Industry Trends

December 2020

See what has been happening in Asia’s petrochemicals, agrochemicals, automotive, bio energy, and mining industries over the last weeks. What are experts and industry magazines talking about?

What has been happening?

Horticultural LEDs, Graphene for heat pipes, Biomaterial for plastic waste reduction, and more. See what journals and industry experts have been discussing in the last four weeks.

Latest Industry Articles

Horticultural LED market boosted by indoor agriculture
Electronics Weekly

The horticultural LED market has become one of the fastest-growing lighting markets in 2020, says TrendForce, with revenue expected to reach $158 million in 2020, a 39.7% increase YoY. There are two pressing issues that need to be addressed in the indoor agricultural industry: increasing crop yield and decreasing lighting equipment cost.
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Biomaterial for plastic waste reduction wins pitch competition
BusinessWorld

Nanotronics bagged the top prize at the recent Shell LIVEWire PitchFest, winning an equity-free prize of P500,000. The technology company offers nanostructured material products that reduce plastic waste while protecting the environment.
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Graphene makes better heat pipes
Electronics Weekly

Graphene can make heat pipes work much better, according to Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden. Heat pipes, often seen in high-end PCs, are sealed hollow tubes that contain a liquid at a pressure than ensures part of it is vapour at the temperatures of interest.
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This flexible and rechargeable battery is 10 times more powerful than state of the art
ScienceDaily

A team of researchers has developed a flexible, rechargeable silver oxide-zinc battery with a five to 10 times greater areal energy density than state of the art. The battery also is easier to manufacture; while most flexible batteries need to be manufactured in sterile conditions, under vacuum, this one can be screen printed in normal lab conditions. The device can be used in flexible, stretchable electronics for wearables as well as soft robotics.
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Battery of tests: Scientists figure out how to track what happens inside batteries
ScienceDaily

A new method could be the key to designing more efficient batteries for specific uses, like electric cars and airplanes. Knowing exactly how different types of ions move through different types of electrolytes will help researchers figure out how to affect that movement, to create batteries that charge and discharge in ways most befitting their specific uses.
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Japan considering new petrol vehicle ban in mid-2030s
Paul Tan’s Automotive News

The government of Japan is considering the abolishment of new petrol-powered vehicles by the mid-2030s, Japan public broadcaster NHK was reported as saying, according to Reuters. The nation is the latest to consider outlawing internal combustion-engined vehicles, following the United Kingdom’s confirmation that it will be banning the sale of new petrol- and diesel-powered cars and vans in 2030, which is a full 10 years earlier than its original deadline.
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Cobalt demand from battery industry expected to grow in the next five years – report
MINING.com

A recent report by Benchmark Mineral Intelligence forecasts that the battery industry will require a further 100,000 tonnes of cobalt by 2025. The firm’s numbers show that 57% of the world’s cobalt demand will come from the battery sector by the end of the year, a proportion that is expected to increase to 72% in the next five years.
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Coffee waste face masks now available in Malaysia
Biofuels Digest

In Malaysia, a shoe company and baby care brand have partnered to bring biodegradable face masks made of coffee waste to the local market. The masks are meant to serve as an eco-friendlier personal protective equipment option against the spread of COVID-19. Local infant retailer Offspring, Inc will sell the reusable, three-layer masks for RM79 (US$19) on their website. The masks, named AirX, were launched by coffee-based shoe brand ShoeX earlier this year.
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Singapore first to approve cultivated meat for sale
Biofuels Digest

In Singapore, regulatory authorities have approved the sale of cell-based meat, becoming the first country to do so. After extensive testing and review, The Singapore Food Agency has approved the sale of Eat Just’s cultured chicken nuggets. The Agency studied chicken samples from 20 production runs and found Eat Just proved its product met Singapore’s poultry standards and had nutrition similar to traditional chicken products.
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Indonesia rethinking biodiesel policy due to $865M deficit seen for 2021
Biofuels Digest

In Indonesia, Reuters reports the government is working hard to find ways to keep its biodiesel program alive in the face of ongoing cheap oil prices and rising palm oil prices. An $865 million deficit in the biodiesel program’s budget due to the increasing gap between fossil and palm oil, currently four times last year’s at $400 per metric ton in 2020.
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Two more China chip projects go belly up
Electronics Weekly

Following default on a $198 million debt repayment, Tsinghua Unigroup has put the construction of a NAND fab and a DRAM fab on hold, reports the Nikkei. The NAND fab was to have been an $30 billion, 100k wpm facility in Chengdu. No orders for equipment have been placed and the project is on hold.
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Thailand continues plans to announce vehicle trade-in scheme, aiming to steer buyers towards adopting EVs
Paul Tan’s Automotive News

Thailand is continuing with its plan to introduce a trade-in scheme to stimulate new car sales in the country, which has been significantly impacted due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Discussions about the programme – which was first mooted in August – is still ongoing, but industry minister Suriya Jungrungreangkit says the goverment is hoping to announce the scheme before the year is out.
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Singapore awards first contract for international link
The Construction Index

The first civils contract has been awarded for a rapid transport link serving Singapore and Malaysia. The RTS Link is a rail shuttle service between the Singapore terminus at Woodlands North station and the Malaysia terminus at Bukit Chagar station in Johor Bahru. It will support a peak capacity of 10,000 passengers per hour in each direction.
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Indonesia can’t afford B40 program for now
Biofuels Digest

In Indonesia, Hydrocarbon Processing reports the country’s plans to roll out B40 next year have been put on hold due to a lack of funding. It is already struggling to fund the current B30 program so it sees B40 very unlikely. What’s more, tests are still ongoing for B40 which will be a blend of B30 together with 10% green diesel.
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Car production could slow down due to chip shortage
Paul Tan’s Automotive News

Covid-19 may have slowed down automotive production earlier this year, but the industry has been picking up in recent times as sales of new cars has swelled, fuelled by consumers looking to travel in private vehicles instead of taking public transport. This is very much the case in China, but now, the automotive sector is signalling that production in the country may soon be unable to keep up with demand, and all because of a shortage of electronic chips.
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Importers worried as Indonesia looks to raise palm oil levies to fund biodiesel mandate
Biofuels Digest

In Indonesia, Reuters reports there are concerns that planned increased to palm oil export levies to boost funding for its biodiesel blending program would in turn cut demand for the vegetable oil whose prices have been strengthening recently. At the moment levies are set at $55 per metric ton but a new sliding scale is proposed that would go as high as $255/ton, depending on the price of crude palm oil. The price spread between fossil fuel and palm oil is currently $400 per ton.
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Myanmar to expand national grid, build more power stations
Consult Myanmar

Myanmar is building new power stations that will contribute a total of 500 kilovolt amperes (KV) to the national grid in fiscal 2020-21, said U Win Khaing, Minister for Electricity and Energy.Construction of the Eastern Grid, Western Grid, Southern Grid and Northern Grids are underway. The four grids will support the existing fully loaded 230 KV power lines and enable more electricity to be transmitted across the country as more power is generated over the next years.
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Thai giants to ink Myanmar pact
Consult Myanmar

Four massive Thai conglomerates — B.Grimm Group, Amata Corporation, PTT and Global Power Synergy — have entered into an agreement to develop an 800-square-kilometre industrial estate in Myanmar. A memorandum of understanding is expected to be signed by the beginning of next year, said B.Grimm chairman Harald Link.Mr Link said B.
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Sony to shut a Malaysia factory, consolidate facilities
Channel NewsAsia

Sony Corp will close a factory in Malaysia next year to consolidate its operations in its other plant in the state for efficiency, the Japanese electronics giant said on Saturday.
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Malaysia to play more active role in gas, LNG exports: Mustapa
New Straits Times

With the finalisation of the Natural Gas Roadmap (NGR) and National Energy Policy (NEP), Malaysia intends to play a more role in gas and liquefied natural gas (LNG) industry, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Economy) Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed said.
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