Displaying items by tag: GCW510

UK: Czech Republic-based EP Power Europe has agreed to acquire ash company Power Minerals from Germany-based Steag. The company supplies UK cement production with fly ash via its three sites centred around its Sutton Coldfield, West Midlands, headquarters.

Managing director Nigel Waldron said "This deal is a huge vote of confidence in Power Minerals, the broader sector and the UK."

Ghana: Nelplast Eco Ghana has launched a moulded block produced from a paste of 70% sand and 30% recycled plastics. Xinhua Hello Africa News has reported that the producer sells the blocks as a cement-free alternative building material for building walls, in conjunction with a concrete base and columns. The cost is US$11,000 per house. Nelplast Eco Ghana hopes that the product will ease Ghana’s 2m-unit housing shortage and prevent some of the 1Mt/yr plastic waste (over 95% nationally) going to landfill. It aims to expand its capacity from 1100t/yr in the near-term future.

Mexico: The municipal administration of Atotonilco de Tula, Hidalgo province, has given US$3050 to Cemex to help with the running of its Ecomunidad recycling initiative. In June 2021, the initiative involves recycling collection at 11 Cemex sites and has educated 11,000 people. Since its foundation at 20 local schools in 2019, the initiative has recycled 37t of plastic waste.

Kyrgyzstan: Standard Cement has announced the forthcoming Nookat cement plant at Yntymak, Osh oblast. The Kyrgyz National News Agency has reported that the plant, when commissioned, will have a production capacity of 3500t/day and create between 300 and 350 new jobs. Construction is set to begin in mid-to-late 2021.

India: Star Cement’s net profit after tax fell by 35% year-on-year to US$25.7m in its financial year to 31 March 2021 from US$39.3 in the same period in 2020. Its revenue dropped by 7% to US$235m from US$252m.

Mexico: Cemex has concluded the sale of subordinated notes with a value of US$1.0bn. The company says that it will use the proceeds from the bonds sale for various purposes, including debt repayment.

Chief financial officer Maher Al-Haffar said, “The purpose of this transaction is to further Cemex in its pursuit of an investment grade capital structure and a commensurate leverage ratio.”

Israel/ Palestine: Israel has reportedly asked Egypt to block imports of cement and other building materials into Gaza, according to the Israeli Public Broadcasting Corporation. The move is intended to stop militant groups in the territory using the materials. It follows a ceasefire between the Israeli government and the Palestinian militant group Hamas in late May 2021 after nearly two weeks of fighting. So far, cement and other building materials have been entering Gaza unimpeded via Egypt.

Switzerland/US: LafargeHolcim and GE Renewable Energy have signed a memorandum of understanding to research new ways to recycle of used wind turbines. The partners are seeking to use the shredded blades to produce low-CO₂ building materials. LafargeHolcim said that undertaking builds on the work of its subsidiary Geocycle, which previously began using GE’s waste wind turbine blades to produce alternative fuel (AF) for cement production. The cement producer called recycling the ‘key next step’ in line with the Circular Economy Action Plan of the European Union’s European Green Deal.

UK: SigmaRoc intends to offer a cement-free alternative for every product in its precast concrete portfolio from January 2022. The producer claims it is the only company to do this. The change will effect products made by its Product Group including Allen Concrete, CCP Building Products and Poundfield Precast. The move follows the launch of its Ordinary Portland Cement free Greenbloc product in February 2021.

Managing director Michael Roddy said, “Greenbloc sets the bar for bringing a cement-free alternative to a traditional building material into mainstream use, but it was only ever the start of our low-carbon journey.” He added “The benefits of using cement as a building material are undisputed from an application perspective, however the carbon required in the manufacturing process cannot be ignored. Our aim is simple. The market is changing and understands the need to acknowledge, address and action a tangible approach to decarbonisation. We want to give architects, contractors and specifiers the choice of using an ultra-low carbon cement-free alternative to precast cementitious products.”

Canada: Testing specialist Giatec has launched SmartMix, a web-based software product for concrete ingredient optimisation. It is intended to help concrete users lower their cement construction for jobs. The supplier estimates that the tool could lower the CO₂ emissions of concrete production by 400Mt/yr, the equivalent carbon footprint of 110m cars.

Head of research and development Andrew Fahim said, “Artificial intelligence (AI), machine-learning algorithms and advanced analytics on construction jobsites are going to pave the path forward for our industry to meet increasing infrastructure demands. I am proud to provide contractors and producers AI tools to make impactful decisions and get ahead of the competition by bringing more value to their customers while reducing the carbon impact of their products.”