Displaying items by tag: Bags

China: Starlinger Plastics Machinery Taicang, the Chinese branch of Austria’s Starlinger, has reached the milestone of building 10,000 circular looms. It reached this target in November 2018. The plant was established in 2005 and started manufacturing looms in 2006. It produces around 1000 looms/yr. Omega 6 and Omega 1000 model looms were first produced at Starlinger Taicang. This was then followed by the RX series, which is produced exclusively in China.

Germany: Bischof + Klein will present a new product from its PowFlex product range at the Powtech trade fair in April 2019. The film and packaging developer will showcase its B+K PowFlex vs powder packaging product for the first time. This converted alternative to paper valve sacks supplements the B+K PowFlex product range for powder packaging. It is intended for the construction industry but other applications in the chemicals and foodstuff industries are also possible.

France: Ciments Calcia has launched Hop’ pour les Pros, a dissolvable cement bag product. Cement sold in the bags can be placed directly into a mixer to make ready-mix concrete. Its puported beneifts include reduce spillage, time savings and no packaging. CEM II 32.5 R cement will be used in the product manufactured at he company’s Bussac-Forêt cement plant in Charente-Maritime.

Mozambique: The National Inspectorate of Economic Activities (INAE) says that all cement producers must include an expiry date on cement packaging. The decision follows a study looking at the production, labelling, sale and transport of cement, according to the Mozambique News Agency. The ruling applies to both locally produced and imported cement.

INAE has requested that any cement should be sold at least three weeks prior to its expiry date. It is intended to give consumers consistent information about the date of production, the type of cement, the quality and the price. The central government agency is also hosting talks with local government to help provide warehouse space to distributors and retailers selling cement. It aims to stop the sale of cement on the street.

Iran: The price of cement packaging for 50kg cement bags has risen by 117% since late 2017. Mohammad Ali Bod, a member of Iranian Cement Industry Employers Association, warned that some cement plants in the country would have to stop operating if the situation was not resolved, according to the Trend News Agency.

Peru: Cal & Cemento Sur (Calcesur) plans to add a sixth production line to its cement and lime plant in Puno at the end of October 2018. The upgrade will increase the unit’s production capacity to 1Mt/yr from 0.63Mt/yr, according to the Gestion newspaper. The company says that following the expansion the site will be the largest lime plant in Latin America.

The subsidiary of Gloria Group has targeted a 12% year-on-year growth in sales in 2019. It plans to sell lime to the mining sector in northern Chile and it is also focusing on Ecuador and Bolivia. The company plans to launch lime-sand bricks in 2019 for local demand and in Chile.

The cement and lime producer also plans to launch its Tipo LH cement product at the end of October 2018 and to sell cement in 25kg bags. At present, the company sells 42.5kg bags.

South Africa: Germany’s Haver & Boecker has entered into a joint-venture with Southport-based Portland Packaging. Through the joint venture, the Portland Packaging plant will start producing Haver & Boecker products and equipment alongside its own products, retaining the brands of both companies. The German company says that this is the first time a multinational full line packaging company has manufactured product for Africa, in Africa. It will be the minority partner in the joint venture.

Portland Packaging was founded in 2002 by Barry Buist, a former employee of a Haver & Boecker partner company in South Africa. It sells packaging machinery, parts and service to more than 100 customers across Africa and beyond, primarily in the cement industry.

India: High crude oil prices are forcing packaging costs to rise for cement producers. Data sourced from Capitaline shows that Ambuja Cements’ packaging material cost rose by 19% year-on-year in the 2018 financial year, according to the Mint business newspaper. Similarly, Shree Cement’s packaging costs rose by 9%. Both companies use high-density polyethylene bags, which are affected by the cost of oil. Crude oil prices have risen by around 24% to far in 2018 to above US$80/barrel.

UK: Tarmac plans to restructure the distribution model for its cement and lime division. Following a strategic review it will move to a regional model for both bulk and packed cement distribution, which have previously operated on a national basis. Tarmac’s own fleet operations will handle around 50% of bulk cement and 20% of packed cement distribution, supported by five regional distribution providers selected through a procurement process.

“Our supply chain and logistics operations are crucial to maintaining Tarmac Cement and Lime’s position as the UK’s market leader. The new regional transport operating model will provide enhanced resilience, flexibility, service, cost and safety for our customers, who trust us to deliver the products they need to realise major projects,” said Mike Eberlin, managing director at Tarmac Cement and Lime.

Tarmac Cement and Lime’s regional distribution partners will be engaged on new five-year logistics contracts effective from December 2018. They are Abbey Logistics (bulk cement – Scotland), Pollocks (packed cement – Scotland & North), Lomas Distribution (bulk and packed cement – Central), Wincanton (bulk and packed cement – South West), Stobarts (bulk and packed cement – South East) and Proctors (packed cement – Barnstone).

Tarmac’s Lime & Powders operation will remain fully subcontracted on a national basis to Lomas Distribution (bulk lime and powders and lime tippers) and RR Andrews (powder tipper operations).

There will be no change to customer order arrangements.

Namibia: Kaptau Packaging has signed a deal with Ohorongo Cement to supply 1.2 million bags by the end of August 2018. The agreement is part of a five-year deal, according to the Namibian Sun newspaper. Kaptau Packaging, a local company, manufactures bags in Oshakati.