Displaying items by tag: US

US: Dan Harrington has been appointed as the head of Cementir Holding for its North America region. He will lead Cementir's newly formed Region North America, which comprised of the North American cement production and distribution operations of Lehigh White Cement and the group's existing US concrete products company, Vianini Pipe.

Harrington was previously the president and chief executive officer of Lehigh Hanson North America and he has served as the chairman of the Portland Cement Association (PCA). He holds a science degree from Pennsylvania State University, an MBA from Fairleigh Dickinson University and an MA and PhD in executive management from Claremont Graduate University.

US: A US$2.3m air pollution settlement in 2006 from the Holcim US Midlothian cement plant in Texas has ended. The Sue Pope Pollution Reduction Fund has made its last donation of about US$75,000 to the Midlothian school district’s special needs programs, according to the Dallas Morning News newspaper. The final payment came from interest remaining from the original settlement between Holcim US, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Downwinders at Risk environmental group. As part of the deal Downwinders at Risk agreed to stop fighting Holcim’s plans to expand cement production at the site in return for US$2.25m funding towards local projects and an understanding that the cement plant would upgrade its emission filters.

US: Plibrico has appointed Norm Phelps as its new Vice President of Sales. Phelps will be responsible for aligning sales strategy and objectives with Plibrico's long term vision and corporate goals. He will be based in Atlanta, Georgia and will report to Plibrico president and chief executive officer Brad Taylor.

Phelps has worked in the refractory industry for 18 years, holding sales and marketing positions at Vesuvius and Zampell in the US. Later he moved to Europe to join Calderys as Global Market Manager responsible for the aluminum and boiler segments in 2011. In 2014, he took on the role of Business Development Manager, leading the Calderys expansion into North America, including the purchase and integration of Spar and the creation of Calderys USA. Most recently, he served as General Manager for Calderys North America.

Phelps holds a degree in Materials Science and Engineering from Pennsylvania State University and is a graduate of the Executive Development Program at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.

US: The Portland Cement Association (PCA) predicts growth of 2.8% in cement consumption in 2018 and 2019 in its Spring Forecast. Growth is then expected to climb to 4% in 2020 as impacts from potential federal infrastructure spending are likely to take effect. The analysis estimates cement consumption at 99.3Mt in 2018, 102.1Mt in 2019 and 106Mt in 2020.

Ed Sullivan, PCA senior vice president and chief economist, has attributed the forecast growth to a variety of positive economic factors including a strong economy, job market and anticipated increase in infrastructure spending. He said that in combination these factors, “suggest a modest acceleration in real GDP, construction markets and cement consumptions.”

However, the PCA projects that ‘robust’ infrastructure spending isn’t likely to occur until the fourth quarter of 2019, given the key steps that must occur, including passage of an infrastructure bill, federal and state paperwork, bid letting and review and finally contract awards leading to construction.

US: Italy’s Cementir Holding has completed its acquisition of an additional 38.75% of Lehigh White Cement. It paid US$107m for the purchase. Following the deal Cementir holds a 63.25% stake in Lehigh White Cement and Cemex holds the remaining 36.75%. Cementir said that the acquisition would allow it to directly manage assets in the US in the core white cement business.

US: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has awarded CalPortland the 2018 Energy Star Partner of the Year Sustained Excellence Award for continued leadership and superior contributions to Energy Star. CalPortland’s accomplishments will be recognized by the EPA and the Department of Energy at a ceremony in Washington, DC on 20 April 2018.

Its key accomplishments in 2017 include: promoting energy management across the US cement industry through the chief executive officer’s leadership of a trade association and an offer of the company’s assistance to others in the industry; earning the EPA’s Energy Star plant certification for two cement plants where one was recently purchased and required extensive upgrades and energy improvements to qualify in less than two years; and continuing to invest in operations through new plant hardware such as a high efficiency separator for a mill, efficient new equipment to improve raw feed processing, and computational fluid dynamic software to better manage process air and material flows. The company also developed innovative methods for training employees and motivating them to manage energy in their work. In its outreach work it informed employees and over 106,000 community members and schools, competitors and others about energy management and the Energy Star program.

US: HarbisonWalker International has obtained ISO 9001:2015 certification for its Thomasville monolithic and precast refractory plant in Georgia and its South Shore refractory brick plant in Kansas. The refractory manufacturer now plans to achieve the new ISO standard at the rest of its plants by the end of 2018.

Greece: Titan Group’s turnover fell slightly to Euro1.51bn in 2017. Bad weather, the devaluation of the Egyptian Pound and weakening of the US Dollar affected its operating results despite a buoyant US market. Its earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBTIDA) fell by 1.9% year-on-year to Euro273m in 2017 from Euro279m in 2016. Its net profit fell by 66.5% to Euro42.7m from Euro127m.

The cement producer’s turnover grew by 9.9% to Euro873m in the US despite Hurricane Irma in September 2017 and other poor weather effects. In Greece it reported that build activity weakened further in 2017. It said that although export volumes remained high, its profit margins were hit by the lowering value of the US Dollar and increased fuel prices. Overall, the turnover of its Greece and Western Europe region fell by 4.8% to Euro249m. In Southeastern Europe turnover rose by 10.5% to Euro226m due to increased demand for building materials. Turnover in the Eastern Mediterranean region fell by 36.5% to Euro158m due to negative currency effects in Egypt and a fall in cement demand.

US: Cemex has settled a lawsuit that accused it of discharging polluted storm water runoff from its West Sacramento cement terminal in California into the Sacramento River. The cement producer has agreed to implement an infiltration basin to treat runoff from its unit, according to the Sacramento Business Journal newspaper. It will also make a donation of US$40,000 in grants to environmental projects in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta and pay the legal fees of the plaintiff, the California Sportfishing Protection Alliance. The alliance had originally sought US$88m from Cemex.

US: Mississippi Lime Company has upgraded its Wierton plant in West Virginia to produce high reactivity hydrated lime (HRH). The product is used in the Dry Sorbent Injection industry for control of acidic gases at coal-fired boilers and other industrial processes that generate acidic gases as by-products. Mississippi Lime also produces HRH at its plants in Ste Genevieve in Missouri, Verona in Kentucky and Chester in South Carolina.