Displaying items by tag: Germany
Germany: HeidelbergCement’s profit fell in the first half of 2019 due to non-recurring effects related to the divestment of its assets in Ukraine. Its profit fell by 33% year-on-year to Euro291m in the first half of 2019 from Euro435m from in the same period in 2018. Its revenue rose by 9% to Euro9.21bn from Euro8.43bn. Its sales volumes of cement fell slightly to 61Mt and ready-mixed concrete sales volumes grew by 6% to 24.4Mm3. Its profit fell by 33% to Euro435m from Euro291m.
“In general, the market dynamics weakened slightly in the second quarter in comparison with the first quarter. Nevertheless, we were able to improve our result in the second quarter because of our strong global positioning. Good margins in Asia, as well as Western and Southern Europe, more than compensated for the weaker business due to adverse weather conditions in North America and the Africa-Eastern Mediterranean Basin Group area,” said Bernd Scheifele, the chairman of the managing board of HeidelbergCement.
UTD Cement Uzbek plant project increased to 5Mt/yr
24 July 2019Uzbekistan: UTD Cement has increased the size of a new integrated cement plant it plans to build in the Farish district of Jizzakh region to 5Mt/yr from 4Mt/yr. The decision to increase the size of the upgrade has followed access to a new limestone quarry at Almaz, according to the Trend News Agency. Once completed the plant will produce 4Mt/yr of Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC) and 1Mt/yr of white cement. UTD Holding is planning invest over Euro400m in the project. It is working with German companies Phoenix Consulting and MN Medianet.
Germany: HeidelbergCement’s specific CO2 net emissions per tonne of cementitious material fell by 1.4% year-on-year to 599kg CO2/t in 2018 from 608kg CO2/t in 2017. Despite this its absolute gross CO2 emissions increased by 3% to 76.7Mt from 74.2Mt as clinker, cement, aggregate and concrete sales volumes all grew in 2018. The group has published the data in its Sustainability Report for the 2018 financial year.
“Cutting our CO2 emissions and handling natural resources considerately are priorities for all our business lines,” says Bernd Scheifele, chairman of the managing board of HeidelbergCement. "We focus primarily on the development of sustainable products and the implementation of concrete measures at plant level in order to achieve our sustainability goals.” The company has set itself the target of a 30% reduction in its specific net CO2 emissions per tonne of cement by 2030, compared with 1990. HeidelbergCement says it intends to realise its vision of CO2-neutral concrete by 2050 at the latest.
Other figures of note in the report include an alternative fuels substitution rate of 21.7% in 2018 compared in 20.8% in 2017. NOx, SOx and particulate matter emissions all fell. However, total water withdrawal rose by 8% to 65.4Mm3 from 60.4Mm3 although water consumption fell.
Germany: Holcim Deutschland has opened a new 110,000Mm3 ready-mixed concrete plant at Weil am Rhein in Baden-Württemberg. The unit was biult in nine months. It had an investment of around Euro4m. Lars Essert willl manage the plant.
Sri Lanka: Lanwa Sanstha Cement has ordered two MVR 5000 C-4 type roller mills from Germany’s Gebr. Pfeiffer. The vertical roller mills will be used for the production of various cement types based on clinker, gypsum, granulated blast-furnace slag and fly ash. The end customer is part of Onyx Group, which mainly operates in Sri Lanka and the UAE. The contract was signed in February 2019. No value for the order has been disclosed.
Most of the components of the grinding plants will be supplied by Gebr. Pfeiffer (India). The core components of the mills - including the grinding rollers, the tension systems and the gear units - will come from Europe. Gebr. Pfeiffer (India) will also provide the entire engineering for the grinding plants and make available staff to support and supervise the erection and commissioning and assist with the performance test. The two grinding plants will each produce about 180t/hr of Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC) ground to a fineness of 4000cm²/g acc. to Blaine and they will be set up at staggered intervals. Delivery of the first plant is slated for the end of 2019 and scheduled to be commissioned in the second quarter of 2020.
India: Germany’s ThyssenKrupp plans to build a procurement centre for its engineering business in India. Marcel Fasswald, the chief executive officer (CEO) of ThyssenKrupp Industrial Solutions, said that the company is trying to reverse its poor performance in 2018, according to Reuters. He views the cement and mining industries as key drivers of the company’s growth in India as state-backed infrastructure projects take shape. He added that India had cost benefits that made the country a preferred location for the project.
Germany/US: Germany’s Baltrader and US-based United Bulk Carriers (UBC) have launched the Cement Carrier Alliance (CCA) to cooperate the marketing of their respective fleets of pneumatic cement carriers. The aim of the deal is to offer a wider range of vessel sizes to existing and new customers while enhancing marketing to current and developing markets. The two companies operate 15 self-discharging cement carriers with a range of 3000 – 15,000DWT vessels.
Both companies will remain independent entities each operating out of their own offices while offering continuity in their customer relationships. CCA will be jointly represented by the UBC office in Philadelphia and the Baltrader office in Hamburg.
Siemens acquires Industrial Control Technology
08 July 2019Germany: Siemens has agreed to acquire the shares of Industrial Control Technology (IST), a company that produces industrial control technology. It will become part of Siemens’ Digital Industries division in April 2020. IST’s headquarters in Chemnitz is planned to become a centre of excellence for motion control in industrial machinery. No value for the transaction has been disclosed.
INFORM celebrates 50th anniversary
05 July 2019Germany: INFORM has marked its 50th anniversary at an event held at its headquarters in Aachen. Over 250 guests attended the function, including founder Professor Hans-Jürgen Zimmermann and current chief executive officer (CEO) Adrian Weiler.
The software company makes products using operations research and artificial intelligence, including fuzzy logic and machine learning, for a variety of industries from logistics, supply chains, manufacturing, workforce, aviation, automotive and fraud prevention. Over 1000 companies in more than 40 countries run INFORM software systems. They are supported from Aachen in Germany and Inform Software in Atlanta in the US.
Germany/Switzerland: LafargeHolcim has reportedly placed a bid for BASF Construction Chemicals, according to sources quoted by Bloomberg. The cement producer has reached the second round of the bidding processing, along with companies including Bain Capital, Cinven and Standard Industries. The auction of the subsidiary of BASF that produces admixtures, mortars and grouts is expected to reach as much as Euro3bn. LafargeHolcim chief executive officer (CEO Jan Jenisch said in May 2019 that the company is considering at least 10 bolt-on assets purchases for 2019.