Displaying items by tag: Germany

Germany: Cemex has received certification from the Concrete Sustainability Council (CSC) certification for five of its ready-mix concrete (RMX) plants in Berlin and Potsdam. The CSC acts as a certification system, grading building materials facilities on environmental, social and governance practices throughout supply chains. The auditing was conducted by Kiwa Deutschland, an independent certification body recognised by the CSC.

There was lots to mull over in the latest Committee for European Construction Equipment (CECE) Annual Economic Report. The headlines were that the construction industry market peaked in 2017 and that the mining industry was still recovering, but maybe slowing, in 2018.

For the construction industry the CECE reported that a growth period from 2008 to 2018 reached a high level of growth of 4.1% in 2017. This fell to 2.8% growth in 2018 and is forecast to drop to 2% growth in 2019. It put this in terms of the sector having a cyclical nature, normally of around eight years. This means it believes a downturn is overdue. Slowing gross domestic product (GDP) growth and tighter financial and monetary conditions are expected to drag on the residential sector. The non-residential side is growing by more than 1.5% in Europe but it has started to following the residential sector. It also noted the ‘very poor’ performance of the infrastructure sector due to government under-investment.

Graph 1: GDP vs Construction Output, year-on-year change (%). Source: Euroconstruct & CECE.

The construction equipment sector saw sales rise by 11% in 2018, bringing it to only 10% below the high recorded in 2007. The CECE reported that the rate of growth for concrete equipment was becoming ‘less dynamic’ after four years of growth. Sales in Europe grew by 17% in 2018 but there was a wide difference between northern and southern countries. France and Germany had 9% and 14% growth respectively but Italy and Spain had 23% and 60% growth respectively. Looking at product groups, truck mixer sales and batching plant sales were particularly strong, with growth rates over 10%. Overall, most countries experienced growth, with the exception of Turkey.

Graph 2: Growth rates in construction equipment sales by product groups in Europe, year-on-year change (%). Source: CECE.

Looking globally, the CECE said that Europe ‘slightly underperformed’ in 2018 as worldwide equipment sales grew by a fifth. It attributed this to the return of emerging markets, led by China and India. Sales in Latin America recovered with a rise of 15% but Brazil, notably, was not part of this trend. North America and Oceania had growth rates of around 20% but the Middle East and Africa saw declining sales. The CECE forecasts global equipment sales growth of 5 – 10% in 2019 subject to there being no trade wars.

Tying into this, the German Mechanical Engineering Industry Association (VDMA) said today that Sebastian Popp, its Deputy Managing Director, described cement plant equipment manufacturers as a ‘drag’ on the rest of the building materials plant sector. His words were from an event that took place earlier in March 2019. Overall incoming order and turnover fell in 2018. He blamed this on a cement market characterised by overcapacity. However, if cement plant engineering was removed from the calculations then the incoming orders of German building material plant manufacturers would have risen by 17% year-on-year and turnover by 16%.

None of this is encouraging for the European cement equipment manufacturers. However, as we said in February 2019 (GCW 390), the market is changing and so too are the suppliers. A period of transition is to be expected. Recent good news from Denmark’s FLSmidth include an order for a new plant in Paraguay and sales figures for its vertical roller mills in 2018. Russia’s Eurocement ordered three mills from Germany’s Gebr. Pfeiffer just last week.

Germany: Cemex has reached a binding agreement to sell its aggregates and ready-mix concrete assets in the north and northwest regions of Germany to GP Günter Papenburg for around Euro87m. It expects to sign the final agreement in April 2019 and close the divestment during the second quarter of 2019.

The assets in Germany being divested consist of four aggregates quarries and four ready-mix concrete (RMX) plants in north Germany, and nine aggregates quarries and fourteen RMX plants in northwest Germany.

The proceeds expected to be obtained from this divestment will be used mainly for debt reduction and for general corporate purposes. The transaction is subject to standard regulatory approval.

Germany: Siemens will be hosting a mining media talk at the Bauma construction machinery trade fair in April 2019. Roland Ehrl, Minerals Executive Vice President, will be showcasing Siemens' portfolio of products, systems and solutions for the global mining industry. Dan Fodor, Head of Application Management and Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) Minerals, Christian Dirscherl, Vice President Mining Excavation and Transport Minerals, and Zeng Yun, Director Business Development Minerals, will be highlighting digital topics like Siemens' SmartMining, Autonomous Stockyard Management and Minerals Operation Management Solution.

The ‘Siemens Mining Media Round Table’ will take place on 9 April 2019 at the event in Munich. Registration is required to attend.

Germany: Schenck Process has appointed Keith Cochrane appointed as chief executive officer (CEO). He succeeded Andreas Evertz on 1 March 2019. Evertz, who joined the group in 2014, has left the company to pursue new career opportunities. Cochrane has served as the chairman of the advisory board of Schenck Process since late 2017. Before that, he was the CEO of the Weir Group between 2009 and 2016.

Germany: The executive board of Humboldt Wedag (HWG), a subsidiary of KHD Humboldt Wedag International (KHD), is preparing to cut approximately 80 jobs. It has made this decision in response to a ‘difficult’ business environment in cement plant construction industry in the near future. It said that in light of this, ‘personnel capacities cannot be sufficiently utilised.’ The measures required to implement the reorganisation will be discussed with the works council soon.

Uzbekistan: Russia’s Eurocement has ordered three mills from Germany’s Gebr. Pfeiffer for its Akhangarancement plant upgrade in Uzbekistan. The package includes an MVR 5000 R-4 for raw material grinding and two MVR 5000 C-4 for cement grinding. The MVR 5000 R-4, features a total drive power of 2500kW, will grind 500t/hr of cement raw material to a fineness of 12% R 90µm. The cement mills, each with an installed drive power of 4000kW, are designed to grind 200t/hr of Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC) at 3200 Blaine. No value for the order has been disclosed.

Germany: Fuchs Petrolub has officially opened an expansion to its plant in Kaiserslautern. A new automated storage and retrieval system (ASRS) warehouse, two production halls and new office space for a total of Euro16m have been built on the premises of Fuchs Lubritech. The location, which mainly produces lubricants for special applications, now covers a total of 96,000m².

"The growth of the special application division and the concentration of diverse activities at this location made an expansion necessary. The extension is part of our global growth initiative, which is focused on capacity increase in line with advanced technology," said Stefan Fuchs, Chairman of the Board of Fuchs Petrolub.

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.

Germany: Schmersal Group will be demonstrating its new HDS switchgear series for heavy industry at the Bauma construction machinery trade fair in April 2019. The basis of the new platform is a standardised enclosure concept, which is available in two versions: plastic and grey cast iron. Typical application areas for the product include emergency-stop deactivation, belt misalignment monitoring in the transport of bulk materials, end position monitoring in steel making and level monitoring in material silos.

“With the modular HDS switchgear platform, we’ve created a product that our customers can use flexibly over a wide range of applications. The HDS platform can also be used worldwide thanks to its international approvals,” said Udo Sekin, heavy industry sector manager at the Schmersal Group.