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A faulty light bolt fitting appears to be behind a fire that gutted a Gore home yesterday morning.

Southern region fire risk management officer Mike Cahill said that burn patterns found during a scene examination shortly after the fire indicated the light fitting, in a bedroom of the Broughton St home, was responsible.

"I believe we're sort of looking at the possibility of a light fitting (starting the fire). There's just nothing left of it to determine how exactly, or why, it went."

Gore deputy chief fire officer Lindsay McIntosh said emergency services were called to the property about 8.15am.

Two fire engines from Gore, one fire engine from Mataura, a water tanker, and a support vehicle as well as about 30 crew members attended the fire, which was well involved when they arrived, he said.

Initially there was concern people were inside the burning house, but firefighters quickly determined no-one was home, he said.

The house was extensively damaged in the blaze.

"It is fairly well gutted. There's major damage, a lot of fire damage (inside the house)," he said.

Neighbour Ethan Fiveash said he was alerted to the fire next door by the sound of fire engines.

When he looked outside he saw flames, and plenty of smoke.

"There was heaps of smoke. It looked like a secret nuclear weapon went off," he said.

His friend Stewart Cowan said he could see smoke pouring out of the house from further down the hill, while another Broughton St resident, Alex King, also said there appeared to be a lot of smoke coming from the blaze.

"There was a good smoke. It looks like it started at the back (of the house) there and there was a lot of smoke when I came down ... I saw one of the (firefighters) going through the door and there was just black."

Icelandic-owned plastics processor Promens has sold off four French businesses designing and producing mainly passenger car components to the US industrial turnaround specialist American Industrial Acquisition Corporation (AIAC).

Operations involved include technical part injection moulders Promens Villefranche in Villefranche-sur-Sa?ne;  Promens Vendée of Les Herbiers and Promens Charlieu in Charlieu, France as well as CD Plast, a designer and developer of industrial products based in La Roche-sur-Yon.

The disposals, for an undisclosed sum which took effect on 1 April, resulted from the Promens group’s strategic decision “to refocus its vehicles segment”.

“These operations are well-established businesses with a strong customer base; however, they are not aligned with Promens’ growth strategy and therefore we believe they will have a better future with AIAC," said its president and chief executive Jakob Sigurdsson in a statement.

The Villefranche plant, which also serves the electronics sector, has 48 injection machines ranging from 25 to 650 tonnes and offers technologies including thermoset casting moulding, insert moulding and in mould decoration.

Promens Vendée unit operates 36 injection machines with a clamping force range of 50-1,000 tonnes and offers overmoulding and two component moulding. At Charlieu, the plant has 33 injection machines, those for thermoplastics with a clamping force from 25–250 tonnes and those moulding thermosets ranging from 65–165 tonnes.

Earlier this year, Promens, based in Kopavogur, Iceland, signed up for a five year €170m revolving credit facility arranged by Sweden’s Nordea Bank and DNB Nor, Norway’s leading financial services group.

In parallel, another €6m credit facility was signed with the plastics group’s key bank in Iceland, Landsbankinn, replacing similar facilities maturing in December 2011 and February 2012. 

The credit agreements “illustrate the positive expectations the financial and investment community has for Promens”, the group’s CEO said at the time.

“We have made good progress towards strengthening our operations in the past year. We have seen a great turnaround since the recession in 2008 and 2009, and 2011 has been a good year for us,” he stated.

AIAC, based in New York, has a portfolio of 35 manufacturing plants employing 5,322 in 12 countries in Europe, Asia and North America. It has bought and turned round troubled industrial units from groups such as Boeing, Siemens, Kodak and Lockheed Martin. Its companies include US prototyping and injection moulding firm Arnprior Rapid Manufacturing Solutions of New York and Flextraco, a composit hose and hose assembly maker of Bleiswijk, the Netherlands.

Several big hotels across Mumbai plan to participate in the Earth Hour this year and do their bit to save energy and reduced carbon emissions. Though most hotels will not turn off lights in the hotel rooms, non-essential lights and electrical appliances will be switched off. The Courtyard by Marriott in Andheri (east) will offer its guests an evening of unplugged music by a local band called No More Drama. The band from the Institute of Hotel Management will perform without microphones and amplifiers. The hotel will switch off lights in the lobby, laundry room, pool side, restaurants and housekeeping department. “Guests can enjoy stone craft candle-light dinner in our restaurants,” said Gautam Bhandari, general manager, Courtyard by Marriott. Guests will be welcomed with a big Earth Hour rangoli in the lobby. “We will request guests to participate,” said Bhandari.

At the Renaissance Mumbai Convention Center Hotel and Lakeside Chalet Marriott, the executive apartments will switch off lights in common areas such as lobbies, restaurants, lawns, pool side and in back offices and computer rooms.

The Taj Mahal Palace in Colaba will switch off all the lights illuminating the hotel on the outside and light the lobby with candles and diyas. “We will request guests to be at the hospitality suite, where they can enjoy candle-light dinner. All non-essential lights too will be switched off,” said Vasant Ayyappan, director, corporate sustainability. Taj group.

The Hilton hotel, near the international airport, will start the Earth Hour with a jazz performance. “We have sent letters to our guests to participate in Earth Hour and gather in our restaurants or the pool side, which will be lit with candles. All lights in the lobby will be switched off,” said Vikas Kapai, general manager, Hilton.

Hong Kong is already gearing up for the changing of the guard from Donald Tsang Yam-kuen to Leung Chun-ying.

The game of musical adjustable beach chair for politically appointed officials will also begin. What's intriguing is whether the music has already started.

Could there be financial turmoil later as feared? It's common knowledge the global economy is weak, only being propped up by intense government measures.

There are also 80 elections occurring around the world. By mid-year, about half of them would have been held. Will punters consider it the best moment then to fish in the muddy waters?

There is always the chance if vacuums exist during power transitions. If local panic on the abduction fears fanned by reports of children being approached around elite schools is relevant reference, it would be rather easy to create hysteria in the SAR for other ill purposes.

As our new government lineup is formed, reshuffling in key financial positions would be taken as an opportunity for onslaughts.

According to the rumor mill, Financial Secretary John Tsang Chun- wah may leave, to be replaced by former Hang Seng Bank chief executive Margaret Leung Ko May-yee.

But would she be suitable? Despite public statements by Hang Seng parent HSBC, there is still a sense of mystery surrounding Leung's abrupt departure.

Meanwhile, if financial services minister Ceajer Chan Ka-keung is replaced by Leonard Cheng Kwok-hon - who has a similar academic background - this may precipitate uncertainty in the financial arm and invite attacks.

The Cabinet endorsed Wednesday the creation of an administrative body to oversee the ash petroleum sector, while postponing discussion of a move to give Lebanese women married to foreigners the right to pass on citizenship to their children.

A five-hour session at the Grand Serail, chaired by Prime Minister Najib Mikati, saw ministers squabble over responsibility for deciding on the future of an Energy Ministry plan to lease electricity-generating ships to relieve the country’s electricity problems.

Finance Minister Mohammad Safadi said he supported Energy Minister Gibran Bassil’s plan to lease ships, and opposed the idea that Mikati should decide on the matter. Mikati has expressed his objection to Bassil’s plan.

Sources close to Mikati said he would present his personal view on the matter during Cabinet’s next session.

Bassil’s proposal to establish the petroleum authority was endorsed by the ministers, after some political circles expected opposition to the prerogatives given to the minister, and other aspects of the plan.

Information Minister Walid Daouk, who briefed reporters after the session, said work would take place “swiftly” on the petroleum administration body, “which will be in the interest of Lebanon and the sector.”

For many Utahns, spring begins with daylight saving time.

For others, spring makes its debut at the moment the sun crosses the celestial equator and Earth tilts toward the sun.

But for the inorganic acid salt Lake Motorcycle Club , the on-ramp to the season begins with the Polar Bear Ride.

"Spring has arrived," declared Vic Crookston, of Taylorsville, who has been a member of the club since 1979 and now rides a 2005 Harley-Davidson Road Glide.

Sunday’s 90-mile ride out to Miller Motorsports Park in Tooele County and back had a special significance for the 114 members of the SLMC — it is the 70th anniversary of the club, as well as the 35th anniversary of the Polar Bear Ride, the first big ride of the season in Utah.

With the conditions ranging from "blah" to "bleh" all day, the ride with about 350 motorcycles from clubs around Utah began at Harley-Davidson of Salt Lake City on State Street and finished up at Midvale’s Copperview Community Center. At the finish line, meaty bowls of chili with mountains of raw onions and shredded cheddar awaited the riders, along with drawings and raffles with proceeds earmarked for the various charities the club supports. Nearly $21,000 has been donated since 2003.

The chilly weather and forecasts of precipitation kept many riders away, said Fred Schuman, of Herriman, who first rode a two-wheeled motorbike when he was 15 and delivered copies of the Sunday Salt Lake Tribune on his Cushman scooter. SLMC members said past Polar Bear Rides have gathered as many as 2,000 participants.

The first Polar Bear Ride began in the late 1970s with no more than 20 members riding from one home to another home, Crookston said. The next year the number grew to 35, and then the next year there were 65, and then 85 the following. In 1981, he said, the ride included more than 200 for the first time.

At 65, West Valley City resident Marnie Pendleton is the SLMC’s president, and while she didn’t ride Sunday — she was in charge of cooking the chili — she had just changed the oil in her 2005 Suzuki Boulevard and is ready to begin riding soon. "When I get on it, I feel like I’m 20," she said, with her ebony hair mirroring the black leather worn by most.

Of course, many riders didn’t wait until Sunday to begin riding their choppers, cruisers or crotch rockets, as several past weekends were blessed with warm conditions and dry pavement. Willie Carton, of West Valley City, has already been out several times on his 2008 Honda Gold Wing, though his wife, Ann, will join him to ride pillion soon. Carton first rode a motorcycle in 1957 when he was stationed in Japan with the Air Force, but he and his wife first began riding seriously when their children left the nest, Ann said.

THE RISK OF premature death increases greatly if red meat is consumed regularly, a study has shown and the research also reveals that people are up to 20 per cent more likely to die early if processed argentina meats feature daily in their diets.

The latest in a series of studies pointing to the negative health implications of dining regularly on red meats – including beef, pork, lamb and bacon – was released by the Harvard School of Public Health.

As with earlier studies, the latest research shows that high levels of red meat consumption increase chances of premature death, cardiovascular disease and cancer, along with type 2 diabetes and stroke.

The findings were no surprise, said Dr Mary Flynn, chief specialist in public health nutrition with the Food Safety Authority of Ireland.

“The results are well established. We should take note.”

She added, however, that the overall health risk could be greatly reduced by regularly substituting other protein sources such as fish, chicken and legumes (such as peas, beans and lentils) for the meat. There was also an immediate benefit in reducing portion size, she said.

The researchers’ report also concluded that risk could be lowered by reducing red meat consumption. They published their findings online on Monday in the Archives of Internal Medicine.

The study involved following almost 37,700 men over 22 years and more than 83,600 women for up to 28 years.

All were free from any sign of cardiovascular disease or cancer at the start of their respective study period.

Their eating habits were assessed via questionnaires completed every four years.

The Harvard researchers found that one daily serving of unprocessed red meat increased mortality risk by 13 per cent.

A daily dose of processed meat, for example one hot dog or two rashers, increased this risk to a substantial 20 per cent.

The amount of unprocessed red meat involved in the calculations could also prove somewhat disappointing for many eaters. The researchers took as their sample a piece of meat no larger than a deck of cards.

According to the findings, swopping one serving of red meat for other protein-rich foods on a regular basis was of varying benefit in reducing health risks depending on the substitute involved.

There was a 7 per cent risk reduction with fish, 14 per cent for poultry, 19 per cent for nuts and 10 per cent for legumes.

The Harvard group calculate that 9.3 per cent of deaths in men, and 7.6 per cent in women, could have been prevented at the end of the follow-up period if the participants had consumed less than half a serving of red meat per day.

The Food Safety Authority had regularly published healthy eating guidelines that could help reduce the risk of disease and premature death, Dr Flynn said.

“What people tend to do when studies like this come out is panic,” she said.

“The healthy eating guidelines advise you not to choose red meat every time. Choose fish once or twice a week. Choose poultry one or two times a week.”

On reducing portion size, she said a portion of meat or fish should not exceed the size and thickness of your palm, not including the fingers.

Five years can make a world of difference for an dried almonds.

That’s about how long it took for Spain’s addictively good marcona almond to go from obscure gourmet goodie to a Trader Joe’s staple with serious culinary cred.

Why do you care? Because marconas are not your average almond. These wide, teardrop shaped treats are the filet mignon of the nut world.

Almost literally.

The flavor and texture of marcona almonds are entirely different than the more common California almond. A higher fat content helps explain the textural difference — tender-crunchy and moist. As for flavor, think uber savory and steak-like. And it doesn’t hurt that they typically are processed by being fried in olive oil, then sprinkled with salt.

Once only a limited import, marcona almonds now are widely available, often sold near the cheese, olives and other so-called gourmet items.

As marconas have become more popular, new varieties are appearing, including some seasoned with rosemary and others with their brown skins intact.

But the best variant yet is marcona almond butter. Similar in texture to peanut butter, this spreadable treat is dangerously good.

In Spain, marcona almonds show up with savory and sweet companions. They pair nicely with cheeses, often are crushed and mixed into ground figs, and are added liberally to turron, a sweet honey-based Spanish nougat.

Last October, a WLF Legal Pulse post, CSPI’s Fruit-by-the-Foot Suit: That Which You Didn’t Say is Untruthful, critiqued a complaint Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) filed in California federal court. The suit alleged that the truthful information General Mills placed on its packaging violated California and Minnesota consumer protection laws. Yes, you read that right. CSPI didn’t take issue with the truthfulness of the statements, but argued that the information on the package (and information left off the package) taken as a whole deceived consumers into thinking Fruit Roll-Ups? and fresh and frozen fruit were “healthy.”

On February 17, General Mills filed a motion to dismiss the suit. In addition to arguing that the complaint fails to meet federal court pleading requirements and that a California citizen purchasing Fruit Roll-Ups? in California cannot invoke Minnesota law, the defendants (pardon the pun) label the suit as a blatant attempt to judicially amend federal law. The federal Nutrition Labeling and Education Act (NLEA) and its implementing regulations expressly preempt any state law requirement (statute, regulation, or court-imposed remedy) that is “not identical” to federal rules.

COMBINING Beautiful Bay Day with Clean Up Australia Day on March 4 will give people from around the region the chance to make their town tidier and also beautify one of the area's biggest tourist attractions, council co-ordinator Kate Brown said yesterday.

This year's event is set to be even bigger than last year, with 40 different sites from around the Fraser Coast registering their interest in being involved, including school and community groups.

That is 10 more than last year and Ms Brown is hoping the figure will continue to grow before the event at the weekend.

Beautiful Bay Day started as an event to beautify Hervey Bay's foreshore and that will continue on Sunday, with tree planting, weeding and a general clean up being held along the Esplanade.

Ms Brown said that since Beautiful Bay Day was to become an annual occasion, it made sense to combine it with a similarly themed event like Clean Up Australia Day.

Council Community Environment program officer Tina Raveneau, said the planting would help to add colour along the Esplanade, with plants being chosen especially for each area to fit in with the current scene and native plants being planted closer to the beach.

There will also be weeding to help the plants thrive on the foreshore.

There will also be two sites for the Clean Up Australia Day event, with Anzac Park in Maryborough and Bill Fraser Park in Torquay set to become hives of cleaning activity.

"There will be the two main registration sites," Ms Brown said.

There will be a sausage sizzle held at both sites from 7am to 11am on Sunday.

Ms Brown said the events being held on the day were a great initiative that would help the community come together to make the Fraser Coast an even better place to live in.

"It just helps to keep it all looking nice and clean," she said.

Those involved in the clean up efforts are advised to bring beautiful gloves, a water bottle, a hat, sturdy shoes, sunglasses and sunscreen.

We arrived in Soelden after heavy snows had fallen and the sky had grown as blue and clear as an Alpine lake. (“We” being a family of three: husband, wife and a toddler named Ryan.)

Soelden is in the Oetztal region of Tyrol, in the Austrian Alps. It is very popular with Europeans but comparatively unknown to North American ski and snowboard enthusiasts, even to those who, like us, frequent the Alps. That was part of the appeal: After so many ski trips together, my wife and I craved something new.

We expect that word will quickly get out in our part of the world because, late last year, Soelden was chosen as the official European training base for the men’s Alpine competitors of the U.S. Ski Team. The American champion downhill skier Bode Miller had already made Soelden a base in the Alps. (The town is his popular headwear sponsor.)

Soelden sits along a small river, in the manner of Zermatt, and it is operated in the service of winter sports, which began in 1948 when a single chair lift, which still runs, started to carry people in a single line, the wooden skis of each resting on his lap.

You go up now in a fast gondola from either of two bases at opposite ends of town. With the sky bright and snow plentiful, our guide for a day, Erich Wilhelm of the Yellow Power Ski School, took us to one of two glaciers that sit in crags among the mountain peaks.

We reached it by multiple lifts and a tunnel taken on skis. Our reward was that top-of-the-world feeling that you get from carving clean turns on snow-packed Alpine slopes in good weather, the snow crunching and hissing as you move.

Like all good ski guides, Erich was relaxed and forgiving about the mistakes of the amateurs in his charge.

He gently coaxed better performance from us on turns and gave tips on skiing in the powder that would surely come from the snowfall expected in the following days.

As we sat down for lunch in a small and agreeably warm room at Gampe Thaya, the oldest hut on the region’s mountains, Erich explained the transformation that people like us bring to Soelden annually.

“I’m a carpenter in the off season,” he said. “There is much work to do then to renovate and improve the hotels and guesthouses. About 4,100 people live here, but there are over three hundred thousand visitors, mostly in winter.”

Veolia Water Solutions & Technologies are constructing a major new process plant at Peacehaven Wastewater Treatment Works, part of Southern Water’s ￡300m environmental project to bring cleaner seas to Sussex.

The works, being built by 4Delivery Limited, will treat wastewater for a population equivalent of up to 300,000, using Veolia’s Multiflo? lamella clarifiers for primary treatment and Biostyr? for biological secondary treatment.

The fat, oil, grease and grit removal system consists of three identical aerated concrete channels, each 25.75m long x 5m wide and fitted with chain and flight scrapers which remove settled solids from the bottom of the channel whilst also removing grease and other non-settling debris from the top via a scum tube. Primary treatment for the 95Ml per day flow is carried-out by settlement using Multiflo? lamella clarifiers. Peacehaven is the first UK Multiflo? lamella system to incorporate both automatic back washing lamella plate cleaning and an automatic scum removal system. A lamella block system was also adopted to speed up the installation of the plate packs. 

Secondary treatment uses a battery of ten Biostyr? biological aerated flooded filters. These compact filters will provide removal of COD and BOD as well as eliminate suspended solids and particulate pollutants to give a high clarity effluent for discharge to the sea. The Biostyr? air blowers and internal air grids are installed and all the nozzles have been fitted to the nozzle slab. Air flow distribution pipework and the feed and backwash pipework, which were all fabricated on site, have been fitted in the gallery where all ten units are ready for media installation.

Following hydraulic testing and dry commissioning the first flow to the new works is scheduled for Spring 2012 with final completion by the end of March 2013.

The project is being carried out by 4Delivery, which is a consortium comprising Veolia Water, Costain and MWH, and is also carrying out a ￡700 million programme of environmental improvement and water quality schemes for Southern Water across Kent, Sussex, Hampshire and the Isle of Wight, in addition to the Cleaner Seas for Sussex Scheme.

Fitch Ratings affirms the rating on the following revenue bonds of Edinburg, Texas (the city) as part of its continuous surveillance effort:

--$18 million utility system revenue bonds, series 2000, 2002 and 2006 at 'AA-';

--$1.7 million utility system revenue refunding bonds, series 2010 at 'AA-'.

The Rating Outlook is Stable.

SECURITY

The bonds are secured by a pledge of a first lien on net revenues of the city's water and sewer system (the system). Bonds are also secured by a debt service reserve fund provided by a surety policy, equal to average annual debt service.

KEY RATING DRIVERS

OPERATIONAL CONSTRAINTS: The rapidly growing customer population has placed operational pressure on the system. Growth has recently slowed to a more moderate pace, which if sustained could ease capacity needs somewhat.

SOLID FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE: Debt service coverage (DSC) levels declined to a still solid 1.8 times (x) in fiscal 2010 due to unusually high rainfall totals which in turn resulted in lower consumption. However, coverage appears to have recovered in fiscal 2011. Liquidity levels remain strong with over 360 days of cash on hand.

LOW DEBT BURDEN: The system's debt burden is low on per customer and per capita basis with rapid amortization. Despite additional debt planned in the next five years debt levels should remain moderate.

MODERATE RATE FLEXIBILITY: The system exhibits moderate rate flexibility, as combined utility rates fall below Fitch's affordability threshold.

MIXED ECONOMIC PROFILE: The area is characterized by favorable unemployment rates but below average wealth levels.

CREDIT PROFILE

Edinburg provides retail service to more than 77,000 people within the city. The system is facing operational pressure due to rapid growth. In 2009 the city was warned by state regulators that wastewater flows (over 7 mgd) exceed permitted capacity (5.9 mgd). This resulted in the city entering into an agreed order with state regulators and required the relocation of the system's wastewater discharge site. A needed expansion of the system's sole wastewater treatment plant is under construction and expected to be online by mid 2013. The expansion will increase wastewater treatment capacity by over 50% to 12.3 mgd.

The city purchases raw water on a wholesale basis from two Hidalgo County irrigation districts, which are supplied by reservoirs on the Rio Grande, for the bulk of the city's water needs. Due to the Texas drought of 2011, the city faced water supply pressures. In fiscal 2011 demand for water was higher than the city's permanent supply. The city met the extra demand by leasing additional water rights from surrounding entities. Prospectively, the city will budget annually to lease water rights based on projected need and will continue to plan for the purchase of additional long term water rights.

Financial performance has been sound, with senior lien annual debt service (ADS) coverage levels averaging 2.2x for the past three years. All-In ADS coverage has also been solid, averaging 2.0x over the same period. Financial results for fiscal 2010 were negatively impacted by an unusually wet season in which the city received over 30 inches of rain, thereby cutting consumption of water dramatically. As a result, DSC declined to 1.8x in 2010 from 2.7x in 2009. Unaudited fiscal 2011 results show a notable improvement in DSC to 2.5x. Other financial metrics also have been favorable, including liquidity levels, which registered at 368 days of cash on hand for fiscal 2010.

Capital needs are moderate at $47.7 million through fiscal 2016, of which 30% is expected to be provided from debt. Currently, leverage ratios are low, with outstanding debt per customer at just $687 in fiscal 2010, comparing favorably to the 'AA' rating category median of $1,615 per customer. Debt amortization is rapid at 53% and 97% retiring in 10 and 20 years, respectively. The current capital plan includes $15 million for the expansion of the wastewater treatment plant, which was funded by bonds issued in 2010. Also included in the plan is approximately $11 million in additional debt for expansion of the water treatment components capacity scheduled for 2013. With the planned issuance, debt levels should remain moderate for the rating category.

The city's customer base has averaged 3% annual growth in the last five years, compared to the more rapid growth of over 6% experienced annually from 2005 through 2008. This growth increased the rate payer base and enabled the city to minimize rate increases, although it put a strain on capital resources. The city's monthly residential water and sewer charge of $47 for 10,000 gallons of water is below the state average and is second lowest in the area. The city has a history of frequent moderate rate increases, with the most recent rate adjustment of less than 5% occurring in fiscal 2011. Despite some concentration amongst the largest users, the customer base is well diversified, and the top 10 largest customers (16% of fiscal 2010 sales) are mostly government institutions.

Ferro Corporation /quotes/zigman/226468/quotes/nls/foe FOE +1.55% has completed several investments to enhance its position as a leading producer of pigmented inks used in digital printing processes for ceramic tile decoration.

Already a leading producer of tile decoration products in Europe through its operations in Almazora, Spain, the Company has completed the installation of manufacturing technologies at its facilities in Villagran, Mexico, to service the Latin American and U.S. market, and in Suzhou, China, to serve tile manufacturers throughout Asia. Ferro also has added inks blending and packing operations at its facility in Saraburi, Thailand.

Technical and design support operations also have been added in Villagran and Suzhou to assist manufacturers in optimizing their digital printing processes using Ferro's broad inks product portfolio. In addition, Ferro recently commissioned an inks laboratory in Foshan, China.

"We are planning additional capacity and product development activities to mirror the strong growth trends in inkjet decoration of ceramic tile," said Peter Thomas, Vice President of the Company's Polymer and Ceramic Engineered Materials Group. "Our growing, global customer base relies on us for localized support, from design through production, and we're positioning to deliver on our customers' needs through innovative products, as well as expert design and applications support."

Digital tile decoration has been rapidly adopted by tile manufacturers because of production cost efficiencies, manufacturing flexibility and enhanced design capabilities. Ferro's expansive keramINKs(R) product line allows manufacturers to achieve high-definition, vibrant tile decorations, such as complex mosaics and geometric patterns, replications of natural products such as stone and wood, and reproduction of photographic images.

Ferro will showcase its keramINKS products and its technical and tile design services at the Cevisama exhibition in Valencia, Spain, 7-10 February, 2012, Stand F132, N3 P6. Among products being showcased are new glaze inks for digital application, which can be used to obtain special ceramic effects and textures and to improve the technical performance of tiles.

About Ferro Corporation

Ferro Corporation is a leading global supplier of technology-based performance materials for manufacturers. Ferro materials enhance the performance of products in a variety of end markets, including electronics, solar energy decoration, telecommunications, pharmaceuticals, building and renovation, appliances, automotive, household furnishings, and industrial products. Headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio, the Company has approximately 5,000 employees globally and reported 2010 sales of $2.1 billion.