Displaying items by tag: concrete

Colombia: Cementos Argos Colombia has reported on its situation and shared its business outlook as it returns to full operations post-coronavirus lockdown. The company says that 1700 people are currently active in operations, with 910 working from home and 660 on furlough. In May 2020 it served 5300 customers, down by 74% year-on-year from 7210 in May 2019. Cement volumes fell by 41% and concrete volumes by 43%. 44 of Cementos Argos Colombia’s 58 concrete plants were operational, and 73 of its 92 work centres.

During the lockdown period the company completed over 100 new infrastructure project supply contracts. Cementos Argos Colombia regional vice president Tomás Restrepo said, “We are confident in a positive future, in our resilience, in the ability to face challenges and that we have extraordinary talent who are aware of the importance of self-care and who work every day on good ideas to continue to be the best allies of our client.”

Switzerland: LafargeHolcim has announced its participation in a project aimed at increasing the height of wind turbine towers by producing larger bases on-site using 3D concrete printing technology. LafargeHolcim will supply concrete for use with Denmark-based COBOD’s 3D printing technology, while US-based GE Renewable Energy backs the project. The method enables bases to exceed the 4.5m maximum diameter necessitated by road transportation. This increases the maximum height of turbine towers by 100% to 200m from 100m, which in turn raises power generation by 33% to 20.2GWh/yr from 15.1GWh/yr.

LafargeHolcim research and development head Edelio Bermejo said, “Concrete 3D printing is a very promising technology for us, as its incredible design flexibility expands the realm of construction possibilities. Being both a user and promoter of clean energy, we are delighted to be putting our material and design expertise to work in this ground-breaking project, enabling cost efficient construction of tall wind turbine towers and accelerating access to renewable energy”

Finland: Lujabetoni says it has begun work on a new 80 - 100m3/hr ready-mix concrete plant in Kuopio, Northern Savonia to replace its existing plant in the town. The new unit, which will serve construction projects throughout the region, will have an improved raw materials heating system. The plant is scheduled for completion in late 2020 or early 2021.

Azerbaijan: Cement producers produced 0.91Mt of cement in the first quarter of 2020, down by 8.7% year-on-year from 1Mt in the first quarter of 2019. Ready-mix concrete production rose by 9.9% to 0.46Mt from 0.51Mt, while the total value of construction materials produced fell by 4.5% year-on-year to US$120m from US$126m. The decline was attributed to a decrease in demand due to the coronavirus outbreak.

Switzerland/US: LafargeHolcim has announced the extension of its partnership with Solidia Technologies to mid-2020. Cash News has reported that the partnership, which has seen a 30% reduction in LafargeHolcim’s overall CO₂ emissions since its formation in mid-2013, aims to achieve a 70% reduction in the producer’s carbon footprint.

Peru: Cementos Pacasmayo has reported a first-quarter profit of US$3.14m in the first quarter of 2020, down by 65% year-on-year from US$7.00m in the same period of 2019. Sales fell by 4.4% year-on-year to US$87.9m, from US$92.0m. Despite having increased by 13% year-on-year in the first two months of 2020, cement, concrete and precast sales volumes fell by 6.0% to US$81.5m from US$86.7m.

Cementos Pacasmayo said that it has suspended all production and sale of its products since 16 March 2020 in response to the national state of emergency due to the coronavirus outbreak. It said, “We are unsure when operations will be allowed to restart.”

Italy: HeidelbergCement subsidiary Italcementi’s Chiaravagna concrete plant in Genoa, Liguria has received international sustainability certification from the Concrete Sustainability Council (CSC). The certificate, rating silver, acknowledges responsibly-sourced concrete across five categories: pre-requisites, management, environmental sustainability, social sustainability and economic sustainability. It aims to validate the entire process chain, from transportation to the recycling of raw materials.

The plant uses CEM-III ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBFS) cement from Italcementi’s Novi Ligure grinding plant in Alessandria, made from clinker from the company’s Calusco d’Adda plant in Bergamo. The cement has specific CO₂ emissions of 500kg/t. It is supplying concrete for the reconstruction of the Morandi Bridge that collapsed in 2018.

Italcementi said, “This result adds to those already achieved by Italcementi and Calcestruzzi in terms of sustainability, such as the new range of Eco.build green concretes capable of meeting the requirements of green procurement, and the availability of the environmental product declaration (EPD) for different types of cement and concrete.”

Germany: Holcim Deutschland has reported the successful delivery of 280m³ of climate-neutral concrete to the NABU Conservation Centre Rheinauen in Bingen, Rheinland-Palatinate. The construction of the conservation centre by Karl Gemünden is scheduled for completion in 2021.

The concrete contains Holcim Duo 3 N CEM-III slag cement from Holcim Deutschland’s Dortmund slag plant in North-Rhine Westphalia. The company said, “Only select raw materials are used in the production of Holcim EcoPact Zero, which is mixed in optimal proportions in line with applicable norms.” Moorfutures offset 44t of CO₂ by deposition in Moorland in Schleswig Holstein to account for the EcoPact’s CO₂ emissions.

“We are proud of this first successful application of Holcim EcoPact Zero,” said Holcim Deutschland head of building materials technology Marc Holberg. “We look forward to many further climate-friendly projects!”

UK: Hanson has said that it is supplying 2000m3 of concrete to the Harwell Science Campus, Oxfordshire for use in the construction of the Vaccine Manufacture and Innovation Centre (VMIC), the first facility of its kind in the UK. Due to the on-going coronavirus outbreak, the centre will be finished ahead of schedule in mid-2021. Hanson UK West regional general manager James Moorhouse said, “We are working flat out to manage the accelerated requirements of the construction programme.”

Argentina: Loma Negra’s sales of cement, masonry and lime fell by 26% year-on-year to 1.13Mt in first quarter of 2020. The decline was driven by the coronavirus lockdown in Argentina, where the subsidiary of Brazil’s InterCement has most of its sales. Concrete and aggregate sales volumes declined also. The company’s new revenue dropped by 29.6% to US$115m and its adjusted earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) fell by 17.9% to US$38.6m. However, the company’s accountant adjustment for use in so-called ‘hyperinflationary economies’ made a negative impact on these figures. With this adjustment removed both revenue and earnings reportedly rose in the first quarter.

“By the end of the first quarter the coronavirus broke out, bringing additional challenges to the already adverse background,” said Sergio Faifman, Loma Negra’s chief executive officer (CEO). He added that cement demand in Argentina nationally contracted by around 29% year-on-year in the first quarter of 2020.

The cement producer temporarily suspended its production facilities and its L´Amalí Expansion project in late March 2020 due to the government lockdown. Production and dispatches of cement were restarted in early April 2020 following the implementation of new sanitation protocols. The company has now resumed working on its upgrade project at L´Amalí.