Displaying items by tag: Anniversary
Update on France
07 June 20172017 is an anniversary year for the French cement industry as it marks the bicentenary of Louis Vicat’s pioneering work into the creation of ‘artificial’ cement. The company that bears his name, Vicat, is a major force in the global cement industry to this day. However, the French industry has suffered since the global financial crash in 2007, with steadily declining production volumes, despite a bounce in 2011. Lafarge was only able to maintain its international status through a merger with Switzerland’s Holcim in 2015 and the arguments surrounding that ‘merger of equals’ are still playing out now with the resignation of the group’s chief executive officer in April 2017.
Graph 1: Cement consumption in France, 2012 – 2016. Source: Syndicat Français de l’Industrie Cimentière & Vicat.
Thankfully, the industry started to recover in 2016 and the signs are positive that this will continue into 2017 with the presidential elections concluded. Graph 1 shows the situation since 2012.
Sensing the rebound in 2016 the head of the French building federation (FFB) placed growth in construction materials volumes at 1.9% in December 2016 with a forecast of 3.4% in 2017 based on new residential housing. Naturally he used his position to lobby the politicians in the run-up to the election and the FFB have carried on in this vein haranguing the new administration with 112 (!) proposals to ‘rebuild’ France.
The major cement producers broadly agreed with the outlook in 2016 with LafargeHolcim describing the local construction sector as growing ‘slightly’ despite subdued public spending on infrastructure and HeidelbergCement concurring. Vicat was more effusive pointing to its 6% rise in sales volumes to 2.9Mt in the domestic and export markets. It pinned the recovery down to the last quarter of 2015. However, it noted that the rise in volumes had compensated for a fall in prices due in part to the increased exports. On this point, although it’s outside the scope of this column, it would be fascinating to know how much the European Union Emissions Trading Scheme is stoking the French cement indsutry’s recovery through exports (see GCW290).
Investment has been returning to the market though with Ecocem France’s order of a Loesche mill for a slag cement mill it is building Dunkirk, the inauguration of a new tyre recycling unit at Lafarge France’s Martres plant and the start of a gasifier project at Vicat’s Crechy plant in 2016. More recently Lafarge France reported to the French press in May 2017 that it was starting to consider contractors for a new production line at the Martres plant, leading to fears that it might choose a Chinese provider.
So far in 2017 the situation is on a knife-edge with LafargeHolcim, HeidelbergCement and Vicat all reporting slight declines in sale volumes or earnings that they have blamed on the weather. However, LafargeHolcim did mention growing momentum towards the end of the period offering some hope. As seen above the fundamentals for the French cement industry are all ready and present for growth. Now with the pro-business Euro-centric new president installed in office the industry should be about to flower in time for Louis Vicat’s anniversary.
LafargeHolcim Montcada i Reixac cement plant to celebrate 100th anniversary in 2017
13 February 2017Spain: LafargeHolcim’s Montcada i Reixac cement plant in Catalonia is set to celebrate its 100th anniversary in 2017. A number of events will be held throughout the year to mark the centenary of the establishment of the plant by local industrialist Eusebi Güell including an exhibition at the Castellar de n’Hug Cement Museum. LafargeHolcim says that the plant contributed over Euro18m to the local economy in 2016.
Menzel celebrates 90th anniversary in 2017
27 January 2017Germany: Menzel Elektromotoren celebrates its 90th anniversary in 2017. Kurt Menzel originally founded the manufacturer of industrial electric motors on 7 September 1927. Despite turbulent events in its early years including the economic depression in the 1930s, bomb damage during World War Two, its subsequent dismantling by the Soviets and the Berlin Blockade, the company continued operating in Berlin. Kurt Menzel’s grandson, Mathis Menzel, runs the company today.
CalPortland to celebrate 125-year anniversary
20 September 2016US: CalPortland will celebrate its 125-year anniversary, or quasquicentennial, on 21 September 2016. The company was established in 1891 in Colton, California as the California Portland Cement company, the first cement production facility west of the Rocky Mountains. Subsequently, the cement producer provided construction materials for the expansion of Los Angeles and the south-western US. Japan’s Taiheiyo Cement purchased the company in 1990.
"Today, CalPortland is building on its past for a bright and better future. Through key strategic mergers and acquisitions we have brought together more technology and the best people and now proudly serve six western states and two Canadian provinces. CalPortland is dedicated to using all of our resources to help make our customers successful," said Allen Hamblen, President and CEO of CalPortland.
Beumer celebrates 80 years of business
11 December 2015Germany: Beumer Group celebrated its 80th anniversary on 9 December 2015. The conveying, loading, palletising, packaging, sortation and distribution manufacturer was originally founded by Bernhard Beumer on 9 December 1935 with four employees. In 2014 Beumer Group reported a turnover of Euro680m and today it has around 4100 employees.
"The success is primarily due to the familial spirit. We have consistently held to our motto 'We are looking for the long-term success, and not for the short-term profit'," said Christoph Beumer, Chairman and CEO of Beumer Group. Beumer is the third generation of his family to manage the business and he has held the post since 2000. Beumer attributes the long-term success of the company to manageable growth, a large range of products and a global market presence. Beumer machines and systems are in use all around the world.
Conveying technology formed the foundation of Beumer Group's business when Bernhard Beumer started the company in 1935. His eldest son, also named Bernhard Beumer, took over the company in 1981 and promoted the development of bucket elevators leading to the company belt bucket elevators. By the mid-1980s, the supplier had installed about 100 systems altogether, in 2007 and 2008 there were about 450 installed per year. Besides the product development in the field of conveying technology, Bernhard Beumer Jr. also continued the initial development of loading systems and steered Beumer's international growth with the foundation of companies in Brazil, the USA and Asia.
In the 1960s, Beumer laid the foundation for curved belt conveying systems. The first theoretical designs on the market were from the company's Department for Research and Development. Today this group is one of the technological leaders for these systems, either as troughed belt conveyors with open design or as Pipe Conveyors. In the field of loading technology, Bernhard Beumer Jr. developed new products, such as the three-dimensional loading machine for loading cement bags onto trucks. In the 1970s, the engineers further developed this machine until it became completely automated. The stationary palletiser is a result of this development.
Beumer took over the Danish sortation technology specialist Crisplant in 2009, followed later by companies in India, the US and Belgium. It acquired Enexco Technologies in India, a manufacturer of grinding systems and packaging machines for the cement industry, in 2011.
"I view the company as a little jewel case," said Beumer when speaking of the company history. "When my grandfather founded it, it was no more than a little wooden box. He added some velvet lining to it and then handed it over to the second generation, my father, who added some more and embellished it further."
CIFA celebrates 85 years of business
16 September 2013Italy: Construction equipment and machinery manufacturer CIFA celebrated its 85th year of business on 12 September 2013. In attendance at a ceremony held at the company headquarters in Senago were the company's senior management, the CEO of CIFA Davide Cipolla and the President of Zoomlion Zhan Chunxin.
Highlights of the celebration included the inauguration of a company museum and showroom and the publication of a history of the company entitled 'CIFA: The winning anomaly.' The company also inaugurated the TEC (Testing European Centre), a centre where experimental activities and tests are carried out on machine bodywork and components. Other on-going activities for the anniversary included an in-house design centre that was launched earlier in 2013 as part of the anniversary and a facelift of the company headquarters due for completion in the autumn of 2013.