Displaying items by tag: construction

Hungary: Kirchdorfer Gruppe subsidiary Kirchdorfer Concrete Solutions has agreed to sell a 49% stake in prestressed concrete sleepers producer MABA Hungaria to railway overhead line construction company Firma Vasútvill. Austria-based Kirchdorfer Concrete Solutions will retain its majority stake in the company.

Kirchdorfer Gruppe CEO Michael Wardian said that the group was delighted to have secured a strong partner for its Hungarian operations.

UAE: Cemex has supplied 400,000m³ of advanced semi-dry heavy-duty concrete to Abu Dhabi Ports Group’s Khalifa Port. Cemex said that the concrete’s composition maximises its lifespan, increasing sustainability.

Kazakhstan: Steppe Cement sold US$83.4m-worth of cement in 2021, up by 16% year-on-year from its US$71.7m-worth in 2020. Its sales volumes totalled 1.69Mt for the year, up by 2.4% from 1.65Mt in 2020. It exported 202,000t of cement, down by 57% from 86,500t. The company said that production limitations prevented it from fully meeting demand, and it concentrated on local markets. Regarding its outlook in 2022, Steppe Cement said “We have a healthy cash balance and are continuing our capital expenditure (CAPEX) programme to increase the production capacity of the company by 5% by mid-2022.”

Dow Jones Newswires has reported that Kazakhstan’s 2021 full-year cement consumption was 11.6Mt, up by 23% year-on-year from 9.4Mt in 2020. A rule change to pension withdrawals permitting allocations for home improvement and construction bolstered demand growth. Exports fell by 20% to 1.6Mt from 2Mt, while imports rose by 33% to 800,000t from 600,000t.

China: Saudi Aramco and China Building Materials Academy (CBMA) have launched the Nonmetallic Excellence and Innovation Center (NEXCEL) in Beijing. The centre will leverage CBMA's expertise and resources to promote the development and application of nonmetallic technologies offering superior lifecycle cost, efficiency and environmental performance to metal-based alternatives in Chinese construction.

Saudi Aramco’s senior vice president of technical services Ahmad Al-Sa'adi said “We are excited to be part of this important initiative with CBMA, to jointly advance the use of nonmetallics in building and construction in China. At Aramco, we have been developing and deploying nonmetallic solutions within our own operations for more than 20 years as they offer superior lifecycle cost, efficiency and environmental advantages over their metal alternatives.”

UK: Ecocem has reported the successful delivery of the first batch of its Exegy ultra-low CO2 concrete at the site of the upcoming EcoPark South waste management hub at Edmonton EcoPark in London. Infrastructure construction company Taylor Woodrow carried out the work. Ecocem says that Taylor Woodrow used Ecocem Ultra concrete from the new Exegy range, reducing the carbon footprint of the project’s concrete by 70%.

Ecocem says that it has secured contracts for the supply of Ecocem Ultra concrete to the sites of the upcoming Grand Paris Express transport link and Paris Athletes’ Village in Paris in Paris, France.

Mexico: Cemex’s total dispatches of its Vertua reduced-CO₂ concrete in Mexico reached 284,000t in 2021. After launching the product in its home country on 8 December 2020, the company supplied it to 3820 sites throughout 2021. Cemex says that it enters 2022 with 1580 orders outstanding.

Mexico/Denmark: Cemex and 3D printing construction company Cobod International have launched D.fab, a range of admixtures which enable builders to use ordinary concrete in 3D printing. The partners say that the products eliminate the need for expensive specialised mortars. Power2Build implemented the admixtures in concrete to print a whole house in Luanda, Angola, in early December 2021.

Cemex’s executive vice president sustainability, commercial and operations development Juan Romero said “The introduction of this revolutionary 3D printing system is a testament to our customer-centric mindset and relentless focus on continuous innovation and improvement. Working together with Cobod, we have developed an experience for customers that is superior to anything that has been provided in the past,” said “Our innovation efforts position us at the forefront of new technologies that contribute to building a better future.”

Pakistan: BHS-Sonthofen (Tianjan) has reported the successful delivery of two of a total of six twin-shaft batch mixers to the site of CEC-PowerChina and Pakistan Frontier Works’ upcoming Diamer-Basha dam. The Chinese division of the Germany-based company is supplying four DKX 7.00 7m³/batch precast concrete mixers and two DKX 6.00 6m³/batch precast concrete mixers as part of the project. The mixers will contribute towards the 18.6Mm³ of mainly roller-compacted concrete required for the dam’s construction.

General manager Ronny Laux said “The hydraulically bound base layers required for the dam (also known as roller-compacted concrete) must withstand the heaviest of loads. Our mixers are designed to handle demanding mixing tasks. The twin-shaft batch mixers meet the highest demands for mix homogeneity and reproducibility, even with large quantities – ensuring optimum concrete quality.”

Algeria: BMSD Chaux Algeria has commissioned a 100,000t/yr lime plant. Italy-based QualiCal supplied the plant. It is powered by natural gas and relies on CogiTech bulkmaterial handling equipment, Mathios Refractories’ refractories, Laife steel structures and Sysware and Tecnoelettra automation systems.

Taiwan: Asia Cement Corporation plans to establish further offshore wind power plants under an extension of its partnership with Germany-based power company RWE. SNL Energy Finance Daily News has reported that the partners are investigating potential sites in Changhua, Hsinchu and Taichung.