Displaying items by tag: Slag cement

India: ACC’s net profit after tax has fallen by 9% year-on-year to US$32.7m in the first quarter of 2017 from US$36m in the same period in 2016. Its sales revenue grew by 8% to US$482m and its cement sales volumes grew by 4% to 6.6Mt. The cement producer blamed the fall in profit on higher costs of petcoke, coal, packing materials and freight, as well as a shortage of fly ash. ACC also reported that it launched two new products in 2017, including ACC High Performance Cement (HPC), a slag cement.

UAE: Renca, a technology start-up working with Dubai’s Future Accelerators programme, has developed a geopolymer cement from fly ash and ground granulated blast slag that can be used in 3D printing, according the National newspaper. The product’s advantage over Ordinary Portland Cement when used in additive manufacturing is that it can be used without additives making it cheaper.

The start-up is a joint venture between Andrey Dudnikov, a Russian businessmen, and Alex Reggiani, an Italian geologist and mineralogist. The company is working with the Dubai Municipality to develop its material for use in 3D printing projects in Dubai. The company is also looking to set up a plant for its product in the city.

UK: Breedon Group’s sales revenue and profits have been expanded by its acquisition of Hope Construction Materials in 2016. Its revenue rose by 43% year-on-year to Euro523m in 2016 from Euro367m in 2015. Its profit before tax rose by 50% to Euro53.9m from Euro36m. The group also attributed its success to its aggregate business.

“2016 was arguably the most eventful year in the group’s history. We completed our largest acquisition to date, invested a record amount in our business, began supplying our biggest ever contract and delivered an excellent financial performance – all against the background of an uncertain economic environment and challenging trading conditions in many of our markets,” said executive chairman Peter Tom.

The building materials company added cement production to its portfolio when it purchased Hope in mid-2016. It added a cement plant, five new quarries, a network of concrete plants and eight rail-linked distribution depots. In November 2016 it bought Sherburn Minerals, including two terminals in northeast England and eastern Scotland, that are used to import cement and ground granulated blast-furnace slag (GGBS).

US: Orcem Americas, a subsidiary of Ireland’s Ecocem, has been refused planning permission to build a slag cement plant in Vallejo, California. The cement producer was hoping to build a US$50m grinding plant but it faced opposition from local residents on environmental grounds, according to the Irish Times. The issues for the planners was an anticipated increase in the number of trucks on local roads and pollution from the plant. Orcem Americas can now appeal the decision to Vallejo’s City Council if it chooses.

Bangladesh: Loesche has received an order to supply a 56.3+3 CS type vertical roller mill for the Aman Group’s Haria 2 cement plant at Narayangonj near Dhaka. The contractor for this order is the China National Heavy Machinery Corporation (CHMC). It follows a previous order by the Aman Group for a Loesche LM 56.3+3 CS mill that was supplied in 2014 for the Haria 1 line. The new mill was supplied in late 2016.

The roller mill for the Haria 2 line has a production capacity of 240t/hour for Portland and composite cement clinker with a fineness of 3200 Blaine or 175t/hour of ground-granulated blast-furnace slag (GGBFS) with a fineness of 4500 Blaine. It has a drive power of 5300kW. In addition to the mill, the scope of supply also specifies additional technical equipment for the grinding plant including a rotary feed, a two-way chute, a metal detector and a permanent magnet drum separator.

France: Ecocem France has ordered a Loesche type LM 46.2+2 CS mill for a slag cement grinding plant that it is building in Dunkirk. It follows a previous order by Ecocem of a LM 46.2+2 CS mill for the dry grinding of ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBFS) at its plant at Fos-sur-Mer.

The LM 46.2+2 CS for the plant in Dunkirk is designed for the grinding of cement clinker and granulated blast furnace slag at a capacity of 105t/hr GGBFS. The gearbox will have a capacity of 3150kW.

All the mechanical equipment for the grinding plant starting from mill feed to the product discharge into the product silos is included in the Loesche scope of supply. The Loma heater type LF 28-L will be a full-inlined type designed to burn natural gas as well as blast furnace gas. The burner supplied by Loesche will be the MSBZ type, complete with fitting rack and local switch cabinet.

The lead-time for the main components of the mill and for the additional units included in the scope of supply is 6 to 13 months. The commissioning of the vertical roller mill is planned for the middle of 2017.

Ecocem’s grinding plant will be installed close to Arcelor steelworks for use of their granulated blast furnace slag. This LM 46.2+2 CS will be the seventh Loesche vertical roller mill installation for slag and cement grinding in France.

Nepal: Sarbottam Cement, part of the Saurabh Group, has launched its Ordinary Portland Cement and Portland Slag Cement brands. The company operates a 0.4Mt/yr cement grinding plant at Ramnagar.

UK/Ireland: Ecocem is to open a new terminal at Runcorn to increase its exports of slag cement to the UK. A second terminal in the south east of the UK will be opened later in 2016, according to the Irish Times. It has invested Euro5m towards building both terminals. The ground granulated blastfurnace slag (GGBS) producer is targeting the UK market due to demand for cement coupled with changes in the coal and steel industries.

The company says it has received orders for 200,000t of slag cement in its first year and that it is not taking any further orders. Opening its second terminal in the UK is anticipated to give it access to 80% of the UK market. Ecocem produces slag cement at three grinding plants in Dublin in Ireland, Moerdijk in the Netherlands and at Fos in France.

India: JSW Cement has ordered eight 90t/hr roller press slag grinding units from KHD Humboldt Wedag India Private Ltd (India) and KHD Humboldt Wedag GmbH (Germany) for its plants in India.

UK: Mineral resources company Francis Flower has announced the acquisition of the Scunthorpe ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBS) plant from Hanson Cement.

The business is capable of producing more than 500,000t/yr of GGBS and supplies customers in the Midlands and north of England. GGBS complements Francis Flower's existing range of high quality powdered minerals, which originate as by-products from various industries. This reduces the need for mineral extraction and landfill, delivering sustainable environmental solutions for its customers. The acquisition reflects both Francis Flower's commitment to developing its range of products and services in this sector and the credibility it has for making the most of mineral resources.

"We are absolutely delighted and very excited to announce this new acquisition. GGBS is an excellent fit to our existing product range and will help further our longstanding relationships in this sector," said Adrian Willmott, Chairman and CEO of Francis Flower. "We have a proven track record of making the most of mineral resources, reducing the need for mineral extraction as well as landfill and delivering sustainable solutions for our customers. We are very much looking forward to working with the team in Scunthorpe and developing the opportunities in the GGBS market as the UK construction sector continues to grow."