Displaying items by tag: Bags

Vietnam: Sweden’s BillerudKorsnäs has signed a letter of intent with Vissai Group regarding the use of its QuickFill Clean (QFC) cement paper sack product line. The deal was agreed at a workshop organised by the Embassy of Sweden with the Vietnam Ministry of Construction, according to the Viet Nam News newspaper. The new type of cement bags are intended to reduce leakage although their use will require changes in the handling of sacks throughout the supply chain. Representatives from the Vietnam National Cement Association, Vietnam Federation of Civil Engineering Associations and other ministries also attended the event.

Nepal: Arghakhanchi Cement has launched Arghakhanchi MP OPC Cement in new waterproof packaging. The cement producer says that the new packaging will protect the cement from moisture and prevent leakage of cement, according the Kathmandu Post. The new bags are also intended to ensure a standard weight for the product. The company plans to increase its production capacity from its plant at Mainahiya, Rupandehi to 60,000 bags/day from the end of 2017.

Austria: Starlinger is targeting its Ad*Star block bottom valve sacks for the Chinese market based on their environmental performance. The packaging manufacturer says that a recent life cycle analysis study compared Ad*Star cement sacks favourable against cement sacks from sewn sacks made of recycled woven polypropylene tape fabric from China and paper sacks from Saudi Arabia. Starlinger also hopes that widespread adoption of its products in China would aid the automation of the entire chain of cement filling and transport processes, further modernising the sector. The company is preparing to exhibit at a Chinese plastic and rubber exhibition in May 2017.

Australia: Sunstate Cement is set to start using new packaging equipment from Haver & Boecker at its Port of Brisbane cement grinding plant in November 2016. It has installed a Roto-Packer Adams 4 for its packaging machine, Ibau storage technology for its drymix mixer, a Newtec palletising system and a stretch hood machine made by Lachenmeier. The decision to install the new packaging line follows a switch to polyethylene (PE) bags.

“With the uptrend of the Do-It-Yourself market in Australia, the attractive and clean design of PE packaging will provide a competitive advantage to drymix manufacturers,” said Alan Arbotante, Area Sales Manager for Packaging Technology at Haver & Boecker Australia.

Austria: Windmöller & Hölscher (W&H) has renamed BSW Machinery as W&H Machinery. This follows the integration of BSW Machinery, a woven packaging equipment and bag producer, into W&H over the last decade.

BSW Machinery was originally founded in Austria in 2005 focusing on the polypropylene woven market. Meanwhile, another W&H company at the same production plant in the Czech Republic concentrated producing sub-assemblies and components for the group. Both operations have now merged forming W&H Machinery. Expansion is planned for the plant and the newly named company employs over 400 workers.

UK: Hope Cement will use polyethylene (PE) packaging with the Roto-Packer Adams 10 from Haver & Boecker at its Dagenham terminal near London. The site started starting using the Adams system and a palletiser made by Newtec in June 2016, with an operation speed of 1200 bags/hr.

“We want the best benefits and services for our customers. PE packaging here plays an important role. Retailers and wholesalers can increase their stock levels and construction companies can leave their bags outside in the open without worry, no matter what the weather is,” said Gary Brennand, commercial director at Hope Cement. Brennand also cited safety and bag cleanliness as benefits of the new packaging.

Russia: Kazanskiy Zavod Sovremennoy Upakovki (KZSU) officially inaugurated its new production plant in Kazan for Ad Star block bottom sacks in late May 2016. Austrian bagging machine manufacturer Starlinger supplied the equipment for the plant. KZSU will produce Ad Star block bottom sacks for use in the cement, gypsum, chemical, fertilizer, animal feed and other dry bulk goods sectors. Tatar President Rustam Minnikhanov attended the opening of the plant.

The plant will produce 44 million sacks per year for local and foreign markets. The investment includes extrusion, weaving, coating and printing lines, as well as two Ad StarKON sack conversion lines and a Recostar universal recycling line for treating the production waste from Starlinger. The sacks will be supplied to Russian and foreign companies including JSC Chemical Plant Karpov, Asia Cement, Poliplast, Knauf Gypsum, Servolux (Belarus) and the LLC Cement Plant Samadov in Tajikistan.

Starlinger has installed 10 Ad Star production plants in other former Soviet states. This is the first complete Ad Star production plant that has been set up in Russia.

Austria: BSW Machinery has presented a new type of woven polypropylene (PP) bag that is 20% lighter than comparable bags. Using its Light & Strong (LS) technology BSW has produced 64g bags that they say outperformed standard 80g bags commonly used in the cement industry in drop tests. Key elements of the LS technology include advanced extrusion technology for higher tape tenacity and indexed micro perforation.

The Vienna-based subsidiary of Windmöller & Hölscher has implemented new processing technology on BSW's tape extrusion line tiraTex to achieve higher strength without compromising elasticity. Tenacity values of 7g/den can be achieved with elongation at break values ranging be-tween 25% and 30% using standard PP grades commonly used in industry. The processing characteristics can be maintained at high outputs and production speeds of 500m/min or more.

The LS bags also have higher edge strength by protecting edges and other areas through indexed perforation. The perforation is disengaged whenever vulnerable sections of bag material are passing through the bag conversion machine. Synchronization ensures that the unperforated areas are matched to the print on the bag and are placed such that in the final bag the critical zones are built from un-perforated material.

US: Haldor Topsoe, a catalysis producer, and FLSmidth, a supplier of equipment and services to the global cement and minerals industries, have signed a cooperation agreement that marks the beginning of a joined global effort to commercialise a new catalytic filter bag technology.

"Developing this product has been a combination of the very best that Topsoe and FLSmidth have to offer from an R&D perspective," said Bjerne S Clausen, CEO of Haldor Topsoe.

The product has been designed over the last four years and will carry the brand name EnviroTex catalytic filter bags. It is capable of removing dust, volatile organic compounds and nitrogen oxides in one integrated and cost-effective process. The patent-pending catalytic filter bags use three layers of filter fabric. Each layer contains a tailored catalyst optimised for the removal of specific kinds of compounds from the off-gas that passes through it.

As part of the agreement between FLSmidth and Topsoe, the new product will be manufactured at FLSmidth's bag production facilities in Georgia, USA. The filter bags will then be catalysed and assembled at Topsoe's catalyst production site in Houston, Texas. Topsoe's production site will be expanded with a new production line dedicated to the production of EnviroTex catalytic filter bags. The goal is to complete construction of this facility by the end of 2015.

Nigeria: In a bid to tackle 're-bagging,' which is one of the biggest threats in the cement industry in Nigeria, Dangote Cement has launched an all-out attack on perpetrators.

In the cement industry 're-bagging' refers to the emptying of the original cement bag and refilling with a different adulterated product or commodity. Another common method is to buy cement from shops, grind it, mix it with sand and then put the adulterated commodity into a bag belonging to a reputable cement manufacturer.

Often cement makers end up bearing the brunt of customer dissatisfaction, as they believe the product is from the original source. In the case of damage associated with the product, consumers often attribute it to the firm whose bag has been used for the product.

"There are different forms of what these people are doing," said Devakumar V G Edwin, Dangote's managing director and CEO. "We have an extensive team that is spearheaded by a former police commissioner exclusively on this." According to Edwin, his team is working hard to halt bag thefts by cement plant workers, which facilitate the re-bagging business.

"We have even heard people say that they sell Dangote Cement for US$5.52 – 6.13/bag," said Edwin. "What happens is that our customers often call us and inform us of the situation. Sometimes, they tell us that we are cheating them because of the price someone tells them elsewhere. Once we get the information, we launch into action."