Finland: Metso and Outotec have agreed to merge Metso Minerals and Outotec to create a company specialising in process technology, equipment and services serving the minerals, metals and aggregates industries. The new company will be called Metso Outotec. Metso Flow Control will be excluded from the merger and renamed as Neles and run as a separate company. The companies comprising Metso Outotec had combined sales of around Euro3.9bn in 2018.

The merger will be implemented through a partial demerger of Metso, in which all assets and liabilities of Metso that relate to Metso Minerals will transfer to Outotec in exchange for newly-issued shares in Outotec to be delivered to Metso shareholders. Outotec shareholders will continue to own their shares in Outotec.
The transaction will be dependent on shareholder and regulatory approval. The process is expected complete in the second quarter of 2020.

The current chief executive officer (CEO) of Metso, Pekka Vauramo, will become Metso Outotec’s CEO, and the current CEO of Outotec, Markku Teräsvasara, will become the Deputy CEO of Metso Outotec. Eeva Sipilä will become the chief financial officer (CFO) and Deputy CEO of Metso Outotec. The board of Metso Outotec will include board members from both companies. It is proposed that Metso Outotec’s chairman will be Mikael Lilius and that the Vice Chairman will be Matti Alahuhta.

“Today is an exciting day as we announce the transformational combination of two great companies and simultaneously create an independent leader in flow control. The combination of Metso and Outotec is a unique opportunity to deliver significant value for our shareholders with a broad presence across minerals, metals and aggregates value chains and an even stronger platform for growth and innovation,” said Mikael Liliu.

India: Piyush Goyal, the Minister of Commerce and Industry, says that the cement industry has a capacity utilisation rate of 67%. In a written reply to the Indian Parliament, he said that the country had an installed production capacity for cement of around 510Mt/yr and that 337Mt was produced in the 2018 – 2019 financial year.

Pakistan: Power Cement says it has completed the procurement and installation of machinery on the new third production line at its Nooriabad plant. This includes a 2.46Mt/yr clinker line and a 2.72Mt/yr cement and dispatch line. The equipment was ordered from Denmark’s FLSmdith. The cement producer says the upgrade has made it the largest in southern Pakistan with a total clinker production capacity of 3.42Mt/yr and a cement capacity of 3.73Mt/yr.

Belgium: WindEurope, the European Chemical Industry Council (CEFIC) and the European Composites Industry Association (EUCIA) have created a cross-sector platform to look into using glass fibres and fillers from old wind turbine blades as a raw material for cement production. Other methods, such as a mechanical recycling, solvolysis and pyrolysis, are being developed and considered.

In 2018 wind energy supplied 14% of the electricity in the European Union (EU), from 130,000 wind turbines. Wind turbines blades are made up of a composite material, which boosts the performance of wind energy by allowing lighter and longer blades. At present 2.5Mt of composite material are in use in the wind energy sector. In the next five years 12,000 wind turbines are expected to be decommissioned.

“Wind energy is an increasingly important part of Europe’s energy mix. The first generation of wind turbines are now starting to come to the end of their operational life and be replaced by modern turbines. Recycling the old blades is a top priority for us, and teaming up with the chemical and compositors industries will enable us to do it the most effective way,” said Giles Dickson, the chief executive officer (CEO) of WindEurope.

Germany/Switzerland: LafargeHolcim has reportedly placed a bid for BASF Construction Chemicals, according to sources quoted by Bloomberg. The cement producer has reached the second round of the bidding processing, along with companies including Bain Capital, Cinven and Standard Industries. The auction of the subsidiary of BASF that produces admixtures, mortars and grouts is expected to reach as much as Euro3bn. LafargeHolcim chief executive officer (CEO Jan Jenisch said in May 2019 that the company is considering at least 10 bolt-on assets purchases for 2019.

North America: Humboldt Wedag, a subsidiary of Germany’s KHD, has concluded a non-binding letter of intent with an unnamed customer in North America. The letter of intent for the engineering, supply of equipment and structural steel as well as advisory services related to erection and commissioning covers a potential order volume of more than Euro100m. The customer and Humboldt Wedag intend to enter into negotiations with the aim of concluding a corresponding engineering and procurement contract. Most of KHD’s orders come from the cement sector.

Spain: FYM-HeidelbergCement plans to spend Euro3m on a new raw slate crusher at its integrated Malaga cement plant. The upgrade will replace two existing crushers and will improve dust and noise emissions. The new crusher will be installed in early 2020, with commissioning scheduled for the middle of the same year. No supplier for the equipment has been specified.

The plant is also about to launch a new clinker conveyor at the Port of Malaga. The enclosed system will deliver clinker from the dock to ships via a telescopic arm with a loading capacity of 650t/hr. The first boat to be loaded with the new system is scheduled for late July 2019. The project cost Euro2.5m.

North Korea: Production has reportedly been stopped for three months at the Seongho Lee cement plant near Pyongyang due to a lack of electricity. Sources quoted by South Korea based Daily NK online newspaper suggest that government power rationing has lowered the importance of the plant in comparison to other so-called ‘core’ industries.

The Korean Cement Association reported in 2011 that the plant had a production capacity of 0.95Mt and it uses a wet process production line. The site dates back to 1919 and the age of its equipment may have contributed to the decision to idle the plant.

Chile: The Servicio de Evaluación Ambiental (SEA), the country’s environmental body, has approved the environmental impact assessment for a new 0.5Mt/yr grinding plant that Melón is planning to build in Punta Arenas. The unit will have an investment of US$45m, according to the Diario Financiero newspaper. Spain’s Cemengal will supply the mill for the project.

India/UK: The Global Cement and Concrete Association (GCCA) has launched GCCA India. As part of GCCA’s strategic partnership with the World Business Council on Sustainable Development the new office, based in Mumbai, will take over the work of the Cement Sustainability Initiative (CSI) India, which formerly served as the sector’s sustainability alliance.

GCCA India plans to ensure that, from a sustainability angle, innovation in technology and manufacture, and collaboration across the wider built environment, the Indian cement sector can play a key leadership role. It will develop a work program that will focus on the wider global GCCA priorities but with practical application across the Indian built environment.