Displaying items by tag: Germany

Germany: HeidelbergCement has started to build its sales revenue following its acquisition of Italcementi with growth in Europe and North America. Its sales rose by 19% year-on-year to Euro13bn in the first nine months of 2017 from Euro10.9bn in the same period in 2016. On a like-for-like basis this rose by 1.1%. Its cement and clinker sales volumes rose by 29.2% to 94.4Mt from 73Mt or by 0.3% on a like-for-like basis.

“As expected, the positive trend reversal in May 2017 led to a significantly improved development of results in the third quarter”, said chairman of the managing board, Bernd Scheifele. “North America, Australia, Morocco, India, as well as Northern and Eastern Europe have developed very strongly. The countries of Southern Europe are showing clear signs of recovery, and the emerging countries have passed their lowest point. We have succeeded in reducing the rise in energy costs through the flexible use of various fuels.” He added that the synergies from the acquisition of Italcementi have already ‘significantly’ exceeded the target for 2017.

By region cement sales volumes rose in all regions on both a consolidated and pro forma basis except for the group’s Northern and Eastern Europe - Central Asia and its Asia-Pacific regions. In the US strong markets were noted in California and Washington alongside price growth. In Indonesia the cement producer said that despite the market showing signs of recovery it was still facing price pressure. In Egypt continued reduced market demand was reported.

Germany: Union delegates representing workers at HeidelbergCement have created a trade union network. Forty delegates from Europe, Middle East and North Africa, North America, Asia-Pacific and South Asia met in early November 2017 in Bremen. The meeting was organized by IndustriALL Global Union with support of the Friedrich Ebert Foundation, also involving IndustriALL‘s sister organisation Building and Wood Workers’ International.

“With the creation of the HeidelbergCement union network, we open the door to social dialogue if management is willing, and we hope union activists will contribute seriously to the promotion of workers’ rights and interests in the company. To this end, the steering committee will be in close interaction with the national unions. Finally, we strongly believe that HeidelbergCement will only win through workers’ active participation and engagement,” said Matthias Hartwich, director for materials industry at IndustriALL.

The meeting discussed recent developments in the cement sector and sustainability issues. The experience of global and national unions interacting with management at another big cement giant company, LafargeHolcim, was also raised. At the end of the meeting, delegates unanimously adopted a Bremen declaration and elected a steering committee for the network, which will coordinate the work in between its global meetings. No representative of the group’s global management attended the event despite being sent invitations.

Germany: Franz-Josef Paus has been elected as the chairman of the Mechanical Engineering Industry Association (VDMA) for the next three years. Paus, aged 55 years, is an executive at Hermann Paus Maschinenfabrik. He succeeds Johann Sailer, a managing partner of GEDA-Dechentreiter, who has decided to step down after a six-year tenure. The appointment of Paus was formerly announced at the association’s General Assembly in Dusseldorf. Joachim Strobel, the sales director of Liebherr Emtec, and Hermann Weckenmann, a managing partner at Weckenmann Anlagentechnik, will act as his deputies in the role.

Germany: The European Commission has approved the acquisition of Fels-Werke by Ireland’s CRH. Fels-Werke is active in mining, processing and distribution of lime and limestone products, gypsum and mortar in Germany, the Czech Republic and Russia. The commission concluded that the proposed acquisition would raise no competition concerns because there is limited geographic overlap between the companies' activities. It described them as ‘remote’ competitors. Fels’ owners Xella agreed to sell the business to CRH in August 2017 for an undisclosed sum.

Germany: Beumer Group is promoting its new mobile bag tester. The testing device is intended to help users to determine the venting capacity of any type of valve bag, such as those used in the cement industry, including all paper and plastic layers, and glued areas. The determined parameters can be used to optimise the manufacture of bags or check conformity with specifications.

The bag tester is intended to give users with information on the filling behaviour of each bag that is useful for the manufacture of bags and filling technology, as well as for transport and logistics. The 14kg apparatus is housed in a stable hardtop case on wheels making it mobile.

A pressure-compensated flow control valve on the device constantly increases the volume flow rate until a steady pressure of 50mbar is reached. With this pressure, the user can read the current volume flow rate, which indicates the air permeability, from the flow-rate meter. A filling spout with inflatable sleeve seals the bag valve during the airflow measurements. The scope of supply includes an additional inflatable sleeve for valve widths of up to 200mm.

Germany: Thomas Gruppe has purchased Portland-Zementwerke Gebr. Seibel’s cement plant at Erwitte in North Rhine-Westphalia. The deal also includes the plant’s limestone deposits. It will take over the plant on 1 January 2018. Gebr. Seibel has operated the unit since 1927.

Thomas Gruppe operates in the construction and building material sectors. It runs the Dornburger cement grinding plant in Thuringia.

Germany/ UK: Germany’s Hosokawa Alpine and the UK’s Atritor have started a global marketing partnership to promote their processing equipment for ground calcium carbonate (GCC). The Hosokawa Alpine ANR vertical wet grinding mill will combine with the Atritor Cell Mill slurry drying and powder coating system to provide an offering for superfine GCC products.

“… a partnership with Atritor is a natural step for us to enable customers to produce very fine, dry, coated or uncoated Ground Calcium Carbonate products. This area of the GCC market is growing quickly as more and more customers look to increase the quality of their end products and to enter the market for very fine products,” said Paul Woodward, Division Manager Minerals and Metals at Hosokawa Alpine.

Germany: Schenck Process has launched the Multidos VDP-C apron weighfeeder, a new range of medium-sized and compact apron weighfeeders targeted at raw material feeding, hot clinker feeding and similar applications.

The Multidos VDP-C uses an enclosed design to enable a cleaner installation environment with inspection access offered by removable covers. Alternatively, an open design is possible for permanently visible material feed. The kit structure of Multidos VDP-C enables installation in a total of 48 possible geometrical configurations to suit plant requirements. It can be installed on the ground or suspended under a bin.

The chain used on the Multidos VDP-C can tolerate a drive torque four times higher than required. In addition, apron pans accept loads up to six times higher than the nominal load. Apron pans are available for fine grain material and alternative designs for sticky and coarse material. The coarse material apron pans are made of Hardox steel for strength and service life.

Germany: Berthold Technologies has launched its new DuoSeries Transmitter LB 472 bulk flow system. It is intended to for use determining mass flow in bulk industries and can be added to conveying systems. The product uses a non-contacting, non-intrusive radiometric belt weigher with no moving parts. This can be installed directly after bunkers, chute outlets or transfer systems. The bulk flow system provides measuring results on the current flowrate and the total produced mass. The DuoSeries Transmitter LB 472 provides a local display of measurement values as well as on-site operation via the integrated touch panel.

Germany: Private equity company Blackstone has agreed to buy Schenck Process from IK Investment Partners. No further details, including the cost of the transaction, have been disclosed.

“Schenck is an innovative and unrivalled leader, and we see considerable opportunity to grow the business both organically and by acquisitions in its various end markets. We are excited to team up with management and accompany Schenck in the next stage of its development,” said Lionel Assant, Head of European Private Equity at Blackstone.

Detlef Dinsel, Partner at IK Investment Partners and advisor to the IK 2007 Fund said that Schenck had, “…transformed its business focus from a mechanical manufacturer to a service and integrated solutions provider, achieved significant growth by expanding the product portfolio and entering new markets both organically and through selected add-on acquisitions.”

Schenck develops and manufactures solutions for a wide range of industrial processes including weighing, feeding, conveying and filtration. With over 2300 employees worldwide and significant operations across Europe, North and South America, China, India and Australia, Schenck serves a diversified customer base across a variety of industries, including food, chemicals, mining and construction.