That was the year that might happen again
Some of the most eye-catching events of 2015 included the bankruptcy of US rare earths miner, Molycorp Inc., the splitting up of global chemicals giant, DuPont, a litany of scandals for Chile's Sociedad Quimica y Minera (SQM) and a number of failed merger attempts, including Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan (PotashCorp) and K+S AG in potash, Iluka Resources Ltd and Kenmare Resources Ltd in mineral sands, Saint-Gobain SA and Sika AG in speciality chemicals, and Halliburton Inc. and Baker Hughes Inc. in oilfield minerals.

Away from dwelling the past, this first 2016 issue of IM also has a forward-looking angle, in the form of an article by Vladislav Vorotnikov, IM Correspondent, discussing how Russian embargo on imports of Western foods could benefit the country's mothballed zeolite industry ( pp30-32 ).

For this month's Refractories Hotline, Liz Gyekye, Chief Reporter, spoke to leading Brazilian refractories producer, Magnesita Refratarios SA, about how end user demands for quality, efficiency and value for money are setting demanding but achievable goals for the most agile and technically capable businesses in the in the sector ( pp28-29 ).