Displaying items by tag: UK

UK: The government has awarded funding to the planned HyNet North West low-CO₂ industrial cluster. The cluster will reduce industrial CO₂ emissions by 10Mt/yr in North Wales and North West England. It includes a planned 800,000t/yr carbon capture installation at Hanson UK’s Padeswood cement plant in Flintshire. The producer is currently carrying out a feasibility study at the plant. Parent company HeidelbergCement said that the project will play a ‘critical role’ in the UK’s transition to net zero CO₂ emissions by 2050.

Chair Dominik von Achten called the decision “A well-deserved recognition for the HyNet consortium and our colleagues working on carbon capture and storage (CCS) in the UK as part of this collaborative project. Cutting CO₂ emissions is a key priority for us, and we are delighted to add our Padeswood cement works to our growing range of CCS activities, as a key part of our pathway to reaching net zero.”

UltraTech Cement, Taiheiyo Cement, Cimtogo and the Chinese Cement Association (CCA) have all been talking about the same thing recently: energy prices.

India-based UtraTech Cement reported this week that coal and petcoke prices nearly doubled in the second quarter of its current financial year, leading to a 17% rise year-on-year in energy costs. Japan-based Taiheiyo Cement released a statement earlier in October 2021 saying that due to mounting coal prices it was planning to raise the price of its cement from the start of 2022. It principally blamed this on increased demand in China and a stagnant export market. It added that it was ‘inevitable’ that prices would rise further in the future. Meanwhile in West Africa, Eric Goulignac, the chief executive officer of Cimtogo, complained to the local press that the reason the company’s cement prices were going up was due to a 250% increase in the cost of fuels for the Scantogo plant and an increase in the price of sea freight of over US$35/t for transporting gypsum and coal.

Other places where the cost of energy has been biting cement producers include Turkey and Serbia. In the former, Türk Çimento, the Turkish Cement Manufacturers' Association, warned in June 2021 that the price of petcoke had nearly tripled over the previous year. Whether it was connected or not, the Turkish Building Contractors Confederation (IMKON) organised a strike in September 2021 due to high costs. The confederation claimed that the price of cement had tripled over the last year. In Serbia electricity prices have risen sharply in recent months in common with much of Europe. Local press reported comments last month from President Aleksandar Vučić saying that an unnamed cement producer had warned of a 25% rise in the price of cement if electricity prices remained high. In the UK the Energy Intensive Users Group (EIUG), a network of lobbying groups for heavy industry including cement, has been holding talks with the government on how to cope with growing energy costs. Finally, in the US, Lhoist warned in September 2021 that is was going to increase the cost of all of its lime products from the start of November 2021 due to increasing gas prices. These are just some of the reactions by cement and lime producers to the current global energy market. No doubt there are many more.

The current global energy crunch has widely been attributed to the waking up of economies following coronavirus-related dormancy in 2020 with supply failing to meet demand. Gas prices have risen to record highs and this has promoted electricity producers to switch to coal in the US, Europe and Asia. This in turn has put pressure on industrial users as both electricity and coal prices have grown and governments have taken action in some cases to protect domestic users. In Europe price pressure has lead to reductions in ammonia and fertiliser production. Power cuts have been reported in China and India.

In China a variety of factors have converged to create a crisis. These include shutting down coal mines on environmental and safety grounds, anti-corruption measures and even promoting mine closures to facilitate clean skies for national events such as the Communist party’s 100th anniversary. Disruption to import sources such as a ban on Australian coal on political grounds, flooding in Indonesia and a renewed coronavirus outbreak in Mongolia can’t have helped either. Thermal coal futures traded on the Zhengzhou Commodity Exchange hit a high of US$263/t on 15 October 2021 marking a 34% rise through the week and the largest weekly growth since trading started in 2013. The International Energy Agency estimates that coal demand in China grew by over 10% year-on-year in the first half of 2021 but coal production increased by just over 5%.

Industrial users have suffered as energy supplies have been rationed and producers asked to cut output. In September 2021 cement output fell by 12% year-on-year to 205Mt from 233Mt in September 2020. This is the lowest monthly figure for September since 2011. It’s also not the usual direction of double-digit rate of change that the Chinese cement sector is used to. The CCA attributed this mainly to energy controls, power shortages and high coal prices in Jiangsu, Hunan, Zhejiang, Guangdong, Guangxi, Yunnan, Shandong and elsewhere. Cement output for the first nine months of 2021 is still ahead of 2020 at 1.77Bnt compared to 1.67Bnt but it’s been slipping noticeably since July 2021.

This will leave energy users, including cement producers, watching the weather forecasts rather closely this winter. Should the Northern Hemisphere suffer a cold one then energy prices such as coal will reflect it. Industrial users may also become subject to energy rationing in many places. The knock-on effect of this then will be higher cement prices. However bad the winter does turn out to be though we can expect more cement companies trying to explain bashfully why their prices are going up. On the plus side any producer that can diversify its energy mix through solar, alternative fuels or whatever else is likely to be doing so soon if they are not already.

UK: Aggregate Industries has appointed Lee Sleight as the managing director of its Readymix Concrete division. He has also been appointed to the company’s executive committee. He succeeds Barry Hope, who will remain on Aggregate Industries’ executive team managing strategic projects in a new role as Business Development Director. Sleight previously worked for Sika for over a decade. Most recently he held the position of Business Unit Manager with responsibility for concrete and waterproofing divisions.

UK: 200 Hanson UK cement truck drivers have ended a one-month strike after accepting an improved pay deal. Construction Enquirer News has reported that the producer has retroactively increased drivers’ pay by 2.8% from 1 January 2021 and agreed to increase pay by a further 3.3% from 1 January 2022. Drivers’ overnight allowance will retroactively increase to Euro49.7/night from 1 October 2021, and the company has committed to a transformation of bank holiday working arrangements. Additionally, its management will share its fleet replacement programme with its drivers.

UK: The Mineral Products Association (MPA) has announced the successful completion of a trial of cement production using a net-zero fuel mix consisting of hydrogen and refuse-derived fuel (RDF) at Hanson’s Ribblesdale, Lancashire, cement plant. The RDF in the mix consists of meat and bone meal (MBM) from the food industry and glycerol from biodiesel production.

Increased alternative fuel (AF) substitution is one of seven key levers in the MPA’s Roadmap Beyond Net Zero emissions reduction strategy. The association says that the fuel will eliminate 180,000t/yr of CO₂ emissions from the Ribblesdale plant’s operations when fully implemented. The project received Euro3.71m in government funding.

Hanson’s environmental sustainability manager Iain Walpole said “We are delighted to be involved with this world-leading project, which is a further example of our commitment to cutting CO₂ emissions.” He added “It will also contribute to our ambition of supplying net zero carbon concrete by 2050.”

UK/Ireland: Mannok has launched a comprehensive biodiversity report, the Natural Assets Action Plan, in partnership with the conservationist group Ulster Wildlife. The report examines the entirety of the company’s landholdings, which span 800ha on both sides of the EU/UK border. Habitats include grasslands, wetlands, woodlands, ponds and quarries. The report will provide a roadmap for the conservation, restoration and enhancement of each area of land to help Mannok to meet its sustainability targets. Key aims include increasing biodiversity awareness among Mannok staff, customers and local communities, improving biodiversity monitoring, maximising carbon absorption in soil and vegetation, rewilding the natural landscape and ensuring resilience to predicted climate change effects.

Chief executive officer Liam McCaffrey said “This report informs our understanding of the value of natural assets to the business and wider community and will help guide our long-term planning and strategic investment decisions in a way which aims to maintain and enhance those assets. Already it has started to change our perspectives of what was previously considered wasteland. Now, we can see opportunities for careful and considered restoration into valuable natural assets for the future. Additionally, the work involved in creating the plan has allowed us to focus on the whole area of carbon mitigation in ways which we would not have considered before. The way in which we are looking at carbon reduction through careful management of our land is a relatively novel concept in industry, but we now recognise it as a critical tool in the fight against climate change.”

He added “The report is full of very valuable recommendations on what we can practically do over the next three - five years and beyond to continue enhancing and restoring our land assets, and we are very much committed to delivering on this. We will commit resources, time, people and finances to develop the recommendations.”

UK: Global building materials supplier Cemex UK has launched its Buildings Made Better range of renovation and refurbishment products and services. The company says that the range offers customers easy access to low carbon, energy efficient or water-conserving building solutions. It includes a wide selection of existing and new products including its Vertua low carbon concrete. The producer said that the solutions support the construction phase and the whole lifecycle of the building.

Cemex Materials West Europe quality and product technology director Steve Crompton said “The renovation of existing buildings can lead to significant energy savings for all, as buildings account for over 40% of energy consumed. More than 220m buildings in Europe, representing approximately 85% of the building stock built before 2021, will mostly still be standing in 2050, yet currently only 1% of buildings undergo energy-efficient renovation each year. The energy performance of buildings is a major area for improvement in public policies, for new build and the renovation of the existing stock. From residential housing, to public buildings and urban schemes, across the board, we’re demonstrating to our customers that by improving the built environment, we can significantly improve our natural environment too.”

He added “Concrete has a critical role to play in the transition to a low-carbon economy. We have the aspiration to deliver net zero CO₂ concrete globally by 2050, which will contribute to the development of climate-smart urban projects, sustainable buildings and climate resilient infrastructures. By bringing together a comprehensive range of sustainable products that support the important area of retrofit, we are offering our customers easy access to the right products for the job whilst keeping the environment front of mind.”

UK: Tarmac has completed a seven-week repair job on its PC2000 backhaul excavator at its Dunbar, East Lothian, quarry. The East Lothian Courier newspaper has reported that the work consisted of a rebuild of all major components, including the 11t bucket, pins and bushes. The equipment has been in service since 2014. It will next require servicing in 2026. Marubeni Komatsu carried out the work.

Quarry manager Mark Grieve said “With the excavator playing an absolutely key role in our process, this was a major project for Tarmac Dunbar.”

UK: ZwickRoell UK and Ireland has begun the construction of its new headquarters in Worcester, Worcestershire. The facilities will consist of a customer experience centre, a suite of offices, meeting and seminar rooms and a comprehensively equipped demonstration laboratory. Managing director Benno Sadowski said “We are very happy to be establishing a new facility in the Worcester Six Business Park, with its excellent strategic location in the UK.” He added “With our experience of more than 160 years in the materials testing equipment business, we are always investigating ways in which we can better support our customers with our advanced technology testing solutions in addition to creating relationships which embody our brand, vision and values.”

UK: Hanson has delivered 171,000t of cement to the site of the upcoming Hinkley Point C nuclear power plant in Somerset. It has also delivered 1Mm³ of ready-mix concrete via the customer’s on-site batching plants, 5Mt of aggregates and 443,000t of sand. Its Port Talbot site in Neath Port Talbot has supplied 230,000t of Regen ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBFS) for use in concrete production, reducing the product’s carbon footprint by a total of 200,000t compared with concrete produced using ordinary Portland cement (OPC) only.