Displaying items by tag: Aggregates

France: Mexico-based Cemex has sold 24 concrete plants and an aggregates quarry in southeast France to Switzerland-based LafargeHolcim. Finalisation of the deal is expected in April 2021 and no approval by competition bodies is required. No value for the sale has been disclosed. The group said that the divestment is part of its strategy of focused portfolio development into high-growth markets.

France: Vicat started using a CO₂ntainer system supplied by UK-based Carbon8 Systems at its Montalieu-Vercieu cement plant in November 2020. It uses captured CO₂ from the unit’s flue gas emissions to carbonate cement-plant dust and produce aggregate, which can then be used to make products such as concrete. The system has particular relevance for a plant burning alternative fuels due to the additional chlorinated dust created compared to the use of conventional fossil fuels. The company says it is the first European cement producer to use the process at an industrial scale. Previously, Carbon8 Systems said that its CO₂ntainer would process and convert up to 12,000t of cement bypass dust in its first phase of operation.

Vicat Group scientific director Laury Barnes-Davin said, “We were drawn to Carbon8 Systems’ two-part technology: capturing the CO₂ that Montalieu emits, and using it to produce an aggregate that can be marketed in the construction industry. It opens up great potential for our operations not just in France but also in all the countries where we work across the globe.” The group hopes to reach a 100% alternative fuel substitution rate in France by 2024.

Mexico: Cemex subsidiary Cemex Ventures has invested in excavation materials marketplace Soil Connect. The online platform says that it connects the supply and demand algorithmically based on the users' proximity and needs. It is mainly used for aggregates. In digitising the marketplace it reduces landfill while lowering transportation distances, according to the investor. It says that this results in tremendous cost savings for construction professionals. This also promotes circular economy within the sector.

Cemex Ventures’ investment head Cristina Aparicio said, "For any relevant actor with a view to the future of our ecosystem, it is a priority to offer a solution to the millions of tonnes of materials that are generated annually in demolition projects, since much of the construction materials of tomorrow come from the projects to be demolished. We are very excited about this agreement with the Soil Connect team, which has created a business that adds value, both to those who generate the waste and to those who need construction material, prioritising this tool that provides agility."

France: LafargeHolcim subsidiary Lafarge France says that it will continue to provide its regular service to customers as operations continue into a second national coronavirus lockdown in 2020. This was made possible by the government’s decision to permit the continuation of construction and industrial activities, according to the company.

It said, “The company has learned a lot since the containment last spring and is prepared to guarantee the best possible service for all of its markets, even under the specific conditions linked to the acceleration of the Covid-19 epidemic. All activities - cements, concretes and aggregates - will therefore operate normally throughout the country.” It added, “All our sites are now showing sufficient stock levels to deal calmly with the coming months.”

US: The North Dakota Department of Transportation (NDDOT) has signed a contract with drone supplier Botlink InSite to serve its drone surveying and mapping needs for management of aggregates used in building transport infrastructure.

Chief executive officer (CEO) Terri Zimmerman said, “We’re excited to add the NDDOT to our ever-growing list of customers. Our users see real cost savings by quickly getting accurate data, including reducing overproduction and underproduction.” She added that the drones can also serve cement companies in managing their raw materials stores.

Kazakhstan: EuroChem subsidiary EuroChem Karatau has entered into talks with Zhambyl Region governor Berdibek Saparbayev over plans for the construction of a mineral fertilisers plant at a total investment cost of US$800m. Kazakhstan Newsline has reported that the facility will additionally produce aggregates for use in cement production. The plant will exploit the region’s Karatau-Zhanatassky phosphorite basin, from which the company has already extracted and carried out primary processing on phosphorite ore.

UK: The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has announced that it will consider the undertakings offered by Breedon Group to which its deal with Cemex UK for acquisition of several of the latter’s ready-mix and aggregates operations would be subject. The regulator explained its ruling by saying, “There are reasonable grounds for believing that the undertakings might be accepted by the CMA under the Enterprise Act 2002.” This may lead to the completion of the acquisitions, which were agreed on 21 January 2020.

UK: The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has said that Breedon Group’s acquisition of a minority of Cemex UK’s ready-mix and aggregates operations “may lead to a substantial lessening of competition in the supply of ready-mixed concrete, non-specialist aggregates or asphalt in 15 local markets across the UK” in a letter to the group. The Herald newspaper has reported that the potentially affected markets are in localities where Breedon Group is already dominant, such as eastern Scotland and the East Midlands.

CMA senior director Colin Rafferty said, “As consumers source the majority of these materials locally, it’s vital to ensure that enough competition will remain at the local level so there’s enough choice and prices remain fair.” If it fails to respond to the CMA’s concerns by 2 September 2020, Breedon Group will face an in-depth Phase 2 investigation into the deal.

UK: Breedon Group says it has completed the acquisition of selected assets from Cemex. Following instructions from the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) the assets will be operated as Pinnacle Construction Materials, a newly-created separate business led by its own management team and operating from its own offices. Pinnacle will offer a range of heavy building materials, including aggregates, asphalt, ready-mixed concrete, concrete products and cement, together with contracting services, from approximately 100 locations in England, Wales and Scotland.

The CMA is still investigating the acquisition and plans to announce its initial conclusions in late August 2020. Breedon Group expects to integrate Pinnacle into its UK business at a later date once this process is fully completed. Cemex agreed to sell Breedon Group some of its UK assets in January 2020. This included 49 ready-mix plants, 28 aggregate quarries and a cement terminal for Euro211m.

Mexico: Cemex says that it is involved in a working group “focussed on the application of FastCarb aggregates to concrete production” as part of its efforts towards net-zero CO₂ concrete production. FastCarb, administrated by the US-based International Research and Exchanges Board, is a project aimed at the production of aggregates from recycled concrete containing trapped carbon dioxide (CO₂) requisitioned from industrial exhaust streams.

Cemex said, “After completing the first phase of the experimental approach at the laboratory level with promising preliminary results, the project is now entering the second phase seeking to tackle the industrial approach. In this industrial approach phase, Cemex was recently assigned to evaluate the physical and mechanical properties of the carbonated recycled concrete aggregates when used in ready-mix concrete in the laboratory facilities at the Cemex France National Technical Centre.”