Displaying items by tag: Cemex
Mexico: Cemex sales grew by 17% year-on-year to US$7.27bn in the first half of 2021 from US$5.98bn in the same period in 2020. Its operating earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) rose by 38% to US$1.50bn from US$1.09bn. Cement and concrete sales volumes increased by 16% to 34Mt and 9% to 24.1Mm3. Growth was reported in all regions, often due to recovery from coronavirus-related lockdowns in the first half of 2020.
“Quarterly highlights include the achievement of our long-time leverage goal, a 39% increase in quarterly EBITDA, and our announcement of industry leading Climate Action targets,” said Fernando A González, the chief executive officer of Cemex. “Our growth in the quarter, which exceeded pre-pandemic levels, gives us confidence that this performance is sustainable in the second half of the year.”
Low carbon cements go global
28 July 2021Holcim has started to unify its low carbon cement product range this week with the launch of its ECOPlanet label globally. The products are already available in Germany, Romania, Canada, Switzerland, Spain, France and Italy. The plan is to extend this to 15 countries by the end of 2021 and then to double its ‘market presence’ by the end of 2022.
The headline news is that the range will include what Holcim says is the world’s first cement product with 20% recycled construction and demolition waste. This appears to be an improvement on the group’s Susteno cement products that use fine fractions from concrete and demolition waste. This product is currently sold in Switzerland where it is advertised as saving 10% of CO2 emissions compared to a standard cement product. Both Holcim and HeidelbergCement already sell concrete products that use the coarse waste from building demolition. Other than this, Holcim says that the range will also include cements that contain calcined clay. In June 2021 subsidiary Lafarge France announced that it would produce a cement product under the ECOPlanet banner using kaolin clay with its proprietary ProximA Tech process at its integrated La Malle cement plant in Bouc-Bel-Air.
We will have to wait and see how far Holcim goes in standardisng the range between different countries. Yet, judging from what the countries that are already selling ECOPlanet are doing, it looks like it will be a variety of blended cements. At present, for example, Holcim Germany offers four products in the ECOPlanet range. These are all slag cements, with three having effective CO2 reductions of up to 70% and the fourth, ECOPlanet Zero, reaching 100% through a carbon offsetting scheme in conjunction with MoorFutures. Holcim Italy also launched a product in the range called ECOPlanet Prime using calcined clay in June 2021.
Incidentally, LafargeHolcim US announced a research project this week with the US Army about using demolition waste. It’s going to start working with the US Army Corps of Engineers’ Engineer Research and Development Center and Geocycle to look at how construction and demolition materials from military installations can be used for energy recovery and mineral recycling. Group resources at Geocycle’s Holly Hill Research Center in South Carolina, US and Holcim’s Global Innovation Center in Lyon, France will be used in the scheme.
Other low carbon cement products are available of course. Holcim is far from alone in launching low CO2 cement and concrete products. Yet the use of worldwide brand names is different. Cemex is doing something similar with the global rollout of its Vertua concrete products. It first launched Vertua in France in 2018 before going global in 2020. Holcim started to launch ECOPact Concrete in 2019. Now, Holcim has gone further by doing the same thing with cement. Given how localised cement and concrete products are, it will be instructive to see how global branding for low carbon cementitious products helps these companies. For instance, who is the target audience? It could be eco-minded self-build customers or project specifiers or government departments or industry lobbyists. Or perhaps it is simply another marketing channel to reinforce the sector’s sustainable offerings.
The other point worth considering is when will the multinational cement producers start selling sustainable cements and concretes in less rich parts of the world? While Holcim was playing with blended cements and marketing this week, Dangote Cement said that it was ready to start commissioning its new 6Mt/yr integrated plant at Okpella, Edo State in Nigeria. Another 5Mt/yr plant is also on the way in the country from Madugu Cement. It has just signed a contract for China-based Sinoma International Engineering Company to build it. When Holcim and the other cement companies start selling low carbon cements in places like Nigeria then the rise of these products will be complete.
US: Cemex USA’s Victorville cement plant in California has won the Portland Cement Association (PCA)’s Chairman’s Safety Performance Award 2021 in the Large category. The award recognises top safety performance. The Victorville cement plant previously won the award in 2019 and 2020. Cemex USA says that the plant recorded zero incidents in 2020. Earlier in 2021, it surpassed four years without a lost time injury to any employee or contractor.
President Jaime Muguiro said “Safety is our top priority, and Victorville cement plant is demonstrating that Zero4Life is possible. We are proud of the continued commitment of our team, and their achievement is a great example of what can happen when everyone is dedicated to safety and works together to look out for one another.”
France: Cemex France has supplied 40,000m3 to the site of the now completed Paris Duo Towers in Paris, Île-de-France. The company also provided construction waste removal services through its multimodal transport network. The producer said that the strong commitment of its technical teams ensured the success of the operation. It said that excellent communication between its various departments and the concrete production teams enabled ‘smooth and consistent’ concrete deliveries.
Cemex UK launches sustainability professional development course for concrete specifiers
22 July 2021UK: Mexico-based Cemex subsidiary Cemex UK has launched ‘Concrete – Focus on Sustainability,’ a Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) accredited continuing professional development (CPD) course for specifiers. The course tackles the key issues for accomplishing building projects’ sustainability goals when using concrete. It covers various industry initiatives and technologies designed to aid these goals.
National product support and CPD coordinator Mat Saunders said “The conversation around sustainability is currently at the forefront of the minds of everyone globally, and as an organisation we have a responsibility to contribute to that discourse in a positive manner. This is why we felt that educating industry professionals on what cement and concrete technology can do to help specifiers, clients and contractors meet their sustainability targets, while still using concrete to build safe, efficient, beautiful structures that we all live and work in, was paramount. Even at this early stage the course has been wildly popular, and we anticipate a significant uptake over the rest of 2021 and beyond.”
Cemex Deutschland partners with Enertrag and Sunfire for CO2-to-fuel project at Rüdersdorf cement plant
16 July 2021Germany: A consortium of Mexico-based Cemex subsidiary Cemex Deutschland, Uckerwerk Energietechnik subsidiary Enertrag and hydrogen specialist Sunfire has announced a cement industry decarbonisation project called Concrete Chemicals. The project will see sequestered CO2 combined with hydrogen to produce hydrocarbons for use as cement fuel. The consortium has submitted a funding application to the German Ministry for Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety for a trial at Cemex’s Rüdersdorf, Brandenburg, cement plant. This would help in the realisation of the plant’s 2030 carbon neutrality target. Alongside a 5000t/yr demonstration plant, the site will have a green hydrogen plant, supplied by Sunfire. When commissioned in 2025, the plant will produce synthetic fuels and other hydrocarbon fractions. The consortium is also investigating a methanol synthesis route using synthetic gas.
Europe, Middle East and Africa regional president Sergio Menendez said “We support the urgency of action to address the climate challenge and have committed to a 55% reduction in CO2 from our 1990 baseline in our European operations by 2030. Together with our industry partners, we can collectively transform ourselves into a CO2-neutral world. Concrete Chemicals is a promising project.”
Cemex set to build new Tigres football club stadium
16 July 2021Mexico: Cemex is set to begin construction of a planned US$250m new stadium for its football team Tigres UANL in Monterrey, Nuevo León. The Récord newspaper has reported that the stadium, on the grounds of the Nuevo León Autonomous University, may host some North America 2026 World Cup fixtures.
Cemex UK to implement MP Connect driver card by 2022
15 July 2021UK: Cemex UK says that use of MP Connect contractor and haulier cards will be mandatory across its operations by the start of 2022. The Mexico-based Cemex subsidiary is presently rolling out the cards in its London and Southern ready-mix locations. It previously launched them at aggregates sites in its Central and Southern business areas. The system is now live at 39 sites and is used over 2000 times weekly, according to the company. It said that the initiative will help to streamline internal processes and enhance management of hauliers and contractors, legislative and site requirements are complied with.
Supply chain director Dave Hart said “Safety is Cemex’s number-one priority and we are always looking for ways to make our processes in this area more streamlined and effective. Implementation of the MP Connect system across our business will ensure that all drivers meet the standards set through checks of qualifications and competencies, while also providing them with more support and making their visits to different sites easier.” Cemex said that this will ‘enable the business to continually raise standards and lead the industry in safety and compliance.’
The MP Connect system was launched by the Mineral Products Qualifications Council (MPQC) in late 2020. It is intended to provide a single unified record of driver and operator working achievements that, when presented on a reader at site, can be viewed by logistics personnel. The information on the card then allows the logistics team to grant access, safe in the knowledge that the correct safety criteria applicable to the site, have been met by the person carrying the card.
Mexico: Cemex has closed the sale of its white cement business outside of Mexico and the US for US$155m to Turkey-based Çimsa Çimento. The assets sold include the company’s Buñol white cement plant in Valencia, Spain. The group said that the proceeds from the sale would be used to fund its bolt-on investment growth strategy in its core businesses and geographies, and contribute to debt reduction.
France: Cemex France has inaugurated a multi-service green building materials outlet and recycling centre at Genevilliers in Paris, Île-de-France. The company says that the facility will stock its reduced-CO2 Vertua concrete range. It will also receive construction waste, excavated earth and rubble for use in concrete production or resale as aggregates. The company will offer complete traceability of waste received, and non-recyclable waste will be used in quarry restoration.
France North director of materials Alain Plantier said, "Developing construction in high-growth urban locations requires circular economy solutions which mitigate climate change and save natural resources while improving the wellbeing of inhabitants." He added “Cemex is uniquely positioned to provide integrated solutions for building and maintaining more sustainable and resilient cities, and this new site demonstrates this perfectly. Clients in Paris need low-carbon construction solutions which perform throughout their life cycle. Working together with our clients, this site will help to reduce the carbon footprint of new projects in line with Cemex’s Future In Action strategy – committed to net zero CO2.”