Displaying items by tag: Cemex
Cemex to install supercritical CO2 waste heat recovery plant at Prachovice cement plant in the Czech Republic
09 June 2021Czech Republic: Mexico-based Cemex plans to install a 2MW waste heat recovery (WHR) plant using supercritical CO2 (sCO2) at its Prachovice cement plant. The unit is intended to provide up to 8% of the plant’s electricity requirements.
The producer is part of a consortium studying new sCO2 WHR systems. The EU Horizon 2020 Industrial Heat to Power fund awarded Euro14m in financial backing to the consortium. The project is intended to demonstrate a cheaper and more flexible method of waste heat valorisation compared to the steam or organic rankine cycle approaches conventionally used in WHR.
Plant director Karol Czubara said, “The new sCO2 technology has a smaller footprint and higher operational flexibility than conventional power plant cycles, which produce power from turbines using water or steam.”
Cemex UK and Engie renew electricity contract
03 June 2021UK: Cemex UK, part of Mexico-based Cemex, has renewed its 100% renewable electricity supply contract with France-based Engie until mid-2024. The supply will cover nearly 200 of its UK sites including its integrated cement plant at Rugby and its grinding plant at Tilbury.
Cemex’s Europe regional head of carbon, legacy landfill and special projects Martin Hills said, “Cemex has a dedicated Climate Action Plan for its global operations which outlines the company’s vision to advance towards a carbon-neutral economy and to address society’s increasing demands more efficiently. The use of renewable electricity at our sites plays an important part in this and we are pleased to have renewed our partnership with Engie for a further three years.
UK: Cemex UK has agreed to trial a new cyclist warning system produced by road safety specialist FHOSS. The supplier says that the system alerts truck drivers to cyclists in their left-hand side blind spot. For the trial, Cemex UK will install the system in a Rugby-based cement tanker, a London-based rigid tipper and six London-based mixers.
UK and France Supply Chain Director David Hart said, “This new safety technology from FHOSS supports our road safety strategy, which is all about helping save lives.” He added, “Operating large cement tanker and aggregate tipper fleets means we are always looking at innovative technology that will aid the driver and protect vulnerable road users.”
Spain: Turkey-based Çimsa Çimento intends to complete its acquisition of Cemex’s Buñol white cement plant in June 2021. Local government says that the purchase agreement has been in place since 2019 but has delayed by the international nature of the deal and competition concerns, according to Agencia EFE. Çimsa Çimento agreed to buy Cemex’s white cement business in Spain, including its Buñol plant, for around US$180m in March 2019. It was originally scheduled for completion in the second half of 2019.
Cemex España launches Vertua low-carbon cement
26 May 2021Spain: Cemex España, part of Mexico-based Cemex, has launched a new CEM-II grey cement with approximately 20% reduced-CO2 direct emissions as part of its Vertua low-carbon product range. The company says that the product provides early strength like a CEM-I cement. It says that this makes it highly suited to precast concrete and infrastructure applications. Cemex says that it will launch the product in other European markets in 2021.
Cemex is committed to 55% emissions reduction by 2030. It said that prior to this commitment it, “had already achieved a close to 35% emissions reduction by 2020.”
Mexico: Cemex says that it has supplied its low-CO2 Vertua concrete to 786 construction works in Mexico. The El Sol de San Luis newspaper has reported that the volume so far delivered totals 33,000m3. In late May 2021, 398 further projects have placed orders for future deliveries.
Mexico: Cemex has partnered with UK-based oil company BP to accelerate the progress of its ambition for net-zero CO2 concrete by 2050. The partners have signed a memorandum of understanding to develop cement production and transport decarbonisation solutions. Such solutions include the transition to reduced-emissions power and vehicles, energy efficiency-improvements, carbon capture and storage (CCS) and carbon offsetting. In addition, the companies will collaborate on urbanisation solutions to decarbonise cities.
Sustainability, commercial, and operations development executive vice president Juan Romero said “Concrete plays an integral role in society, and there are no substitutes for its key attribute – strength and resilience. We believe it will continue to have a critical role in a low carbon economy, and the challenge for the industry is to find solutions to the manufacturing process emissions.” He added “This initiative with BP is another example of the work we are doing with partners across industries, academia, and startups to tap into the latest innovation and disruptive technology to achieve our ambition of delivering net-zero CO2 concrete globally to all of our customers.”
Carbon Clean partners with BayoTech for carbon capture and storage from hydrogen production
06 May 2021North America: UK-based Carbon Clean has signed a memorandum of understanding with US-based onsite hydrogen provider BayoTech. Under the agreement, the carbon capture and storage (CCS) specialist will install a CCS system at a BayoTech hydrogen plant in North America, which is expected to be operational by the end of 2022.
The two companies have agreed on a roadmap for the technology integration of a carbon capture process on their hydrogen generating units. The demonstration facility will include a BayoTech H2-1000 generating unit and Carbon Clean’s carbon capture technology. This partnership is intended to enable process optimisation to decrease the cost for small scale hydrogen and CO2 production.
Carbon Clean was announced in April 2021 as the technology provider for a CO2 capture demonstration project by Taiheiyo Cement in Japan. It is also working on projects with Cemex USA and LafargeHolcim España.
Cemex España reopens Lloseta cement plant
04 May 2021Spain: Cemex España reopened its Lloseta cement plant in Majorca in mid-April 2021. The unit will start by operating at a low production level until demand levels build, according to the El País newspaper. The plant intends to use alternative fuels such as biomass to reduce its CO2 emissions. It is also working with the Power to Green Hydrogen Mallorca project to use ‘green’ hydrogen created partly using solar energy. The plant now employs 20 people, compared to 96 before its closure in January 2019.
Cemex bounces back strongly in first quarter of 2021
30 April 2021Mexico: Cemex has reported that its sales in the first quarter of 2021 came to US$3.41bn, a 9% rise year-on-year compared to the first quarter of 2020. Its earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) improved by 28% to US$684m due to a boost in cement sales volumes and higher prices. Its net income for the first quarter was US$665m.
Cemex’s net sales in Mexico increased by 19% to US$822m, while operating cash flow increased 27% to US$299m. Its US operations reported net sales of US$1.0bn, an increase of 5% compared to the same period in 2020. Its operating cash flow in the US increased by 21% to US$196m.
In the group’s Europe, Middle East, Africa and Asia region, sales grew by 2% reaching US$1.09bn, while EBITDA was US$113m, 3% higher year-on-year. In Central, South America and the Caribbean, Cemex’s net sales came to US$424m, an increase of 15% compared to the same period in 2020.
Commenting on the results, Cemex’s chief executive officer Fernando González Olivieri said, "We achieved some important objectives and made significant progress towards our Operation Resilience goals, despite the persistent challenges that Covid has caused in many markets. The performance during the first quarter convinces me that we must be entering a period of sustainable growth for our main markets and it is likely that we will achieve two of our Operation Resilience goals well in advance of the 2023.