Displaying items by tag: Germany
Germany: Dyckerhoff is supplying 12,000t of CEM III/A 32.5 N-LH cement to Frankfurt Airport for the production of underwater concrete. The airport is building a new terminal and the construction pit for the floor slab is deeper than the groundwater level, hence the floor slab must be concreted underwater.
The construction pit has a size of almost 66,000m² with excavation carried out in dry conditions to a depth of 5.5m to the groundwater table. Then a further 8 -11m was excavated in wet conditions using industrial divers. The excavation pit has been prepared in sections and then concreted by the divers resulting in short sections. The quantities of cement to be delivered by Dyckerhoff also fluctuate considerably, with sometimes 20 silo trucks/day leaving the Dyckerhoff plant in Wiesbaden. Deliveries started in March 2019.
Around 40,000m3 of concrete has been produced by Sehring Beton, using a mobile mixing plant directly on site. The construction work is being carried out by the Arge Ingenieurbau Baugrube T3, which consists of the two companies Adam Hörnig Bau and Bickhardt Bau.
Germany: Better weather in Europe and North America has benefitted HeidelbergCement’s first quarter results. Its sales revenue rose by 16.9% year-on-year to Euro4.24bn in the first quarter of 2019 from Euro3.63bn in the same period in 2018. Its operating earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) grew by 58.6% to Euro396m from Euro250m. Cement sales volumes increased by 1.6% to 28.6Mt from 28.1Mt. Ready-mixed concrete sales volumes increased by 10.8% to 11.3Mm3 from 10.2Mm3.
“We have achieved a considerable increase in revenue and result from current operations in comparison with the same quarter of the previous year. In addition to improved weather conditions, sustained strong demand and successful price increases contributed towards this positive development,” said Bernd Scheifele, chairman of the managing board of HeidelbergCement.
The group’s Asia-Pacific region reported ‘sluggish’ sales in India and Thailand. Its cement and clinker sales fell by 1.7% to 9Mt although it managed to increase its revenue through price rises. Cement and clinker sales volumes also fell in its Africa-Eastern Mediterranean Basin region due to increased competition in Egypt.
Italy: Buzzi Unicem’s sales rose by 21.7% year-on-year to Euro656m in the first quarter of 2019 from Euro539m in the same period in 2018. Its cement sales volumes grew by 16.9% to 6Mt and its ready-mixed concrete sales rose by 7.3% to 2.6Mm3. It attributed the gain in sales to improved weather in the reporting period. The group reported particular sales growth in Italy, the US and Germany.
Germany: Flender has increased the torque of its N-Arpex coupling product range with two new designs featuring eight and ten bolting points. N-Arpex now covers a diameter up to 988mm and a torque up to 2MNm. The compact design and enhanced bore capacities also enable a leap in size. A smaller coupling transmits a higher torque compared to the predecessor model. The steel disc coupling is suitable for use in drive applications including pumps, fans, compressors, generators, turbines, and paper and printing machines.
Other improvements include a more compact Flender conical bolt connection for the plate packs. With the two new N-Arpex couplings, Flender has introduced a modular system that increases the number of available types as well as reducing the number of components required. The three standard series of the predecessor Arpex merge into one N-Arpex series. The new series of couplings has also been designed for use in potentially explosive environments as defined in directive 2014/34/EU and fulfil the requirements of API610/ISO13709 and API671/ISO10441.
Bulgaria/Panama: Germany’s Venti Oelde has increased its sales presence in Europe and Central America. Its has appointed a new sales representative in Bulgaria, as well as one in Panama to cover countries including Mexico, Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Panama. The company manufactures industrial products including fans and filters.
Fuchs opens new plant in Suzhou
25 April 2019China: Germany’s Fuchs Petrolub has opened new plant in Wujiang, Suzhou. The Euro46m unit replaces a plant in Shanghai. Work on the plant started in 2017.
The new 80,000m² plant has a capacity of 100,000t/yr in phase one, almost double the capacity of the Shanghai plant. The automated high-bay warehouse has a capacity of 12,000 pallets. The production portfolio includes automotive oils, industrial oils, metalworking fluids, corrosion preventatives, rolling oils, coating materials and products for the forging industry. Expansion in phase two is at the development stage. Fuchs is also expanding its offices and laboratories at the site in Shanghai.
Clinker wars
24 April 2019One of the long running trends in the cement industry is that of production overcapacity. Sure enough more than a few news stories this week covered this, as various players reacted to international trade in clinker and cement. The Bangladesh Cement Manufacturers Association wants its government to cut import duties on clinker. Algeria’s shift from an importing cement nation to an exporting one continues.
Armenia and Afghanistan are coping with influxes of cement imports from neighbouring Iran. Pakistan’s cement exporters, who have been losing ground in Afghanistan, are once again lobbying to remove anti-dumping measures in South Africa. The argument between Hard Rock Cement and Arawak Cement in Barbados may have swung Hard Rock Cement’s way as the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) has ruled in favour of lower tariffs for imports. Last week it was reported that the Rwanda Bureau of Standards had blocked cement imports from Uganda on quality requirement grounds.
The summarised version is that all this excess clinker and cement can cause arguments and market distortions as it finds new markets. Typically, the media reports upon the negative side of this, when the representatives of national industries defend their patch and speak out about ‘quality concerns,’ potential job losses and blows to the local economy. However, it isn’t always like this as the Afghan story shows this week. Here, although the Chamber of Commerce and Industries wants to promote locally produced cement, imports are welcome and the relative merits of different sources are discussed. Ditto the situation in Bangladesh where a predominantly grinding-based industry naturally wants to cut its raw material costs.
We’ve covered clinker and cement exports more than a few times, most recently in September 2018 when the jaw-dropping scale of Vietnam’s exports in 2018 started to become clear. Yet as the continued flow of news stores this week makes clear it’s a topic that never grows old.
Graph 1: Top cement exporting countries in 2018. Source: International Trade Centre.
Looking globally raises a number of issues. First, a warning. The data in Graph 1 comes from the International Trade Centre (ITC), a comprehensive source of trade statistics. Most of its figures are in line with data from government bodies and trade associations but its export figure is around a tenth of the estimated export figure for Iran of around 13Mt for its 2018 - 2019 year. Last time this column looked at exports similar issues were noted with a discrepancy between Vietnam’s exports from the ITC compared to government data.
Iran aside, all the usual suspects are present and correct. A point of interest here is that the list is a mixture of countries that make the headlines for their exports, like Vietnam, and those that are quietly just getting on with business. Japan for example exported 10.7Mt in 2018. More telling are the changes in exports from 2017 to 2018. Exports fell in Japan, China and Spain. They rose in Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia, Pakistan and South Korea.
Looking globally, China is the elephant in the room in this topic given its apparent massive production overcapacity. The industry here is structurally unable to export cement on the scale of other countries but, as its major companies expand internationally, this may change. Despite this China still managed to be the third biggest exporter of cement to the US in 2018 at 2Mt and the fifth biggest in the world. Yet, as the ITC data shows, its exports fell by 30% year-on-year to 9Mt in 2018.
Vietnam, Pakistan and Turkey continue to be some of the key exporting nations with production capacities rising in defiance of domestic realities. Pakistan, for example, is coming off a building boom from the China–Pakistan Economic Corridor infrastructure project and all those plants are now looking for new markets. Vietnam says it is benefitting from industry consolidation in China. Its exports grew by 55% year-on-year rise to 31.6Mt. It shipped 9.8Mt to China in 2018. Its main export markets in 2019 are expected to be the Philippines, Bangladesh, China, Taiwan and Peru. Turkey, meanwhile, struggled with general economic issues in 2018. Its cement exports fell by 6% to 7.5Mt in 2018 according to Turkish Cement Manufacturers Association data. Once again this is at odds with ITC data, which reports nearly twice as many exports.
This touches the tip of the iceberg of a big issue but while production over-capacity continues these kinds of trade arguments will endure. Vietnam, for example, may be enjoying supplying cement in China as that country scales down production. Yet, what will happen to all of those Vietnamese plants once Chinese consumption stabilises?! Similar bear traps lie in wait for the other major exports. Alongside this many of the multinational cement companies are pivoting to concrete production. This may be in recognition of the fact that in a clinker-abundant world profits should be sought elsewhere in the supply chain. A topic for another week.
For an overview of some of these themes and more read Dr Robert McCaffrey’s article ‘The Global Cement Industry in 2050’ in the May 2019 issue of Global Cement Magazine and his forthcoming keynote presentation at the 61st IEEE-IAS/PCA Cement Conference 2019 at St Louis in Missouri, US.
Germany: Michael Lambert has been appointed to the management board of Vecoplan. He has been responsible for the company’s commercial operations since 2014 and is the manager of its European subsidiaries. In this capacity he supports Werner Berens, who has been chief executive officer (CEO) of Vecoplan since 2012 and is in charge of Vecoplan’s divisions and supply chain activities.
Lambert, aged 40 years, has a degree in business administration and has held a number of management positions. In 2008 he assumed the post of commercial director in the Saar-Gummi Group and he became manager of the group’s non-automotive business in 2011. In January 2014 Lambert went to Vecoplan, where he was appointed chief financial officer (CFO).
Thomas Zement orders selective catalytic reduction unit from GEA for Erwite cement plant
15 April 2019Germany: Thomas Zement has ordered a selective catalytic reduction (SCR) unit from GEA for its Erwite cement plant to reduce its NOx emissions. The order includes two reactors for selective catalytic reduction (SCR) including handling of the flue gas transport by induced draft (ID) fans and integration into plant. The contract also includes engineering services as well as the supply, installation and commissioning of steel structures, SCR catalysts, ID fans, heating circuits, duct connection and adaptation of NH3 injection from existing storage tanks. Production will continue at the site during the installation of the SCR unit.
Ali Emir Adıgüzel resigns as head of HC Trading
08 April 2019Germany: Ali Emir Adıgüzel has resigned as the chief executive officer (CEO) of HeidelbergCement trading subsidiary HC Trading. He will be succeeded by Hakan Gurdal, a member of HeidelbergCement’s management board.
In a statement on LinkedIn Adıgüzelthanked HeidelbergCement’s chairman Bernd Scheifele for his support over the last 15 years. He added that it was, normal to have differences of opinion regarding the performance evaluation, strategy and future steps in companies.
Born in Turkey, the 58-year old Adıgüzel graduated from Harvard Business School in the US and the Boğaziçi University Business Administration Department in Turkey. He started his career working in Saudi Arabia and has been the general manager of HC Trading since 1996. He became Trade Chairman for the Mediterranean, Middle East and International regions, which include Turkey in 2004 and was appointed CEO in 2016.