Displaying items by tag: Europe

Austria: RHI Magnesita and MCi Carbon, supported by €3.8m in funding under the Australia-Austria Industrial Decarbonisation Demonstration Partnership Program, are moving forward with plans to establish the world’s first carbon capture and utilisation (CCU) plant in the refractory industry at Hochfilzen, Tyrol.

The funding, provided by the Austrian Climate and Energy Fund and the Australian Department of Climate Change, Energy, Environment and Water, will support the CCUPScale project. This includes raw material analysis, pre-demonstration trials, low-carbon product development, process engineering and industrial integration.

The plant is expected to begin operations at RHI Magnesita’s facility in 2028 and aims to capture, convert and utilise 50,000t/yr of CO₂ to produce ‘CO₂-negative’ mineral products. The initiative uses MCi Carbon's mineral carbonation technology to reduce Scope 1 emissions and transform CO₂ into value-added materials.

Constantin Beelitz, regional president Europe, CIS & Türkiye at RHI Magnesita, said "This funding approval shows that we are on the right track with this project. For industries with unavoidable emissions like ours, CO₂ capture is currently the only viable path to achieve net-zero by 2050. However, we go one step further by not only capturing CO₂, but also converting it into products that provide solutions for us and other hard-to-decarbonise sectors, such as the cement industry."

Spain: Votorantim Cimentos Spain will invest €3.2m in a new clinker cooler at its Málaga plant, according to Alimarket. The upgrade will reportedly reduce thermal and electrical energy consumption and avoid approximately 11,000t/yr of CO₂ emissions. The project will receive a €725,960 subsidy from the regional government of Andalusia.

France: Bouygues Construction and Ecocem have signed a partnership to facilitate the use of Ecocem’s low-carbon ACT cement technology in Bouygues Construction’s projects.

The collaboration involves three stages of testing and validation. First, Bouygues Construction will conduct independent laboratory tests to evaluate ACT’s performance. Next, structural concrete walls will be built at Bouygues Construction’s facilities in Chilly-Mazarin, France starting in early 2025, and monitored to ensure thorough testing. Finally, a full-scale mock-up, including all structural elements, will be constructed to assess the in-situ application of ACT technology.  The testing programme aims to integrate ACT technology into Bouygues Construction projects following successful validation.

Czech Republic: Wikov Industry has appointed Michal Kurtinec as the CEO of its Wikov Gear division. Other personnel changes include the selection of Radovan Rašpl as the CEO of Wikov TurboGear and Jan Vosátka as the CEO of Wikov GearServices.

Wikov Industry has reorganised itself into two divisions following its acquisition of Litostroj Power in December 2024. Wikov Gear includes Wikov TurboGear (formerly Wikov Gear), Wikov MGI, Wikov Sázavan, GGT Gmeinder Getriebetechnik, Detail CZ, Pacific Rim Engineered Products, Wikov Gear Canada, Wikov - Wessex, Wikov Indigear and Orbital2. The main focus of this division is the development, production, assembly and service of mechanical gearboxes and precision CNC machining. Wikov Hydro includes Litostroj Power (Slovenia), Litostroj Engineering (Czech Republic), Litostroj Hydro (Canada) and Litostroj US (US). This division focuses on the design, manufacture and maintenance of hydro turbines, reverse pump turbines, valves, pumps and is a supplier of complete turnkey solutions for hydro power plants.

US/France: Hoffmann Green Cement Technologies has extended its licensing agreement with Hoffmann Green USA, signed in July 2024, to cover 25 states in the eastern United States. This has triggered an additional entry fee of €8m, following the €2m already received. The agreement grants industrial and technological transfer rights and exclusivity in the expanded territory. It includes fixed and variable royalties based on sales of Hoffmann Green cements. Hoffmann Green USA may also sub-license units in these territories, with discussions currently underway with potential sub-licensees.

Switzerland: Cement deliveries declined by 4.6% year-on-year to 3.6Mt in 2024, impacted by slow economic recovery, uncertainty and high energy prices, according to industry association Cemsuisse.

However, the fourth quarter of 2024 showed a 2.1% year-on-year increase in deliveries to 0.89Mt, reportedly driven by declining inflation and low interest rates, with Cemsuisse stating that it is ‘cautiously optimistic’ about 2025. The proportion of cement types with reduced clinker content rose to almost 97% from just under 96% in 2023. The proportion of cement transported by rail fell slightly to 37.4% from 37.6% in 2023.

Lithuania: Capsol Technologies has commenced its first CapsolGo demonstration campaign at the Akmenės Cementas plant in Lithuania, owned by Schwenk, to evaluate its carbon capture technology.

Schwenk plans to test Capsol’s technology at two cement plants, with a combined CO₂ capture potential of 1.5Mt/yr. Following the demonstration campaign at the Akmenės plant in Lithuania, the CapsolGo unit will be transferred to Schwenk’s Brocēni cement plant in Latvia, where a feasibility study was conducted in 2024.

Moldova: The Rybnitsa cement plant has closed amid a cutoff of gas supply to the Transnistrian region, leaving half of its 650 employees at home with 66% of their pay, while the rest carry out equipment repairs and cleaning, according to IPN news.

Interim director Oksana Baka said “The plant had a plan to produce about 30,000t of cement during this period. This stock would have ensured our protection on the market, but now the situation is critical because our supplies are insufficient.” Contributions to the local budget will decrease if gas supplies are not restored by February 2025.

The plant is modernising its dust filtration system and preparing for resumption once gas supplies are restored. On 1 January 2025, Gazprom stopped supplying gas to the Transnistrian region, after gas transit through Ukraine ended. The region remains under a state of emergency until 8 February 2025.

Switzerland/US: Holcim is progressing towards the planned listing of its North American business and has designated its future board members. The board will comprise 10 members and will become effective following the execution of the spin-off, expected in the first half of 2025, subject to shareholder and customary approvals.

Jan Jenisch, current chair of Holcim and its former CEO from 2017 to 2024, has been designated chair and CEO of the new business. Jenisch will remain Holcim’s chair until the Annual General Meeting on 14 May 2025.

The Board will include nine independent directors: Theresa Drew, Nicholas Gangestad, Dwight Gibson, Holli Ladhani, Michael McKelvy, Jürg Oleas, Robert Rivkin, Katja Roth Pellanda, and Cristina Wilbur.

Romania: The Competition Council has fined Holcim Romania, Romcim and Heidelberg Materials Romania a total of €43.7m for allegedly coordinating pricing policies during the period of 2017–2018, according to Economedia Romania. Holcim Romania was fined €18.2m, Romcim €13.3m and Heidelberg Materials €12.2m.

The Council found that the companies exchanged non-public commercial information regarding prices, discounts and payment terms through customers, which was used to establish commercial strategies regarding pricing policy. Bogdan Chirițoiu, president of the Competition Council said that “The behaviour led to reduced competition, which generated an increase in cement prices compared to neighbouring countries.”

Holcim has since responded, saying that it will appeal the fine imposed and calling the decision ‘unfounded’ in a recent press release.  

Bogdan Dobre, CEO of Holcim Romania & Market Head Moldova, said “Holcim Romania rejects the conclusions of the investigation report and declares that it has acted and continues to act in accordance with the competition rules. We consider the decision to be unfounded, therefore Holcim Romania will exercise its right of defense before the courts and will challenge the sanction issued by the Romanian competition authority.”