Displaying items by tag: New York

US: CRH subsidiary Oldcastle APG has acquired France-based Saint-Gobain's fence, railing and decking business in the US. The business consists of two production locations, in Buffalo, New York, and Orem, Utah. Together, the sites employ 210 people. The business generated US$65.6m in sales in 2022.

Saint-Gobain said that the divestment serves to advance its profile optimisation strategy under its Grow & Impact plan.

US: Holcim US has joined the New York Value of Distributed Energy Resources (VDER) program as part of its plans to enter Purchase Power Agreements (PPA) so that it can use more renewable energy sources. The scheme is intended to help support its investment in on-site renewable energy generation.

Atl Martinez, the Vice President of Procurement at Holcim North America, said “Holcim US is focused on driving significant progress to meet our Green Growth Strategy goals, so we consistently evaluate our environmental impact and opportunities to incorporate more sustainable solutions into our operations.” He added, “Through the New York VDER program, we support not only our ongoing investment in on-site generation but also community solar projects that help drive greener outcomes for all.”

The company will host three separate solar arrays on Holcim's non-mineable aggregate sites. These sites, operating in conjunction with various other offsite arrays within the Holcim VDER agreement, are expected to generate more than 80GWh/yr of energy. Energy generated from these sites will effectively power seven aggregate and cement sites through renewable energy credits.

Other work by Holcim US towards net zero includes its participation in the Northeast Regional Clean Hydrogen Hub program. The company has also expanded its renewable portfolio to include a 40MW battery storage system and 78MW of solar arrays in Ohio, Maryland and Arkansas. In late 2022, it entered into its first virtual power purchase agreement (VPPA) with the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT).

US: Lehigh Hanson is preparing to start cutting jobs at the Glens Falls cement plant in New York from April 2023. The majority of the employees at the site will be laid off in April 2023 with some staff to be retained until later until 2023, according to the Times Union newspaper. It was previously reported in November 2022 that the subsidiary of Germany-based Heidelberg Materials was planning to close the plant in a phased manner in 2023. Production from the Glens Falls site will be covered in the future by the company’s new Mitchell plant in Indiana.

US: Lehigh Hanson has announced the upcoming permanent closure of its Glens Falls cement plant in northeastern New York. Times Union News has reported that the producer has extended an offer of financial and job-hunting support to the plant's 85 employees. A phased closure will commence in 2023. The company said that 'changes to the competitive landscape within the context of a global cement industry' partly informed its decision, in addition to the 'small, aging and inefficient' condition of operations at the plant. Lehigh Hanson's Mitchell, Indiana, cement plant will cover the plant's market in future.

Lehigh Hanson Northeast regional president Alex Car said "We are committed to continuing to supply our customers in the New England region. We have the available capacity to meet the current and future needs of our customers, even after the Glens Falls plant halts production." Car added "We are thankful for the dedication and efforts of our Glens Falls workforce over the years and we will work to minimise the impacts to our employees and the community as much as possible."

US: Holcim US’ Lafarge Ravena cement plant in New York State has launched a celebration of six decades’ successes on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the plant’s groundbreaking ceremony. 1000 people attended the ceremony on 19 May 1961, where New York Governor Nelson Rockefeller broke ground on the then Atlantic Cement Company’s new US$64m facility.

Addressing the crowd, Rockefeller said “The enormous production capacity of this plant will undoubtedly draw many large and small companies to the environs, and, as a result, employment will rise considerably.”

Today, the Lafarge Ravena cement plant directly employs 160 local people.

US: A lawsuit raised by the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) against CCC Group alleges that black construction workers were subject to racial discrimination and harassment during the construction company’s work on an upgrade at the Lafarge Ravena cement plant in 2016. The EEOC says that the workers were the target of racial language, were threatened and made to carry out more dangerous and physically taxing tasks. It added that it only took legal action after first attempting to reach a pre-litigation settlement through the agency’s conciliation process.

CCC Group says it investigated the claims from one former employee in 2017 about ‘inappropriate comments’ after it was reported to the EEOC. However, it says that the complaint was never reported internally and that the EEOC refused to share information about the allegations. Subsequently, it was unable to determine what happened. The construction company only became aware of the other allegations when the EEOC filed its lawsuit in June 2020. CCC Group said, “We take all such allegations very seriously and continue to thoroughly investigate these claims. Regardless, CCC Group will continue its commitment to ensure that any such conduct is not tolerated or allowed to occur in our workplaces.”

800 workers were involved in the upgrade to the plant in New York State, which brought it to its present integrated capacity of 2Mt/yr.

This story was updated on 16 June 2020 following comment from CCC Group

Canada: McInnis Cement has closed a US$380m refinancing deal. US$230m will be provided by an increase McInnis Cement’s senior loan from a syndicate of 11 Canadian and international banks and the remaining US$150m comes in the form of a loan by the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ) and Beaudier. This refinancing also makes it possible to repay a bridge loan granted by BlackRock in 2016.

The cement producer also provided details on various projects it is undertaking. Two new cement silos will be built at the company’s integrated cement plant at Port-Daniel–Gascons. Nearly 200 workers will be mobilized on the site during the peak construction period of the two silos, during the autumn of 2019.

Its Bronx Terminal in New York, US has doubled its loading capacity for customers. A second truck-loading lane is now fully operational. A new 40,000t warehouse is currently under construction at its Providence Terminal in Rhode Island, US bringing the total storage capacity to 75,000t. A new truck-loading lane will also be added and commissioned in time for the 2020 spring construction season. McInnis Cement has also confirmed the charter of the NACC New Yorker, a 24,000t self-unloading vessel, in conjunction with Nova Marina Carriers. It will join other vessels in its fleet including the NACC Quebec (14,000t), the Cielo di Gaspesie (35,000t) and the Resolute unloading barge.

US: Brazil’s Votorantim Cimentos has acquied United Materials, a producer of aggregates, concrete and building materials, for an undisclosed amount. The purchase was conducted by its subsidiary Votorantim Cimentos North America. United Materials operates four ready-mix concrete plants, one aggregate quarry and two building materials units in the western part of New York state. It has around 140 employees.

US: Lafarge North America, a subsidiary of LafargeHolcim, has officially opened the upgrade to its Ravena cement plant in New York. The upgrade work took three years at a reported cost of US$300m.

“By modernising the plant, we have transformed it into an efficient, competitive and state-of-the-art facility that will allow us to meet the growing needs of our customers and remain a strong partner to the community for the foreseeable future,” said John Stull, chief executive officer (CEO) US Cement, LafargeHolcim. He added that the plant has supplied cement for high profile projects, including the Tappan Zee bridge reconstruction and One World Trade Center Memorial.

Upgrade work focused on building a new clinker production line to modernise the previously wet process plant. Following the work the plant now has a clinker production capacity of 2Mt/yr with improved emissions levels and higher operational performance.