Displaying items by tag: Germany

Germany: Heidelberg Materials has reaffirmed its 2030 CO₂ emissions reduction targets and submitted them to the Science-Based Targets Initiative (SBTi) for review. These include a reduction in Scope 1 emissions per tonne of cementitious material of 47% between 1990 and 2030. The initiative will now ensure that the targets conform to a 1.5°C climate change scenario.

Heidelberg Materials chair Dominik von Achten said “We have been actively supporting SBTi’s efforts to develop a 1.5°C roadmap and impactful criteria for the cement industry. With the industry's most ambitious CO₂ reduction targets and a steadily growing portfolio of CCUS projects, we are eager to continue leading the way.”

Tanzania: The Fair Competition Tribunal (FCT) has blocked an attempt by Heidelberg Materials to buy a 68% stake in Tanga Cement for around US$59m saying it was contrary to the law. The Germany-based building materials producer announced in October 2021 that it had agreed to buy Tanga Cement from South Africa-based AfriSam via various subsidiaries, according to the Citizen newspaper. The Fair Competition Commission (FCC) provisionally approved the transaction but required the buyer to keep the operations of Tanga Cement running, to continue producing and promoting the Simba Cement (Tanga Cement) brand and to keep employing the existing staff at Tanga Cement. However, Chalinze Cement Limited and the Tanzania Consumer Advocacy Society opposed the decision due to a potential reduction in market competition and successfully made an appeal to the FCT.

In a statement Tanga Cement said that Heidelberg Materials and AfriSam were, “considering how to proceed, but the FCT ruling has placed the acquisition at great risk of not being implemented.” It added that the parties were waiting for a formal ruling from the FCT and would then seek further advice on how to proceed.

France: HeidelbergCement subsidiary Ciments Calcia plans to lay the first stone of a major upgrade project at its Airvault cement plant on 5 October 2022. The event will mark the start of the construction phase of a new 4000t/day clinker production line, according to La Nouvelle République newspaper. The Euro300m project will be built by Germany-based ThyssenKrupp.

Germany: Heidelberg Materials says it is considering shutting down plants in Germany due to the high cost of gas and electricity. In comments reported by Reuters chief executive officer Dominik von Achten said, "If power prices won't come down sustainably, we would have to take individual plants in Germany completely off the grid. That's what we have prepared for." He added that the company is shifting production to times and days when power prices are lower including at the weekend. However, changing staff shift patterns has required ongoing discussions with labour unions.

The building materials company expects its energy bill to rise by around half year-on-year to over Euro3bn in 2022. It has called on the German government to place a cap on energy prices despite measures the company has already taken to protect itself from soaring costs, such as using alternative fuels.

HeidelbergCement’s latest sustainability target has been to reduce the ‘cement’ footprint from its own name. From this week it has become Heildelberg Materials. Of the top ten global cement producers in Global Cement Magazine’s roundup in the December 2021 issue only three now have the word ‘cement’ in their names.

In Heildelberg Materials’ own words, the “new brand identity underlines the company's pioneering role on the path to carbon neutrality and digitalisation in the building materials industry.” Chair Dominik von Achten then goes on to explain that the company is proud of its cement business but its range of services goes far beyond cement. This is certainly true but in 2021 the cement business generated 44% of the group’s revenue. 19% came from aggregates, 25% from ready-mixed concrete plus asphalt and the remaining 12% from services and other lines.

Yet, Heidelberg Materials is also a leader in driving innovation in carbon capture, utilisation and storage (CCUS) for the cement sector with a full production line capture unit planned for commissioning in 2024 at the Brevik plant in Norway. When it opens it will be the only full scale CCUS unit at a cement plant anywhere in the world. The group further plans to reduce the CO₂ footprint of its cementitious products to below 500kg/t CO₂ by 2030 and aims to generate half of its revenue from low-carbon products. These are not small achievements or ambitions.

Meanwhile, Holcim completed the divestment of its Indian business to Adani Group this week for US$6.4bn. For Holcim the move marks a milestone in the reshaping of its business away from developing markets and the diversification on its product lines into light (and more sustainable) building materials. So why would a company like Adani Group move into the cement sector when multinationals are getting out?

Money is the obvious answer and the one group owner Gautam Adani raised at a speech marking his latest mega-acquisition. He said, “Our entry into this business is happening at a time when India is on the cusp of one of the greatest economic surges seen in the modern world.” He expects his new cement arm to become the most profitable cement producer in the country although his competitors may have other ideas. As well as operational efficiency, Adani also plans to inject US$2.5bn into the business as part of plans to increase its production capacity to 140Mt/yr in the next five years, from around 70Mt/yr at present. However, the financial press in India and elsewhere has wondered how much debt Adani Group can cope with and whether it will consolidate its latest acquisitions or simply use them to buy into even more sectors. Time will tell.

Lastly, it should be noted that Adani Group’s new rival UltraTech Cement has targeted a production capacity of 154Mt/yr by 2025. Any growth in the Indian market will clearly be contested. It is also worth noting that the latter company has retained ‘cement’ in its name. For now at least.

Germany: The former HeidelbergCement launched its new name and branding as Heidelberg Materials at a group level on 20 September 2022. The new two-word moniker underlines the cement producer's pioneering role on the path to building materials digitisation and carbon neutrality. 'Materials' stands for its innovative portfolio of sustainable and intelligent building materials, as well as digital solutions. The group's subsidiaries will also change their names to Heidelberg Materials from the beginning of 2023. Among the first to undergo the transformation will be US-based Lehigh Hanson, which will become Heidelberg Materials in early 2023.

Managing board chair Dominik von Achten said “We are proud of our cement business, but the company's range of services goes far beyond cement. Today, and even more in the future.Our future is sustainable. Our future is digital. Customer demands, markets and competitors are changing rapidly. Opportunities and challenges go beyond country borders; communication is becoming increasingly global. Differentiation opportunities arise." Concerning the company's cement business, von Achten said "We will be the first company in the world to offer carbon-free cement at large scale as early as 2024. We are vigorously driving forward the scaling of our CCUS activities: by 2030, we will reduce our CO₂ emissions by 10Mt/yr with the projects we have already launched. "

Denmark: Lime and chalk producer Dankalk has ordered a three-tube dryer type TRT 3150/5,0 from Germany-based Gebr. Pfeiffer. The order replaces a previous dryer also supplied by Gebr. Pfeiffer. Dankalk manufactures lime products for agricultural purposes, products for waste incineration plants and chemical auxiliaries and polymers for industrial wastewater treatment and environmental processes.

Zimbabwe: Government capital controls are delaying the handover of a new vertical cement mill ordered from China-based CBMI to Lafarge Zimbabwe. The cement producer still owes the supplier US$5.2m but has been unable to make the payment due to economic measures the government has taken to avoid depreciation of the local currency, according to the The Insider newspaper. The subsidiary of Switzerland-based Holcim is unable to obtain a certificate of completion from the supplier until the transaction has been completed. CBMI handled the order and Germany-based Gebr. Pfeiffer supplied the mill. The outstanding debt to CBMI may also delay Holcim’s deal to sell Lafarge Zimbabwe to Fossil Mining, which was announced in June 2022.

Europe: RHI Magnesita is heading a European Union Horizon project called ReSoURCE. The project seeks to develop a sensor-based refractory waste sorting and powder handling system. It involves academic partners in Austria, Germany, Ireland, Norway and the UK. The European Health and Digital Executive Agency (HADEA) supplied Euro6m in funding for the study, while the UK government supplied Euro1m. Global refractory waste generation is currently 28Mt/yr.

RHI Magnesita chief executive officer Stefan Borgas said “On average, 60% of all spent refractories generated by refractory-consuming industries go to landfill, while only 30% are recycled. With the ReSoURCE project, we aim to increase it up to 75%. This means we can achieve significant savings of CO₂ emissions per annum. With this research project, we have the chance to make a difference in the world.”

Pakistan: Germany-based Menzel Elektromotoren has revealed work on a replacement motor it has built for an unnamed cement plant in Pakistan. As part of the project it has designed a motor to fit a limited installation space that could drive the unit’s raw mill, another cement mill or a fan.

The engineering company’s solution was a compact slip ring motor in frame size 710 with the cooling system tailored to fit around a steel girder in the cement plant. To accommodate the existing couplings in two different sizes, Menzel designed the replacement motor with two shaft ends with different diameters. The motor output is configured to ensure efficient continuous operation in each of the three applications. The machine has a rated output of 4600kW and a rated voltage of 6300V. It complies with protection class IP55. At the customer's request, it was designed in cooling type IC 666, with permanent external ventilation of the inner and outer cooling circuit. Before delivery, Menzel also ran a load test in its in-house test field with the end-user attending via video streaming.