Displaying items by tag: HeidelbergCement
Lehigh Hanson to acquire Corliss Resources
10 January 2022US: Lehigh Hanson has finalised arrangements for its acquisition of ready-mixed concrete and aggregates producer Corliss Resources. The company sold 300,000m3 of ready-mixed concrete and 2Mt of of aggregates in 2021. Its operations cover the Greater Seattle, Washington, area.
Dominik von Achten, chair of Lehigh Hanson’s parent company, Germany-based HeidelbergCement, said “The acquisition of the Corliss operations is a great strategic fit with our already strong presence in cement, aggregates and ready-mixed concrete in the Pacific Northwest. The transaction significantly enhances our vertically integrated position in one of the fastest growing US markets. We welcome the 230 Corliss employees to the HeidelbergCement family and look forward to accelerating their growth together."
MAN Energy Solutions to supply compressor system for Norcem carbon capture and storage unit
29 December 2021Norway: Germany-based MAN Energy is supplying a compressor system for a carbon capture and storage (CCS) unit being built at Norcem’s Brevik cement plant. The scope of supply includes an RG 63-7 type electrically-powered compressor train. The steam generators cool the CO2 mixture between the compressor stages and generate steam that is in turn used for capture. The project will be the first to use the ‘Carbon Capture Heat Recovery’ technology (CCWHR) developed by MAN and Aker Carbon Capture. This new process allows the heat emerging from the compressor system to be recovered and used as steam to meet approximately one third of the total heat demand from the Aker Carbon Capture plant. Consequently, MAN says that the system solution demands less energy compared with conventional carbon-capture technologies.
Alexander Sobolyev, Head of Standardisation & Solutions at MAN Energy Solutions, said: "As part of the Norcem project, the digital-twin-based engineering approach of MAN Energy Solutions has led to concrete optimisations. The dynamic process simulation showed that originally planned system components, including heating, valves and additional pipes for safe plant operation, were not required. The time taken for a cold start of the plant can thus be reduced from around 12 hours to 20 minutes – an important characteristic as quick-start capability is always a central criterion for renewable energies."
ThyssenKrupp to upgrade Ciments Calcia’s Airvault cement plant
07 December 2021France: Germany-based ThyssenKrupp has won a contract for the installation of a new 4000t/day clinker line at Ciments Calcia’s Airvault cement plant in Poitou-Charentes. The supplier expects the new line to double the plant’s clinker capacity while also reducing its CO2 emissions. It is intended to replace the two existing lines at the site.
ThyssenKrupp will supply a 1200t/hr double-shaft hammer crusher, a longitudinal blending bed, a 370t/hr Quadropol QMR² 45/23 type vertical roller mill and a 10,000t tangential blending silo to process raw materials for the line. A single-string, five-stage Dopol type cyclone preheater with integral calciner will be supplied that is suitable to use with alternative fuels, with the possibility of conversion to oxyfuel in future. ThyssenKrupp plans to preassemble the preheater, reducing anticipated construction time ‘by several months.’ The plant also includes a Polytrack clinker cooler, a solid recovered fuel (SRF) preparation line and dedusting systems. Commissioning is scheduled for mid-2024.
No value for the project has been disclosed by Ciments Calcia or ThyssenKrupp. However, Ciments Calcia previously announced a proposed investment of Euro300m in January 2021.
Belgium: Environmental disclosure organisation CDP has listed Cemex, HeidelbergCement and Holcim among 200 companies on its 2021 Climate Change A List for actions to mitigate their CO2 emissions. Holcim’s Indian subsidiaries ACC and Ambuja Cements also received A ratings. Both ACC and Ambuja appeared on CDP’s 2021 Water Security A List, while Holcim scored an A-.
Chief executive officer Jan Jenisch said “Building on the launch of our nature-positive strategy this year, we set new and ambitious goals to achieve water security across our operations worldwide, with our colleagues from Ambuja in India leading the way. CDP’s rankings this year are a testimony to the tremendous work carried out by our 70,000 people around the world and a great encouragement for all of us to keep raising the bar.”
Diamond Cement Group to acquire HeidelbergCement's Sierra Leone Cement Corporation stake
01 December 2021Sierra Leone: HeidelbergCement has agreed to sell its 50% stake in Sierra Leone Cement Corporation to Diamond Cement Group. Sierra Leone Cement Corporation's assets consist of the 500,000t/yr Freetown grinding plant. HeidelbergCement said that its regional activity will now focus on its key markets of Benin, Burkino Faso, the Gambia, Ghana, Liberia and Togo.
Update on Holcim, November 2021
24 November 2021Holcim’s investors’ event last week confirmed the changes the company has been making to its sales mix. At its Capital Markets Day it revealed its commitment to expand the net sales of its Solutions & Products division to 30% of the group total by 2025. This division covers products such as roofing, mortar, precast concrete and asphalt. At the same time it is reducing the proportion of sales from its cement division. Graph 1, below, from a presentation given by chief executive officer Jans Jenisch, hints at what group may be aiming for: roughly a third of its sales from cement; a third from aggregates and ready mixed concrete; and a third from the Solutions & Products division in 2025.
Graph 1: Forecast growth of sales by Holcim’s Solutions & Products division to 2025. Source: Holcim Capital Markets Day 2021 presentations on website.
To give readers an idea of the scale of change in Holcim’s cement business since the merger with Lafarge in 2015, just look at the figures. In 2015 LafargeHolcim sold 256Mt of cement and it had a cement production capacity of 374Mt/yr. In 2020 it sold 190Mt of cement and it had a cement production capacity of 288Mt/yr. However, the ratio of sales from cement has remained consistent at just below 60%.
This all changed in January 2021 when Holcim announced it was buying roofing and building envelope producer Firestone Building Products for US$3.4bn. Instead of trimming down the business to make synergistic changes as it had been for the previous five years the group significantly changed its sales mix. As noted in ‘2021 in Cement’ in the December 2021 issue of Global Cement Magazine, Holcim remains the world’s largest non-Chinese cement producer. Yet its acquisitions in 2021 have consisted of ready-mixed concrete and aggregate companies in mature markets, and Firestone. Its divestments have been cement subsidiaries. Since 2019, and including the agreed Brazilian sale, planned to complete in 2022, the group has generated US$4.1bn in these divestments. Almost as if to reinforce this change of direction the group also switched its name to Holcim in May 2021.
Aside from the focus on expanding the scope of the Solutions & Products division over the next few years, the group said at its recent investors’ event that it wants to lead in sustainability and innovation. It also reminded investors that growth remains in building materials markets. Once Jenisch had established the potential the construction market has in the coming years it was all about so-called ‘green’ growth. On the sustainability side this includes promoting the group’s Science Based Targets initiative net-zero targets by 2050, pushing sales of its low-carbon concrete products and working on increasing the uptake of construction and demolition waste in Europe. The group has a target of reaching 25% or higher for sales of its ECOPact ready-mixed concrete product by 2025. Holcim reported Scope 1 CEM specific CO2 net emissions of 555kgCO2/t in 2020 and it has target of 475kgCO2/t by 2030. This is broadly in line with its peers. Cemex has also committed to 475kgCO2/t or lower and HeidelbergCement is currently aiming for 500kgCO2/t or lower by 2030.
Simultaneously promoting sustainability and growth in products that release CO2 during their manufacture is quite the balancing act for all cement producers. The way Holcim appears to be squaring this particular circle is by heading elsewhere. Back in January 2021 we asked whether Holcim would leave it with the Firestone acquisition or go further. This question has now been answered with Holcim’s intent to increase the share of its Solutions & Products to 30% by 2025. Other large cement producers don’t seem to be diversifying their sales mix at the same speed but similar strategic thinking along supply chains can be seen from the proposed buyer of LafargeHolcim Brazil, Companhia Siderúrgica Nacional (CSN) Cimentos. CSN is a steel manufacturer and buying cement assets gives it somewhere to use its slag. Fittingly, Holcim’s investors’ day ended with a night out at a museum holding an exhibition on the history of concrete. For now at least concrete looks set to remain a key part of the business.
Sweden: The government has extended Cementa’s permit to continue mining limestone at the quarries supporting its Slite cement plant for just over one year until the end of December 2022. The cement producer said that it would restart its mining activity immediately. However, it warned that the decision could still be appealed and work stopped whilst the case was pending. The subsidiary of Germany-based HeidelbergCement also refused to rule out shortages of cement in the future due to general uncertainty with the situation. Cementa has now started applying for a three to four year mining permit at the site.
Votorantim Cimentos to acquire FYM’s Southern Spain business
11 November 2021Spain: FYM has agreed to sell its Southern Spain business to Brazil-based Votorantim Cimentos. The assets consist of the 1.6Mt/yr Málaga cement plant and 11 ready-mixed concrete plants and aggregates assets in Andalusia. Parent company HeidelbergCement said that the divestments accord with it Beyond 2020 strategic vision. FYM retains its Northern Spain cluster in the Basque Country, Cantabria, La Rioja and Navarra, which it operates under the Cementos Rezola brand.
Iceland: Sementsverksmidjan has decided to sell cement from competitor Aalborg Portland Islandi due to a cement shortage in the country. It said it wants to help the local supply situation after seeking guidance from the local competition authority. Rival company Steinsteypan has made a formal complaint to the regulator. Sementsverksmidjan, a cement importing subsidiary of HeildebergCement, says that it also sold cement supplied by competitors earlier in the year.
Germany: HeidelbergCement recorded consolidated sales of Euro14bn in the first nine months of 2021, up by 7% year-on-year from Euro13.1bn in the corresponding period of 2020. Revenues rose in all regions, except for North America, where they fell by 0.1% to Euro3.51bn. The company’s cement sales were 95.7Mt, up by 6% from 90.1Mt, while its ready-mixed concrete sales were 35.7Mm3, up by 4% from 34.4Mm3. Cement sales grew across every region, and recorded the sharpest increase in Western and Southern Europe, of 11% to 23Mt from 20.7Mt.
The group said that ‘significant’ energy cost inflation impacted upon results in the period. It launched a Euro500m cost mitigation programme and initiated the divestment of some Spanish assets and the acquisition of Tanga Cement in Tanzania.