- Written by Peter Edwards, Global Cement Magazine
Following the Ecobuild Exhibition at the ExCel Exhibition Centre in London, UK, Global Cement Magazine interviewed Lafarge UK's National Commercial Technical Manager, Bill Price. Looking into UK-specific aspects of Lafarge's cement operation, the interview explores environmental aspects of production, the current economic climate and how it has been affected by the Lafarge Group's recent restructuring to a country-based organisational structure.
Global Cement (GC): "Lafarge UK was the only conventional cement producer present at Ecobuild 2012. What does the company's presence at the event say about Lafarge in the UK?"
Bill Price (BP): "The pavilion at Ecobuild was an integrated Lafarge UK pavilion that had representation from cement, concrete, aggregates, asphalt and contracting. I think what it says is that we have a joined-up approach to sustainability in construction and that we at Lafarge are proud of our record of producing more and more sustainable cements and sustainable construction solutions."
"As a leader in our industry, facilitating and encouraging sustainable construction is at the top of our agenda after health and safety, which is why we value showcasing our sustainable offers and propositions at events such as Ecobuild so highly."
- Written by Edwin A R Trout, Cement Industry Suppliers’ Forum
Introduction
The lie of the land
In the British cement industry restructuring has been prompted partly as a response to the ongoing challenge of weak market conditions. In 2009 the UK saw a sharp decline into recession, in 2010 it saw the first tentative suggestions of a return to stability and in 2011 it saw hopes of a modest revival, albeit at much lower level than in the early to mid-2000s.
2011 saw surprisingly robust performance in the first two quarters, with a subsequent tailing off of confidence, greater fragility and now a slip into a new 'double-dip' recession at the start
of 2012.
- Written by Global Cement Staff
John Kline, VP of technical expertise at Lafarge, gave a well-received paper at the 54th IEEE-IAS PCA Cement Industry Technical Conference in San Antonio, Texas, on 14 - 17 May 2012 entitled 'Cement and CO2 - a victim of success.'
John pointed out that global CO2 emissions were 29Bt (billion tonnes) in 2007 and will be 57Bt in 2050 with a business-as-usual approach. The cement industry will need to achieve very substantial reductions in total CO2 emissions (in the order of a 23% fall) to help achieve a target of less than 14Bt by 2050, 'in order to limit any temperature increase to 3°C.'
By comparison concrete accounts for 83% by weight of all the construction materials used around the world. John said that concrete can be used to produce energy efficient housing, particularly if used in insulated concrete forms. He also pointed out that the CO2 emission from cement manufacture makes up a very small total amount ot total emissions, given the huge amounts of concrete produced. John stated that there is still great potential for the substitution of clinker in cement.
He concluded that the industry needs to actively promote the overall carbon efficiency of concrete and to make sure that everyone knows that at least for today, cement and concrete are the most CO2 efficient building materials.
Download the presentation
Cement and CO2 - a victim of success (ppt)
- Written by Global Cement staff
IEEE-IAS PCA cement industry technical meeting 2012
A video by Global Cement of the IEEE-IAS PCA cement industry technical meeting 2012 in San Antonio, Texas, 14 - 17 May 2012, featuring a tour of the event's exhibition and brief visits to the event's two cement plant field trip destinations (and including footage of a blast in the cement quarry at Cemex Balcones).
- Written by Sana Abdullah, IGI Securities
Pakistan exports cement to a number of neighbouring countries and territories further afield. In the 2010 and 2011 fiscal years, it exported mainly to Afghanistan to the north, a trend which is continuing in the current 2012 fiscal year. Pakistan also exports to Iraq, South Africa, Tanzania and Mozambique. Recent speculation about how the end of Saudi Arabia's cement import ban will influence Pakistan's exports are examined in this article, which also gives a summary of supply and demand in the region.
Introduction - 2010 and 2011
The recent turnaround in the profitability of Pakistan's cement production sector has been largely due to price-led growth in the domestic market, with little change due to exports. Indeed, Pakistan's exports dipped by 3.5% in the first seven months of the current fiscal year (which will end on 30 June 2012). Exports were down by 19.5% year-on-year through sea ports, with a lowering of demand in the Middle East to blame.
In the 2011 fiscal year there was a shift away from exports by sea, as demonstrated by the dramatic decline in exports to countries in the east of Africa relative to the 2010 fiscal year. This can be seen in Table 1.
