Displaying items by tag: Germany

Germany: HeidelbergCement has reported that its operating income or profit has risen by 16% year-on-year to Euro1.85bn in 2015 from Euro1.6bn in 2014 in its preliminary results for 2015. Its revenue grew by 6.7% to Euro13.5bn from Euro12.6bn in the same period. It attributed the growth to efficiency drives, price increases in key markets, lower energy costs and currency effects due to a weakening Euro.

“2015 was by far the best year for HeidelbergCement since the financial crisis,” said Bernd Scheifele, Chairman of the Managing Board. “Despite the slowdown of the global economy in the course of the year, we were able to significantly increase our operating income as anticipated. Our strict focus on improving efficiency and margins in recent years, our advantageous geographical positioning, and continuous investments in growth have made a significant contribution.”

The group reported that sales volumes of cement remained stable in 2015. A rise in cement deliveries in North America and Africa almost compensated for the decrease in Europe and Asia. Sales also benefited in the fourth quarter of 2015 from mild weather extending the construction period in parts of Europe. Overall the group reported that sales volumes of cement, clinker and ground-granulated blast-furnace slag (GGBS) fell slightly to 81.8Mt in 2015 from 81.1Mt in 2014. A similar trend was reported in the fourth quarter of 2015.

By region, overall sales revenue rose in Western and Northern Europe in 2015 driven by demand for building materials in the UK, price increases, currency effects and reduced energy costs. Despite all of this cement sales volumes fell slightly. In Eastern Europe and Central Asia both sales revenue and volumes fell in 2015 mainly due to decreased demand in Ukraine and Russia. In North America both sales revenue and volumes grew in 2015 with a particular positive trend in the west of the US. Revenue grew by 22.9% to Euro3.75bn. Sales volumes in cement grew by 1.9% to 12.3Mt. Asia-Pacific reported both sales revenue and volumes falling in 2015 led by a downturn in Indonesia and Malaysia. Sales revenue and volumes grew in Africa-Mediterranean Basin in 2015 in most countries with the exception of Ghana, where sales volumes fell due to negative effects due to the falling oil price.

HeidelbergCement noted in its preliminary results that the ‘evaluation of potential synergies was provisionally concluded at the start of 2016’ for its takeover of Italcementi. As such its cost-saving target for the takeover has been raised from Euro300m to Euro400m. Approvals have been granted by the competition authorities in India, Canada, Morocco, and Kazakhstan. Discussions with the competition authorities in the US and in Europe are currently ongoing. HeidelbergCement expects the purchase of the 45% stake to be concluded in the first half of 2016.

Germany: Hengst has acquired all the shares of the Danish filtration specialist Nordic Air Filtration. The Münster-based filtration manufacturer said that the acquisition was part of its growth strategy.

"Nordic Air Filtration's entire product portfolio is an excellent complement to our current expertise in the field of industrial filtration. Our goal is to expand our activities in the non-automotive market further and to transfer our competence and technology as a partner in the automotive industry to filtration applications in these related segments," said owner Jens Röttgering.

Nordic Air produces industrial air filtration systems and it supplies dealers and original equipment manufactures worldwide. The company has three locations in Denmark and in the UAE and employs around 100 staff who generate sales of over Euro15m/yr. Nordic Air Filtration has a very large portfolio of around 4000 different filter products and more than 20 different filter media for gas turbines and industrial applications. André Radley Grundahl, who was formerly Managing Director of Nordic Air, will continue to oversee business operations.

Germany: HeidelbergCement has successfully issued debt certificates in the amount of Euro625m, further strengthening its financing structure. Due to high demand, it was possible to significantly increase the issue volume from Euro400m to Euro625m.

The newly-issued debt certificates, with a maturity date of 20 January 2022, consist of two tranches; one tranche with a floating rate and the other with a fixed rate. The fixed rate tranche yields at 1.85%/yr and the floating tranche at 1.5%/yr over six months Euribor.

The proceeds will be utilised to pre-fund the upcoming Italcementi acquisition and thereby reduce the volume of the bridge financing from Euro3.3bn to Euro2.7bn. The refinancing needs in the bond market decline to below Euro2bn, correspondingly.

Issuance of the debt certificates was secured with the assistance of Landesbank Baden-Württemberg, Landesbank Hessen-Thüringen and Raiffeisen Bank International.

As previously reported, the bridge financing should be refinanced by free cash flow, the sale of production sites and the issuance of bonds. The reduction in the volume of bridge financing thus also reduces the need for refinancing in the bond market by the same amount.

Germany: Vortex Global Limited, a European solids and bulk handling components company, has appointed the team of Adams Industrievertretungen as its exclusive agent in Germany. The company has a strong presence throughout Germany, which includes locations in Gernsbach, Mönsheim, Heilbronn, Augsburg and Ludwigshafen.

"Adams Industrievertretungen has valuable knowledge in the food, chemical, plastic, cosmetic, mineral and pharmaceutical industries," said Laurence Millington, International Sales Manager of Vortex. "They are dedicated to offering our clients the best processing solutions on the market. We believe Adams Industrievertretungen will be an excellent strategic supplier for Vortex."

Germany: bauma has launched the new bauma Charity Alliance, which is intended to highlight the fact that companies in the construction and construction machinery sector are actively engaged both in combating hunger and poverty and in promoting education and the environment in the Third World, in addition to their day-to-day business. The launch will be held at bauma 2016, held in Munich, Germany from 11 – 17 April 2016.

Internationally orientated companies have become increasingly involved in developing and emerging countries, however many companies are interested not just in pure profit maximisation and expansion, but are also actively involved worldwide in social projects of every description.

"Corporate societal and social commitment is no contradiction. On the contrary, long-term success requires both factors to go hand-in-hand. Many bauma exhibitors have long since taken this on board and are acting accordingly," said Klaus Dittrich, Chairman and CEO of Messe München GmbH.

Inspired by the Pilosio Building Peace Award, bauma has set up the bauma Charity Alliance to coincide with the forthcoming event. The intention is to create a strong network and presentation platform to draw attention to social commitment by companies within the construction machinery industry. The network intends to promote dialog between members on the implementation of social projects and to attract additional interested parties to become actively involved in the bauma Charity Alliance.

Applications are restricted to companies exhibiting at bauma 2016, who are carrying on projects in the fields of education, nutrition, health, social integration or the environment and which bring about a lasting improvement in the living conditions of people in need living in, or hailing from, crisis areas, emerging or developing countries. To date, Atlas Copco, AUMUND Fördertechnik, MAN, Pilosio, Terex Latin America, Wirtgen, Volvo Construction Equipment, Zeppelin Baumaschinen and ZF Friedrichshafen have notified their projects to the bauma Charity Alliance.

Germany: Joule, a producer of liquid fuels from recycled CO₂, and HeidelbergCement have announced a partnership to explore the application of Joule's technology to mitigate carbon emissions in cement manufacturing. A successful partnership between Joule and HeidelbergCement could result in the co-location of Joule's Helioculture Technology at one or more HeidelbergCement sites around the world.

Since 1990, HeidelbergCement has worked to decrease its carbon emissions, initiating various programmes across the organisation that have reduced emissions by 23%. HeidelbergCement said that its partnership with Joule represents another example of its sustained dedication to leveraging innovative technologies and programmes for climate protection. As part of the agreement, emissions from various HeidelbergCement plants could provide Joule with the waste CO₂ required to feed its advanced Helioculture platform that effectively recycles CO₂ back into fuel.

"We've been focused on lowering carbon emissions for more than two decades and we are excited to take further steps to lower our CO₂ emissions by working with a dedicated organisation with state-of-the-art technology that is committed to protecting the climate," said Jan Theulen, Director of Alternative Resources at HeidelbergCement. "Joule's process, which effectively recycles waste CO₂ into liquid fuels, is a perfect match for HeidelbergCement and our core values and we look forward to starting the journey towards a long-term, mutually beneficial relationship."

Joule's Helioculture process directly and continuously converts sunlight and waste CO₂ into infrastructure-ready fuels, including ethanol and alkanes that serve as highly blendable feedstock for diesel and jet fuel products. Only requiring abundantly available inputs, including sunlight, brackish or sea water and waste CO₂, the process is well suited for global deployment. For organisations like HeidelbergCement, Joule turns a carbon challenge into a carbon solution by capturing and recycling waste CO₂.

"Carbon emissions are a challenge faced by many industries that are of critical importance to everyday life, such as cement," said Brian Baynes, CEO of Joule. "We are pleased to have the opportunity to partner with HeidelbergCement in an attempt to develop a modern, ultra-low carbon cement manufacturing process."

Germany: Beumer Group celebrated its 80th anniversary on 9 December 2015. The conveying, loading, palletising, packaging, sortation and distribution manufacturer was originally founded by Bernhard Beumer on 9 December 1935 with four employees. In 2014 Beumer Group reported a turnover of Euro680m and today it has around 4100 employees.

"The success is primarily due to the familial spirit. We have consistently held to our motto 'We are looking for the long-term success, and not for the short-term profit'," said Christoph Beumer, Chairman and CEO of Beumer Group. Beumer is the third generation of his family to manage the business and he has held the post since 2000. Beumer attributes the long-term success of the company to manageable growth, a large range of products and a global market presence. Beumer machines and systems are in use all around the world.

Conveying technology formed the foundation of Beumer Group's business when Bernhard Beumer started the company in 1935. His eldest son, also named Bernhard Beumer, took over the company in 1981 and promoted the development of bucket elevators leading to the company belt bucket elevators. By the mid-1980s, the supplier had installed about 100 systems altogether, in 2007 and 2008 there were about 450 installed per year. Besides the product development in the field of conveying technology, Bernhard Beumer Jr. also continued the initial development of loading systems and steered Beumer's international growth with the foundation of companies in Brazil, the USA and Asia.

In the 1960s, Beumer laid the foundation for curved belt conveying systems. The first theoretical designs on the market were from the company's Department for Research and Development. Today this group is one of the technological leaders for these systems, either as troughed belt conveyors with open design or as Pipe Conveyors. In the field of loading technology, Bernhard Beumer Jr. developed new products, such as the three-dimensional loading machine for loading cement bags onto trucks. In the 1970s, the engineers further developed this machine until it became completely automated. The stationary palletiser is a result of this development.

Beumer took over the Danish sortation technology specialist Crisplant in 2009, followed later by companies in India, the US and Belgium. It acquired Enexco Technologies in India, a manufacturer of grinding systems and packaging machines for the cement industry, in 2011.

"I view the company as a little jewel case," said Beumer when speaking of the company history. "When my grandfather founded it, it was no more than a little wooden box. He added some velvet lining to it and then handed it over to the second generation, my father, who added some more and embellished it further."

Germany/Poland: MHC Engineering Fördertechnik GmbH in Cologne, Germany celebrated the 10th company anniversary in November 2015. Its sister company WTW Engineering MiUP Sp.z o.o in Wroclaw, Poland has also celebrated its 20th company anniversary recently.

MHC Egineering Fördertechnik GmbH was founded in 2005 and immediately made an impact by acquiring WTW Engineering MiUP Sp. Z.o.o. located in Poland, as well as WTW Americas Inc. located in Canada.

The three companies together form the WTW & MHC Group, a prominent supplier of: silo and bunker discharge technology for all bulk materials, discharge capacities and silo diameters; complete turnkey systems or individual components for the reception, storage, discharge and transport of alternative fuels; materials handling in general; laboratory testing of bulk materials.

"We are not so much interested in short-term and quick profits but in long-term trusting and cooperative relationships with our clients," said managing director Marek Lewicki. "Our success, even through the highs and lows of the material handling market due to fluctuations in the world economy, is confirmed every day by our loyal clients in the cement, power and metallurgical industries," Added managing director Aaron Reid.

Germany: HeidelbergCement has decided to modernise its Burglengenfeld cement plant in Germany with parts and services from IKN and Gebr. Pfeiffer.

IKN won the contract for the engineering, supply and installation of a complete 4000t/day pyro line, from raw meal feeding to clinker discharge. Included in the scope of supply are integration engineering, supply and installation of add-on components for the raw meal grinding plant. The upgraded plant will feature state-of-the-art technology to comply with the targeted production level and future emission limits.

The new line will consist of a two-string, five-stage preheater tower with inline calciner. IKN's preheater and calciner design will ensure minimum pressure drop at maximum performance and high efficiency. The kiln line will be optimised to use of a variety of alternative fuels. Among several innovative features will be a tertiary air duct damper, which has proven successful in operation for more than three years with outstanding reliability and performance. Another essential component of the plant is IKN's Pendulum Cooler, which is highly reliable and has low maintenance and operational costs. Its design allows recirculating bypass gas into the recuperation zone to boost cooler efficiency.

As part of the modernisation of the kiln line, the four existing MPS vertical roller mills will be replaced after forty years of successful operation. HeidelbergCement has ordered two new Gebr. Pfeiffer MPS 4250 B roller mills as replacements. Each mill is designed to achieve a capacity of 200t/hr of cement raw material ground to a fineness of 12% R90µm. The drive power per mill is 2250kW. Gebr. Pfeiffer will also supply the complete equipment for the external material circulation system as well as the cyclone collectors and mill fans. The supply of the mechanical equipment will be completed by engineering services covering the plant layout and the integration of the process-related ductwork within the existing, complex plant. Raw mill 1 is scheduled to go on stream at the end of 2016 and raw mill 2 is scheduled to start operations in 2017.

Romania: Germany's HeidelbergCement has completed the merger of the three companies it owns in Romania. The three companies that are now merged under HeidelbergCement are Carpatcement, Carpat Beton and Carpat Agregate.

"The merger process takes into account our strategic position in relation to the economic environment, which is to overcome future challenges in order to use our resources to their full potential and to have a more efficient management of costs," said General Manager Florian Aldea.

HeidelbergCement is one of the leading manufacturers of cement, concrete and aggregates in Romania with three cement plants in Tasca, Chiscadaga and in Fieni. It also owns 19 concrete plants, seven quarries and six gravel aggregates units.