Displaying items by tag: Spain

Germany: Mechanical process engineering company Hosokawa Alpine AG has assumed 100% ownership of Solids Solutions Group and all its operations across three locations in Germany and Spain, which will be reorganised under the brand ‘Hosokawa Solids Solutions.’ Solids Solutions Group employs 100 people and develops and implements bulk solids handling solutions for customers in various industries including cement. Solids Solutions Group founder and departing CEO Hermann Linder said, “I am pleased to be able to hand over the Solids Solutions Group to a strong company in the field of mechanical process engineering and to know that the employees and customers are in good hands.”

Spain: Brazil-based Votorantim Cementos’ Spanish subsidiary Cementos Cosmos celebrated seven years, equating to 540,000 working hours, without injury at its 0.9Mt/yr integrated Córdoba cement plant in Andalusia on 15 January 2019. Cementos Cosmos Córdoba plant manager José de la Vega said, “This reflects the initiatives that the company has put in place to promote the safety of the workforce.”

Spain: The Port Authority of Gijón granted Cemex España a 30-year concession for use of 2480m² of the El Musel terminal for unloading, storage and bagging on 20 December 2019, subject to the Mexican company’s use of the facilities for a minimum of 50,000t/yr of cement and derived products for the first two years of the arrangement, 0.1Mt/yr for the subsequent three years, and 0.15Mt/yr thereafter. La Nueva España newspaper has reported that Cemex España applied for the concession in February 2019. Its plans consist of a Euro5.0m investment in a development including two 6000t-capacity silos, a 44m crane and bagging facilities. Cemex España will take an estimated 10 months to complete the works from beginning the project in early 2020.

Spain: Total cement consumption fell to 1.1Mt in November 2019, down by 8.3% from 1.2Mt in the previous November. CIC Architecture and Sustainability Online has reported that this was 2019’s third month to show a decrease compared to 2018 figures, and the sharpest year-on-year decline so far. The year-on-year decrease for the 11 months to 30 November 2019 is 6.8%. Production failed to show growth, with imports bridging the supply gap. Clinker alone has grown by over 100% to imports of 0.5Mt in the same 11 months from over 0.2Mt in the corresponding period of 2018. Exports, which have declined over 30 consecutive months, fell by 30% year-on-year in November 2019 to under 0.5Mt from over 0.6Mt one year previously. This brings the decline for the year so far to 22% year-on-year to 5.8Mt from 7.4Mt in the first 11 months of 2018. Oficemen president Víctor García Brosa explained that energy prices were a contributing factor to Spain’s production problems. He said that electricity is ‘27% more expensive than in Germany or France.’

Spain: Asociacón Española de Pavimentos Continuos (AEPC), the body which represents manufacturers and maintainers of cement-based and other related flooring, has welcomed LafargeHolcim Spain as a new member. AEPC states its aims as ‘promoting and demanding the highest levels of safety, quality and integrity in all paving sector activities.’

LafargeHolcim Spain operates an installed capacity of over 7.0Mt/yr across five integrated plants. In 2019 it announced an investment of Euro20m in upgrades aimed at reducing its net carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions by 90,000t/yr by the end of 2022.

Spain: The National Association of Mortar Manufacturers (AFAM) and the Association of Mortar Manufacturers and SATE (Anfapa) have announced their unification as a single organisation under the name of Anfapa. Alimarket has reported that the body will serve the interests of over 40 members and associates as ‘the qualified voice of an important subsector of the construction industry, giving it a broader and unanimous front.’

Spain: Brazilian-based Votorantim Cimentos’ subsidiary Cementos Cosmos has received authorisation for the combustion of tyres to fuel the kilns at its 1.6Mt/yr Toral de los Vados plant in León. Diario del León has reported that the government of Castile and León will complete bureaucratic procedures finalising the permit before 25 December 2019.

Spain: Cement Portland Valderrivas’ 1.6Mt/yr integrated Alcalá de Guadiara plant in Andalusia one of five participants in an initiative for the prevention of operational risks called ‘Share It PRL.’ The initiative entails implementation of integrated business activity coordination software and communication stations throughout the Alcalá de Guadiara plant.

Spain: Cementos Molins has obtained loans from CaixaBank, Sabadell, BBVA, Santander and HSBC to a total value of Euro180m. EuropaPress has reported that the funds, consisting of a loan of Euro40m and a Euro140m revolving credit facility, of which Euro50m will be immediately available, will be used to clear the company’s debt and for future projects. The interest will be Euribor plus 0.9%.

Spain: The European Union of Aggregates Producers has granted two Sustainable Development Awards to Brazil’s Votorantim Cimentos for its El Toril quarry restoration plan and cave conservation plan for the Cova Eirós mine, which provided raw materials for clinker produciton at its 0.7Mt/yr integrated Oural plant. Votorantim Cimentos has partnered with the University of Santiago de Compostela to facilitate archaeological study of Cova Eirós, where 50,000-year-old findings have been made. Meanwhile at El Toril, the pit will be filled, levelled and enhanced for fertility so that it may resume its previous use as arable land.