Displaying items by tag: Spain

Spain: Corporación Noroeste has completed its acquisition of Cementos Balboa. The companies agreed to the deal in June 2021. Agencia EFE News has reported that the acquisition brings parent company Votorantim Cimentos’ installed cement capacity to 57.4Mt/yr globally.

Spain/Norway: A team from Cartagen Polytechnic and Ostfold University College has demonstrated that Cementos La Cruz could reduce the cost of its concrete production by Euro1.45/m3, or Euro29,000/month by curing concrete with captured CO₂. EuropaPress has reported that the use of CO₂ would reduce the amount of cement required by 7 – 8%. This in turn would remove an estimated 4.6% of CO₂ from the concrete’s production.

Spain: The eruption of the La Cumbre Vieja volcano has destroyed a concrete plant on La Palma in the Canary Islands after engulfing it with lava. EuroNews has reported that the eruption, which begun on 19 September 2021, has displaced 6000 people on the island. The La Cumbre Vieja volcano previously erupted in 1971.

Spain: Oficemen, the Spanish cement association, has elected José Manuel Cascajero Rodríguez as its president. He succeeded Víctor García Brosa, general director deputy to the chief executive officer (CEO) of the Cementos Portland Valderrivas Group, in the role. Cascajero Rodríguez has been in post since July 2021.

Cascajero Rodríguez has worked for Cemex for over 20 years in a variety of roles. His international career began in 2005 in the UK, as the Director of Treasury for Europe and Asia, and in 2012 he was appointed Corporate Treasurer of Cemex in Mexico. Since 2016, he has been responsible for Strategic Planning for Europe, the Middle East and Asia, a position he combines with the presidency of Cemex’s Spanish operations. He holds a degree in Business Administration and Management from the Complutense University of Madrid, and a Master of Business Administration degree from ESCP Europe in France.

Spain: Hanson Spain has agreed to sell its Madrid quarry and three ready-mix concrete plants in the Balearics to Cemex España. The buyer said that the investments promise a high return and are part of the strategic global strengthening of its vertically integrated positions near high-growth urban centres. It expects the deal to close in early 2022.

Europe, Middle East, Africa and Asia regional president Sergio Menéndez said “This acquisition will allow us to better serve our clients by integrating and complementing our portfolio to provide a comprehensive and sustainable offering in Cemex’s high-growth regions of Madrid and the Balearic Islands.” He added “This is another example of the efforts we make to optimise our portfolio and drive earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) growth through high-yield complementary investments."

Hanson has also sold its aggregates and ready-mix concrete assets in Asturias, Catalonia and Madrid to different buyers. Parent company HeidelbergCement had announced a review of its Spanish assets on 22 February 2021. Their total value was Euro300m.

Spain: Consumption of cement in the first eight months of 2021 was 9.58Mt nationally, up by 13% year-on-year from 8.48Mt in the first eight months of 2020. The Spanish Cement Industry Association (Oficemen) says that consumption remains 2% below pre-Covid-19 outbreak levels in the corresponding period of 2019. The El Economista newspaper has reported that the association has forecast full-year cement consumption of 14.6Mt in 2020, slightly below the full-year 2019 figure of 14.7Mt.

President José Cascajero said "These levels put us on the path to have a growth in future years that is hopeful. The recovery of infrastructure, which has returned to being the primary source of demand, and residential building, has allowed both consumption and expectations to be substantially improved since April 2021.”

In 2022, he forecast year-on-year demand growth of 3 - 5%, due in part to the positive impacts of the EU post-Covid-19 outbreak recovery fund. Cascajero warned of the increasing burden of rising electricity prices and CO2 emissions fees and called for ‘structural reforms’ to mitigate their drag on growth.

Spain: Votorantim Cimentos España has appointed Pablo Viedma as the director of its integrated Niebla cement company in Huelva.

Viedma joined Votorantim in 2015 as its Regional Maintenance Manager for Europe Africa and Asia. Prior to this he worked for industrial minerals company Sibelco as a Maintenance Manager. Before this he worked for Holcim España for over a decade as a Maintenance Manager. He has worked in Spain, Portugal, France, Italy, Turkey and Egypt. Viedma holds a degree in industrial engineering from the Universidad de Jaén.

Spain: Cementos Cosmos plans to install a new screw compressor in the cement discharge system at its Ourense grinding plant in Galicia. The producer says that the new equipment will improve the energy efficiency of the process of discharging cement from railway tanks to storage silos. The cost of the work is Euro23,500, towards which Cementos Cosmos has received a Euro8140 grant from the European Reagional Development Fund (ERDF) under its A New Way to Build Europe programme.

Spain: Cementos Molins has agreed to acquire Hanson Hispania’s assets in Catalonia. The Expansión newspaper has reported that the business consists of two concrete plants and multiple quarries. It generated sales of Euro18m in 2020 and employs 41 people.

Chief executive officer Julio Rodríguez said "This operation will allow Cementos Molins to reinforce its presence in Spain and strengthen its leadership in sustainable concrete solutions in Catalonia." He added "The strategic location of the plants and quarries, close to the Barcelona metropolitan area, responds to our commitment to offer more efficient and sustainable solutions for homes and infrastructures."

Spain: Construction work has started on 6.2MW solar plant that will supply electricity to Cementos Cosmos’ Toral de los Vados integrated plant in León. Commissioning is scheduled by February 2022. The photovoltaic plant will include over 11,400 solar panels in an area of around 10 hectares. It will meet 15% of the plant’s electricity demands. Spain-based solar specialist EIDF (Energía, Innovación y Desarrollo Fotovoltaico) is supplying the unit at a previously reported cost of Euro4m.