Displaying items by tag: California

US: CalPortland has launched a new fleet of 24 compressed natural gas (CNG)-fuelled bulk hauler trucks. The company has also commissioned a CNG fuelling hub at its Oro Grande cement plant in California. Ozinga Energy installed the hub, which uses biogenic Redeem methane from organic and agricultural waste at its fast-fill station and 24 slow-fill stations. The producer says that Redeem will reduce CO₂ emissions per tonne of fuel burned by at least 70%. It predicted a total greenhouse gas emissions reduction of 10,000t/yr.

President and chief executive officer (CEO) Allen Hamblen said, “By adding 24 cement bulk hauler trucks and a fuelling centre at our Oro Grande cement plant, CalPortland continues to demonstrate our on-going commitment to achieving zero emissions through environmental stewardship and lowering our carbon footprint within the communities where we operate.”

US: Mexico-based Cemex has launched the Vertua range of low and net-zero CO₂ concrete products in the US following introductions in Mexico and Europe. The range consists of Vertua Classic, Vertua Plus and Vertua Ultra. The company has begun by selling Vertua Classic – which it says offers a 20–30% reduction in CO₂ emissions – in Bay Area, Central Valley, Los Angeles, Sacramento and San Diego, California. Vertua Plus and Vertua Ultra products will be introduced in 2021.

California regional president Francisco Rivera said, “Since many customers are motivated to reduce the carbon footprint of their projects, we are delighted to offer Vertua Classic, which is suitable for a wide range of commercial and residential applications. Our Vertua products are uniquely designed to balance limited carbon specifications with our customers’ needs for high-quality performance and resilience.”

US: CalPortland has awarded a supply contract to FLSmidth for a new raw mill at its integrated Mojave plant in California. The scope of supply includes engineering, equipment and installation of a new OK 48-4 Raw Mill with a Condition Monitoring System and an ECS/ProcessExpert system. The mill is scheduled to be in operation in late 2021. No value for the current order has been disclosed.

“The new OK Raw Mill from FLSmidth will increase reliability and efficiency at our Mojave plant," said Bruce E Shafer, Senior Vice President for Cement Operations at CalPortland. It follows the purchase of a FLSmidth OK Cement Mill at the same plant in 2004. FLSmidth added that as both OK mills at the plant will share the same gearbox design, the unit will be able to streamline maintenance and manage inventory costs by sharing the one spare FLSmidth MAAG WPU-200 assembly.

US: The Portland Cement Association (PCA) has announced the winners of its Chairman’s Safety Performance Award for outstanding safety performance in Portland cement production in the US.

The winners were: Cemex USA’s Clinchfield, Georgia and Victorville, California plants; Lehigh Hanson’s Cupertino, California and Tehachapi, California plants; Titan America’s Medley, Florida and Troutville, Virginia plants; LafargeHolcim’s Morgan, Utah and Theodore, Alabama plants; Buzzi Unicem’s Chattanooga, Tennessee plant; GCC of America’s Pueblo, Colorado plant; and Argos USA’s Atlanta, Georgia grinding plant.

PCA chair Tom Beck said, “We’re proud to highlight these top safety performers. Our industry is constantly focused on doing everything possible to assure our employees go home in the same condition as they arrived.”

US: Oldcastle APG, a subsidiary of CRH, has acquired dry mix manufacturer US MIX. The purchase adds to APG's dry mix manufacturing footprint and expands its network of facilities to the Denver, Colorado market. In addition, the acquisition provides APG with materials science expertise and adds another brand, US SPEC, to its existing dry mix product portfolio of Sakrete and Amerimix. No value for the acquisition has been disclosed.

US MIX primarily operates out of a manufacturing facility in Denver, with a secondary specialty bagging location in Fontana, California. Founded in 1968, US MIX has been privately owned by the Peterson family for over 50 years. Its products include bagged concretes, mortars and specialty cement mixes, in addition to liquid repair products.

US MIX currently operates as a Sakrete and Amerimix licensee and offers a variety of specialty products under the well-known US SPEC brand. US SPEC products are professionally engineered concrete and masonry repair products used in a variety of applications, formulated and tested in laboratory conditions under ASTM testing methods and specifications.

US: A fire was successfully fought at Lehigh Cement’s 0.8Mt/yr integrated Tehachapi plant near Bakersfield, California on 8 December 2019. The Bakersfield Californian has reported that there were no injuries and no cause of the fire has been identified. Access difficulties exacerbated by extreme weather conditions caused fire crews to make two additional assistance calls.

US: Heliogen, a new technology venture, says it has concentrated solar energy to exceed temperatures greater than 1000°C at its commercial plant in Lancaster, California. The company hopes to use the process to replace fossil fuels used in industrial cement, steel and petrochemical production processes. It is using computer vision software to align a large array of mirrors to reflect sunlight to a single target.

The company is based in Pasadena, California and is lead by Bill Gross, the founder of Idealab, a US technology startup incubator. Heliogen is supported by Parsons Corporation, a company that operates in defence, intelligence and critical infrastructure markets. Other backers include Bill Gates, the co-founder of Microsoft.

US: CalPortland has been awarded a US$175,000 grant from the Mojave Desert Air Quality Management District (MDAQMD) to replace a 1999 Terex Bore/Drill rig with a 2019 Caterpillar MD2650 drill. The new drill expects to see a 76% reduction on average in nitrogen oxides (NO_x), reactive organic gases (ROG) and particulate matter (PM) combined. The grant comes from the Carl Moyer Program, which provides monetary grants to private companies and public agencies to clean up their heavy-duty engines beyond legal requirements through retrofitting, repowering or replacing their engines with newer and cleaner ones.

France: Vicat’s sales rose by 4.6% year-on-year to Euro1.34bn in the first half of 2019 from Euro1.28bn in the same period in 2018. This was mainly due to its acquisition of Brazil’s Ciplan in late 2018. At constant scope and exchange rates its sales fell by 0.6% due to poor markets in Turkey, Switzerland, Indian and West Africa. Its earnings before interest and tax fell by 9.4% to Euro97m from Euro107m. Cement sales volumes dropped by 4.9% to 10.8Mt from 11.4Mt and concrete volumes decreased by 6.7% to 4.3Mm³ from 4.57Mm³.

“In the first half of 2019, solid performances in France, Asia and the US drove an increase in our sales and earnings before interest, taxation, deprecation and amortisation (EBITDA). These results reflect a marked improvement in the operational profitability given the on-going increase in consumed energy costs, the deteriorating macroeconomic situation in Turkey and the exceptional rainfalls in California that we experienced in the first half,” said Guy Sidos, the group’s chief executive officer (CEO).

By region, the group’s sales and earnings rose in France but fell in the rest of Europe. Sales grew in the Americas region, even without the Ciplan acquisition, but earnings fell due to a Euro10.6mn settlement payment booked in the US in the first half of 2018. The group’s sales fell in India but earnings rose due to price increases. Poor markets in Turkey and Egypt hit sales and caused a loss.

US: Nine of Cemex USA’s ready-mixed concrete (RMX) plants in the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California have earned ISO 14001:2015 certification for their environmental management systems (EMS). The company says these are the first RMX operations in the country to achieve the designation.

The nine plants located in Berkeley, Concord, Oakland, Pleasanton, San Carlos, San Francisco, San Jose, Union City and Santa Clara, California each received certification after Lloyd’s Register, an accredited third-party organisation, audited Cemex USA’s West Region management system at corporate and site level, verifying that it conforms to the standard. In addition to the plants, Cemex USA’s Livermore office also earned the certification.

“Effective environmental management systems are critical in helping our operations meet and exceed our environmental and sustainability goals. By following well-established standards of ISO 14001:2015, our operations can continue to build on their successes while serving as inspiring examples for others to follow across the US,” said Cemex USA president Ignacio Madridejos.

Earlier in 2010 Cemex’s Clinchfield cement plant in Georgia became the first Cemex operation in the US to achieve ISO 14001:2015 certification. The company is currently in the process of achieving the certification at several other of its operations in cement, ready-mix and aggregates across the country.