Displaying items by tag: Germany

Germany/Portugal: Talleres Alquezar has been using two BHS mixers in a modular plant to produce a total volume of 400,000m³ of hydro dam concrete in Portugal since 2017. Two DKX 4.5 type twin-shaft batch mixers, each with a capacity of 4.5m³, have been integrated into the plant. Germany’s BHS says that using twin-shaft batch mixers has shown that can be utilised successfully to produce this kind of specialised concrete.

Three hydro dams are being built on the Tâmega River that are expected to generate 1760GWh for the Iberian market once they have been commissioned as part of Spanish energy group Iberdrola’s large-scale hydroelectric project in Portugal. 242,000m³ of concrete is needed in Daivões for the dam wall alone, which is planned to be 78m high and 265m long. Spain’s Talleres Alquezar is the project partner for this hydro dam. Once built, the construction in Daivões is expected to dam up to 56,200,000m³ of water.

Germany: HeidelbergCement has appointed Christoph Beumelburg as Director Group Communication & Investor Relations. He succeeds Andreas Schaller, who has left the organisation.

Beumelburg started his career at BASF in 1995. He has since held different management positions both domestically and abroad, including Director Investor Relations USA. In 2010 he moved to the automotive and industrial supplier Schaeffler, where he held the position of Senior Vice President Communications, Marketing and Investor Relations. He holds an Industrial Engineering degree from the University of Kaiserslautern.

Guinea: LafargeHolcim Guinea has ordered a MVR 2500 C-4 vertical roller mill from Germany’s Gebr. Pfeiffer for its Sonfonia cement grinding plant in Conakry. The cement mill will have a total drive power of 1300KW. It has been designed to grind 75t/hr of CEM IV 32.5 and 69t/hr of CEM IV 42.5 to a specific surface of 3440cm²/g and 3340cm²/g acc. to Blaine respectively. The order for the mill was placed by the China’s CBMI working as a general contractor on the project. No value for the order has been disclosed.

Germany: Manfred Bracher has resigned from the executive management board of RKW and will leave the company at the end of June 2019 to pursue new professional opportunities. RKW’s chief executive officer (CEO) Harald Biederbick will take over his responsibilities until further notice.

Bracher started his professional career as a project leader at the Austria’s Lenzing Group, followed by 12 years at the Finnish packaging manufacturer Huhtamaki in various positions, including General Manager Films. From 2008 until 2013, he served as managing director at Clopay Europe. He has been a member of the RKW board since January 2014 and leads the Division Hygiene & Industrial. In addition to that, he is also responsible for group operational excellence and purchasing.

RKW Group manufactures film solutions including products for powdery goods and films and non-wovens for the construction sector.

Germany: Pollrich has acquired the fan product range and trademark of Rußwurm Ventilatoren. The latter company registered as insolvent in late 2018.

Following the takeover, Pollrich says it has become a leading supplier of heavy-duty industrial fans and has consolidated knowledge in the field. Customers will be able to continue to buy fans and spare parts for Ruwu and Meissner+Wurst products. Former company director Hans Jörg Rußwurm will remain the lead contact for queries regarding the takeover and the product range at a new sales office at Meitingen, Bavaria.

Today is the first day of the Global FutureCem Conference taking place in Brussels, Belgium. The event is looking at how the cement industry can adapt to a low or zero carbon world. Although Global Cement is organising the event, it is clearly topical as two news stories this week demonstrate.

Firstly, the chief executive officers (CEO) from 13 US companies, including LarfargeHolcim, announced that they were lobbying the US government to enact business-led climate change legislation. The initiative, known as the CEO Climate Dialogue, included principles such as ‘significantly’ reducing US greenhouse gas emissions. This is shocking because, at face value, large-scale CO₂ emitters like LafargeHolcim have the most to lose from more rigorous environmental regulations. What do they have to gain from doing this? This is like turkeys voting for Christmas!

Interpretations of why LafargeHolcim and others might want to do this could go in a few directions. Firstly, the intention might be fully plausible. These companies could genuinely want to combat climate change. Secondly, more cynically perhaps, leading demands for legislation puts the lobbyists in the room when change is actually made. Given the integral nature of concrete in modern construction this is not necessarily a bad thing. Environmentalists may want to ban building materials that create CO₂ emissions but, until they can offer an alternative or convince people to accept reduced quality of life, then cement is the material of choice. Thirdly, leading change allows one to stay ahead of it or at least give the sector more time to react to it. The ‘turkeys’ may not want to vote for ‘Christmas,’ but perhaps ‘Christmas’ could be replaced with something else?

This latest initiative by the CEOs in the US has parallels with the creation of the Global Cement and Concrete Association (GCCA) in 2018. Like the current moves in the US, cement producers led the creation of the GCCA, to promote concrete as the sustainable building material of choice.

Meanwhile, Germany’s HeidelbergCement also announced this week that its CO₂ reduction targets to 2030 have been assessed against the Science Based Targets initiative’s (SBTi) criteria. Its SBTi target is to reduce scope 1 greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions 15% per ton of cementitious material by 2030 from a 2016 base year. HeidelbergCement has also committed to reduce scope 2 GHG emissions by 65% per ton of cementitious materials within the same timeframe. The SBTi target follows HeidelbergCement’s previous goal of a 30% reduction in its specific net CO₂ emissions by 2030 compared with 1990. It says it has achieved a reduction of 20% so far.

HeidelbergCement is a sustainability leader in the sector with various projects on the go including the Low Emissions Intensity Lime And Cement (LEILAC) consortium direct separation pilot project at the Lixhe cement plant in Belgium. Following SBTi is a continuation of this trend, albeit one that anchors it with a global consensus.

Coincidence perhaps but when the two largest non-Chinese cement producers start announcing sustainability stories like then the picture is changing. The questions at this point is how far will it go.

A full review of the 3rd Global FutureCem Conference will be published after the event. To find it and more information visit: http://www.globalcement.com/conferences/global-future-cement/introduction

India: Haver Ibau India has been renamed as Haver & Boecker India since April 2019. The subsidiary of Germany’s Haver & Boecker and its subsidiary Ibau started in 2008. The change in name reflects a broader industry base for the Indian subsidiary to continue to include the cement industry as well as customers from building materials, chemicals and food.

Turkey: Aslan Cement, part of Oyak Cement Group, has placed an order with Germany’s Aumund Fördertechnik for its Darıca plant in Kocaeli Province. The order is part of a project to increase the plant’s clinker production capacity to 6600t/day. The machines are due to be dispatched in September 2019 and commissioning is planned for the beginning of 2020. No value for the order has been disclosed.

The order includes a 225t/hr bucket elevator with a BWZ-L (low capacity) central chain type and a centre distance of 27m to feed the raw meal mill as well as three different models of BWG belt bucket elevators with capacities up to 500t/hr and centre distances up to 132m. The belt bucket elevators will also be used for raw meal silo feed as well as to transport raw meal to the dosing hopper and the heat exchanger. The order also includes three KZB type pan conveyors, each with capacities of 350t/hr and centre distances of up to 77.2m to convey clinker from the cooler to the silo, as well as two LOUISE BEW type rotary discharge machines, each with a diameter of 3m and a capacity of 400 t/hr.

Germany: HeidelbergCement’s CO₂ reduction targets to 2030 have been successfully assessed against the Science Based Targets initiative’s (SBTi) criteria. It says this makes it the first company in the cement sector to have approved science-based targets.

"Our goal is to realise the vision of CO₂-neutral concrete by 2050 at the latest. In the coming years, we want to make significant progress in this direction, and the SBTi’s approval is a clear proof of our strong commitment," said Bernd Scheifele, the chairman of the managing board of HeidelbergCement. The group’s CO₂ reduction strategy is based on measures on plant and product level. These include improving energy efficiency, and a steadily increasing use of alternative fuels and alternative raw materials.

HeidelbergCement’s SBTi target is to reduce scope 1 greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions 15% per ton of cementitious materials by 2030 from a 2016 base year. HeidelbergCement also commits to reduce scope 2 GHG emissions 65% per ton of cementitious materials within the same timeframe. The SBTi target is consistent with HeidelbergCement’s previous goal of a 30% reduction in its specific net CO₂ emissions by 2030, compared with 1990. The cement and concrete producer has achieved a reduction of 20% so far.

The SBTi assesses and validates corporate emissions reduction targets against climate science research. Targets adopted by companies to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are considered ‘science-based’ if they are in line with the goals of the Paris Agreement – to limit global warming to below 2°C above pre-industrial levels and pursue efforts to limit warming to 1.5°C.

Germany: Cemex has signed the final agreement to sell its aggregates and ready-mix assets in the North and North-West regions of Germany to GP Günter Papenburg AG for around Euro87m. The divestment is expected to close during the second quarter of 2019.

The assets in Germany being divested consist of four aggregates quarries and four ready-mix facilities in North Germany, and nine aggregates quarries and 14 ready-mix facilities in North-West Germany. The proceeds expected to be obtained from this divestment will be used mainly for debt reduction and for general corporate purposes.