Displaying items by tag: precast

Northern-Ireland based cement producer Cemcor said this week that it has completed trials of a calcined clay cement product called CalcinX. The company started its trials in 2023 and it has been supported by Queen’s University Belfast and funding from Innovate UK. Work with commercial partners has involved precast concrete paving manufacturer Tobermore producing paviours made from 50% CalcinX as a CEM II replacement and Moore Concrete has also manufactured precast units using 50% CalcinX as a CEM I replacement. So far over 3000t of CalcinX has been produced in a number of industrial-scale trials.

David Millar, the managing director of Cemcor, mentioned his company’s plans for calcined clay in June 2022 when he was interviewed by Global Cement Magazine. The company that became Cemcor bought the Cookstown cement plant and a few other assets from Holcim at the start of 2022. It then changed its name to Cemcor in November 2022. At the time of the interview the company was looking to “...develop new value-added products, including low-CO₂ options. This will allow us to use the same amount of clinker to produce more cement.” Millar couldn’t give away too many details at the time, however calcined clay was cited specifically. It was also noted that the company had the right material in its quarry and that it was already working with partners on it.

Amongst all the other decarbonisation options available for cement plants, a slow trickle of calcined clay projects keep being announced. In January 2025, for example, thyssenkrupp Polysius said it had secured a front-end engineering design contract from Circlua for the construction of the world’s largest activated clay plant in Brazil. This project in Para state will have a capacity of 3000t/day, will use renewable energy sources and will “improve the CO₂ footprint in cement production.” CBMI Construction also officially launched a flash calcination clay project in Tangshan, Hebei province in China. In December 2024, Vicat signed an agreement with the US Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations to develop the Lebec Net Zero (LNZ) project at its Lebec cement plant in California. This includes plans to produce calcined clay-based cement. Earlier in the autumn of 2024 Portugal-based Cimpor said it was preparing to convert a kiln at its Souselas plant to produce calcined clays, AVIC International Beijing and KHD said that they had secured a deal to build a 900t/day clay calcination plant for Ciments de l'Afrique (CIMAF) in Burkina Faso, and Holcim Česko said it was going to construct a calcined clay processing line at the Čížkovice cement plant in the Czech Republic.

One news story that stuck out in the autumn was the progress of a collaboration between Aumund and Holcim towards developing an electric linear calcination conveyor (eLCC). The two companies started work on the project in 2020 intending to look at the electrical calcination of clay using an Aumund pan conveyor. Initial tests of the eLCC reportedly demonstrated efficient thermal activation of clay through a combination of radiant heat and material circulation. The eLCC system is fully enclosed, insulated, has a compact design and can operate using electrical-powered renewable sources. The first industrial plant utilising this technology is scheduled for construction in 2025. Calcined clay technology and products by other industrial suppliers are available. The work by Aumund and its competitors show they are watching this market closely.

OneStone Consulting’s Joe Harder has found that only 14 clay calcination plants were operational worldwide in 2023 with a production capacity of just under 3.5Mt/yr. These are based in Latin America, Europe and Africa. In an article previewing a market report in the February 2025 issue of Global Cement Magazine, Harder predicts that by 2035 there will be 79 clay calcination plants with a capacity of just under 21Mt/yr. A steady growth of over 20 new plants annually is also expected subsequently from 2035 to 2050 as cement producers seek cost-effective ways to reduce their clinker factor. He identified installation costs, a lack of knowledge about clay-based cements, trouble obtaining mining rights and policy issues amongst other issues as holding back the use of clay calcination.

The current expectation is that calcined clay usage in the cement industry will be a minority option. Yet the size of global cement production can make a production share of, say, 3 - 8% a viable option for both cement manufacturers and equipment suppliers. The adoption of new cement products and standards can also take a long time and this clouds predictions of how far clay can go in the cement industry. At this point in the calcined clay story it is time to keep track of the new projects being set up.

Joe Harder will present a talk entitled ‘Calcined clay market trends by 2035’ at the Global FutureCem Conference taking place in Istanbul in early February 2025

Singapore: Malaysia-based YTL Corporation has concluded a conditional sale and purchase agreement for an 81% stake in NSL for US$169m. YTL Cement will launch a mandatory unconditional cash offer for all outstanding shares in NSL after completing the acquisition. NSL manufactures precast concrete components and operates an environmental services division.

Switzerland: Holcim recorded net sales of €5.71bn in the first quarter of 2024, down by 2% year-on-year from €5.85bn in the first quarter of 2023. Nonetheless, recurring earnings before interest and taxation (EBIT) grew by 8% to €543m from €503m. The group noted continuing profitable growth. Its Solutions & Products unit raised roofing sales by 67% in local currencies, including 38% organic growth. The unit also acquired Germany-based advanced green roofing systems producer ZinCo and Argentina-based precast and pre-stressed concrete construction systems producer Tensolite. Additionally, Holcim closed three separate acquisitions in the ready-mix concrete, aggregates and construction-demolition materials segments.

In North America, Holcim grew its recurring EBIT by 3.9% in local currency, and anticipates continuing growth in 2024. In its Latin America region, the group noted a strong pipeline of infrastructure projects and increased nearshoring in Mexico. Europe yielded double-digit recurring EBIT growth, while Asia, Middle East & Africa remained profitable in local currency terms.

Chile: UNACEM has gained full ownership of precast concrete company Prefabricados Andinos. The group said that it completed the acquisition of the outstanding 50% stake in the company on 6 February 2024.

France: Hoffmann Green Cement Technologies (HGCT) has signed a partnership deal with Point.P. Under the terms of the agreement, HGCT’s clinker-free cement products will be distributed to Point.P’s ready-mixed concrete (RMC) and batching plants. Point.P is aiming to reduce its CO₂ emissions linked to the use of cement it uses in ready-mix concrete, concrete blocks and precast elements, by 35% by 2030.

Julien Blanchard and David Hoffmann, co-founders of HGCT, said "We're delighted with this partnership with a major player like Point P. This is a major step forward for the marketing of our clinker-free low-carbon cements.”

France-based Saint-Gobain Building Distribution France, a subsidiary of the Saint-Gobain, is a distributor of building materials. Its main brands include Point.P, Cedeo, Asturienne, PUM, SFIC, La Plateforme du Bâtiment, Dispano, Panofrance, Clim+ and CDL Elec. It has a network of over 2000 sales outlets throughout France.

Morocco: Members of the Professional Association of Cement Producers (APC) delivered a total of 6.98Mt of cement during the first seven months of 2023. This corresponds to a year-on-year rise of 2.1%, compared with seven-month 2022 levels. Agence Marocaine de Presse News has reported that ready-mix concrete plants consumed 4.29Mt (61%), and precast concrete plants 1.37Mt (20%), of cement deliveries. Producers despatched 367,000t (5.3%) of cement to infrastructure construction sites, and 271,000t (3.9%) to other building sites.

India: Ramco Cements has commissioned a 3000t/day integrated cement line at its Ramamasamy Raja Nagar cement plant in Tamil Nadu. Projects Today News has reported that the plant runs on renewable energy from a captive wind farm, and recycles 90% of water used in production.

Ramco Cements produces Ramco 53 Infra Super cement at the Ramamasamy Raja Nagar plant. The product allows for lower cement and admixture content to be used in the production of concrete structures.

Finland: VTT Technical Research Centre subsidiary Carbonaide has concluded its seed funding round, having raised funds worth Euro1.8m. Lakan Betoni, which produces precast and ready-mix concrete, led the funding, along with utilities provider Vantaa Energy. Carbonaide will use the funds to build an industrial pilot plant for its carbon neutral precast concrete product at an existing precast concrete plant in Hollola. The plant will bind captured CO₂ in the product at atmospheric pressure. The process generates 50% lower CO₂ emissions than precast concrete production using ordinary Portland cement (OPC). Suitable raw materials include ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBFS), green liquor dregs and bio-ash. In trial production, the use of GGBFS gave Carbonaide's concrete a negative carbon footprint of -60kg/m³.

Other sources of loans and in-kind contributions included Finnish state innovation fund Business Finland.

Ecuador: Encapsulation in concrete served to destroy 110t of cocaine in Ecuador during the first nine months of 2022. The figure corresponds to 61% of cocaine seized by authorities during the period. Local press reported that the mixed slurry forms strong precast concrete elements, from which the cocaine is impossible to extract. Encapsulation accelerates destruction of the drug by a factor of 20 compared to incineration, with removal rates of up to 1500kg/hr.

Ecuadorian cocaine seizures at ports alone increased by 42% year-on-year throughout 2022, necessitating the operational improvements in disposal methods.

China: A team at Southeast University has developed an alternative concrete that contains 8% cement. It uses coral reef limestone fragments and biodebris with an upper particle size of 53mm as fine aggregate. The researchers concluded that the material proved suitable for use in precast concrete paving slab production.