Displaying items by tag: Czech Republic
W&H renames BSW Machinery as W&H Machinery
14 September 2016Austria: 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.
Global CemFuels Awards 2016 announces winners
26 February 2016Czech Republic: The Global CemFuels Awards 2016 has announced winners in six categories. The Suez Environnement solid recovered fuel facility at Malpas Farm, Rugby, which supplies the Cemex Rugby cement plant, won Outstanding Alternative Fuels (AF) project. LafargeHolcim won AF-user company of the year. N+P, Netherlands received the award for AF-supplier company of the year for the second consecutive year. Linder-Recyclingtech won the award for innovative technology for AF use. Frederico Contente, Masias Recycling was awarded project manager of the year. Jan Theulen, HeidelbergCement was awarded CemFuels Personality of the Year.
The Global CemFuels Awards 2016 took place as part of the Global CemFuels Conference and Exhibition. The awards are nominated and voted for across the alternative fuels industry. The specialised annual alternative fuels conference for the cement and lime industries took place on 22 – 23 February 2016 in Prague.
Featured image: Jan Theulen, HeidelbergCement (right) and Robert McCaffrey, Global Cement (left)
Cemex to save Euro7.38m thanks to Holcim acquisition
13 July 2015Czech Republic: According to CIA Daily News, Cemex's acquisition of Holcim in the Czech Republic is expected to save Cemex Euro7.38m. Cemex plans to invest Euro3.69m into the integration of management systems. One of the largest investments currently planned is the modernisation of the Prachovice cement plant.
Czech Republic: According to CTK Business News, Ceskomoravsky Cement's profit rose by 25% to Euro27.2m in 2014, while its revenues grew by almost Euro3.69m to Euro102m.
Total cement consumption in the Czech Republic grew by nearly 4% to 3.34Mt in 2014, mainly thanks to the revival of the construction sector and favourable weather conditions.
"The value of public contracts increased by 6.7% in 2014, so we can view 2015 with slight optimism," said Ceskomoravsky Cement's board chairman Jan Hrozek.
Ceskomoravsky Cement, part of Germany's HeidelbergCement, supplied its products mainly for the modernisation of the D1 motorway in 2014. Its important projects also included repairs of concrete surfaces at Vaclav Havel Airport Prague.
Czech Republic: A reviving building material market has raised Lafarge's sales in the Czech Republic by 5% year-on-year to US$35.2m in 2014, according to company spokesperson Milena Hucanova.
Profits from operations soared by 53% to US$6.55m. Hucanova attributed the growth to rising sales, an extraordinary revenue from the sale of carbon credits and operating savings. About 40% of the company's output was exported in 2014.
Czech cement consumption increased by more than 4% year-on-year to 3.5Mt in 2014 and the same growth rate is foreseen for 2015, said Hucanova. Investments are estimated at US$1.09m this year.
Czech Republic/Slovakia: The sale of Holcim's operations in the Czech Republic and Slovakia has prompted a series of management changes to Cemex's operations in those countries.
Hermann Dietrich has been appointed as Cemex's vice president for strategic planning in the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Henning Weber has become the vice president for operation and technology at the cement division, Mariusz Kostowski has been named as the trade and logistics director with the cement division and Justus Geiseler has been appointed as the BSO director. Lubos Merunka and Hana Fidrova, who have been named as the head of the stone aggregate division and the company lawyer respectively, both came to Cemex from Holcim after the asset handover.
Cemex's general director in the Czech Republic and Slovakia, Peter Dajko, has stated that the company is not planning any additional personnel changes in the foreseeable future.
Holcim is rebranded as Cemex Cement in Czech Republic
26 February 2015Czech Republic: Holcim (Cesko) will change its name to Cemex Cement from 1 March 2015. At the same time, Holcim will transfer part of the plant producing ready-mixed concrete to Cemex Czech Republic and part of the stone aggregate production plant to Cemex Sand. The changes follow the acquisition of all of Holcim's assets in the Czech Republic by Cemex in January 2015.
Cemex and Holcim agree on series of transactions in Europe
03 November 2014Europe: Cemex has signed binding agreements with Holcim regarding the series of transactions that was originally announced on 28 August 2013.
The main scope of the transactions in Germany and the Czech Republic remain unchanged: Cemex will acquire all of Holcim's assets in the Czech Republic and will divest its assets in western Germany to Holcim. In Spain, Cemex will acquire Holcim's 0.85Mt/yr capacity Gador cement plant and its 0.9Mt/yr capacity Yeles cement grinding plant. Holcim will keep all of its other operations in Spain.
As part of these transactions, Cemex will pay Euro45m in cash to Holcim. Once the transactions are closed, Cemex expects a recurring improvement in its earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA), including synergies, of about US$20m to US$30m. These transactions are expected to close during the first quarter of 2015.
Czech Republic: The Office for Protection of Competition (UOHS) of the Czech Republic has approved the merger of Cemex Czech Republic and Holcim Cesko within the country, according to UOHS chairman Petr Rafaj. The merger is part of Holcim and Cemex's European asset swap.
Spain: The European Commission intends to assess the proposed acquisition of Holcim's cement operations in Spain by Cemex following a request by Spanish authorities. The Commission decided that the transaction threatens to affect competition within Spain and that it is the best placed authority to assess the potential cross-border effects of the transaction. It has left a similar transaction between Cemex and Holcim in the Czech Republic to local regulators to examine.
In August 2013 the Mexican cement producer Cemex and Swiss multinational cement maker Holcim announced plans to swap assets in Europe. In Spain, Holcim and Cemex want to combine all their cement, ready-mix and aggregates operations. In the Czech Republic Cemex intends to acquire all of Holcim's assets. Other transactions are also prosed between the cement producers in Germany, France and the Netherlands.