Displaying items by tag: UK
UK: SigmaRoc intends to offer a cement-free alternative for every product in its precast concrete portfolio from January 2022. The producer claims it is the only company to do this. The change will effect products made by its Product Group including Allen Concrete, CCP Building Products and Poundfield Precast. The move follows the launch of its Ordinary Portland Cement free Greenbloc product in February 2021.
Managing director Michael Roddy said, “Greenbloc sets the bar for bringing a cement-free alternative to a traditional building material into mainstream use, but it was only ever the start of our low-carbon journey.” He added “The benefits of using cement as a building material are undisputed from an application perspective, however the carbon required in the manufacturing process cannot be ignored. Our aim is simple. The market is changing and understands the need to acknowledge, address and action a tangible approach to decarbonisation. We want to give architects, contractors and specifiers the choice of using an ultra-low carbon cement-free alternative to precast cementitious products.”
UK: Aggregate Industries has appointed Kirstin McCarthy as its sustainability director as part of its executive committee. She will be responsible for the company’s ambitions to become a leading sustainable business and net-zero company. McCarthy brings over 20 years’ experience in environmental management to the role. Prior to joining the subsidiary of Switzerland-based Lafarge-Holcim business, she was Head of Sustainability at Birmingham Airport for more than six years.
Cemex UK and Engie renew electricity contract
03 June 2021UK: Cemex UK, part of Mexico-based Cemex, has renewed its 100% renewable electricity supply contract with France-based Engie until mid-2024. The supply will cover nearly 200 of its UK sites including its integrated cement plant at Rugby and its grinding plant at Tilbury.
Cemex’s Europe regional head of carbon, legacy landfill and special projects Martin Hills said, “Cemex has a dedicated Climate Action Plan for its global operations which outlines the company’s vision to advance towards a carbon-neutral economy and to address society’s increasing demands more efficiently. The use of renewable electricity at our sites plays an important part in this and we are pleased to have renewed our partnership with Engie for a further three years.
UK: Cemex UK has agreed to trial a new cyclist warning system produced by road safety specialist FHOSS. The supplier says that the system alerts truck drivers to cyclists in their left-hand side blind spot. For the trial, Cemex UK will install the system in a Rugby-based cement tanker, a London-based rigid tipper and six London-based mixers.
UK and France Supply Chain Director David Hart said, “This new safety technology from FHOSS supports our road safety strategy, which is all about helping save lives.” He added, “Operating large cement tanker and aggregate tipper fleets means we are always looking at innovative technology that will aid the driver and protect vulnerable road users.”
UK: Hanson, part of Germany-based HeidelbergCement, has supplied basalt from its Builth Wells, Powys quarry to the world’s first CO2 sequestration field trial in the Brecon Beacons. The trial uses local live soil enriched with basalt for enhanced CO2 sequestration in a reforested 11ha woodland. Enhanced rock weathering takes crushed basalt, a by-product of quarrying, and applies it to the soil to capture CO2 and provide essential nutrients to fertilise trees and the fungi in the soil that support tree growth. The building materials producer says it is a method that has been proven to be successful in sugar beet and pea crops.
Sustainability director Marian Garfield said, “Hanson is focussed on climate protection and carbon reduction, and enhancing biodiversity net gain are two of our key 2030 commitments.” She added, “We are excited to be involved with this project, which aims to determine whether basalt can accelerate the removal of CO2 from the atmosphere in the creation of new woodland and could therefore potentially play a vital role in helping tackle the climate crisis.”
UK: Aggregate Industries has appointed Dragan Maksimovic as its chief executive officer (CEO). He succeeds Guy Edwards, who is leaving the company.
Maksimovic joins the subsidiary of LafargeHolcim from Sika, where he worked most recently as Country CEO in the UK. He holds an MBA from the University of Sheffield and a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering. He has also completed an International Leadership Program at IMD in Switzerland.
UK: Hanson, part of Germany-based HeidelbergCement, has reduced its bagged cement allocations to customers. The Construction Index has reported that the decision is due to a national shortage of cement in the UK. The building materials producer introduced a packed cement allocation in May 2021. It calculated these by the proportion of orders that it believed could fulfil. Packed products director Andrew Simpson said, “Regrettably, we have been unable to maintain those levels.” He added that the company had had to perform unforeseen work on its cement operations following its 2021 shutdown.
Supply issues for packaging materials have also been reported. Bag suppliers informed Hanson to expect longer-term packaging shortages due to global demand for polymer and kraft paper, according to Simpson. He added that low pallet availability was also a concern.
The UK construction market is in a funny situation right now. As the economy has started to grow in 2021, shortages of building materials have been reported following the relaxation of coronavirus-related restrictions. In April 2021, for example, the Construction Leadership Council (CLC) added cement, aggregates and certain plastics to its existing lists of products in short supply. These commodities joined a slew of other materials, including timber, steel, roof tiles, bricks and imported products such as screws, fixings, plumbing items, sanitaryware, shower enclosures, electrical products and appliances. The CLC advised all users to, “plan for increased demand and longer delays, keep open lines of communication with their suppliers and order early for future projects.”
Skip forward a month to May 2021 and these shortages are on more people’s minds with the announcement by the Office for National Statistics that UK monthly construction output grew by 5.8% month-on-month to around Euro16.5bn in March 2021 due to both new work and to repair and maintenance projects. Quarter-on-quarter output also rose by 2.6%, adding to the impression of a building sector emerging from the fog of lockdown. In the face of this good news Nigel Jackson, the chief executive of the UK mineral Products Association (MPA), was asked about reported shortages of cement. He told local press this week that “it would not be surprising if there were short-term issues of supply as the economy gathers momentum.” He added that the biggest issues had been observed in levels of bagged cement typically used in domestic projects.
The MPA followed this up with the results of a survey of building materials manufacturers that reported a slow but steady start to 2021 with mounting construction demand month-on-month. Sales volumes of aggregates and concrete were both up quarter-on-quarter but volumes of asphalt and mortar fell. Unfortunately that survey didn’t cover cement volumes but it did have more to say about concrete. In its view ready-mixed concrete sales had been subdued since 2017 due to the UK’s departure from the European Union (Brexit) and a general slowdown in residential building. The market recovery seen so far in 2021 was likely to be merely a return to growth from a subdued level of activity that pre-dates Covid-19.
At the time of writing the UK government faces a decision about whether to continue opening up the economy or exercise caution in the face of the as-yet unknown consequences of the Indian variant of coronavirus. This may delay talk of building materials shortages but it can’t avoid it forever. In the UK, cement shortages appear to be due to the self-build segment and will hopefully soon be resolved.
A shortage of cement in the UK may not mean much to people outside the country, with the exception of exporters. Yet the wider picture here is that the coronavirus pandemic has affected the production of building materials, changed end-user behaviour and distorted markets around the world. Other examples include the row over the price of cement in Nigeria, the boom in cement sales in Brazil in the second half of 2020 or reported shortages in Jamaica this week. A significant number of people, when forced to spend more time at home, appeared to save money and then decided to either move to a different house or make their current one better. Yet at the same time differing government restrictions and market fluctuations have seen building material output levels vary widely. Other reasons are at play both local and international. Brexit in the UK is one example of the former, as importers and exporters have been forced to grapple with new rules and costs. The temporary blockage of the Suez Canal in March 2021 is one example of the latter. No wonder supply chains are struggling. That last point goes wider than building materials though, for example, as anyone trying to buy semiconductors has discovered. One fear behind all of this though is whether these are temporary shortages or whether inflation is on the way for the global economy generally. In this is the case, then it signals the end of the low consumer inflation rate era since the financial crash in 2008 and may herald changes in behaviour from both producers and consumers.
UK: The Mineral Products Association (MPA) has described first-quarter building materials demand as ‘resilient’ in 2021 despite renewed coronavirus lockdown restrictions, on-going supply chain disruptions and wet winter weather. Following a recent survey the association says that continued housing activity – with increased home improvements – and an acceleration in infrastructure work, driven by a new roads programme and the start of the HS2 high-speed railway, drove minor growth during the quarter. Ready-mix concrete demand rose by 2% year-on-year, while mortar demand fell by 7% during the period. The MPA said that both products are mostly used in the early stages of construction, thus serving as a barometer for construction activity ahead in the short term.
The MPA reports that since September 2020, construction growth has remained close to zero, whilst new contract awards have been ’weak’ since May 2020. The downward trend of housing-led mortar demand in the first quarter of 2021 continues a pre-pandemic decline since mid-2018. Thus, housing activity growth is considered unlikely to continue beyond the completion of existing projects ahead of the end of a land tax holiday and a deadline in a first time buyers loan scheme. The MPA described the slow growth of ready-mixed concrete demand as ‘concerning.’ Low housing activity and few new commercial projects compounded the difficult recovery: non-infrastructure projects normally generate 60% of demand. Ready-mix concrete producers rely on London and the South East region for over 30% of sales. First-quarter volumes were 9% below the previous five-year average, despite three consecutive quarters of growth since the first coronavirus lockdown in the first half of 2020.
Director of Economics Affairs Aurelie Delannoy said, “Mineral products manufacturers are busy supplying post- lockdown pent-up demand, particularly for domestic activity such as landscaping, repair and maintenance and home improvements, as well as infrastructure projects.” She added “The outlook for this year and next is also positive, but the stakes are high. Any optimism assumes activity is not disrupted by renewed outbreaks of Covid-19 and, most importantly, relies on the government delivering on its planned infrastructure commitments. MPA members tell us they are yet to see a more clear-cut pick-up in new house building, whilst any recovery in commercial development is expected to remain muted given the current reticence for major new investments.”
UK faces short-term cement shortage
14 May 2021UK: The Mineral Products Association (MPA) has warned of the likelihood of a short-term shortage of cement. It identified the cause of a probable shortage as the rise in construction leading to record cement demand. Bagged cement, of which the industry delivers 12.0Mt/yr, is most at risk of running out. The Daily Telegraph newspaper has reported that domestic projects are rising most sharply due to the deployment of the Euro232bn of costs saved during coronavirus lockdowns, and the recommencement of suspended projects from the same periods.
MPA chief executive officer Nigel Jackson said “We appear to be coming out of this period of Covid-19 lockdowns; the roadmap is on course; people's confidence and optimism is growing. A lot of people have been confined to their homes and taken the decision to invest in improving because they're not moving.”