Displaying items by tag: US
US: Energy company Luminant has awarded Charah Solutions a fly ash management contract extension for its Miami Fort and Zimmer coal-fired power plants in North Bend and Moscow, Ohio. Charah Solutions says that it will pass on the ash for use in concrete production. It will continue to manage the onsite landfill and impoundment operations under its existing contract with Luminant, including material loading, hauling and disposal of approximately 180,000t/yr. In addition, Charah Solutions will be responsible for the beneficiation and utilisation of approximately 400,000t/yr of fly ash. The contract ends in 2027, when both power plants are expected to close.
President and chief executive officer Scott Sewell said “We have been proud to partner with Luminant on its sustainability efforts for many years and are delighted to extend our relationship at these Ohio sites through 2027. We have dramatically reduced the need to landfill fly ash at Miami Fort and Zimmer through our on-going partnership, saving Luminant both expense and valuable landfill space while lowering their risk.” He added “As a result of this expanded agreement, Charah Solutions will continue to provide a reliable supply of high-quality fly ash to ready mix concrete producers in the Midwest, Northeast and deep South through our MultiSource network.”
Conveyor Component Company launches new Model BSD sensor
23 April 2021US: The Conveyor Components Company has launched its new Model BSD belt speed sensor. The unit has overspeed, underspeed and zero speed control settings and can shut down rotating equipment to stop damage. It can be used with various controllers. The supplier says that the sensor’s ain advantages are drilling-free installation and flexibility as to location.
US: Australia-based Boral Limited says that as part of the review of its North American Fly Ash business, it is considering options such as a potential joint venture, a strategic alliance, divestment to a third-party or continued ownership. Boral has appointed advisors to support an assessment and intends to release an update by August 2021 or earlier if appropriate.
“We have conducted a detailed study of the US fly ash industry and remain confident in the long term demand dynamics for the industry, including significant incremental demand growth potential from the US Government’s proposed new infrastructure program,” said Boral’s chief executive officer and managing director Zlatko Todorcevski. “New opportunities for supply exist from harvesting landfills, imports and natural pozzolans, which we expect will more than offset the decline in fresh fly ash supply as the US transitions away from coal fired power generation.”
CarbonBuilt and CarbonCure Technologies win carbon capture and storage design competition
20 April 2021US/Canada: XPrize has named CarbonBuilt and CarbonCure Technologies as the winners of carbon capture and storage (CCS) design prizes worth US$20.0m. The competition ran at two power plants in Wyoming, US and Alberta, Canada. CarbonBuilt won the contest at the Wyoming plant with a concrete-curing based system. The concrete produced has a lower carbon footprint than conventionally produced concrete, according to XPrize. CarbonCure Technologies won the Alberta contest with a design based on carbonating the water used in washing cement trucks. This reportedly formed a concrete-strengthening slurry.
XPrize has partnered with Elon Musk and the Musk Foundation to launch a second round of CCS design prizes worth a total US$100m.
US: A research team at Washington State University has developed admixtures using chitin derived from seashells. The Moscow-Pullman Daily News has reported that the substance enhances concrete’s performance when substituted for some of the cement content. The lower clinker factor may also decrease net emissions. Work has shown that lower volumes of the supplementary material are required compared to existing admixtures.
A great question was asked at yesterday’s Virtual Global CemTrans Seminar: what impact did the recent blockage of the Suez Canal cause to the cement industry? Luckily, Rahul Sharan from Drewry was on hand discussing freight costs following the start of the coronavirus pandemic.
As most readers will know, the Suez Canal was blocked in late March 2021 when the 200,000dwt Ever Given ran aground, at around six nautical miles from the southern entry of the canal. The ultra large container vessel was subsequently refloated and towed away just under a week later. While this was happening the fate of the ship became a global news story with business analysts totting up the cost of the obstruction. 40 bulk carriers were reported as waiting to transit the waterway the day after the blockage started and some of these were carrying cement. Reporting by the BBC noted that 369 ships were stuck waiting on either side of the blockage on the day before the ship was finally freed. The Suez Canal Authority (SCA) estimated their loss of revenue from the incident at US$14 – 15m/day. Analysts like Allianz placed the cost to the global economy at US$6 - 10bn/day.
In Sharan’s view the blockage of the Suez Canal happened at a potentially risky moment for cement and clinker shipping because there was already congestion in shipping lanes built up on the east coast of South America and around Australia. However, a delay of a week around the canal, followed by the resulting congestion dispersing quickly over the following days, does not seem to have had any major impact so far.
Sharan’s presentation at Global CemTrans also included a summary of cement shipping. The key takeaways were that clinker shipping overtook cement shipping in 2019 with a connected increase in fleets investing in handymax-sized vessels. He also pointed out the key cement and clinker importing countries in 2019, before the coronavirus pandemic started causing market disruption. For cement: the US, the Philippines and Singapore. For clinker: China, Bangladesh and the Philippines. Turkey and Vietnam were the biggest exporters for both in that year.
The Ever Given incident has highlighted the continued importance of the Suez Canal for global trade for commodities. Goods still need to be physically moved around, however much stuff we digitise. It also contrasts with the issues that the Egyptian cement sector has faced in recent years such as production overcapacity. While domestic cement plants have struggled to maintain their profits, plenty of cement carriers have been transiting through the Isthmus of Suez. Local producers may well have gazed at them and wondered where they were going.
One of them, Al-Arish Cement Company, took action in this direction this week with its first export shipment of clinker. The Clipper Isadora ship disembarked East Port Said port for Ivory Coast. Future shipments are planned for West Africa, Canada, the US and Europe. Ship tracking reveals that the Clipper Isadora has not taken the Suez Canal on this occasion.
The proceedings pack for the Virtual CemTrans Seminar 2 2021 is available to buy now
Brazil: Votorantim Cimentos’ consolidated net sales were US$6.41bn in 2020, up by 19% year-on-year from US$5.41bn in 2019. Its adjusted earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) also rose, by 35% to US$1.21bn from US$899m. The group attributed the growth to increased cement volumes sold in Brazil, Canada and the US. Total global cement sales increased by 8% to 32.4Mt. Net revenue grew in all regions, but the sharpest growth was reported in North America at 43% to US$945m.
Chief financial officer Osvaldo Ayres Filho said, “The past year has been extremely challenging due to the pandemic and its impacts across the planet. We have implemented a contingency plan to protect people's lives and preserve operations. This allowed us to respond with agility both in Brazil and in the other markets in which we have operations, ending the year with increased sales, cash generation growth and the lowest leverage in the past ten years.”
During the year, the group unified its joint-venture in Uruguay, with Cementos Molins, at a single site and merged its Canadian and US businesses under a new 83% owned subsidiary. It suspended its Pecém grinding plant expansion in Brazil due to the coronavirus pandemic and resumed it in September 2020. Completion of the project is scheduled for the first half of 2021. The producer also released its Sustainability Commitments for 2030 in November 2020.
US: The Portland Cement Association (PCA) has received the 2021 Energy Star Partner of the Year award from the US Environmental Protection Agency and the US Department of Energy. It is the second year in a row the association has been recognised in this way. Each year, the Energy Star program recognises a group of businesses and organisations that have made outstanding contributions to protecting the environment through superior energy achievements.
“The PCA and its members are proud to be recognised for continuously improving energy efficiency to reduce emissions,” said PCA President and chief executive officer Michael Ireland. “The cement and concrete industry is leading the way towards a more sustainable future as PCA and its members are developing an industry roadmap across the entire value chain to reach carbon neutrality by 2050."
In addition to PCA’s Partner of the Year recognition, two PCA member companies, CalPortland and Cemex USA, earned corporate Partner of the Year awards and 13 US cement plants earned Energy Star certification for superior energy performance in 2020.
Portland Cement Association publishes Cement Consumption and Construction Activity Outlook for Spring 2021
12 April 2021US: The Portland Cement Association (PCA) has predicted a rise in US cement demand in 2021 and 2022 in its Spring 2021 Cement Consumption and Construction Activity Outlook. The report stated that mortgage rates are expected to remain low throughout 2021, prompting single-family construction. Non-residential cement consumption declines are expected to continue from 2020 in to 2021 and 2022, though with decreasing impact. Predicted oil price rises will increase oil well cement consumption.
The association welcomed a proposed US$2.2Tn eight-year federal government infrastructure spending programme. Chief economist and senior vice president Ed Sullivan warned of the proposal’s inherent political weakness in its inclusion of US$1.2Tn-worth of low or no-cement projects. He said that the opposition would latch on to this as grounds to oppose the necessary tax rises for the funding.
Sullivan said, “This recovery is predicated on continued progress in fighting Covid-19. The rapid pace of vaccinations and increased mask usage have resulted in a decline in death rates from over 3,000 daily in January 2021 to less than 825 daily in April 2021.” said Sullivan. “The Institute of Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME)’s current forecast suggests a sustained and significant decline in daily Covid-19 deaths to less than 170. Progress associated with Covid-19 is the critical factor in the near-term outlook.” He added, “After committing to spending US$5.2Tn in Covid-19 relief and adding another US$2.0Tn in operations, the federal US debt could rise by US$7.0Tn in 2020 - 2021. This puts the discussion of the Biden US$2.2Tn infrastructure proposal into context. The proposal must pay for itself, which means higher taxes. While investing in traditional infrastructure such as roads and bridges has bi-partisan appeal, tax increases and some programmes dubiously labelled as infrastructure have caused concern. This concern threatens the potential passage of the initiative.”
US: Salt River Materials subsidiary Phoenix Cement Plant is working with ST Equipment & Technology (STET) on a fly ash separation system at a power plant in Utah. The cement producer previously secured a contract with a power plant in the state for the supply of fly ash to its Clarkdale cement plant in Yavapai county, Arizona. STET is supplying the separation equipment, engineering and commissioning services, and an exclusive technology operating license for Salt River Materials. Operations are schedule to start in mid-2021.
Pozzolan business senior vice president Dale Diulus said "Salt River Materials and STET have been working closely to develop a commercially effective beneficiation process improving the quality of the fly ash." He added "We look forward to many years of fly ash sales into the southwestern US markets."