industrial use. Further, the technique will have to be demonstrated in a range of industrial products.
Since inventing this technique, which for the first time, shows real potential of revolutionising the ceramic industry, Professor Pan and his group have continued to explore various properties of ceramic materials. They are currently investigating properties of multi-layered ceramics (commonly used in fuel cells) and industrial (ceramic) coating.
Adapted from materials provided by University of Leicester, via AlphaGalileo.