September 2024
UK: Cemex UK has commissioned a new 25kg plasticcement bag packing line at its Rugby cement plant in Warwickshire. The line will operate alongside an existing paper bagging line.
Cemex UK's packed cement sales manager Graeme Barton said “The packaging of our products is under routine scrutiny to meet customer demand and reduce waste. We have listened to what our merchants and customers need, and by investing in higher, more reliable capacity, Cemex can now meet the demand from the market in peak months with greater confidence. In turn, our stockists can meet their customers’ requirements by supplying what they need, in a format that works better for them. Our merchants and end-users are already seeing the immediate benefits of the new packaging by reporting fewer breakages in branch and onsite – which helps to cut down on waste."
India: Grasim Industries plans to establish a building materials sales platform with a total investment of US$250m over the five-year period to 2027. The Business Standard newspaper has reported that the new platform offers clear adjacencies with the cement and building materials producer's existing businesses and associate companies.
Parent company Aditya Birla's chair Kumar Mangalam Birla said "The building materials segment presents a huge scalable business opportunity with a proven path to profitability. With this foray, Grasim will be able to leverage the large business-to-business ecosystem within the Aditya Birla Group."
Ramayapatnam Port construction begins 20 July 2022
India: Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Yeduguri Sandinti Jagan Mohan Reddy has laid the foundation stone for the upcoming Ramayapatnam Port in his state's Nellore district. Phase 1 of the port's construction will cost US$467m and is due to conclude in July 2025. The Hans India newspaper has reported that the new 25Mt/yr-capacity port will ship cement and other goods from four berths. Phase 2 of construction will subsequently increase the number of berths to 15, with a total export capacity of 139Mt/yr.
Brazil: Sales of cement fell by 2.7% year-on-year to 30.8Mt in the first half of 2022 from 31.6Mt in the same period in 2021. Data from the Brazilian National Cement Industry Association (SNIC) shows that domestic sales and exports decreased by 2.7% to 30.6Mt and by 8.5% to 0.19Mt respectively.
Paulo Camillo Penna, president of SNIC said, “Throughout the year, with the successive worsening of the economic environment, high interest rates, inflation and commodity prices added to geopolitical instability, caused by the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, have impacted the economy and the entire Brazilian industrial sector. In view of this scenario, the cement industry's expectation of ensuring the gains obtained from 2019 to 2021 is heading towards an undesirable frustration.”
Peru: Cement production grew by 7% year-on-year to 6.4Mt in the first half of 2022 from 6Mt in the same period in 2020. Data from the Association of Cement Producers (ASOCEM) shows that cement exports rose by 15% to 98,000t and clinker exports fell by 8% to 289,000t. Cement and clinker imports fell by 69% to 150,000t and 40% to 549,000t respectively.
Aumund Fördertechnik to supply equipment for Bursa Çimento Fabrikasi’s Bursa cement plant upgrade 19 July 2022
Turkey: Germany-based Aumund Fördertechnik has secured a contract to supply equipment for a sustainability-enhancing upgrade to Bursa Çimento Fabrikasi’s Bursa cement plant. The order consists of six belt bucket elevators, four chain bucket elevators, seven pan conveyors, three arched plate conveyors, three spillage conveyors and three drag chain conveyors. The equipment will be involved in cement production from raw material preparation through to clinker grinding.
The Bursa cement plant currently operates using an Aumund bucket apron conveyor and chain bucket elevators.
Germany: Cemex Deutschland’s carbon capture partner Carbon Clean has hired US-based engineering company KBR to carry out installation of the planned 100t/day CycloneCC carbon capture system at the producer’s Rüdersdorf cement plant in Brandenburg. KBR will provide front-end engineering design (FEED) services for the project.
KBR global technology solutions president Jay Ibrahim said "Reaching net zero targets requires expertise from different industries to work together, and we make a powerful team. Hopefully, it will be the first of many such projects."
Germany: Christian Pfeiffer has launched its new FlexCore hardened rolled steel plates for ball mill diaphragms. With a hardness of 60HRC, the plates are wear and breakage resistant, enabling maintenance to be planned to the day, according to the supplier.
Holcim Ecuador launches ECOPlanet cements 19 July 2022
Ecuador: Holcim Ecuador has launched its new portfolio of ECOPlanet reduced CO2 cements. The products bear the new green and blue branding of the Holcim group.
CEO Dolores Prado said that the company began its green transition with the September 2019 carbon neutral certification of its Agrovial, Base Vial and Maestro cements.
Holcim to acquire Ol-Trans 19 July 2022
Poland: Switzerland-based Holcim has concluded an agreement to acquire ready-mix concrete producer Ol-Trans. Ol-Trans operates five batching plants and is the market leader in Gdansk, Gdynia and Sopot. Holcim says that its new customers in the region will benefit from access to its CO2-saving products, including Agila Fibro self-compacting concrete, which can reduce steel reinforcement usage in construction by up to 50%.
Holcim’s Europe, Middle East and Africa regional head Miljan Gutovic said “With this acquisition we will further expand the footprint of ECOPact green concrete, the first and most comprehensive sustainable concrete range in Poland.”