Displaying items by tag: Germany
Gebr. Seibel Erwitte cement plant rebrands within Thomas Gruppe
08 January 2018Germany: The former Portland-Zementwerke Gebr. Seibel’s cement plant at Erwitte in North Rhine-Westphalia has rebranded within the Thomas Gruppe. The name change follows the purchase of the plant and its limestone deposits by Thomas Gruppe in late 2017.
Wieland Hopfe leaves Fritsch
03 January 2018Germany: Wieland Hopfe has left Fritsch Milling and Sizing after 25 years with the company. He originally joined Fritsch in 1992 and helped the firm establish its distribution network in the former East Germany. Most recently he was working as an application specialist for Fritsch. The company is a manufacturer of application-oriented laboratory instruments for sample preparation and particle sizing.
BWF Envirotec acquires Orwat Filtertechnik
02 January 2018Poland: BWF Envirotec Group has purchased Orwat Filtertechnik. Based in Mysłowice, Silesia, the company has been producing and distributing filter bags and filter pockets for dedusting and flue gas cleaning technology as well as pockets, cartridges and compact filters for air conditioning and ventilation technology since 1995. The company also has a sales office in Warendorf, North Rhine-Westphalia in Germany giving it a European presence. No value for the acquisition has been disclosed.
"Orwat Filtertechnik, with its technologically outstanding equipment, is an excellent addition to our line-up with a high level of benefit for our customers, particularly for plant builders and operators of flue gas cleaning systems,” said Stefan Offermann and Philipp von Waldenfels, managing partners of BWF Group. They added that the acquisition also strengthens its Offingen-based headquarters.
Markus Bochynek to leave management board of Aucotec
13 December 2017Germany: Markus Bochynek is to leave the management board of Aucotec in April 2018. His responsibility for sales and marketing will be taken over by fellow board member Uwe Vogt. The other board member, chief executive officer (CEO) Horst Beran, will remain in post. The existing management team below the management board will assume some of the previous responsibilities and tasks of Vogt and Bochynek.
The engineering software company is also planning to build a new head office in 2018.
HeidelbergCement sales start to build so far in 2017
08 November 2017Germany: HeidelbergCement has started to build its sales revenue following its acquisition of Italcementi with growth in Europe and North America. Its sales rose by 19% year-on-year to Euro13bn in the first nine months of 2017 from Euro10.9bn in the same period in 2016. On a like-for-like basis this rose by 1.1%. Its cement and clinker sales volumes rose by 29.2% to 94.4Mt from 73Mt or by 0.3% on a like-for-like basis.
“As expected, the positive trend reversal in May 2017 led to a significantly improved development of results in the third quarter”, said chairman of the managing board, Bernd Scheifele. “North America, Australia, Morocco, India, as well as Northern and Eastern Europe have developed very strongly. The countries of Southern Europe are showing clear signs of recovery, and the emerging countries have passed their lowest point. We have succeeded in reducing the rise in energy costs through the flexible use of various fuels.” He added that the synergies from the acquisition of Italcementi have already ‘significantly’ exceeded the target for 2017.
By region cement sales volumes rose in all regions on both a consolidated and pro forma basis except for the group’s Northern and Eastern Europe - Central Asia and its Asia-Pacific regions. In the US strong markets were noted in California and Washington alongside price growth. In Indonesia the cement producer said that despite the market showing signs of recovery it was still facing price pressure. In Egypt continued reduced market demand was reported.
Workers launch global union network at HeidelbergCement
03 November 2017Germany: Union delegates representing workers at HeidelbergCement have created a trade union network. Forty delegates from Europe, Middle East and North Africa, North America, Asia-Pacific and South Asia met in early November 2017 in Bremen. The meeting was organized by IndustriALL Global Union with support of the Friedrich Ebert Foundation, also involving IndustriALL‘s sister organisation Building and Wood Workers’ International.
“With the creation of the HeidelbergCement union network, we open the door to social dialogue if management is willing, and we hope union activists will contribute seriously to the promotion of workers’ rights and interests in the company. To this end, the steering committee will be in close interaction with the national unions. Finally, we strongly believe that HeidelbergCement will only win through workers’ active participation and engagement,” said Matthias Hartwich, director for materials industry at IndustriALL.
The meeting discussed recent developments in the cement sector and sustainability issues. The experience of global and national unions interacting with management at another big cement giant company, LafargeHolcim, was also raised. At the end of the meeting, delegates unanimously adopted a Bremen declaration and elected a steering committee for the network, which will coordinate the work in between its global meetings. No representative of the group’s global management attended the event despite being sent invitations.
Franz-Josef Paus elected as chairman of VDMA
01 November 2017Germany: Franz-Josef Paus has been elected as the chairman of the Mechanical Engineering Industry Association (VDMA) for the next three years. Paus, aged 55 years, is an executive at Hermann Paus Maschinenfabrik. He succeeds Johann Sailer, a managing partner of GEDA-Dechentreiter, who has decided to step down after a six-year tenure. The appointment of Paus was formerly announced at the association’s General Assembly in Dusseldorf. Joachim Strobel, the sales director of Liebherr Emtec, and Hermann Weckenmann, a managing partner at Weckenmann Anlagentechnik, will act as his deputies in the role.
European Commission clears acquisition of Fels-Werke by CRH
01 November 2017Germany: The European Commission has approved the acquisition of Fels-Werke by Ireland’s CRH. Fels-Werke is active in mining, processing and distribution of lime and limestone products, gypsum and mortar in Germany, the Czech Republic and Russia. The commission concluded that the proposed acquisition would raise no competition concerns because there is limited geographic overlap between the companies' activities. It described them as ‘remote’ competitors. Fels’ owners Xella agreed to sell the business to CRH in August 2017 for an undisclosed sum.
Beumer promotes mobile bag tester for valve bags
31 October 2017Germany: Beumer Group is promoting its new mobile bag tester. The testing device is intended to help users to determine the venting capacity of any type of valve bag, such as those used in the cement industry, including all paper and plastic layers, and glued areas. The determined parameters can be used to optimise the manufacture of bags or check conformity with specifications.
The bag tester is intended to give users with information on the filling behaviour of each bag that is useful for the manufacture of bags and filling technology, as well as for transport and logistics. The 14kg apparatus is housed in a stable hardtop case on wheels making it mobile.
A pressure-compensated flow control valve on the device constantly increases the volume flow rate until a steady pressure of 50mbar is reached. With this pressure, the user can read the current volume flow rate, which indicates the air permeability, from the flow-rate meter. A filling spout with inflatable sleeve seals the bag valve during the airflow measurements. The scope of supply includes an additional inflatable sleeve for valve widths of up to 200mm.
Thomas Gruppe buys Gebr. Seibel Erwitte cement plant
16 October 2017Germany: Thomas Gruppe has purchased Portland-Zementwerke Gebr. Seibel’s cement plant at Erwitte in North Rhine-Westphalia. The deal also includes the plant’s limestone deposits. It will take over the plant on 1 January 2018. Gebr. Seibel has operated the unit since 1927.
Thomas Gruppe operates in the construction and building material sectors. It runs the Dornburger cement grinding plant in Thuringia.