manufactures

A company from Valencia manufactures Mercadona mochis. They have grown to 165 million euros

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Who is the company behind Mercadona’s addictive dochis? From battle ice cream to vegan mochis and plants in Cheste, if you have heard of Estiu you will have heard of a success story to be very proud of. Helados Estiu went from being the typical discreet cheap ice cream factory to a central player in the most powerful supermarket in Spain. “Estiu” is summer and in the summer was when they moved, one from 1997, to the highway Manises-Ribarroja km 11.1. From there they sell dozens of liters of ice cream every year and now they are destroying that Trojan horse that is “dochis”, their own version of mochis with crushed cookies. Yes, I have two boxes in the freezer. The white label has known how to bet on the Japanese dessert and has been eaten, in industrial volumeto other legendary companies in the sector such as Frigo or La Lechera. Manufacturing for the leader. Helados Estiu was born in 1983 with a clear idea of ​​producing battle ice creams, a summer campaign and always low prices. During the first decades it worked with various partners, national and European, without completely taking off. It is in 2013 when the large injection of capital begins to expand lines and improve structures: warehouses are expanded, water efficiency is improved, formats are diversified and logistics automation is implemented with Pallet Shuttle. Not for nothing was the ‘mini chocolate cookie’ a hit that ate Maxibon’s toast. But the turning point came in 2002, when they closed their supply agreement with Mercadona and entered the circuit of “screw supplier” by Hacendado. From that turning point today come things as different as chocolates, sandwiches, frozen cakes and the coconut and mango mochis that serve as a bridge between Japan and the supermarket aisle. Can a single manufacturer really shape what a country eats? It seems so. And they are addictive. Or that’s how their numbers explain it. In 2019 it had a turnover of around 61 million euros and sold 27.7 million liters of ice cream. In 2023 it was already at 138 million euros (+30% over 2022), 44 million liters and a average staff of 473 people51% more than the previous year. In 2024 it will reach around 150 million in turnover, 45 million liters and 8.8 million in profit. In 2025 it will reach 165 million, with more than 46 million liters sold and exceeding the 9 million in net profits. The white label, the cat in the water. In the Spanish ice cream market, white label rules. In 2024, Kantar estimated the value share of private labels in ice cream at 68.5%, compared to names that previously seemed untouchable such as Frigo, La Lechera or Häagen-Dazs. In mass consumption, private label has gone from representing 20% ​​of the value in 2003 to touch 44% in 2024and experts see room for it to approach 70% in many categories. And Mercadona is the epicenter of this shift, with a food distribution share that represents a third of the Spanish market, and with those Hacendado ice creams with a wide and very high rotation of styles and flavors. And its price has cost it: the plant in Cheste cost more than 31 million euros, with specific lines for mochis and vegan ice creams, and another 26 million investment is expected in three years. In exchange, of the 65 types of ice cream that Mercadona sells in Madrid, 22 are manufactured by this Valencian company. 34% of the ice cream catalog of the giant Juan Roig. Mochi is the passport. It is true that for the average consumer, Estiu does not exist. What you see is a black cream-flavored chocolate, the mini-sandwich (so you don’t feel so guilty consuming twice as many calories as the standard format) or the coconut mochi at 2.90 euros for a box of six. Estiu entered this format eleven years ago, replicating the Japanese sweet with rice dough and filled with coconut, mango or pistachio ice cream under the Hacendado brand. The invention worked so well that they ended up exporting it: Wao Mochi is the own brand that, in 2019, began selling in Holland, Ireland, Ukraine, Finland, Latvia, Germany and Armenia. At first it was almost an experiment, a small fraction of the business. Vawaii, its vegan ice cream brand, occupies the plant-based niche and today more than 26,000 boxes of frozen mochis are sold daily in its three main flavors, and with that surprise called Dochi Cheesecake. Although the favorite of many is still the banoffee: banana, the crunchy cookie and the dulce de leche filling. The best of the flash remains. Growing by selling cheap, this has been its key. None of this would make sense without a very aggressive pricing policy. All their ice creams are systematically below the benchmarks of famous manufacturers, between 2 and 4 euros for complete boxes of 6 products. A frozen hook, a treat for the after-dinner meal that has built a small empire and aims to continue growing. Ironically, mochis travel from hot Spain to Finland. Images | Summer Ice CreamFlickr (Nina Ding) In Xataka | Fernando Sáenz, one of the best ice cream makers in the world, puts the dots over the i’s: “Mercadona has changed the palate of the Spanish people” In Xataka | Italy has taken the “gourmetization” of ice cream to the extreme with a €95 cone. Now the country debates whether that is “idiots”

If the price of memory in 2026 is high, in 2027 it will be apocalyptic. And one of the three that manufactures that memory says it

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When we talk about what cell phones are more expensivethe consoles continue to rise in price or that to buy RAM memory you almost have to take out a mortgage, we have to know that three companies (Samsung, SK Hynix and Micron) control around 90% of world production and that they have abandoned the consumer sector to focus on memory for AI platforms. This is very bad news for consumers, but excellent for those companies that are seeing record profits. And if the question is when the storm will end, the answer is that we are in the eye of the hurricane. And SK Hynix is ​​clear that the worst is yet to come. Guateworse. Different leaders of companies related to AI and components have already commented that we are experiencing an unusual situation, which Years of wild investment in AI remain and that, perhaps, everyone wants to have what they are going to need for the next 10 years as soon as possible, hence the shortage. The heads of the three companies mentioned do not usually speak out, but a few days ago, the CEO of one of the protagonists opened the microphone to warn that things will not improve a little. Kwakk Noh-jung is the CEO of SK Hynix, the other South Korean company that dominates the scene, and a few days ago commented that 2027 will bring the worst memory chip crisis ever experienced. Beyond the depressing forecastcommented that demand is expected to exceed supply beyond 2030, which coincides with some of the pessimistic forecasts from industry heavyweights. goes along the line What other CEOs of related companies have also said, such as Sanjay Mehrotra, CEO of the American company Micron, who in the June results presentation commented that they expect the shortage to persist beyond 2027 due to the very high demand. In addition, it showed that Micron can only satisfy 60% of its customers’ demand. New plants. To try to remedy the situation, the big three are investing in new plants and clean rooms to increase memory production (for AI platforms, of course, not for consumer products). In the case of SK Hynix, as we see in Reutersare considering opening factories in the United States, Japan and Southeast Asia. Kwak notes that “nothing has been decided yet,” arguing that he is evaluating which location can provide the greatest advantage for his business. The two South Korean giants are participating in a government plan to double the country’s memory chip production capacity over the next five years, with $266 billion each to build chip production facilities. In the United States, for its part, similar quantities are also being handled. Micron has changed its investment plan of 200,000 million for one of 250,000 million to address the shortage, with its eyes on the Clay plant in New York, which will become one of the largest semiconductor manufacturing centers in the history of the country. Looking for options. Meanwhile, the crisis continues and companies that create consumer products must find solutions. It has been reported that some like Asus could be interested in opening their own factoriesthis being a slow and very expensive process because creating a clean room from scratch is not easy. Another option is to purchase installations from other companies or look at alternative sources. For example, Apple, after raising the prices of iPad and Mac by an average of 20% (and we will see what happens with the iPhone 18 Pro), would be interested in the memory of the Chinese CXMT. And speaking of China, Huawei is working to expand its empire from semiconductors to RAM with a new plant. Demand on the horizon. All this happens while, in the United States, a demand collective action against Samsung, SK Hynix and Micron for alleged price manipulation and coordinated restriction of DRAM memory production. In the presentations of results and share values, we already see that this crisis has been good for the three companies and the curious thing is that it would not be the first time it has happened. At the beginning of the century, the three companies were investigated for an abusive pricing case that ended with Samsung and SK Hynix fined and Micron getting off the hook because of their cooperation. In China they were investigated again between 2016 and 2018 for a similar case, so we will have to wait and see what happens, but the fact that the price of machines like the Steam Deck has risen almost 300 euros out of nowhere… no one can take it away from us anymore. Buy now. And that is the best advice. Although it is not the one you probably want to read, because you would much rather know when the crisis will end, the best recommendation is that, if you think you are going to need any product soon or need to renew equipment, you better pay the current huge surcharge rather than having to face the one they are expected to have in a few months. Some companies have already mentioned exactly that, that you buy as soon as possible the technology that you think you are going to need for the next five years because things seem like they are going to get much worse before they get better. If it improves, because there are also companies that point out that lPrices will never drop to pre-crisis levels. In Xataka | Memory experts see no relief: “Potential price increases are higher than expected due to shortages”

In 1967, Ebro moved to the Free Zone of Barcelona. 69 years later, we have seen how Ebro once again manufactures cars in it

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Entering the 500,000 square meters that the Ebro Factory plant in Barcelona occupies is, in large part, a visit to the origins of the brand and its deep connection with the Catalan capital. The same naves and corridors that In 1967 they saw the last Ebro vehicles leave to become later at Nissan Motor Ibérica. In 2026, the factory that opened its doors in the Barcelona Free Trade Zone almost 70 years ago, manufactures vehicles again (and not just assembly) with the Ebro logo on its grille. Ebro has just opened its facilities to the press for the first time, and we have been able to see first-hand what it is like to manufacture a car. What we have found is a factory full of welding robots, automated parts supply lines and state-of-the-art assembly lines that They look more to the future than to the past. A plant with many stories The old Nissan factory closed on December 31, 2021 after 41 years of activity. The cessation of activity left some 2,500 workers on the streets. Three years later, Ebro confirmed his reindustrialization plan of the plant returning its activity. And he did it, to a large extent, with the same workers he had. Of the almost 2,000 employees that the company currently has, nearly 1,000 employees who work here today They were already with Nissan. Of them, about 400 are product engineers, 200 process engineers and 200 welding and assembly line specialists. These employees know every hallway, every corner and, according to those responsible for the factory, they have played a leading role in the start-up of the plant. The factory occupies 500,000 m2 Our guide throughout the visit was Paco DuranDirector of Production Control and Logistics. According to what he said, he himself started at this same plant in 1998, when the Nissan sign still hung on the door. When the Japanese stopped production he spent some time at Stellantis. When Ebro started his reindustrialization plan, he returned to what he considered his Alma mater. Durán is, in all likelihood, the person who best knows how these facilities work. Nissan veterans like him helped design each booth of the new assembly line based on the years of experience that the assembly of Japanese cars gave them. They knew exactly what had worked before and what had failed. That muscle memory acquired by years of automobile production has weighed more than any manual and has contributed to the Ebro Factory will start walking in record time. First as an assembly center, and now as the only Ebro manufacturing plant in Spain and Europe, in which the Spanish brand already manufactures four models with welding, painting, assembly and quality control processes. Barcelona outside and inside There is a very curious detail in how this factory is designed. It is inspired by Barcelona and the two rivers (the Besós and the Llobregat) that frame it. Being called Ebro, it makes sense. Like these rivers, the entire flow of supplies flows from mountains to sea. It is not the only inspiration that Ebro engineers have borrowed from Barcelona when designing it. The interior of the factory has the same structure as the streets of Barcelona Its interior is arranged in streets perpendicular to each other, well-defined islands, without intersections that block the passage or flows that collide with each other. The reference is the Cerdà Plan of 1859who created the orthogonal grid so characteristic of Barcelona that it ordered the Eixample of Barcelona. An urban model that is still a reference in half the world. A small Barcelona within an icon of Barcelona’s industrial past. Under this spatial arrangement, the materials enter at one end of the factory and advance in line to the other, without setbacks or countercurrents. As Durán explained, this flow “towards the sea” reduces errors, improves response times and, as an added advantage, facilitates the evacuation of the plant in case of emergency. The plant works on two levels. All the assembly of the different components occurs on the ground, while the automatic transports of parts and bodies circulate suspended in a complex logistics system that takes the bodies from one section to another without interrupting the assembly work below. To give us an idea of ​​the magnitude of this aerial infrastructure, the equivalent of three days of production of components and bodies was circulating above our heads at all times. 696 meters of line and 20 cars per hour Since November 2024, the factory operated with the M0 assembly line, in which the cars arrived from China semi-assembled and the rest of the parts were assembled at the Ebro factory. However, the heart of the visit, and the new jewel in Ebro’s crown, is the M1 assembly line. There are 696 meters, 97 work stations and a cycle of 160 seconds per vehicle. That is, each operator has that time to assemble the elements assigned to that station. The body is welded in a 23,000 square meter warehouse with more than 150 robots. Around 95% of this process is fully automated. There the floor, sides and roof are welded until forming what is called the Body-in-Whitethe empty structure of the car before receiving any paint or components. From there it travels by air to the painting area which, for safety reasons due to the chemical agents used there, we were not able to visit (we needed PPE and additional protection). In this section, the car chassis go through degreasing baths, paint is applied through cataphoresis and an anti-corrosion treatment. Afterwards, the already painted bodies fly back to the assembly area, but not before disassembling the doors, which travel in parallel, to improve the workers’ access to the interior. Something that caught my attention was that all the cars I saw on the assembly line were Ebro S700 red in color (the Red Blood Stone, to be more exact). When we asked Paco Durán about the reason, he explained to us that instead of responding to color … Read more

the “secret” heat shield of the Ariane 6 parts that Airbus manufactures in Spain

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We are used to “aerospace” sounding like almost futuristic materials. Titanium, high-strength aluminum, carbon fiber, alloys designed to withstand extreme conditions. The technology industry itself has turned that idea into a sales argument: just remember how some laptops and cell phones They boast of using “aerospace grade” materials.“to convey lightness, resistance and precision. That is why what happened this week during a visit to the Airbus facilities in Getafe caught my attention. In front of one of the pieces, Veronica Villanuevaresponsible for Manufacturing, Assembly, Integration and Testing at Airbus Space Systems in Spain, pointed to a yellowish surface and said it bluntly: “What you see here is yellowish, this is corkit is the thermal insulator that is put on, it is super curious, right?” The phrase had some revelation, but it was not an anecdote for visitors. The cork was there for a very specific reason: a launcher must not only be able to take off, it also has to protect its structures in a very demanding physical environment. In this case, Villanueva was talking about pieces linked to the Ariane 6. We are not talking about an “Airbus rocket”, but rather a European launcher in which ArianeGroup occupies the central role and Airbus participates by manufacturing several structures and key elements. The cork we saw in Getafe shows that space engineering also has very everyday surprises To understand why this detail was so striking, it is worth taking a step back in manufacturing. Before reaching the cork, many of these structures go through a process based on composite materials, especially carbon fiber and fiberglass. Villanueva explained during the tour that the carbon fiber used in the plant arrives as a prepreg material, that is, already mixed with resin. From there, the machines place layers on a mold until the desired geometry is built. Then will come the curing, the inspection and everything necessary to turn that stack into a piece capable of being part of a launcher. The underlying reason is easy to understand: in a launch, every kilo counts long before reaching orbit. A launcher must lift its own structure, its systems and the load it carries, so any weight savings can have significant consequences. The manufacturing manager defended during the tour that composite materials are especially interesting due to their low mass, their tensile strength and their ability to adapt to changes in temperature. The downside is that they are not as simple or as cheap to manufacture as metal. View of the Airbus production area in Getafe, where some structures linked to Ariane 6 incorporate cork as part of their thermal protection That complexity appears as soon as the structure begins to take shape. After taping, the pieces go through an autoclavea type of large pressurized oven where temperature and pressure are controlled so that the resin solidifies and the whole is compacted. Villanueva explained that the process includes a vacuum bag to extract any air that may have remained between the layers, an important detail because possible defects are not always visible from the outside. In a composite structure, what happens on the inside can be as relevant as the exterior geometry. Verónica Villanueva, responsible for Manufacturing, Assembly, Integration and Testing at Airbus Space Systems in Spain And then, after all that chain of carbon fiber, resin, pressure, vacuum and inspection, the least expected material appears again. Cork is applied to certain areas of the structure as a layer of protection against heat, but not in any way. Raúl Medina, head of launchers at Airbus Space Systems Spain, pointed out the pieces during the visit and gave a very specific measurement: “We can go from 2 millimeters to 5 millimeters thick.” On the indicated pieces, that layer moved within a very specific margin. Detail of an Ariane 6 part manufactured by Airbus in Spain. The light areas show the cork applied as thermal protection; the dark ones, areas without that coating The decision is not made by eye either. Medina summed it up with a very graphic phrase: “This in the end is an art. There are thermal engineers who analyze that you will be exposed to more heat and then, depending on that, more thickness, less thickness or areas without cork“On the surface of the piece, this thermal reading translates into areas with more protection, others with less and others where the material from the cork oak is not directly applied. Raúl Medina, head of launchers at Airbus Space Systems Spain. The idea may sound strange, but it does not appear isolated in the European space industry. In another application, ESA explained it with the Qarman CubeSatdesigned to study atmospheric reentry: its nose was made of cork, although not the kind we find in a champagne bottle, but of an adapted aerospace variety. The difference is in the behavior of the material when heated. First it swells, then chars, and finally flakes off, taking some of the unwanted heat with it. Detail of an Ariane 6 part manufactured by Airbus in Spain. The light areas show the cork applied as thermal protection; the dark ones, areas without that coating The supplier’s lead pointed in the same direction. Villanueva pointed out during the visit that that cork came from Portugal, and Medina added that whoever supplies it to the aerospace industry belongs to the same industrial universe that we associate with the wine and champagne corks. In open sources, that description fits Amorim Cork Solutionspart of the Portuguese group Corticeira Amorim, one of the world’s greatest names in cork. The ESA, in fact, identified Amorim as a supplier of the aerospace variety used in Qarman, although Airbus did not detail there the specific supplier of the parts before us. One of the fascinating things about the space industry is that it always holds some surprises. We can imagine it as a territory dominated by advanced materials, highly controlled processes and pieces designed to the limit, and to a large extent it is. But it … Read more

China manufactures 90% of the world’s humanoid robots and the reason is not its industrial policy: it is crossing the street

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On Chinese New Year, 16 Unitree humanoid robots danced a folk dance before almost a billion viewers. The West reacted as always: some with panic, others with disdain, others with an undisguised admiration that sometimes tends to concoct theories with more clichés regarding China than real analysis. None of those answers is entirely true and that blindness has a cost. The context. China manufactures about 90% of the humanoid robots sold in the world. In 2025, about 13,000 units were shipped, with Chinese companies (AgiBot, Unitree, UBTech…) dominating the ranking by volume, according to Omdia data collected by Bloomberg. Tesla, with all its brand reputation and all its industrial apparatus, internally deployed around 800 units of the Optimus that same year. The figure. He Unitree G1 It costs $13,500. He Tesla Optimus will exceed 20,000. That gap is the difference between being able to iterate ten times with the same budget or staying at one. Between the lines. The story circulating in the West has two versions, equally lazy: The first: all this is the five-year plan, the hand of the State, industrial policy made robot. The second, reserved for the most condescending: it is because they copy. Neither of them explains what is really happening. China’s advantage in robotics does not come from the Communist Party. It comes from the Pearl River Delta and the Yangtze Delta: the two densest manufacturing ecosystems on the planet. Motors, actuators, sensors, custom PCBs… everything is available within walking distance. Is what it describes Rui Xuan engineer who has worked in robotics startups in China and Silicon Valley. When Unitree wants to test a new joint design, it crosses the street and comes back with the right component. A team in San Francisco has to wait weeks to receive the same component from China. The background. That difference in iteration speed changes everything in hardware engineering. It stops being a problem of talent, because Chinese and American engineers are equally capable, and becomes a problem of infrastructure. Breaking a robot, learning, replacing it, and trying again: that’s what builds cumulative technical advantage. If breaking a robot costs three weeks of logistics, learning stops and times become longer. Yes, but. China does have state support, and it is completely legitimate to point this out. The government has injected a lot of money into that sector and has set production targets. But it’s not that Silicon Valley is an impoverished region: it has more capital, investors with more experience and resources, and more decades of experience financing high-risk bets. If this were a war to see who has the fattest checkbook, the United States would win handily. But it is not. Furthermore, Chinese state money comes with strings attached: it is classified as “state asset” and founders assume personal liability if the company fails. That pushes capital toward politically safe bets, not necessarily toward the most innovative ones. The question. Can the West make up ground in robotics? Yes, but not like he’s trying. Attracting foreign talent helps on the margin, but does not solve the underlying problem. The equalization involves building local supply chains capable of delivering a spare part in two days, not two weeks. And that is not an immigration or R&D problem. It is an industrial-based problem, and solving it takes many years of work. And of thankless work, from which those who arrive later may reap the fruits. Until then we are going to see many more viral videos of Chinese robots doing pirouettes with increasing naturalness. And it’s because they’ve built the best environment in the world to break things and try again. In engineering, that explains almost everything. Featured image | CCTV In Xataka | Folding clothes or taking apart LEGOs has always been a tedious task. Xiaomi’s new AI for robots has put an end to it

Europe manufactures in Algeria with the same method that criticizes China and Algeria has been tired

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When Ebro arrived in Spain, it was said that the intention was to return the company to a fully Spanish past. The truth is that, for the moment, it has little because Ebro S700 and S800 They are, in essence, versions of the Chery Tiggo who are given life through the DKD system. This way of working It resembles that of a puzzle. Instead of having a whole assembly line where the different pieces are assembled and equipped with a driving train, Chery sends cars in almost mounted containers and, here, they finish joining a few parts to leave through the doors of the factory. The system is controversial. At the moment he has helped to boost work in the old Nissan factory in Barcelona for which a clear future was not. But The DKD system is hardly impact on the region since less workers are needed and all pieces (and suppliers) come from China. This way of acting, in fact, It has not been well seen by the European Union that they have already warned Chery that they would not help them save tariffs on their electric cars, understanding that They were bridging They with a minimum investment. A similar situation is what they have in Algeria. And the government has sent a message: the time has come for this to end. “We want to produce cars” “We want to produce global cars locally, and the time of inflating tires is over.” The words have been pronounced by Abdelmajid Tebboune, president of Algeria, In an interview with local media. This metaphor for “inflar tires” refers to the superficial investment that large manufacturers make in the country to “produce” your cars in the country African. Right now, Stellantis is producing fiat cars there. So does the Volkswagen group (with Seat, Skoda, Volkswagen and Audi) or Renault. Hyundai or Chery is expected to also open new plants in the country in the near future. However, Algeria lives a complicated situation with this part of the industry. As in the case of Ebro, the local investments of the manufacturers are minimal and what you really want is to skip tariffs and difficult homologations of imported vehicles that have been created to protect the local economy. Renault, for example, acts with the symbol (his Renault Clio in Algeria) in the same way that Chery does with Ebro in Spain. “The vehicle arrives semi or completely finished, so there is nothing to ride,” says Mohamed Bairi, head of Ival, importer of Iveco, to local media. The intention, therefore, is that the use of pieces provided by local suppliers and the involvement in Algerian plants is greater. Stellantis ensures that the use of local pieces will increase by, minimum, 35% from 2026. What the government wants is that this changing forcing the integration of local parts to be at least 30%. As they collect in L’Automobilejust 5% of pieces used in Algeria come from local supplies. It remains to see how this will affect Hyundai’s plans and, above all, those of companies like Chery who trusted the CKD system to sell their vehicles in the country. This last option increases work rates in the country where you work locally and that is what You want to do with the electric omoda 5 In Barcelona. However, all pieces come from abroad and that is what ampoules has raised in the European Union and want to avoid in Algeria. Photo | Renault In Xataka | Morocco is positioning himself as an opponent to beat in the electric car: China has it clearer and clearer

manufactures in a week what the earth takes one billion years

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For centuries, diamonds have been synonymous with luxury, shortage and geological time: a jewel that nature carries over one billion years underground. Now China has found a way to reduce times and create the perfect diamond. Made in China. 70% of synthetic diamonds Used in worldwide jewelry they are already manufactured in China, especially in the province of Henan. In a Financial Times report They have explained That companies like Jiaruifu, led by Feng Canjun, have managed to manufacture a three carat diamond – the typical size of a engagement ring – in just a week. But it is synthetic. Yes, but its irruption has meant an unprecedented disruption in the market of precious stones. As explained by Marty Hurwitz, director of the Grown Diamond Trade Organization, to the British environmentthis is “the first really competitive product that the natural diamond has faced.” And he has done it with devastating consequences: the prices of smaller natural diamonds have fallen to minimums of the last decade. According to data from the Tenoris consultantsynthetic diamond already represents 17 % of the volume of the retail market in the US, and more than half in commitment rings, a key category. 60 years of improvement. After the break with the USSR in the 60s, Beijing was forced to develop its own production capacity. As New York Times collectedthe Soviets used diamonds not only as raw material but as a diplomatic and economic weapon. Given that pressure and without relevant natural reservations, China opted for the technological and long -distance path: produce its own laboratory diamonds. What was born as a geopolitical survival strategy has become a globally dominant industry today. The creation process. As have detailed in FTcompanies such as Jiaruifu mainly use two methods: high pressure-high temperature (HPHT) and chemical vapor deposition (CVD), the latter most recent and effective for large gems. In addition, efficiency is not just technique. The carving process is subcontracts to India, where labor costs are lower, and transport is carried out through hubs such as Dubai or Antwerp, although on the label of the final product there is no trace of its Chinese origin. There is another differential. China does not stay with crossed ones as soon as it has a fixed goal, we have already observed that its plans are never in the short term, we can observe it in Your plans with oil. As detailed The Huanghe Whirlwind company are also making improvements in the diamond creation process, but they wanted to bet on a more sustainable model. In this project they have managed to integrate solar energy into their manufacturing process. This innovation not only drastically reduces the carbon footprint by quilate, but also positions China as a pioneer in “green” synthetic diamonds. A dramatic turn. The traditional natural diamond industry is in check. In 2024, by Beers – the historical giant of the sector— It accumulated an inventory of non -selling diamonds valued at 2,000 million dollars. Its synthetic diamond division, Lightbox, He closed recently After losing competitiveness in front of Chinese brands. To this is added a cultural change: younger consumers no longer demand natural diamonds, and many prioritize price and sustainability. As He has revealed British designer Fei Liu to the Financial Times, at first he resisted using synthetic stones, but the price “flew his head.” Another conquered sector. Beyond technological and commercial success, synthetic diamond is becoming a new strategic front for China. The Government has not left the market to operate freely: in Henan, the Provincial Administration has promoted the creation of a diamond association with the aim of stabilizing prices and avoiding a destructive career down. As He explained Feng Al Financial Times, a minimum price of $ 15 per caa has been set for the stones between one and ten carats. If a company sells below that threshold, its competitors can report it to the authorities, which will intervene. This policy reminds the strategy adopted in the electric car sector, another field in which China He has led technologicallybut where excess supply and fierce competition also caused price wars. In both cases, Beijing has sought to impose order in sectors considered key to industrial sovereignty and the country’s geopolitical positioning. Compressing times. In that process, the Asian giant has challenged a centenary industry, has democratized luxury and has drawn a new map for the global diamond trade. What was previously a symbol of rarity and eternity, today can be produced in mass, sold at a low cost and with a minimum ecological footprint. The diamond is no longer what it was. And it is very possible that, for most consumers, that is not necessarily a bad. Image | Pexels and Unspash Xataka | Antimony under another flag: the Chinese mineral that continues to enter the US disguised for Thai or Mexican export

manufactures its pieces in Mexico

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20%tariffs, to begin with all the countries of the European Union. That has been one of Donald Trump’s great ads last morning. The president of the United States has confirmed an almost endless list of new taxes to a total of 200 countries and regions. And, in addition, some specific ones are maintained. Among them, those related to the automobile industry. 25%. That is the tax that The United States Government will charge To all cars and pieces to make cars that enter through its borders. At least that is the intention of the US administration that has maintained these rates despite the concrete impositions to countries or organizations. This implies that a car that is manufactured in the United States will also have to pay A 25% extra cost For each and every one of the pieces that have been exported to the country. For example, if the battery of an electric car is manufactured outside its borders, said vehicle will have 25% of that battery. Tariffs to countries. This measure has not prevented Donald Trump from announcing new tariffs yesterday night. These new economic walls country will apply by country (or the sum of them, like the European Union). Implies that Europe will pay 20% For each and every one of the exports that makes the United States. Spain, for example, has in its Olive wine and oil exports to the United States as one of its main markets. If you want to continue operating in the country, companies will have to pay 20% more for their products to enter through their borders. However, these generalized tariffs do not apply if a specific industry has a higher tax. As 25% to the automobile industry is greater than 20% that the products of the European Union receive, the highest section is applied. Little affected … The automobile industry in Spain will be little affected. At least directly. This occurs because most of the cars that are manufactured in Spain are small and of contained prices. That is, they are The perfect product to sell in the European Union That, in fact, it is with much the main buyer of cars Made in Spain. In fact, mass vehicles are not exported to the United States. Some time ago it was done with the Mercedes Vito and the Ford Transit. However, no car or van is currently sent. … more or less. That the automobile industry does not directly suffer the designs of the new United States government does not mean that 20% tariffs to the European Union and 25% to cars are not a problem. Keep in mind that with such high tariffs an increase in short -term prices is expected, which, in turn, results in an economic deceleration and lower consumption. It is a threat to Germany, that does not go through its best moment And it is also the main car buyer in Spain. Of course, it is not good news that the European buyer has less money in his pocket. The component industry. Those who will be more affected by the 25% tariff to the non -American car are component manufacturers to produce cars. This industry represents more than 25.6 billion euros in Spain, According to Sernauto data. The Spanish Association of Automotive Suppliers (SERNAUTO) points out that 65% of the exports that Spain carries out in this sector are destined for the European Union, adding more than 16,600 million euros. Again, Germany (3,950 million euros) and France (3,840 million euros) were the main commercial partners. The role of the United States is much more content. It is the eighth country by business volume to which Spain exports its components. However, the association indicates that it is a strategic market, with high added value and key indirect dependencies. Beyond the direct tax. Beyond the 1,021 million euros that the export of components for automotive to the United States is calculated, the sector is enduring breathing because it ensures that the Spanish component industry has a great presence in Mexico. So much Mexico like Canada await What measures Donald Trump finally takes with these countries. Historical commercial allies, the president of the United States has repeatedly threatened them with raising new levies against them. This would be a greater coup for the interests of Spanish companies. In addition, we must add that an increase in the price of the products that Germany exports to the United States can force productive costs to be cut and, therefore, other commercial partners are studied. Here, it is impressible for Spain to remain competitive so as not to be replaced by suppliers that offer their products at a lower price. Government response. For the moment, The European Union waits until April 9 To vote what measures it takes against tariffs that the United States to Imports of Steel and Aluminum (keys also in vehicle production). Besides, hope to have this Friday A meeting with American representatives. From the Government, Pedro Sánchez has announced that a source of support to the sectors affected by exports worth 14,100 million euros will open. Of these, 6,000 million euros in two ICO guarantees of 6,000 million, a 200 million euros investment support fund for new plants and the network mechanism “to maintain templates similar to how ERTe acted during the pandemic”, in words collected by The country. Photo | The White House and Sernauto In Xataka | Trump tariffs have caused the Big Tech debacle in the stock market. And propose a slowdown in investment in AI

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