The australian University of Adelaide has been awarded $2.6 million (roughly 1.9 million USD) in federal funding to establish the Australian Research Council (ARC) Research Hub for Graphene Enabled Industry Transformation.

The new national research hub will develop advanced materials, provide fit-for-purpose products and innovative solutions to a range of industries, such as advanced manufacturing, mining and minerals technology and services, medical technologies and pharmaceuticals, and defence.

The University of NSW has signed a deal with Hangzhou ­Cables, a subsidiary of Chinese manufacturing giant FCJ, to develop more efficient graphene-based cables. The goal is a 5% boost in electricity transmission in China, which would equal an annual saving of 275 terawatt hours.

The $20 million (almost 15 million USD) contract will see the UNSW team spend the next year developing a 10m prototype graphene cable. The scientists will then work with their Chinese partner to develop a 1km-long version in China.

Anson Resources recently announced signing an MOU with China’s Shanxi Jianbang Group, to collaborate on steps towards commercialization of graphite and graphene products from Anson’s graphite.

The Shanxi Jianbang Group intends to conduct test work to assess the suitability of the Anson's graphene for use in Shanxi Jianbang’s rebar products; Testing will also be conducted to assess Anson’s graphite as a re-carburiser in its cast iron products and refractory materials.

Graphene 3D Lab (G3L) announced its financial results for Q1 2016. Revenues increased to $265,271 - up 354% from last quarter's revenues of $58,369. This quarter is the first one in which the company incorporates its acquired subsidiary Graphene Labs, so this increase in revenue is probably mostly due to the revenues of Graphene Labs (which were only partially recognized, as the merger finalized in mid December).

Last month G3L announced that it moves forward with the next task of its research, development and royalty agreement with a Fortune 500 listed manufacturer. G3L has successfully concluded the initial task of the Agreement. Last month G3L also announced the commencement of a new production reactor that results in a 5-fold increase of production capabilities.

Directa Plus is going to float on London's AIM market. The group did not provide any details on how many shares it will issue, the price of those shares or its anticipated market capitalization upon admission.

Directa's CEO stated that "Having overcome an important barrier to commercialization - the ability to produce consistent high quality graphene-based products on a large scale, cost effectively - our focus is on satisfying the growing demand from potential customers in our core sectors and to partner with them to create new products that are significantly enhanced,".

Hexagon Resources, in collaboration with the University of Adelaide, has announced a breakthrough in producing graphene using a flake graphite sample from its McIntosh project. Results from this study indicate that Hexagon’s graphite has potential to be used for graphene production.

These graphene test work results will be sent to commercial graphene groups. Company representatives stated that "The key driver will be the capacity to produce commercial quantities of graphene. These exceptional test work results achieved from a bulk scale representative sample from McIntosh gives Hexagon that capacity.

The Tata Group's Tata Steel is apparently planning to start manufacturing graphene, moving away from a steel company to a materials production company.

Tata has been active in the field of graphene, after signing a collaboration agreement with Talga to explore opportunities in graphene supply, processing and applications. Tata also signed a strategic partnership with the UK's Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) to co-develop graphene-coated steel and other innovations.

Innova Research recently published a survey that states that the Chinese graphene market revenue for 2015 was estimated at $6.1 million, a 335.7% jump from $1.4 million for 2014.

The survey also specifies that significant progress has been made on the adoption of graphene in a number of industrial applications in 2015, namely touch screens, anti-corrosive coating, and lithium-ion batteries (LIBs). These adoptions are the primary reasons for the soaring Chinese graphene market revenue in 2015.

China-based e-paper developer Guangzou OED Technologies announced that it has developed a new graphene e-paper technology. The company aims to start producing these new screens within a year.

The company says that the new graphene-based paper is brighter and more flexible. The graphene paper is also said to have "more intensity", although it's unclear exactly what this means. It's also not clear what the role of the graphene in this new screen is, but it's likely used as a conductor material in the display's touch panel. It is also possible that the display itself uses graphene electrodes, but this technology is far less mature.