21 January 2020

Germany: The 4th Global CemBoards Conference & Exhibition has begun at the Marriott Hotel in Freising, near Munich, Germany. The event, which covers global market trends in cement-based boards and panel systems, the latest advances in production technology and how producers can add value to their products worldwide, will hear nine presentations over the course 21 and 22 January 2020.

The event is also host to a related exhibition of suppliers to the global cement board sector. Extensive opportunities for networking will be available, with the Global Boards Social Evening held at the Bayerische Staatsbrauerei Weihenstephan on the evening of the first day.

A full report from the event will be published in due course.

Sweden: The Land and Environmental Court has ruled in favour of Cementa for the renewal of its extraction licence for its quarry near the 2.5Mt/yr integrated Slite plant in Gotland. The company says that the decision ensures the continued operation of the cement plant. “We see this as confirmation that it is possible to continue limestone extraction without jeopardising water security or harming protected areas or species,” said Cementas CEO Magnus Ohlsson. “This gives us peace of mind and the chance to focus on future work in order to further develop sustainable cement production in Slite.”

Denmark: FLSmidth has announced details of the business improvement initiative it gave forewarning of in late 2019. The cement technology supplier is sacking 500 staff. Its most recent Annual Report stated that it had 11,368 staff at the end of 2018, meaning that around 4.4% of employees will lose their jobs. 80 of these redundancies will effect employees at its Copenhagen headquarters, with the remainder impacting personnel at operations across the globe. “Despite a healthy pipeline, this is an unfortunate yet necessary action given the weakening market for large capital investments in 2019 and our ongoing efforts to improve internal efficiency,” said FLSmidth CEO Thomas Schulz.

UK: Global not-for-profit organisation CDP has included HeidelbergCement on its Climate Change A-List 2019 for environmental transparency and performance aimed at facilitating a zero-net carbon economy. Only a handful of industrial producers achieved inclusion on the list, including the German steel sector’s Thyssenkrupp and French gypsum wallboard producer Saint-Gobain.

UK: Quinn Building Products has fitted a waste heat recovery (WHR) plant into the aircrete block production process at its Quinn Lite Plant in Fermanagh. The installation will pump thermal energy from excess heated water back into the pre-curing chamber to sustain the chemical processes by which the blocks are aerated. Quinn Lite production manager Kieran McGorman said that the upgrade ‘forms part of a larger, company-wide drive to minimise the impact of our operations on the environment and to maximise efficiencies wherever possible.’

UK: Tarmac has marked the UK’s national squirrel day (21 January 2020) by renewing its commitment to conservation at one of England’s rare red squirrel habitats: its Harden quarry in Northumberland. Harden quarry manager Gareth Williams said, “The team has set up a feeding station and has been working to monitor the number of visitors.”

Two Tarmac employees are trained squirrel wardens and are responsible for keeping track of the resident red population.