Displaying items by tag: Sweden

Sweden: Sandvik’s Rock and Mining division’s revenue has fallen by 3% year-on-year to Euro3.30bn in 2016 from Euro3.52bn in 2015. Its order intake also fell slightly to Euro3.38bn although it says it rose slightly if currency variations throughout the year are taken into account. Notably, its order intake rose sharply by 19% year-on-year to Euro970m in the fourth quarter of 2016. Its operating profit for 2016 rose by 33% to Euro430m. Overall the engineering company has reported slight declines in revenue and order intake across all of its businesses although this has picked up in the fourth quarter of 2016.

UK: Sweden’s BillerudKorsnäs has purchased a minor stake in technology company Hanhaa in order to invest in the so-called ‘internet of packaging.’ The company’s technology allows users to track the location and the condition of deliveries in real time and on a large scale across carriers and countries. The investment is being made by a development wing of BillerudKorsnäs in order to develop new solutions in the packaging value chain. No value for the transaction has been disclosed but the investment has been described as ‘small’.

“Combining our own core-related skills with the skills of these start-up companies will allow us to create fruitful collaborations and together identify entirely new solutions. We will also draw on our experience and knowledge of bringing products to market on an industrial scale. Together with Hanhaa, we’re continuing to build tomorrow’s internet of packaging. Expanding our offering of digital solutions will allow us to continue challenging conventional packaging for a sustainable future,” said BillerudKorsnäs Venture Managing Director Anders Persson.

BillerudKorsnäs produces packaging materials and its clients include cement producers.

Ireland/Sweden: Ecocem has arranged a deal with Boliden to supply mines in Ireland and Sweden. The two mines concerned by this deal are Boliden Tara Mines in Ireland and Boliden Garpenberg in Sweden. The agreements are initially for three years with options for extensions.

Ecocem have entered into an agreement with the Port of Gavle, the nearest Port to the Boliden Garpenberg mine. The Port of Gavle has built an import terminal to unload ships, and transfer the Ecocem product to trucks destined for the mine. The new facility will accommodate approximately 8000t. Ecocem’s cement will be pumped into the mine to backfill voids created by excavation.

“Ecocem Ireland are very proud to be associated with one of Europe’s oldest and biggest mining companies. Boliden’s environmental performance and ambitions are very much in line with our own and we feel that these contracts represent a strong vote of confidence on the consistency of performance and service that Ecocem deliver,” said Conor O’Riain, the managing director of Ecocem Ireland.

Sweden: Sandvik has signed an agreement to divest its Mining Systems operations to the private equity company CoBe Capital. Sandvik will maintain ownership of on-going projects that are close to completion. The deal is expected to complete during the fourth quarter of 2016. No purchase price has been disclosed.

“Divesting the Mining Systems is an important step in consolidating Sandvik to its core operations, which for Sandvik Mining and Rock Technology is high technology mining equipment and aftermarket offerings,” said Bjorn Rosengren, president and CEO of Sandvik.

Mining Systems is a supplier of design and engineering of material handling systems for the mining industry. In 2015 the Mining Systems operations, with 1100 employees, had annual sales of Euro527m representing 6% of Sandvik Group revenues.

Germany/Sweden: Sandvik Mining and Schenck Process have signed a global partnership agreement. The partnership provides increased crushing circuit productivity for Schenck Process double and single deck high capacity banana screens and Sandvik high productivity cone crushers. It also enables a single service provider approach to support customers throughout the entire plant life cycle.

“This partnership agreement allows our customers to raise their overall crushing and screening plant productivity by focusing on process efficiency in its entirety, as opposed to individual pieces of equipment,” said Mary Verschuer, President Minerals & Metals, Schenck Process Group. She added that mid-tier miners looking for a single solution across the crushing circuit will benefit from the deal.

Schenck Process Business Unit Minerals & Metals is supplier of solutions for screening applications in mining. Sandvik is a supplier of crushers and crushing technologies. The agreement covers both new crushing and screening plants and replacements.

Sweden/Colombia: Swedish engineering firm SKF has signed a three-year deal with Cementos Argos to provide engineering products and services for its operations in Colombia. SKF will provide everything from bearings, housings and seals to training and application engineering, to support Argos' operations in 10 plants throughout the country. Argos has expanded the scope of the agreement to include seals and more bearing products than SKF had supplied previously.

"SKF has an extensive partnership to support Argos in maximising the utilisation and reliability of its assets, thereby achieving its business objectives," said Vartan Vartanian, President, SKF Industrial Market, Regional Sales and Service. The deal expands SKF's existing contract for maintenance services, mechanical services, reliability engineering services and condition monitoring solutions for conveyors, gearboxes and mills at four of Cementos Argos' plants in Colombia.

Sweden: Following the devastating hurricane in the Philippines, Sweden's Cementa AB has announced that it will donate its annual Christmas gift of Euro22,400 to Médicins sans Frontières (MSF) (Doctors Without Borders), which is operating in the worst-affected regions.

The move makes a break with Cementa's traditional method of splitting its Christmas gift to several organisations. The company said that the need was so great in selected regions that it had decided instead to support only one organisation in 2013.

"We see this as a chance to actively do something for the affected areas in the Philippines," said Fredrik Jansson, Vice President Sales and Marketing at Cementa AB. "Hopefully others in the construction industry (will support) the same initiatives in support of the affected areas."

Sweden: Cementa is developing a new cement that uses fly ash for sale by 2015. The project is part of the Swedish subsidiary of HeidelbergCement's drive to reduce its carbon emissions by 2030 and to meet the growing environmental requirements of its customers.

"We see this as a natural further step in our vision of zero carbon emissions by 2030," said Fredrik Jansson, Vice President and Marketing Director at Cementa.

Sweden: Åke Erikssson is the newly appointed manager of the Höganäs Bjuf Asia Pacific operation, shown here (left) together with the managing director Erik Olsen.

Höganäs Bjuf Asia Pacific provide services to the cement producers in the Asia Pacific region and will in the future also start with installation services.