Displaying items by tag: South Korea
South Korea: SK Group subsidiary SK Ecoplant has partnered with CMD Group to launch pilot production of building materials made using up to 60% recycled bottom ash from waste incinerators. The partners say that an exothermic reaction in the presence of non-sintered inorganic binders and expansion-reducing reactants increases the compressive strength of the end product to match that of concrete containing ordinary Portland cement (OPC).
AJU News has reported that South Korean waste incinerators produced 2.16Mt of bottom ash from 9.12Mt of waste in 2020.
South Korean truck drivers end strike
15 June 2022South Korea: A truck driver strike has ended after seven days. The Korea Herald newspaper has reported that the government has agreed to extend a freight rate-based minimum wage system. The total cost to the cement industry was US$70.6m,
South Korea: Korea Cement Association (KCA) members’ cement shipments fell by 90% over two days to 13,000t on 8 June 2022 from 180,000t/day prior to a truck driver strike which began on 7 June 2022. The association claimed that producers lost US$23m-worth of sales in the first two days of the strike, which also affects other industries. 17 ready-mix concrete batching plants in the Seoul area have suspended operations. The Korea Herald newspaper has reported that the association representing the construction industry has also voiced concerns about the supply situation.
South Korean cement truck drivers strike
07 June 2022South Korea: A total of 8200 truck drivers have gone on strike to request higher wages and an extension of the government’s freight charge system. The Korea JoongAng Daily newspaper has reported that 50% of the country’s 2700 cement truck drivers are unionised. Under the freight charge system, drivers receive minimum monthly payments in order to tackle the problem of overloading.
South Korea: Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki has announced plans for a further increase to his country’s coal imports from Australia in order to enable cement production to continue and prevent a shortage. The Yonhap News Agency News has reported that the government plans to accelerate customs clearance processes around the fossil fuel. Hong added that the government will ‘sternly deal with any illegal hoarding or price fixing’ of cement.
South Korea: Seven cement producers have agreed to produce 3.77Mt of cement in the second quarter of 2022, up by 36% quarter-on-quarter from first-quarter 2022 levels, to alleviate a shortage. 380,000t of cement which would previously have been exported will now supply the domestic market instead. The Yonhap News Agency has reported that bituminous coal supply issues have hampered the domestic cement industry's ability to increase its production in line with demand growth. In the first quarter of 2022, South Korea's coal imports consisted of 54% Russian coal and 46% Australian coal, compared to 75% Russian and 25% Australian coal in 2021.
The government plans to invest US$764m between 2023 and 2030 in improving the sustainability of South Korean cement production, including moving it away from reliance on coal through increased alternative fuel use.
Peruvian cement production grows by 41% to 12.9Mt in 2021
24 January 2022Peru: Cement production grew by 41% year-on-year to 12.9Mt in 2021 from 9.14Mt in 2020. Data from the Association of Cement Producers (ASOCEM) shows that cement and clinker exports increased by 43% to 205,000t and by 128% to 707,000t respectively. Cement and clinker imports rose by 23% to 884,000t and 131% to 1.55Mt respectively. In December 2021 94% of cement imports came from Vietnam and the majority of clinker imports came from South Korea. ASOCEM added that the recovery of local cement despatch levels from July 2020 was a sign that the market had recovered after the start of the Covid-19 pandemic.
South Korea: A TEC says that it has installed and commissioned a ReduDust dust treatment plantin the chlorine bypass system of Ssangyong Cement’s Donghae cement plant in Gangwon. The ReduDust plant will recover salts from dust, enabling the producer to reuse the dust in its cement production. The supplier says that it will yield 35,000t/yr of useable dust. Ssangyong Cement already uses an A TEC Rocket Mill grinding unit in its alternative fuel (AF) production at the Donghae cement plant.
Incheon National University team develops cement-based conductive composites for net-zero energy buildings
24 November 2021South Korea: Researchers at Incheon National University have discovered an optimal conductive carbon fibre volume for cement-based conductive composites for use in net-zero energy buildings. The team reported that a 1% conductive carbon fibre content facilitates maximum energy generation from the movements of occupants and the weather against floors and walls. It also enables the storage of electricity at safe voltages. The product is based on triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) technology.
The team published its results in the journal Nano Energy in November 2021.
South Korea: Sampyo Group has announced a planned investment of US$171m before 2030 to reduce Scope 1 and 2 CO2 emissions by 35% over the period from an August 2021 baseline. The parent company of Sampyo Cement plans to achieve this in the first phase by increased its use of alternative fuels, improving energy efficiency, introducing low-carbon raw materials such as fly ash and developing sustainable products. The company is targeting net zero CO2 production by 2050.