Displaying items by tag: GCW692

Holcim revealed the board members for its proposed North America business this week. Former group CEO Jan Jenisch was confirmed as the designated chair and CEO. He will be joined by nine directors chosen from sectors including construction, manufacturing, industrial operations and financial services. Notably, current Holcim director Jürg Oleas will be joining Jenisch at the new company. He previously worked as the head of GEA Group and had senior stints at ABB and the Alstom Group.

The group’s decision to split its business in North America from that in the rest of the world has been presented as a piece of financial engineering designed to increase earnings, margins and increase the value of the business. Markets in the US and Europe have diverged in recent years, with the former growing and the latter slowing in comparison. Splitting the business should, in theory, allow both companies to grow at their own pace. However, the spin-off company in North America will remain linked to Europe as it will be listed at both the New York Stock Exchange and the SIX Swiss Exchange. The latter is for the benefit of European investors. The separation is expected by the end of the first half 2025, subject to shareholder and customary approvals.

Naturally, other companies are also chasing growth in North America. Titan Cement announced this week that its US-based subsidiary, Titan America, has filed a registration statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission as part of a proposed initial public offering (IPO). Yet, the company said that the offering is subject to market conditions. As such it couldn’t say when it might happen, how big it might be or much else. Back in May 2024 the group said it was going to list Titan America in the US to “...facilitate the group’s and Titan America’s future growth and unlock new opportunities.” The IPO was intended to be of a minority stake without creating any large-scale tax issues. At this time the transaction was planned to be completed in early 2025.

Titan’s sales share in North America has remained similar from 2018 to 2023 at around 55%. Holcim’s, by comparison, grew to 39% in 2023 from 22% in 2018. This is due to big acquisitions in the US such as Firestone Building Products in 2021 as it built up its lightweight building materials segment. The size of the two companies’ operations in North America are also different. Holcim reported net sales in the region of over US$11bn in 2023. Titan reported net sales of just under US$1.5bn.

Ireland-based CRH moved its stock market listings to the US earlier than both Holcim and Titan. It completed the transition of its primary listing to the New York Stock Exchange in mid-2023, although it too retains a listing in Europe, at the London Stock Exchange in its case. Yet analysts have started to wonder whether the company might spin-off its businesses outside the US. As reported by the Irish Times, Bank of America analysts reckon that the non-US parts of the company now represent only 16% of the US$82bn concern. For sanity’s sake this is still a US$10bn-plus sized company! Although other commentators did wonder why CRH might have bought assets in Australia in 2024 if it was seriously considering making changes on this scale anytime soon.

Despite all this attention on the US and North America by some of the multinational cement producers, it is worth remembering that markets change over time. Europe may not look so hot right now but it is unlikely to stay like this. The head of Heidelberg Materials, for example, said in early 2024 that his company wasn’t planning a split in the US because it was focusing on decarbonisation. This may prove prescient in the longer term if Europe sticks to its sustainability goals. FInally, the US isn’t the only place where cement companies are attempting to build their value in growth markets. It was also reported this week that JSW Cement had obtained approval from the Securities and Exchange Board of India to proceed with its IPO.

Czech Republic: Wikov Industry has appointed Michal Kurtinec as the CEO of its Wikov Gear division. Other personnel changes include the selection of Radovan Rašpl as the CEO of Wikov TurboGear and Jan Vosátka as the CEO of Wikov GearServices.

Wikov Industry has reorganised itself into two divisions following its acquisition of Litostroj Power in December 2024. Wikov Gear includes Wikov TurboGear (formerly Wikov Gear), Wikov MGI, Wikov Sázavan, GGT Gmeinder Getriebetechnik, Detail CZ, Pacific Rim Engineered Products, Wikov Gear Canada, Wikov - Wessex, Wikov Indigear and Orbital2. The main focus of this division is the development, production, assembly and service of mechanical gearboxes and precision CNC machining. Wikov Hydro includes Litostroj Power (Slovenia), Litostroj Engineering (Czech Republic), Litostroj Hydro (Canada) and Litostroj US (US). This division focuses on the design, manufacture and maintenance of hydro turbines, reverse pump turbines, valves, pumps and is a supplier of complete turnkey solutions for hydro power plants.

Türkiye: thyssenkrupp Polysius has appointed Ugur Kacar as Head of Middle East and Turkey / Services. He has also been selected as the general manager and a board member for the local subsidiary thyssenkrupp Polysius Türkiye.

Kacar has worked for thyssenkrupp and its subsidiary thyssenkrupp Polysius since 2018. He started as Account Manager – Cement in Türkiye before becoming the Head of Sales - Middle East and Turkey for thyssenkrupp in 2021. Prior to this he held maintenance and project management positions with Çimsa, Limak Cement and Çimko Çimento. He holds an undergraduate degree in mechanical engineering from Cukurova University in Adana and a master of business administration (MBA) qualification.

US: Oakland, California-based cleantech startup Brimstone has received a US Department of Energy grant worth up to US$189m to establish a plant with a capacity of 80,000t/yr of ‘green’ cement and 20,000t/yr of smelter-grade alumina, according to the San Francisco Business Times. The grant will be paid out in instalments and requires matching funds from new investments, loans and other sources.

The US$378m facility, which is still in the site selection phase, will be located near an existing quarry in order to mine calcium silicate rocks.

CEO Cody Finke said “We’re exclusively looking at brownfield sites. The goal is to build our own plant while utilising existing quarries to ensure a sustainable and economically viable operation.”

Brimstone plans to begin pilot operations in 2025 and aims to have the plant fully operational by the end of the decade. The company is currently testing its decarbonised cement with potential customers from its Oakland research and development facility.

US: The Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management has announced US$101m in funding for five projects to establish carbon capture, removal, and conversion test centres for cement plants and power facilities. The test centres aim to cost-effectively research and evaluate technologies to capture and convert CO₂ into products from utility and industrial sources, or by removing CO₂ from the atmosphere. The initiative aims to reduce CO₂ emissions, promote sustainable technologies and create job opportunities.

Notable projects include the University of Illinois in Urbana, which plans to design a test centre to evaluate carbon management technologies for the cement industry, and Holcim US, which intends to establish a Cement Carbon Management Innovation Centre at its Hagerstown facility in Maryland.

Brad Crabtree, assistant secretary for Fossil Energy and Carbon Management, said “Carbon management technologies such as carbon capture can significantly reduce emissions from fossil energy use and key industrial processes, like cement production. By investing in test centres, we are helping reduce barriers to commercial-scale deployment of carbon capture, conversion and removal technologies that will ultimately help reduce pollution and create jobs.”

US/France: Hoffmann Green Cement Technologies has extended its licensing agreement with Hoffmann Green USA, signed in July 2024, to cover 25 states in the eastern United States. This has triggered an additional entry fee of €8m, following the €2m already received. The agreement grants industrial and technological transfer rights and exclusivity in the expanded territory. It includes fixed and variable royalties based on sales of Hoffmann Green cements. Hoffmann Green USA may also sub-license units in these territories, with discussions currently underway with potential sub-licensees.

Philippines: Aboitiz Upgrade Solar (AUSI), a joint venture between Aboitiz Power and Upgrade Energy Philippines, is building a ground-mounted solar facility at Republic Cement’s Norzagaray plant in Bulacan, according to The Philippine Star. Under the power purchase agreement, AUSI will fund and operate the project, while Republic Cement will exclusively purchase the generated power.

The facility is set to be completed in the second half of 2025, with capacity and project costs undisclosed.

Egypt: Misr Beni Suef Cement has signed a contract worth nearly US$6m with solar energy supplier IRSC, in cooperation with JINKO and HUAWEI, to establish a solar power plant at its site in Beni Suef Governorate.

The project aims to increase the company’s use of clean energy and reduce the environmental impact of its industrial operations. The capacity of the facility has not been disclosed.

China: CBMI Construction has officially launched a flash calcination clay project in Tangshan, Hebei province. Karen Scrivener, head of the Laboratory of Construction Materials at the School of Engineering at the Ecole polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), attended the event. Scrivener is a prominent researcher and advocate for LC3 (limestone calcined clay cement).

CBMI’s other clay projects around the world as a contractor include the SPL Calcined Clay Project in France, the CIZ Calcined Clay Project (rotary calciner) in the Czech Republic, the Guayaquil Calcined Clay Project in Ecuador and the Ivory Coast Calcined Clay Project (flash calciner).

US: Titan America, the US subsidiary of Titan Cement, has filed a registration statement for its proposed initial public offering (IPO) with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The company plans to list shares on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), including both primary and secondary sales, aiming to raise up to an estimated US$500m, subject to market conditions.