Displaying items by tag: Hanson

UK: Hanson has appointed Paul Lacey as the general manager of its packed products business. Lacey, who was previously head of sustainability and marketing for Hanson, has also worked for Ronseal and Crown Paints and has extensive experience in commercial and business development. He will be responsible for sites across the country producing packed cementitious products such as Postfix, as well as decorative and construction aggregates.

Australia: The Federal Court has upheld an appeal by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) and raised a fine against Cement Australia and its subsidiaries for anti-competitive agreements to US$16.1m. Originally the cement producer was fined US$13.4m but the ACCC argued it was too low. A cross appeal by Cement Australia was dismissed.

“The penalties imposed in competition cases are hugely important in deterring anti-competitive conduct, which is why we appealed the original penalties given to Cement Australia,” said ACCC Chairman Rod Sims.

The ACCC first brought the proceedings in 2008 against Cement Australia, Cement Australia Holdings, Cement Australia Queensland (formerly Queensland Cement Ltd), Pozzolanic Enterprises and Pozzolanic Industries. They were related to contracts that were entered into by Cement Australia companies between 2002 and 2006 with four power stations in South East Queensland, to acquire fly ash. The court found contraventions of the Competition and Consumer Act in 2014 and a fine was issued in 2016.

UK: Hanson Cement has made two senior appointments within its bulk division as part of the company’s drive to improve customer service. Phil Matthew has joined as field sales manager and John Doolan has been promoted to key account manager. Phil and John will work together to strengthen new and existing customer relationships, reporting to Mark Hickingbottom, national commercial director – bulk products.

Phil Matthew was previously at AB InBev, where he held account and sales management roles. He will manage a team of six district sales managers and carry out internal training sessions in order to enhance customer service.

John Doolan, who has 27 years’ experience in the construction industry, will work in conjunction with Hanson’s key account customers to set and deliver strategic plans.

Commenting on the appointments, Mark Hickingbottom, said, “Phil and John’s combined experience and knowledge of the company will allow them to place Hanson’s values at the core of their work, helping to deliver our goals of being the most customer focused, responsible and reliable construction products supplier in the UK.”

UK: Hanson Cement intends to reuse a 0.65Mt/yr vertical roller mill from a site in Bilbao, Spain for an upgrade to its Padeswood cement plant in north Wales. More information on the Euro22m project to demolish existing cement storage and loading facilities, erect a new mill and make changes to its railway facilities have emerged in planning documents. The cement producer intends to mothball three older mills at the site, continue to use a third (Mill 3) and install the mill from Bilbao. New cement rail loading facilities and silos will also be built to allow 4000 – 5000t/week of material to be transported from the site. In addition the railway line at the site will be modified and extended.

The subsidiary of HeidelbergCement says that the proposed development is intended to stop it transporting excess clinker by road from Padeswood to its Ketton plant for grinding into cement. It is also being implemented to meet increasing demand in the UK. Subject to planning approval by the local council the upgrade is planned for completion by the end of 2019.

UK: Hanson Cement, the UK subsidiary of HeidelbergCement, has project that it could start construction of a Euro22m new cement mill at is Padeswood plant in north Wales within 2017. The new vertical roller mill for cement grinding will improve the plant’s efficiency, reduce energy consumption and increase its cement output. It will also ensure the long-term viability of the site, securing around 100 jobs.

Currently the plant’s four ageing cement mills have significantly less capacity than the kiln, which leads to Hanson distributing clinker for grinding at other sites in the country. Hanson is also committed to investing in new rail loading facilities to allow cement to be dispatched by train. This will reduce truck movements.

UK: Hanson Cement has expanded its technical team to offer customers support on cement and cementitious issues. The team, headed by national technical manager Simon Chudley, will offer advice information and technical support ranging from product data and case studies to laboratory trials and product testing.

UK: It is hoped that a Euro23m upgrade project at Hanson’s Padeswood cement plant will be completed in early 2019. A planning application will be submitted to the local government in the summer of 2017 following consultation with local residents. The plant intends to install a new vertical roller mill to grind cement and to build a new rail loading facilities at the site.

“The plan is to mothball three of the old mills and install a new vertical roller mill capable of grinding up to 0.65Mt/yr of clinker. The new mill will be fully enclosed in a building, minimising noise and reducing the potential for escape of cement dust,” said plant manager Steve Hall. The project also includes construction of new cement silos alongside the existing railway line to load trains for delivery. At present the rail link is used to bring in coal to fire the kilns. In future, three trains a week will be despatched to Hanson’s depots in London, Bristol and Scotland or around 15% of total cement production.

UK: Hanson is considering spending around Euro23m on building a new clinker mill and other improvements at its Padeswood Cement plant. At present the site use four mills that are only able to grind about 40% of the kiln’s output, according to the Daily Post. A second phase of the upgrade project, dependent on production levels being increased, is planned to rebuild a railway link to the plant.

UK: Fairport Engineering has reported work on its replacement of two electrostatic (ESP) filters at Hanson’s Ketton cement plant in Rutland. Following discussion in early 2016 Fairport was contracted to replace ESP filters at the plants Mills 9 and 10. Both mills were shut down for planned three-week periods each to remove the old filters and install the new ones. The new system on Mill 9 also required the installation of new screw conveyors, rotary airlocks and the reconfiguration of existing control panels, plus the installation of new 160KW central exhaust fans and associated clean gas ducting. Fairport reports that, to date, the daily averages on both filters are well below the target emission level.

UK: Greenbank has supplied a GWF feeder system to Hanson Cement’s Padeswood plant in Flintshire. The system is designed to feed raw materials into the processing plant at a predetermined rate. The upgrade is part of a recent series of expansions.

“The constant and reliable feed rate of the GWF feeder is achieved by having a shear gate to set a constant material bed depth for the given particle size combined with an inverter drive to control the feeder belt speed,” said Rod Molyneux, Product Sales Engineer at Greenbank.

Greenbank Group has previously supplied the plant with wear-resistant pipework and a pipe system for a new shredded refuse fuel line into a processing kiln.