Displaying items by tag: Germany
Loesche to supply Lafarge Zement’s Mannersdorf cement plant with new raw materials grinding plant
18 February 2021Austria: Germany-based Loesche has received an order to supply a new raw materials grinding plant to LafargeHolcim subsidiary Lafarge Zement’s Mannersdorf cement plant. The plant will consist of a type LM 45.4 mill, a LSKS type classifier, a rotary feeder, a magnetic separator, a conveyor, a pair of Hurriclons, a mill fan and the ‘Digital Ready 4.0!’ digital package. Loseche’s subsidiaries Kingsblue and AixProcess are responsible for the digital products and A-Tec for the Hurriclons. Commissioning is scheduled by the end of February 2022.
Cement and ore head of sales Stefan Baaken said, "Many cement plants in Europe are facing similar challenges to our customer in Mannersdorf. For us as an original equipment manufacturer and also for the customer, the new grinding plant is an important signpost towards more energy-efficient and sustainable cement production.”
Claudius Peters reports sales drop in profitable 2020
18 February 2021Germany: Claudius Peters’ 2020 sales were Euro80.2m, down by 19% year-on-year from Euro98.8m in 2019. The company recorded a ‘small profit’ compared to a loss in 2019. It said that it started the year with a historically low order book. This was compounded by the effects of the coronavirus pandemic. Despite this, the supplier exceeded targets in China, Romania and the US.
The company said, “Order intake is currently looking much more promising than a year ago with several major projects, delayed due to the pandemic, coming into the decision phase during the first quarter of 2021. With an operational overhaul now well under way, the future for Claudius Peters is looking more positive.”
Jidong Group completes IKN cooler installation
15 February 2021China: Germany-based supplier IKN says that its customer Jidong Group has started up a 6200t/day-capacity cooler at its Lincheng cement plant in Hebei province. The supplier also said that installation of another cooler for the cement producer for a new production line was underway and scheduled for completion later in 2021.Jidong Group completes IKN cooler installation
Italy: Buzzi Unicem’s net sales remained stable at Euro3.22bn in 2020. Cement sales volumes grew slightly to 29.3Mt and ready-mixed concrete sales fell by 3.1% year-on-year to 11.7Mm3 from 12.1Mm3. The group attributed this to growth in the US and stable markets in Russia and Germany, compensating for weaker trends in Eastern Europe and Italy.
HeidelbergCement identifies five assets to divest
09 February 2021Germany: HeidelbergCement has completed a review of its business and identified five assets to sell. Reuters has reported that the company plans to sell the first of the five assets in early - mid-2021. Chairman Dominik von Achten said that the group would not exit ‘rock-solid’ markets like Northern Europe. He added that Indonesia, where it holds a 51% stake in Indocement, is an ‘important market.’
Von Achten said that the group has made a strong start to 2021, though ‘visibility on future prospects’ remains low. Its focus is on raising the productivity of underperforming assets or selling them. He added that a margin improvement plan in its underperforming North American region is on track.
Cemex to participate in LEILAC 2 decarbonisation project
05 February 2021Germany: Mexico-based Cemex has announced its planned participation in Australia-based Calix and others’ LEILAC (Low Emissions Intensity Lime And Cement) 2 carbon capture and storage (CCS) project at HeidelbergCement’s Hanover cement plant in Lower Saxony. Cemex previously assisted the LEILAC partnership at its first installation at HeidelbergCement’s cement plant in Lixhe in Belgium. The company said that it will contribute to the technology's development utilising its gasification process expertise, leveraging its skills in alternative fuel (AF) consumption and computational fluid dynamic simulation design.
Global head of research and development Davide Zampini said, "Our participation in the LEILAC 2 project is another example of our continued efforts to deliver net-zero CO2 concrete products globally by 2050. We are determined to have a significant direct involvement in research and development efforts pursuing high impact technologies in carbon capture, use, and storage."
HeidelbergCement’s Hanover cement plant to host LEILAC 2 carbon capture and storage installation
03 February 2021Germany: HeidelbergCement, Australia-based Calix and a European consortium have chosen the Hanover cement plant in Lower Saxony for the second phase of the LEILAC (Low Emissions Intensity Lime And Cement) carbon capture and storage (CCS) project. The installation will capture 20% of the plant’s capacity or 100,000t/yr of CO2. The project will take place in three phases, with design completed by June 2021, a complete demonstration installation before the end of 2023 and project completion in 2025. The group previously installed a 25,000t/yr LEILAC CCS system at its Lixhe plant near Liege in Belgium, which completed its test phase in 2020.
Chair Dominik von Achten said, "The LEILAC technology has the potential to enable the cement and lime industries to efficiently capture their process emissions on an industrial scale. The pilot project in Hanover is one of several promising CO2 capture technologies that we are currently testing at full speed within the HeidelbergCement Group."
Holcim Deutschland signs deal for 30,000MWh of offshore wind power for cement plants
02 February 2021Germany: Holcim Deutschland has signed a contract supplying its Lägerdorf and Höver integrated cement plants with 30,000MWh of offshore wind power. The electricity will be supplied by Ane Energy from a number of wind farms.
Górażdże Group buys energy from new solar power plant
02 February 2021Poland: HeildelbergCement subsidiary Górażdże Group has signed a 10-year corporate Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with BayRa to buy electricity from the forthcoming Witnica solar power plant. The project is the first subsidy-free PPA-backed large-scale solar park in Poland. Due for completion in the first half of 2021, the solar park will be the largest in Poland, with a capacity of 64.6MWp.
“Here is the ultimate proof that photovoltaic power can – without any subsidies - be competitive to conventional energies, even in a European country further north, which still generates 80% of its electricity from coal,” said Benedikt Ortmann, Global Director of Solar Projects at BayWa. Andrea Grotzke, Global Director of Energy Solutions at BayWa added, “This PPA serves as an economic structure for a fixed price hedge against rising electricity costs. Securing energy from solar not only reduces a company’s CO2 footprint. We are convinced that it also results in significant savings on the corporate energy bill.” BayWa has set the goal of constructing solar and wind projects in Poland with a total installed capacity of more than 1GW by the mid-2020s.
Beumer Group technical report updates on Covid-19-led changes
29 January 2021Germany: Beumer Group has published a technical report detailing changes to its operations due to the on-going Covid-19 outbreak. The group says that cement producers in some markets have changed to 50kg to 25kg bags. It also reported an increased rate of digitisation, less personal interaction with customers and an increased reliance on alternative fuels.
Cement head of sales Kay Wieczorek said, "Over past months, Covid-19 has forced us to cope with some changes. This will probably bother us even more in the colder months." He added, "Even if the Covid-19 figures are currently in progress, I am sure that BEUMER Group will come through this crisis pretty well; we just have to be well-prepared for it."