Displaying items by tag: concrete

UK: The Global Cement and Concrete Association (GCCA) has expanded its membership to 36 companies with its number of affiliates organisations rising to 15. The new members include Corporacion Moctezuma in Mexico, Unión Andina de Cementos (UNACEM) in Peru, JSW Cement in India and West China Cement in China.

The new affiliates include Oficemen (the Spanish Cement Association), the Cement Manufacturers Association of India, the Japan Cement Association, the National Ready Mixed Concrete Association in the US, the European Concrete Platform and the Federacion Iboamericana del Hormigon Premezclado (FIHP) which covers Latin America and the Iberian Peninsula

“The continuing and rapid growth of the association’s membership is very encouraging. With a strong work program now underway it’s important that our authoritative voice represents the growing list of cement and concrete manufacturers committed to our principles of enhancing industry sustainability efforts and driving innovation.” said GCCA chief executive officer (CEO) Benjamin Sporton.

The GCCA was launched in 2018. It aims to represent at least 50% of global cement production capacity.

UK: Aggregate Industries, a subsidiary of LafargeHolcim, has obtained PAS 2080 verification, a new Carbon Management in Infrastructure specification. PAS 2080 is the world’s first specification for managing whole-life carbon in infrastructure. Developed by the Construction Leadership Council’s Green Construction Board with the British Standards Institute (BSI), it provides a framework and guidance for measuring and managing carbon across the whole value chain.

“We can help designers at Early Contractor Involvement (ECI) stage to design lower carbon solutions. Our management systems (ISO 14001 and 50001) ensure consistent and reliable data collection, allowing our Carbon Managers to report embodied CO₂ to other members of the value chain. Baseline data made available to the value chain allows carbon targets to be set at design phase and for performance to be monitored against these targets during project delivery. This will result in infrastructure with lower embodied carbon,” said Paul McCaffrey, Sustainable Products Manager at Aggregate Industries.

China: Huaxin Cement’s sales revenue rose by 32% year-on-year to US$4.09bn in 2018 from US$3.11bn in 2017. Its net profit grew by nearly 150% to US$772m from US$309m. Its cement sales volumes increased by 3% to 70.7Mt and its ready-mix concrete (RMX) sales increased by 11% to 3.56Mm³. By region is operating revenue grew in all domestic regions, except for Jiangxi.

During 2018 the cement producer completed its acquisition of Chongqing Lafarge Shui On Cantian Cement. Its Tibet Shannan Third Phase 3000t/day and Shigatse Second Phase 3000t/day project were put into operation. In total the group added 4.77Mt/yr of cement production capacity in 2018. In its future risk analysis it said that production capacity reduction in the cement industry is ‘yet to be improved and that the ‘fundamental contradiction’ of the overcapacity has not been solved.

Switzerland’s LafargeHolcim’s runs Huaxin Cement as a joint venture. The company operates almost 200 subsidiaries in nine provinces in China as well units in Tajikistan and Cambodia. It has a cement production capacity of 100Mt/yr, RMX capacity of 23.3Mm³/yr and an aggregate capacity of 25Mt/yr.

Poland: Lafarge Poland delivered over 0.2Mm³ of ready-mix concrete (RMX) in 2018 for use in various infrastructure initiatives including road expansion projects. In 2019 the company plans to produce 0.32Mm² of concrete surfacing for a motorway extension. The subsidiary of LafargeHolcim set up its LH Engineering business in 2017 to help implement infrastructure projects. It offers engineering services and the delivery of building materials, including RMX, aggregates and other products.

Germany: Cemex has received certification from the Concrete Sustainability Council (CSC) certification for five of its ready-mix concrete (RMX) plants in Berlin and Potsdam. The CSC acts as a certification system, grading building materials facilities on environmental, social and governance practices throughout supply chains. The auditing was conducted by Kiwa Deutschland, an independent certification body recognised by the CSC.

Germany: Cemex has reached a binding agreement to sell its aggregates and ready-mix concrete assets in the north and northwest regions of Germany to GP Günter Papenburg for around Euro87m. It expects to sign the final agreement in April 2019 and close the divestment during the second quarter of 2019.

The assets in Germany being divested consist of four aggregates quarries and four ready-mix concrete (RMX) plants in north Germany, and nine aggregates quarries and fourteen RMX plants in northwest Germany.

The proceeds expected to be obtained from this divestment will be used mainly for debt reduction and for general corporate purposes. The transaction is subject to standard regulatory approval.

US: Brazil’s Votorantim Cimentos has acquied United Materials, a producer of aggregates, concrete and building materials, for an undisclosed amount. The purchase was conducted by its subsidiary Votorantim Cimentos North America. United Materials operates four ready-mix concrete plants, one aggregate quarry and two building materials units in the western part of New York state. It has around 140 employees.

UK: Wincanton has won a five-year deal with Aggregate Industries for the distribution of concrete products from a majority of its UK manufacturing sites. Under the new agreement, logistics firm Wincanton will operate a dedicated fleet of specialised vehicles, backed up by its national network, from 10 factories to customers across the country. This deal is in addition to two existing contracts, which cover distribution of bulk and packed cement from Aggregate Industries’ Cauldon works and the provision of Readymix assets.

"We have witnessed Wincanton’s ability to deliver on major national contracts at our Cauldon bulk operation. We have also seen how its commitment to continuous improvement can generate material benefits across the business. We are looking forward to the Wincanton team joining our concrete products operation," said Shaun Elliott, Head of Logistics, Concrete Products at Aggregate Industries.

Egypt: Lafarge Egypt has been named as the sole cement supplier for base construction work by China State Construction Engineering (CSCE) for the Central Business District in the New Administrative Capital. The subsidiary of LafargeHolcim will supply its cement based on a framework of the long-term partnership between Lafarge Egypt and CSCEC to erect several high-rise buildings, including a tower that is set to be the tallest in Africa. It will use its Hydrocem Plus cement product for the project. Lafarge Egypt will also take part in the concrete pouring for the foundations.

"We are proud to hold such a long-term cooperation with CSCE for the construction of such a historical project and we value their trust in our products’ quality, which magnifies our capabilities in providing tailored and unique products and solutions to meet our customers' needs. Additionally our capability as a company helped us supply large quantities of cement in a short time which helped complete the pouring in 40 consecutive hours only," said Hussein Mansi, Chief Executive Officer of Lafarge Egypt.

Lafarge Egypt is also engaged in a number of projects in the New Administrative Capital project, including different types of concrete products and steel fibres.

France: LafargeHolcim has been awarded contracts worth Euro110m as part of the Euro38.5bn Grand Paris Express (GPE) project. The GPE will improve transport infrastructure in Paris in preparation for the 2024 Olympic Games. It will require around 200km of new railway line and 68 new stations.

LafargeHolcim will deliver 600,000t of aggregates and 260,000t of cement to produce 650,000m³ of ready-mix concrete. To support the project’s schedule, the company has added mobile ready-mix concrete plants to its existing Parisian ready-mix concrete network, enabling an average production of 300m³/hr for the GPE. It will remove and treat at least 3Mt of earth from the construction site, then use the excavated material to re-landscape its nearby quarries. For the transportation of both aggregates coming from nearby quarries situated in the Seine valley and the excavated earth, LafargeHolcim will use barges on the River Seine. The company aims to work on the GPE over the next 15 years.

“We are proud to be a key partner on this historic project. With this partnership we are demonstrating our leadership in the building materials industry, making a lasting contribution to improving the transport experience of the people living and working in the Paris area. The project once more shows our capacity and reliability in delivering a large amount of high-quality concrete and our ability to provide efficient logistics and supply solutions,” said chief executive officer (CEO) Jan Jenisch.