Firing furnace sales have rebounded over the past year, says Minneapolis-based Despatch Industries.

The company’s recent sale of 10 firing furnaces to a producer of crystalline solar cells means that every all of the top-ten producers of those products have made purchases from Despatch. According to Ellen Cheng, general manager of the solar business for Despatch, these 10 manufacturers account for more than 40 percent of the worldwide production of crystalline solar cells. Cheng noted that the company holds a 75 percent market share of firing furnaces for the crystalline solar cell industry.