Displaying items by tag: Germany
Germany: HeidelbergCement has issued a Eurobond with a value of Euro1bn and a maturity date of 30 March 2023. The international bond has a fixed coupon of 2.25%/yr.
The proceeds from the bond will be used to pre-fund the upcoming Italcementi acquisition and other general corporate purposes. Subsequently, the bridge financing for the takeover will be reduced from Euro2.7bn to Euro2bn. The bridge financing will be refinanced by free cash flow, the sale of production sites and the issuance of bonds.
Johan Cnossen resigns from KHD
16 March 2016Germany: Johan Cnossen has resigned as the Chief Executive Officer and a member of the Management Board of KHD with immediate effect from 11 March 2016. He cited personal reasons. Other Management Board members will take over his responsibilities for an interim period.
Germany: The 14th REFRA-Kolloquium will take place on 31 May to 3 June 2016, at the Estrel Hotel & Convention Centre in Berlin. Industry experts and specialists will gather for a series of presentations on technical developments in the cement and refractory industries. The event will also include a panel discussion and a related exhibition.
The REFRA-Kolloquium events are organised by Refratechnik, a manufacturer of refractory materials for the cement industry. In 2012 almost 800 participants from 70 countries attended the REFRA-Kolloquium.
Loesche delivers first mobile grinding plant
10 March 2016Germany: Clariant Germany has purchased the first mobile Loesche grinding plant to grind bentonite at its Balikesir facility in Turkey. Clariant required a mobile plant because the site is due to be relocated. The mill is integrated into seven ISO containers, all the electrical connections between the containers are pluggable and no foundations are required for its erection on solid ground. The mill is expected to be commissioned in May 2016.
The vertical roller mill uses a type LM 9.2 D mill, it is designed for grinding industrial minerals and it has a capacity of 1.8t/hour. The Balikesir facility grinds bentonite, which is ground to a fineness of 30% R 0.063. The grinding plant has a power transmission capacity of 45kW. All grinding plant components from the open loop control to the feed bin, the crusher, the mill with classifier, the hot gas generator, the filter, the fan and the pneumatic product transport are placed in containers.
Clariant is a global leader in specialty chemicals. Its headquarters are in Muttenz near Basel in Switzerland.
Germany/Sweden: Sandvik Mining and Schenck Process have signed a global partnership agreement. The partnership provides increased crushing circuit productivity for Schenck Process double and single deck high capacity banana screens and Sandvik high productivity cone crushers. It also enables a single service provider approach to support customers throughout the entire plant life cycle.
“This partnership agreement allows our customers to raise their overall crushing and screening plant productivity by focusing on process efficiency in its entirety, as opposed to individual pieces of equipment,” said Mary Verschuer, President Minerals & Metals, Schenck Process Group. She added that mid-tier miners looking for a single solution across the crushing circuit will benefit from the deal.
Schenck Process Business Unit Minerals & Metals is supplier of solutions for screening applications in mining. Sandvik is a supplier of crushers and crushing technologies. The agreement covers both new crushing and screening plants and replacements.
KHD ordered to pay damages to South American customer
18 February 2016Germany: KHD International and its US-based subsidiary Humboldt Wedag (HW Inc) have been ordered to pay damages by a Portuguese arbitration court to a customer in South America. HW Inc’s arbitration claim for disbursement of outstanding payments, reimbursement for a called bank guarantee, as well as additional compensation (for damages) was denied. KHD expects the damages to lead to expenses of Euro15m in its 2015 financial results. The customer has not been named.
“This ruling does not reflect our own or our legal counsel’s expectations in any way. We believe that it is grossly incorrect and will exhaust all promising possibilities for success in proceeding against this judgement,” said KHD International CEO Johan Cnossen. KHD said in a statement that the arbitration award would not have an impact on its forecast results for 2015 as ‘adequate’ provisions had already been set up.
HeidelbergCement profit rises by 16% in 2015
16 February 2016Germany: 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.
Hengst acquires Nordic Air Filtration
02 February 2016Germany: 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.
HeidelbergCement issues Euro625m of debt certificates
15 January 2016Germany: 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.
Vortex announces representative agent in Germany
15 January 2016Germany: 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."