Displaying items by tag: Germany

Germany: A major clean-up operation is underway at Heidelberg Materials’ Burglengenfeld plant in Bavaria following a fire on 17 August 2025. The fire began in the plant’s waste plastic fuel storage hall and was attended by more than 340 firefighters, who managed to prevent it spreading to other areas of the plant. Waste plastic is the Burglengenfeld plant’s main fuel.

The damage is nevertheless considerable, amounting at least to ‘ hundreds of thousands of Euros,’ according to plant manager Bernhard Reindl. He also announced that a structural engineer will inspect the hall's structure in the coming days. It is already clear that the roof will have to be at least partially dismantled and replaced.

However, despite the disruption, cement production has been able to continue, with lignite being used on a temporary basis until the waste plastic fuel facility is repaired. The kiln is reported to be operating at 80% of its usual capacity.

How the fire in the warehouse started remains unclear, but Reindl suspects a smouldering fire, similar to a considerably smaller one that affected the same building in October 2024. Burglengenfeld police station has begun an investigation into the cause.

Germany: Heidelberg Materials revenue grew by 4% year-on-year to €10.4bn in the first half of 2025 from €9.99bn in the same period in 2024. Its result from current operations before depreciation and amortisation (RCOBD) rose by 5.6% to €1.93bn from €1.83bn. By region revenue and RCOBD rose everywhere except for Pacific Asia and North America respectively.

Dominik von Achten, chair of Heidelberg Materials, said “Next to price adjustments, our strict cost management has proven particularly effective in the second quarter. Our ongoing Transformation Accelerator initiative is fully on track and has helped us to grow our earnings once again with further increasing cost savings… Even though demand is still volatile in some regions, we expect that stabilisation in our core markets is continuing.”

The group opened the world's first industrial-scale carbon capture and storage unit at its Brevik cement plant in Norway in June 2025. Production also started in May 2025 at its calcined clay plant joint-venture in Ghana. In July 2025 the group commenced operations at an industrial pilot plant for enforced carbonation in Górażdże, Poland.

Germany: Vecoplan is investing over €5m to upgrade its manufacturing plant in Bad Marienberg. It has enlarged its Plant I by a total of 1900m² and purchased new production equipment. The engineering company is now adding assembly capacity and expanding its warehouse. Construction work on a new warehouse complex started in spring 2025 and is scheduled for completion in the second quarter of 2026.

“We are continuing to witness a high level of demand,” said Vecoplan’s CEO Werner Berens. “We’ve had to create additional space, especially in preassembly, to meet the growing need for our heavy machinery.”

Vecoplan manufactures machinery and plants for shredding, conveying and processing. It is headquartered in Germany and has subsidiaries in Austria, France, Italy, Poland, Spain, the US and the UK.

Germany: Holcim, E.ON Energy Infrastructure Solutions and Orcan Energy have launched a large-scale waste heat recovery project at Holcim’s Dotternhausen cement plant to capture 10MW of unused heat from kiln exhaust gases. The recovered heat will supply internal processes, potential district heating networks and power generation via Orcan Energy’s eP1000 Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) system. E.ON is responsible for the planning, construction, financing operation and maintenance of the plant as part of an Energy-as-a-Service model. This is intended to present no initial investment costs for Holcim.

Holcim South Germany plant manager Dieter Schillo said “This project marks an important milestone on our path to decarbonising cement production. The smart use of industrial waste heat not only reduces our Scope 2 emissions, but also strengthens our role as a pioneer in sustainable building materials.”

Germany: CI4C has installed the final modular component of its carbon purification unit (CPU) at the Schwenk Zement plant in Mergelstetten. The unit is 31m long with a cross-section of 5 x 5m, installed using a tandem lift.

The unit completes major construction work at the CO₂ capture pilot project. The CPU will clean and liquefy CO₂-rich exhaust gas from the oxyfuel kiln and processes it to food-grade quality, enabling its reuse in purified form. Final mechanical and electrical works are underway ahead of commissioning in late summer 2025.

European cement producers Buzzi, Dyckerhoff, Heidelberg Materials, Schwenk Zement and Vicat established CI4C in 2019 to implement the catch4climate initiative. The 450t/day clinker line and CPU have been purpose-built at the plant, which has received investment of over €120m, and will be used solely for research and development.

Netherlands: Aumund Holding has appointed Pieter Dekkers as its chief financial officer (CFO). He has been working as interim CFO since February 2025.

Dekkers worked in CFO positions from 1997 to 2024 at companies including TIBO EnergyHub software, AM-Flow and De Meeuw. He also set up his own consultancy firm ValueIQ in 2014. Earlier in his career Dekkers worked for DAF Trucks. He holds a graduate degree in industrial engineering and management from the Technical University Eindhoven and a postgraduate qualification as a Registered Controller from the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam.

Germany: Aumund Group has integrated the Dutch bulk material expert ESI Eurosilo into its operations, effective 25 June 2025. The acquisition strengthens Aumund’s position as a full-range bulk material handling provider, adding vertical storage systems to its portfolio.

CEO of AUMUND Group Pietro de Michieli said “By integrating ESI Eurosilo, we are adding a strategically important component to our offering – safe, space-saving and environmentally friendly storage of bulk materials.”

Sweden: Alcemy has appointed Alejandro Espejel Garcia as its Head of Sales - Cement Business Line. He previously worked as a Business Development Manager for the Germany-based artificial intelligence software company.

Espejel Garcia worked for Denmark-based FLSmidth from 2012 to 2024. He started as a Senior Reliability Specialist for the equipment supplier notably becoming Country Manager and Head of Mining Sales - Mexico in 2018 and Managing Director for FLSmidth Panama at around the same time. He subsequently was appointed as Vice President - Head of Group Digital’s Smart Service in 2021 and Vice President - Head of ERP Transformation in 2023. Before working for FLSmidth he held various roles with Cemex from 2004 to 2011 ending his tenure as a Regional Technical Manager in Mexico. He holds an undergraduate degree in mechanical engineering from the Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey and a master’s of business administration qualification from the Copenhagen Business School .

Poland/Germany: Cemex will expand its renewable energy portfolio in its Central Europe Materials division by adding new photovoltaic farms at its cement plants in Mysłowice, Warsaw, Lublin, Szczecin, Gdańsk and at the Mirowo quarry, under an agreement with EDP Energia Polska. The company currently operates five photovoltaic farms in the region, four in Germany and one in Pruszków near Warsaw. Nine new farms in Poland will take total photovoltaic capacity above 14MW. Existing installations produce 128MW/month; this will rise to 291MWh/month once the new farms become operational.

Cemex has also signed an eight-year power purchase agreement with Norwegian energy company Statkraft to supply its Polish operations with wind and photovoltaic electricity, covering 30% of Cemex Polska’s energy demand.

Germany: Screencore has announced the appointment of WBI Baumaschinen as their distributor for Germany. AggNet News has reported that WBI Baumaschinen will offer Screencore’s entire product portfolio, with a focus on stockpilers, trommels and pugmills. It will also provide a comprehensive aftermarket package, including parts, servicing and technical support.

Screencore director Ciarán Ryan said "The Screencore range fits seamlessly into WBI's existing product lines and allows them to offer a true total solution to their customers."