Displaying items by tag: GCW489

Pakistan: Cherat Cement plans to spend US22m on an upgrade to Line 1 at its integrated plant in Nowshera district, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. The project includes the installation of a new crusher and general maintenance on the production line.

Belgium: IKN was presented with the first clinker from a modified calciner and IKN cooler installed at the CBR Cement integrated Antoing plant on 24 December 2020. The cement sector engineering supplier said, “We thank everybody involved for their determination and efforts in this challenging project: in spite of Coronanirus and a tough schedule there was no compromise on safety!” CBR Cement is a subsidiary of Germany-based HeidelbergCement.

Peru: Cement and clinker production fell by 14% year-on-year to 9.14Mt and 39% year-on-year to 5.54Mt respectively in 2020. Data from the Association of Cement Producers (ASOCEM) shows that production fell significantly during March to May 2020 at the same time as a coronavirus-related lockdown. However, ASOCEM reports that cement sales from August to December 2020 were higher than the historical monthly averages. Exports of cement and clinker fell by 28% to 0.14Mt and 56% to 0.31Mt. Imports of cement decreased by 7% to 0.72Mt but clinker imports grew by 7% to 0.67Mt.

China: Seven of Huaxin Cement’s plants have been selected on a national energy efficiency list released by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and the State Administration of Market Regulation. The list contains energy efficiency ‘leaders’ from energy intensive industries in 2020. It includes 28 cement companies. Huaxin Cement’s plants were selected in Xinyang, Yangxin, Zhaotong, Zhuzhou, Xigaze, Wuxue and Tibet factory. Of these the Xinyang plant had the lowest energy intensity of clinker production of all the cement producers on the list.

China: Sinoma (CNBM) International Engineering’s value of new projects grew by 9% year-on-year to US$5.3bn in 2020. Most of these projects came from growth in its construction business segment. However, new project value from its equipment manufacturing business fell by 5% to US$629m. By region, domestic new project value decreased by 3% to US$2.1bn but overseas new project value rose by 19% to US$3.2bn. The engineering company and member of CNBM group also reported that its US$480m project to build a 5000t/day clinker production line in Zambia for Central African Cement remains in the financing stage. The project was originally announced in late 2018.

Japan: Sumitomo Osaka Cement become partner of WIPO (World Intellectual Property Organization) GREEN, an online database and network that organisations in the sustainable technology innovation value chain network with each other. The cement producer says it developing a high-performance product business that will supply sustainable cementitious products to help society build infrastructure. It is doing this by increasing co-processing rates, using more industrial by-products and developing new technologies to support a carbon neutral society.

UK: Cemex Ventures has invested in Modulous, a London-based company that uses a modular construction system. Modulous says it digitises its materials supply chain management to reduce costs and time and in construction process. It uses machine learning, generative design and 5D BIM modelling in its supporting software to support this. No value for Cemex Ventures’ investment in Modulous has been disclosed.

"By including Modulous in our portfolio, we offer the industry a unique offsite construction model" said Mateo Zimermmann, head of Cemex Ventures investment in Modulous. "The Modulous innovative approach enables the supply chain to deliver sustainable and high-quality homes, significantly reducing time and costs. Modulous does not require additional capital expenditure, which makes it globally scalable. This team is going to revolutionise the residential development industry.”

Modulous has secured a number of projects in the UK and Europe. It is currently preparing the delivery of a Euro7m residential scheme in London using its design and construction system that it claims will achieve completion 12 months ahead of schedule. Modulous is one of the winners of the 2020 Construction Startup Competition, the annual startup challenge organized by Cemex Ventures.

UK: The Safety & Health, Environment & Climate Change and Technology & Innovation committees of the World Cement Association (WCA) have announced their goals for 2021 following the association’s general assembly meeting in December 2020.

The Environment & Climate Change committee will focus on accelerating sustainability through addressing energy efficiency, alternative fuels, digitisation, carbon capture, utilisation and/or storage (CCUS) and promoting low carbon cement and concrete. The committee also intends to seek commitments from progressive companies towards zero/low carbon cement production. The Technology & Innovation committee plans on reducing emissions and energy consumption, green product innovation, ‘Industry 4.0’ and digitalisation. It will also work with the PEGASUS 2020 programme, offering expertise on WCA benchmarking and performance improvement initiatives. The Safety & Health committee has introduced a series of initiatives for 2021, ranging from Covid-19 support and preventative measures, to managing high risk activities such as energy isolation and traffic safety. This committee also hopes to create an anonymised incident database, collected from WCA members, with the intention of avoiding high-risk incidents and sharing best practice.

“This has been a very challenging and unpredictable year for our industry, and we have all had to adapt and find new ways of working. In this context, I’m especially pleased with how our professional committees have continued to work together effectively to tackle some of the sector’s key issues.” said Ian Riley, the chief executive office (CEO) of the WCA CEO.

The February 2021 issue of Global Cement Magazine will include an interview with Ian Riley, WCA and Alex Cameron, Decarb Connect

Switzerland: Holcim Switzerland has started using three full electric concrete mixer trucks. The subsidiary of LafargeHolcim is working with Designwerk, a Switzerland-based company specialising in the electric mobility sector. Designwerk has equipped a motorless basic chassis of a Volvo vehicle with electric motors for both locomotion and the mixing drum. This is intended to be sustainable and offer quiet driving, mixing and unloading. The three vehicles are expected to save around 90t/yr of CO₂.

The trucks are labeled with the Futuricum brand and are active in the St Gallen, Zurich and Basel regions. The building materials company says that electric vehicles suit concrete logistics because they cover relatively short transport routes and have a fixed starting point with a battery charging station in the Holcim concrete works. Holcim says it obtains the electricity it needs exclusively from renewable energy sources.

South Africa: The International Trade Administration Commission (ITAC) started a ‘sunset’ review in December 2020 of import tariffs imposed on cement from Pakistan. The investigation will last up to 18 months, according to Moneyweb. Existing anti-dumping duties, which were first implemented in 2015, will remain in place during proceedings.

The review by ITAC follows lobbying by the Concrete Institute (TCI) in 2019 to add additional protection against imports of cement from other countries like Vietnam. Construction industry data company Industry Insight reports that Vietnam accounted for 70% or 0.47Mt of the 0.68Mt of cement imported into South Africa in the first nine months of 2020. The remaining 30% or 0.20Mt came from Pakistan.