Displaying items by tag: GCW540

US: LafargeHolcim US has announced the successful transition of two further plants to Portland limestone cement production. The company’s 4.5Mt/yr Ste. Genevieve, Missouri, cement plant and 2.4Mt/yr Alpena, Michigan, plant have begun exclusively producing its OneCem reduced-CO2 Portland limestone cement (PLC).

LafargeHolcim US’ manufacturing North vice president Michael Nixon said "LafargeHolcim is fully engaged in making carbon reduction an urgent priority and 100% dedicated to leading the market transformation needed for climate stability." He added "To achieve net-zero commitments by midcentury, we must start now in accelerating the adoption of low-carbon building solutions to mitigate the impacts of climate change."

LafargeHolcim US successfully transitioned its Midlothian, Texas, cement plant to PLC production in 2021.

Kazakhstan: Steppe Cement sold US$83.4m-worth of cement in 2021, up by 16% year-on-year from its US$71.7m-worth in 2020. Its sales volumes totalled 1.69Mt for the year, up by 2.4% from 1.65Mt in 2020. It exported 202,000t of cement, down by 57% from 86,500t. The company said that production limitations prevented it from fully meeting demand, and it concentrated on local markets. Regarding its outlook in 2022, Steppe Cement said “We have a healthy cash balance and are continuing our capital expenditure (CAPEX) programme to increase the production capacity of the company by 5% by mid-2022.”

Dow Jones Newswires has reported that Kazakhstan’s 2021 full-year cement consumption was 11.6Mt, up by 23% year-on-year from 9.4Mt in 2020. A rule change to pension withdrawals permitting allocations for home improvement and construction bolstered demand growth. Exports fell by 20% to 1.6Mt from 2Mt, while imports rose by 33% to 800,000t from 600,000t.

Switzerland: A TEC has secured a contract to install a new ReduChlor chlorine bypass system at Holcim Schweiz’s Eclépens cement plant in Vaud. The supplier says that it will also fit a bypass dust handling system and upgrade the alternative fuel (AF) feeding system at the plant.

Costa Rica: Société Générale de Surveillance has awarded Holcim Costa Rica its Positive Packaging certificate for 100% packaging energy recovery in 2021. The company offset the 1500t carbon footprint of its packaging production for the year by sorting and co-processing 14,000t of paper as fuel. It sourced the paper from its customer cement bag return scheme and through municipal recycling services run by fellow Holcim subsidiary Geocycle Costa Rica.

Holcim Costa Rica sustainability coordinator Catalina Mora said “Waste management is a global challenge, so this project has a direct impact on our contribution as a company to the vision of sustainability for the country.”

China: Saudi Aramco and China Building Materials Academy (CBMA) have launched the Nonmetallic Excellence and Innovation Center (NEXCEL) in Beijing. The centre will leverage CBMA's expertise and resources to promote the development and application of nonmetallic technologies offering superior lifecycle cost, efficiency and environmental performance to metal-based alternatives in Chinese construction.

Saudi Aramco’s senior vice president of technical services Ahmad Al-Sa'adi said “We are excited to be part of this important initiative with CBMA, to jointly advance the use of nonmetallics in building and construction in China. At Aramco, we have been developing and deploying nonmetallic solutions within our own operations for more than 20 years as they offer superior lifecycle cost, efficiency and environmental advantages over their metal alternatives.”