Articles on the cement industry from Global Cement

The past 12 months have been relatively quiet for the UK, as the nation entered a kind of post-Brexit-vote ‘phoney war,’ defined by the evolving consequences of the EU Referendum in June 2016. The economy has been stable, except for a sharp downturn in the months surrounding the referendum campaign itself, with reasonable prospects for modest growth in construction activity over the next couple of years. Here Edwin Trout of the Cement Industry Suppliers’ Forum looks back over the UK cement sector in the past year...

Increasing requirements relating to energy consumption, productivity, emissions and operational costs have led to a range of ways to optimise cement production. Here KIMA Echtzeitsysteme describes its KilnCooler system, which uses water to reduce the impact of hot spots on cement rotary kilns. When we speak about putting water on an, admittedly hot, rotary kiln, many people have concerns. These should be thrown overboard. A rainstorm will bring far more water onto the kiln than the system described below.

To tie in with the location of the 59th IEEE-IAS/PCA Cement Industry Technical Conference, Global Cement turns its attention to the cement sector of Canada, with a look at production trends, producers and the future.

A lot of time has been spent discussing the recent financial crisis and its impact on the cement sector. The pre-crisis strategic drivers and behaviour of the sector have changed significantly in the post-crisis era. How can cement businesses proceed from here...?

The Hanson Ketton cement plant in Rutland, UK is the company’s main supplier of cement into the busy London and South East region of the UK. The plant was constructed in 1928 and began production in 1929. It has since undergone a series of expansions and upgrades, most recently with the installation of a Polysius kiln (No. 8) in 1986. Despite having to mothball its Kiln 7 in 2008 due to market conditions, the company continues to invest heavily in the plant, with major environmental, efficiency and quarry projects ongoing and planned for the coming years.