Displaying items by tag: Germany

Togo: Cim Metal Group subsidiary Cimco has received a Gebr. Pfeiffer 6400kW, CEM I - CEM IV MVR 6000 C-6 grinding mill. Germany-based Intercem Engineering will install the mill, which grinds CEM-I to a fineness of 3800cm2 at a rate of 370t/hr, at Cimco’s Lomé grinding plant.

Gebr. Pfeiffer has said that this is its 12th MVR mill installed on the African continent.

Cement producers and suppliers are now reacting to the coronavirus pandemic at scale. The biggest obvious development has been the lockdown in India that began on 24 March 2020. The implications for the cement industry are profound given the country’s population (1.3Bn) and massive cement consumption under normal conditions. It is the country with the world’s second largest cement production capacity.

UltraTech Cement, the biggest producer, said that it was suspending production at ‘various’ locations although it added that the situation was ‘dynamic’ and that it was monitoring it from time to time. Ambuja Cement and JK Lakshmi Cement have done likewise. The latter has suspended cement production at an integrated plant in Rajasthan and three grinding plants in Gujarat. Some Indian states have moved faster than others towards shutting down movement of people so JK Lakshmi’s decision may merely be based on legal necessity. However, a difference may arise in producer strategies between keeping integrated and grinding plants open. Building up inventory is one strategy seen in poor market conditions previously around the world. Alternatively, moving to more of a grinding model might make sense in some territories if, as is happening, countries implement lockdowns at different periods. However, some Indian states have moved faster than others towards shutting down movement of people and JK Lakshmi Cement’s closure pattern may simply reflect this.

At the international scale HeidelbergCement gave an idea to Reuters of the challenge facing the multinationals. Chief executive officer (CEO) Dominik von Achten described the start of 2020 as being strong but that construction projects were being delayed in the US and that activity in France and Spain was starting to weaken. Unsurprisingly, the company has shut down three of its plants in Lombardy at the centre of the Italian epidemic. He added that the group was holding a daily crisis call to assess the effect of the virus upon staff. He also said that the group was stockpiling cement amid the disruption. The clear warning sign was of an existential threat like that faced by the airlines whereby sales could simply stop for a three or four week period… or longer.

On the supplier side, Denmark’s FLSmidth has issued a robust plan on how it is aiming to maintain service and support for its customers. Past all the now-usual stuff such as remote working it included detail on how to support clients on site where absolutely necessary on a case-by-case basis. With regards to its supply chain it pointed out that it was confident, “that any local interruptions to our suppliers can be minimised, even when the agility of some suppliers is put to the test. We have redundancy built into the system.” To this end it emphasised the global nature of its business to ensure that it could deliver parts and equipment to its customers. It claimed that it coped with coronavirus in China due to its ‘very flexible’ supply chain but did admit to some supply chain impacts. Yet it says that production is back to approaching full capacity with workshops in Qingdao and Shanghai above 90% as they work their way through accumulated backlogs. Finally, it is also offering advice on how the company can support its customers on reducing or shutting down operations.

Other supplier comments on the situation have mainly been about protecting staff, working remotely and supporting customers through continued supply of equipment and services. Back in India, Sameer Nagpal, the CEO of refractory manufacturer Dalmia-OCL told Business Standard that the company was coping so far with the crisis with little major impact seen so far. Its raw material supply chain was dependent on China but after some minor disruption it was secure. Most of its customers are domestic, where it hadn’t reported problems so far, although this may change with the Indian lockdown. Exports were a different story as it sends around 10% of its production abroad and it has a plant in Germany. In Europe it was seeing a challenge due to supply chain disruption.

The experiences above are a snapshot of some of what is happening in parts of the industry as coronavirus disruption hits home. China’s restrictions are easing, most of Europe is in lockdown, India has started its quarantine and the US has restricted movement in about a third of its states. The current restrictions in the UK, for example, allow for construction work to continue but local media is debating the associated risks for workers. Other territories have different rules. All of this is affecting demand for cement and concrete. This in turn feeds through to producers and their suppliers. Global Cement continues to monitor the situation and wishes readers a safe passage through the pandemic.

Germany: Frank Siefert has been appointed as the chief executive officer (CEO) and managing director of Claudius Peters Group. He also takes the role of managing director of Claudius Peters Projects. Siefert was previously with the Liebherr Group, a manufacturer of construction machinery, and brings with him a wealth of experience in the capital equipment sector. He holds a degree in mechanical engineering and has also held various senior positions in sales, technology and production during his career.

Kurt Herrmann has also been appointed as Managing Director - Global Sales, Claudius Peters Group and Managing Director Sales, Claudius Peters Projects. He joined the Claudius Peters group in 1991 and has held the position of Managing Director of Claudius Peters (China).

Germany: Currax and Siemens have announced their collaboration on a mill operations digitisation pilot project involving the Simotics Connect 400 motor data collector and transmitter. They hope that analysis of data processed via the Simotics 400 will better enable the remote operating of mills ‘to increase efficiency and component life’ and speeding the shift towards automation and production that is resilient to crises such as the coronavirus outbreak.

Germany: HeidelbergCement started the new year better than ever before, according to chief executive officer (CEO) Dominik von Achten. He reported that this had been mainly due to good weather before the onset of the coronavirus outbreak. Von Achten warned that the situation had already changed beyond recognition since mid-February 2020 for the multinational.

He said that the coronavirus outbreak had not only caused plants to be closed, either by enforcement or due to a lack of demand, but because migrant workers are unable to travel to construction sites. For example, workers from Eastern Europe are increasingly lacking in Western Europe. In Indonesia, a market that is important for HeidelbergCement, the lack of Chinese construction workers is stark, as they remain confined to their home country.

According to Von Achten, HeidelbergCement is now paying particular attention to its costs, has deferred all unnecessary investments and has considerable liquidity leeway. He added that the group is likely to benefit significantly from lower fuel costs as conditions improve over the course of 2020. HeidelbergCement is currently particularly affected in Lombardy, where its Italcementi subsidiary has its headquarters. HeidelbergCement has shut down its factories in Italy and imposed a freeze on hiring and non-essential spending. "You can see it's hitting the world like a wave," says Von Achten. "It's a tough test."

World: Suppliers are taking all necessary measures to ensure the continued supply of equipment and services to cement industry customers the world over during the coronavirus crisis. US-based Webster and Germany-based Starlinger have both cut travel and limited face-to-face meetings to reduce the virus’ impact on the supply chain. Austria-based RHI Magnesita has established regional task forces consisting of members of various departments to monitor and react to the spread of coronavirus. FLSmidth, which is using its remote monitoring, maintenance and support software to avoid all but essential on-site work, said, “Cement is a vital, basic component in keeping societies functioning as normally as possible.”

World: Cement producers are mobilising human and material resources and implementing strategies to keep operations going with the minimum possible impact from the coronavirus. Germany-based HeidelbergCement subsidiary Lehigh Hanson has closed a minority of its facilities and prepared a contingency plan for further reduced operations ‘if conditions worsen.’ Brazil-based Votorantim Cimentos has established a Special Coronavirus Crisis Management Commission to aid communications and emergency response implementation across its facilities. UK-based Quinn has suspended all non-essential travel for employees.

Germany: HeidelbergCement’s profit was Euro1.24bn in 2019, down by 3.4% from Euro1.23bn in 2018. Its revenue grew by 4.3% to Euro18.9bn from Euro18.1bn. HeidelbergCement says that it reduced its specific net CO₂ emissions by 1.5% year-on-year to 590kg/t from 599kg/t in 2018 and ‘intensified its research and development (R&D) efforts on carbon capture and utilisation/storage (CCU/S)’ in every operating region globally.

The group announced a year-on-year increase in volumes in the first two months of 2020, with all but three of its plants (HeidelbergCement subsidiary Italcementi’s 2.8Mt/yr Calusco plant, 2.5Mt/yr Rezzato plant and 0.6Mt/yr Tavernola plant in Lombardy region, Italy) still operating through the coronavirus pandemic, though it noted that construction is slowing in the US, Australia and Western Europe due to the outbreak.

HeidelbergCement cancelled its 7 May 2020 annual general meeting (AGM) ‘due to the spread of the coronavirus.’

With events moving fast in Europe with regard to the on-going health crisis, here are a few threads to consider from the cement industry news this week.

Firstly, there have been two solar power stories over the last week in North America. Grupo Argos said that it had installed a 10.6MW solar power plant at Cementos Argos’ Piedras Azules cement plant in Comayagua. Then US-based Alamo Cement Company was reported to have signed a contract with Renergetica to build a solar power plant at its integrated plant in San Antonio, Texas. Global Cement has looked at this topic on and off over the years from the steady addition of photovoltaic (PV) solar plants around the world to supply electricity to cement plants to more ambitious plans such as research into using concentrated solar power to start powering creating clinker directly. These two latest PV stories follow projects in El Salvador and Cyprus so far this year. We’re not going to comment now on the overall progress the cement industry is making towards moving away from fossil fuels but the general trend is encouraging.

Next, there are on-going investments and upgrade projects being announced. Germany’s KHD revealed on 17 March 2020 that is building a new raw mill and pyroprocessing line for an ACC plant in India. FCT combustion recently announced that it has won a deal to supply Titan Cement in the US with an upgrade to a kiln line to natural gas. Buzzi Unicem’s SLK Cement in Russia has agreed to co-process solid municipal waste at its Sukholozhskcement plant. South Africa’s PPC has invested in a pneumatic offloading facility and a silo for its George Depot cement terminal in the Western Cape. These will have likely been agreed before the global coronavirus outbreak but they are reminders that some level of capital expenditure by cement companies is happening.

In China the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) said this week that the domestic cement sector’s net profit grew by 20% year-on-year to US$26.6bn in 2019. With this in mind the first quarter results for 2020 from cement producers in China will make essential reading for producers from elsewhere around the world wondering what to expect. However, a recent interview with the president of Huaxin Cement, a company based in Hubei province at the epicentre of the outbreak, revealed that despite the short term economic disruption from the quarantine the company was expecting a rapid economic rebound after April 2020 provided that there is a suitable government stewardship. He also mentioned the key role the company was playing in disposing of clinical waste. As such it was hoping for tax breaks to support continuing incineration and the advancement of co-processing in general.

Finally, also on the health crisis, many cement industry events have been cancelled or postponed as work practices change including those organised by Global Cement. We’re taking our events online in the short term as virtual conferences with opportunities for information exchange and networking. We encourage as many of you as possible to register.

Germany: Siemens subsidiary Flender Group, which equips cement plants with mechanical drive systems, has announced the appointment of Andreas Evertz as its chief executive officer (CEO).

Evertz, who has been chief technical officer (CTO) and CEO of Walter and CEO of Schenck Process Group and was Flender Group wind gearbox segment Winergy managing director for 15 years, will assume the new position on 1 June 2020.
Flender Group Supervisory Board chairman Horst Kayser said, “With Andreas Evertz we have found a well-experienced CEO to succeed Stefan Tenbrock. Together with Dr Ulrich Stock as chief financial officer (CFO), he will continue the successful path of Flender.”