industrial

Industrial espionage is threatening the largest chips manufacturer on the planet: TSMC

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It is no secret: espionage is very present in The semiconductor industry. It is in other sectors and we can be sure that a strategic industry such as integrated circuits It is not at all immune to him. On this occasion “the victim” is the Taiwanese company TSMC, The largest integrated circuit manufacturer of the planet. And, curiously, this plot of industrial espionage does not arrive at any time. And this company is about to start the large -scale manufacture of chips using its most advanced integration technology: The 2 Nm. What we know at the moment is that, According to Reutersthe Taiwanese authorities have arrested three TSMC employees because they have allegedly stole commercial secrets of this company. As we can expect, behind this detention is TSMC itself, as He has revealed The Taiwan Superior Prosecutor’s Office in a statement. According to Nikkei Asiathose responsible for this company have realized that two employees and a former employee have been made with critical information about the photolithography of 2 Nm of TSMC. This information is very valuable. In fact, it could be used by a competitor to optimize its own semiconductor manufacturing processes. The research has not yet determined whether this stolen information has reached another company, but United Daily News ensures that researchers have registered the offices of the Japanese company Tokyo Electron. At the moment this last signature has not confirmed or denied anything. Other industrial espionage frames that have given much to talk Our next protagonist is Asml. This Dutch company is the only one that is currently capable of manufacturing teams of extreme ultraviolet photolithography (UVE) that are necessary to produce avant -garde chips. At the end of 2023 Peter Wennink, the then general director of ASML, confirmed that a Chinese origin employee had abandoned the company in 2022 after being recruited by Huawei with the purpose of revealing this Chinese company secrets of the Dutch firm that a priori could compromise their business. According to the Dutch medium, Russia has something important in its favor: it has spies inside Asml This event was so serious that those responsible for ASML decided to include it in their 2022 annual report and Wennink was forced to Give explanations In a meeting with investors. According to this executive, the information stolen by the former Chinese employee It was partial. In fact, he described it as “one piece in a puzzle whose box is not in your power.” This Wennink statement rightly reflects The titanic complexity that have the most advanced lithography equipment produced by ASML. At the end of last year this company starred in another plot of espionage. Again as “victim.” The Government led by Vladimir Putin intends to have a prototype of UVE lithography equipment capable of manufacturing 130 Nm chips ready in 2026. And in 2028 another similar one trained to produce integrated 7 nm circuits. A priori it is difficult to believe it, but, according to the Dutch medium USRussia has something important in your favor: it has spies within ASML. Like China. In fact, one of them, a former employee of Russian origin, He has been arrested and is accused of stealing critical commercial secrets. The last plot of industrial espionage that I propose that we review is starring the South Korean company SK Hynix and the Chinese company Huawei. In mid -April 2024 a former employee of Chinese sk Hynix origin It was stopped at a South Korean airport when he was about to enter the country. The accusation that was cernia about it was very serious: it was suspected of having stolen confidential information about semiconductor manufacturing processes Used by SK Hynix to give it to Huawei. This employee decided to print 3,000 pages of technical documents, and that movement gave it away because it aroused suspicion immediately within the company. He faces 18 years in prison. Image | TSMC More information | Reuters | Nikkei Asia In Xataka | South Korea fears US reprisals. To avoid their old lithography equipment, they take dust on a warehouse

The industrial paradox that has put worldwide trade to the limit

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In Europe, steel costs less than a bottle of water. In the United States, it costs almost double if it comes from abroad. And in China, it produces so much that the world no longer knows what to do with it. According to estimates by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), The excess world capacity will reach 721 million tons within two years. And no one is willing to stop. Steel that is left over. The steel industry lives a perfect storm: global overproduction, state subsidies, fall in internal demand in China and protectionist policies. In a report for the New York Times They have explained it through the Tata Steel plant in Ijmuiden (Netherlands), one of the most advanced in Europe. It manufactures steel on commission for high precision applications. Even so, the company announced 1,600 layoffs this spring, while 18,000 jobs were cut throughout the European Union and nine million tons of capacity were closed in 2024. The background reason, As explained by the same mediumis the avalanche of cheap steel from China, which manufactures more than the rest of the combined world. This overproduction, fueled by government support and lower environmental standards, has flooded global markets, forcing traditionally non -exporting countries such as South Korea and Japan to seek buyers desperately. A scale problem. Steel is much more than an industrial product. As He remembered for the New York environment Atlantic Council researcher Elisabeth Braw, steel is one of the few goods that every country wishes to have “in any circumstance.” Its use ranges from food cans and forks to war tanks and combat planes. However, there is another aspect to take into account: steel pollutes. As We have already explained in Xatakaeach ton produced emits two tons of CO₂, which is equivalent to 7% of global emissions. This makes steel an obstacle to achieving climatic objectives. The paradox is clear: the world needs less steel, but nobody wants to be the first to close ovens. The industry is too big to abandon it, but too inefficient to sustain it as it is. This generates a vicious circle between price drop, minimum margins, lack of investment in clean technologies and greater pollution. The King of Steel. China is not only the largest world producer of steel, but also exerts a disproportionate influence on the global market. It produces more than the rest of the combined planet, largely thanks to a more lax state and environmental regulations system than in the West. According to data from the National Statistics Office cited by BloombergChinese production registered in June the greatest fall in ten months, due to adjustments in the capacity and government pressure to contain internal competition. Even so, more than 60 % of Chinese gatherings are already profitable, a notable leap compared to 30 % of just a year ago, driven by the rebound in demand in sectors such as automotive, machinery and, above all, exports. These exports have continued to grow despite international tariffs and commercial tensions, flooding markets in Europe, Asia and Africa with steel at dumping prices. This dynamic has reduced the margins of Western steel and left them without sufficient resources to invest in low carbon technologies, a problem that the OECD considers a critical obstacle to achieve the climatic objectives. With an still weak internal consumption for the real estate crisis, Beijing seems to bet more and more to export its excess steel as an economic influence tool, which multiplies clashes with the United States and Europe. Another power wants to face. The United States also wants to regain control of its industry. In January 2025, then President Joe Biden blocked the purchase of Us Steel by the Japanese Nippon Steel, claiming national security motifs. The decision, backed even by Donald Trump and by the unions in the sector, generated diplomatic discomfort in Tokyo and tensed the relationship with one of its main strategic allies. Six months later, that same logic translates into terrain conversions. In an article for The Washington Post They have detailed as in Weircon (Western Virginia), a city forged by the steel, the company Form Energy has occupied part of the vacuum left by the closure of the local steelter, hiring more than 400 workers – many of them extrabajadores of the steel – to manufacture energy storage batteries. Although initially driven by federal subsidies, the initiative has even survived the cuts of the Trump administration, and represents an attempt to reindustrialize without fully renouncing the steel legacy. The message is clear: the United States does not want to let your steel, your industrial narrative, fall into foreign hands. And Europe is trapped. In all this triangle, Europe loses ground, trapped Between the Chinese dumping and Tariff hostility of his Atlantic ally. And now, in addition, committed to buying massive amounts of fossil fuels to avoid major sanctions. Being more concrete, Europe has some of the most advanced gaits in the world, such as the Tata Steel plant in Ijmuiden, the Netherlands, which manufactures specialized steel for batteries and high -end cars. However, he is facing a perfect storm: high energy costs, strict environmental standards, unfair competition and political pressure. Despite attempts to modernize – like Tata’s plan to go to hydrogen – the necessary investment is counted in billions. In addition, American tariffs have hindered European exports, just when block countries need income to finance ecological transition. As for the United Kingdom, the government has had to intervene high ovens and subsidize plants to avoid massive closures. And in Germany, European industrial bastion, the approaches face the largest decline in decades, with a 11.6 % drop in production during the first half of 2025, According to The New York Times. Where does steel go? The steel faces a crossroads: between the industrialization of the twentieth century and the ecological demands of the 21st century. The only sustainable output seems to be green steel. Companies such as Swedish SSAB have already begun to produce it through … Read more

Very few countries in the world are dedicated to the industrial production of avocados. Now an unexpected one has joined: Japan

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Tsutomu Uchida is 64 years old, is a retired entrepreneur and for a while now He spends hours working on a plot located in the Shizuoka districtwhere different cultivation techniques prove. So far unusual. The funny thing is that Uchida is not dedicated to Plant riceneither soy nor Mikana very popular citrus in the region. No. His interest has little to do with traditional vegetables. What is trying to grow since 2020 are avocados, a plant that wakes up more interest in Japanese agriculture. The reason: the market … and climate change. What happened? That in Japan, Rice landcherries and citrus, there are farmers who begin to Look with interest A new variety of crop, a very popular in other latitudes but that has so far had an almost testimonial weight in the country of the rising sun: avocado. And the most curious thing is what that curiosity is awakening. Beyond the growing Internal demand or the Production increase Worldwide, the factor that has led Japanese farmers to plant avocados is climate change. Shizuoka avocado. The news I advanced it A few days ago The Japan Times: More and more farmers in Shizuoka Prefecture show interest in avocados. The phenomenon is curious for several reasons. First, because the traditional cultivation of that region is another good, the Mikana citrus similar to mandarin. The second reason is that this interest It is promoted by local authorities. Shizuoka Prefecture has just activated a triennial plan that aspires, among other goals, to develop cultivation techniques and sales channels focused on avocado. With that purpose the institution plans to invest over the coming months 18 million yen (about 100,000 euros) in investigations to improve local production. Putting his head. If everything goes as planned, in three years you will publish a manual for farmers. It may seem like a modest initiative, but it is quite significant: Shizuoka is one of the main producing regions of Mikan From Japan and right now the avocado cultivation in the country is very small. According to the Ministry of Agriculture, in 2022 there were hardly any 34 tons who came out above all from Saga, Ehime and Wakayama, territories that (exact!) have always stood out for their citrus. TEMPERATURES QUESTION. The most curious thing is that this growing interest in avocado is not explained only for its internal demand or market prospects. At stake there is another equal or even more relevant factor for Japanese farmers: climate change. Their effects already They let themselves feel in the Rice crops and They threaten to punish to much of the plantations of Mikan of the country while They favor to those of avocado, a tree originally from Mesoamerica. “We cannot simply advance complaining about the negative impact of change on the agricultural environment. We are trying to convert this adversity into an opportunity and make the most of it,” Recognize to The Japan Times Yuji Hirano, responsible for agricultural strategies in the government of Shizuoka. With that clear idea, the prefecture probes the pros and cons of betting on a dozen subtropical crops in the region. Among them there was one that stood out for their “pull” in the market and that could also be favored by the weather: the avocado. But … what are they based on? In forecasts that draw such a promising scenario for avocado as a funeral for the Mikan. In March the National Organization for Agricultural and Food Research (Naro) public A report in which he warns that the future of citrus in Japan “will depend largely” on greenhouse gas emissions while avocado suitable areas could expand its current size more than 2.5 times by the middle of the century. An uncertain horizon. Nikkei It goes further And he warns that climate change can make that at the end of the Japanese century find that 80% of the areas that are right now for the cultivation of tangerines cease to be. With the land suitable for avocado plantations, a subtropical fruit, the opposite would happen: they would multiply by 7.7. “Maybe you think that a temperature difference of 1ºC does not mean much,” Clarify Toshihiko Sugiura, from Naro. “But for him Mikan It makes the difference. “ Hence the scenario can vary greatly depending on what happens in the coming years. If for 2100 the temperature rise does not exceed 1.4ºC the country may keep 80% of the current surface destined for Mikan. If the increase is 4.3ºC as soon as any. However, and although the increase in temperatures may make it easier, the avocado is not guaranteed in Japan either: the winter cold waves would mean a serious threat. The other key: the market. The other factor that explains Shizuoka’s interest in avocado should be sought in the market. The Japan Times remember that today the fruit is much more popular in the Japanese fruit shops than a few decades ago. And the data show it. In 1988, only 3,400 tons were imported. In 2020 there were already 80,000. That boom coincided with an increasing exposure of the fruit in the country’s media, which began to highlight its nutritional value as “superfiment” rich in vitamins and fiber. Today the avocado is already integrated from the diet of many Japanese and it is easy to find in supermarkets, although the nation basically depends on imports. The vast majority (at least in 2020) comes from Mexico, where they start around 85% of importsand Peru, which brings together about 11%. National production is scarce and is sold at prices greater than foreign fruit. Images | Eddie Pipocas (UNSPLASH), 光曦 刘 (UNSPLASH) and Rui Hao Lim (UNSPLASH) In Xataka | Japan is suffering a bankruptcy record from Ramen. And in part it is the result of the “1,000 yen barrier”

If you had always dreamed of having your own tunnelador or an industrial crane, good news: they are in Aliexpress

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If there is an absolutely reference country in the field of tunneladoras, that is China. The funny thing is that these industrial machines can be found and buy very easily: it is enough to take a walk through Aliexpress or Alibaba to see them already prepared the sale along with other machines in the field of construction such as Cranes for containers. Second -hand tunneladoras. As Point out The specialized medium JR Urbane Network in X, it is possible to find second -hand tunneladoras in Alibaba or Aliexpress. It is enough to search for its conventional name (Tunnel Boring Machines, TBM) so that among the results a good number of them appear. As this media explained, China Recycle these tunneladoras and reuse them in different underground projects. Prices. The image machine, the CTE6250, is a medium -sized TBM with a weight of 500 tons and a six meter shield diameter. This model is Available in Alibaba for $ 688,000. A “micro machine” of “underground elevation” without excavation and with a six -meter shield diameter is $ 288,000. If we want it bigger, 9.1 meters in diameter, we will have to pay $ 748,000although taking it home will not be easy: it weighs 1,150 tons. Its manufacturer, the company Gansu Technology Equipment CO, has various models available in Alibaba. How TBM operates. These machines go beyond being a gigantic and powerful drill: in addition to the rotating cutting device, the tunnelador is equipped with a equipment that allows it to collect the rubble that is generated as the galleries open and stabilizes its structure. In addition, models that excavate underwater tunnel Hermetic mixture special and prefabricated and intertwined concrete blocks. Giant tunneladoras. In July 2023 we already talked about the Tunnel Mixshield S-880 “Qin Liangyu”. It was designed for the underwater tunnel project Tuen Mun-Chek Lap Kok in Hong Kong, and served to dig a stretch of about 5 km under the sea. It measures 120 meters long, weighs 4,850 tons and most importantly: the diameter of its shield is 17.63 meters. She is the largest tunnelador in the world. Although the tunnelador was manufactured in Germany by the company Herrenknecht Agthe assembly and operation was carried out in one of the factories of this company in China. Excavates about 30 meters of tunnel a day and is officially The largest TBM in the world According to the Guinness book of records. China winning Germany. We already have a candidate to overcome it: The Jianghaideveloped by China Railway Construction Heavy Industry (CRCHI) and the so -called China Railway 14th Bureau Group. This machine weighs about 5,000 tons, measures 145 meters long and has a shield diameter of 16.64 meters. The goal is to use it to build a tunnel that cross the Yangtsé River in the Chinese province of Jiangsu, between Nantong and Suzhou. And many industrial machines. A TBMS search in Aliexpress Not only offers offers for this type of machines, but for many other of this segment – perforas, industrial milling machines – and even cranes for maritime transport containers. In Amazon it is possible to find excavators/milling machines of “small” dimensions (1.8 m in diameter) for about $ 25,000, but the Chinese machines are at another level. Musk’s are small. It is not the only one in its class. Much more recently We met the Shanhe tunnelador163 meters long, 5,200 tons of weight and 17.5 meters in shield diameter. This machine is used to build the world’s largest diameter submarine tunnel. The company The Boring Company created by Elon Musk uses much smaller, almost “portable” tunneladoras: the PRUFROCKfor example, it has a shield diameter of 3.6 meters, although that allows it to dig much faster: approximately 1.6 kilometers per month. China, referent. In China Daily They point How 7 out of 10 tunneladoras sold in the world are Chinese, and within the country 95% of these machines are also of national manufacture. As in other industries, there is a strong commitment to self -sufficiency and technological domain in key areas like this. Although the largest are Herrenknecht, companies such as China Railway Engineering Equipment Group (CREG) have been one of the market leaders in manufacturing and sale of tunneladoras for years. In Xataka | England and Ireland wanted to create the longest tunnel in the world. A “stupid” and “advanced in your time”

China is immersed in a nuclear revolution and needs industrial amounts of Uranium. His solution: “fish” in the sea

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China is one of the countries that is most promoting the adoption of renewable energy thanks to Great ‘farms’ and market saturation of solar panels. At the same time, they have approved the Construction of ten new nuclear reactors. It may seem a contradiction, but in the midst of a Strong commercial warit is another step in energy self -sufficiency, and to achieve it they will need tons of uranium. Your solution? Squeeze the uranium of the seas. Marine mine. The country account with 56 nuclear reactors and has between 25 and 29 under construction. This implies that they need a lot of Uranium and the problem is that they do not produce enough. HE esteem That, in 2023, China’s production was only 1,700 tons, 4% worldwide, and although they have strong reserves, they need more. In turn, China imported Some 22,000 tons in 2024 and have begun to put solutions. In 2024 began The construction of the National Project of Uranium Nº1 in Ordos. It will become the largest uranium mine in the country and a few months ago They announced that had discovered another important site, also in Ordos. However, it still is not enough, so they have seen the sea. Uranium fish. Because yes: there is uranium in the oceans. Its concentration is extremely low, about 3 micrograms per liter, but due to oceanic immensity, it is estimated that the total is 4.5 billion tons of uranium. There are a thousand times more uranium in the seas than in known land reserves. Extract Uranium from the sea is not something new and, during the 80s, Japan led the development of marine uranium extraction techniques. The problem is that it is a complex and, above all, inefficient process. That is why researchers focus on active uranium collection methods‘dapando’ different materials to be able to extract more material per liter. It is also a expensive method, about ten times more to extract it from terrestrial sources. Miraculous material. But this is where the Chinese team of the Frontiers Science Center For Rare isotopes of the University of Lanzhou enters. In a study published in NatureThey explain that the key to extracting more efficient marine uranium resides in the MOF, or metal-organic frameworks. It is a crystalline material composed of metal ions that are coordinated with organic elements to form structures of great porosity. It is like an extremely efficient fishing network to catch small particles that, in the case of uranium, allows you to better separate this element from others to which it can be attached. The Chinese team has dopa with Dipniletinelo molecules and claim that this new DAE-MOF material allows an uranium absorption capacity of 588 mg per gram, according to the tests. This involves an efficiency 40 times higher when separating uranium from metals and vanadium and has been tested both in simulated and real sea water. Aim. The idea is now to create test extraction plants this year, with pilot plants on the tons scale for 2035 and with a continuous production by 2050. wait That China’s demand for uranium is more than 40,000 tons in 2040, so land mines in conjunction with these marine alternative sources are essential to achieve the goal. Without a doubt, it is an advance in marine uranium extraction at a time when the rest of the players on this board are also found Looking for ways to get more out of the sea for energy independence at a time when buying to other countries He has put up legs. And the United States, of course, is also in that fight, with the US Department of Energy analyzing The technical, economic and environmental viability of large -scale uranium extraction in its waters. Images | Robordouderio, Robert Taylor from StirlingNature In Xataka | Spanish nuclear have been criticized for their role in the blackout. This was what they did before, during and after collapse

Huelva has been the forgotten industrial pole of Spain for decades. We are realizing the consequences

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Industrial and miners are a problem in different points of our geography. It is still a problem in places where deindustrialization left hectares of empty but contaminated soils and is a problem in the vicinity of some active industrial poles. And one of the places where this is most appreciated is in the estuary of the Odiel and Tinto rivers, on the coast of the province of Huelva. As, PB, CD, MO, SE. A new study He has found evidence that people who live in the vicinity of Huelva industrial areas accumulate in their bodies amounts higher than the average heavy metals such as those we usually associate with industrial activity. The study observed that among the inhabitants of the region, the accumulation in the body of certain elements was greater than usual. The study was done In the city of Huelvabut it was observed that the pollutants varied depending on the residence area of ​​the participants. Different concentrations. Among those who lived in areas closer to the rafts of phosphoyesos From the region, the study found a greater presence of elements such as arsenic (as), lead (PB), cadmium (CD), molybdenum (mo) and selenium (se). These types of elements can be found, precisely in places where this type of waste is stored. On the other hand, the team also found areas that stood out for the presence of elements such as copper (cu), zinc (zn) and aluminum (al). These areas were the closest to the industrial area of ​​the region. In general, the inhabitants of the city of Huelva presented greater concentrations of iron (faith), nickel (ni), chromium (cr), selenium (se), arsenic (as), and copper (co) according to the results of the study. The “chemical and industrial pole. The study was conducted in the city of Huelva, a city located near the coast, between the confluence of the red and odiel rivers. The city counts around, explains the team responsible for the study, with three important industrial areas. First, phosphoyesos rafts can be found, an industrial residue resulting from the extraction and processing of phosphoric acid. This residue is categorized as a radioactive material that occurred naturally or norm (Naturally Occurring Radioactive Material) and the Huelva reserve is the largest in Europe, the team recalls. To this we must add two more conventional industrial areas, the “Chemical Pole for the Promotion and Development of Huelva – Punta del Sebo” and the “Nuevo Puerto Palos de la Frontera”. Both areas also located in the vicinity of the capital (being the first adjacent to it). 55 participants. The study was conducted with a little girl from participants residing in the capital. Samples extracted from the feet nails of these to estimate the concentration in the bodies of a series of elements: aluminum (al), arsenic (as), cadmium (CD), copper (cu), chrome (cr), iron (faith), nickel (ni), Uranium (U), Vanadio (V) and Zinc (Zn), among others. The details of the study were published In an article In the magazine Journal of Xenobiotics. In Xataka | The countries that most pollute the world, gathered in a detailed graphic Image | Victor / Manuel Cortés Núñez

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