Displaying items by tag: Holcim

Germany: The Carbon2Business carbon capture project at Holcim Deutschland's Lägerdorf cement plant has received Euro110m in funding from the EU. Holcim Deutschland plans to use the funds to install a new oxyfuel kiln with downstream compression and a CO₂ cleaning unit at the plant in Schleswig-Holstein. The producer expects to commission the upgraded carbon neutral cement plant in 2029.

Austria: Lafarge Austria and Perlmooser Beton will operate under the new name Holcim Austria from May 2023. Both companies have been part of Holcim Group since 2015. The rebranding exercise follows the renaming of LafargeHolcim as Holcim that took place in mid-2021.

Lafarge Austria operates two cement plants, at Mannersdorf and Retznei respectively, with a total production capacity of 1.6Mt/yr. Its headquarters is in Vienna. The company employs around 250 people.

Zimbabwe: Lafarge Cement Zimbabwe has rebranded to Khayah Cement amidst its on-going corporate restructuring. The Sunday News has reported that Khayah Cement is in the process of reconstituting its board of directors and board committees.

Zimbabwe: Lafarge Cement Zimbabwe has secured a suspension on trading in its shares on the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange until April 2023. Chronicle News has reported that the Holcim subsidiary requested the suspension, in which to 'address in-house challenges.'

The producer assured the market that this latest development 'will not in any way affect business, amid consideration of various courses of action, with a view to protecting the business and the interests of all stakeholders.'

Sri Lanka: INSEE Cement has appointed Jan Kunigk as its chief executive officer (CEO). He succeeds Nandana Ekanayake, who will continue as chair.

Kunigk became the cement producer’s Executive Vice President in 2017, and also worked as its Commercial Director. He previously worked as the Senior Vice President at Holcim Indonesia and has held project and strategy and roles for Holcim in Switzerland. Prior to this, he worked in management consulting. Kunigk holds a master's degree in business administration (MBA) from Western Illinois University in the USA and a diploma in European Business Studies from Bamberg University in Germany.

Egypt: Lafarge Cement Egypt has appointed Ahmed Elserafy as its Director of Public Affairs & Security. He has worked for Lafarge for over 10 years in security and resilience roles. Before this he worked for the African Union and the United Nations. Elserafy is a graduate of the Egypt Police Academy.

Jordan: Lafarge Jordan has appointed Ayman Al-Leimoon as the manager of its Rashadiyah cement plant. He has worked for Lafarge Jordan for over 20 years. He started in mechanical engineering and maintenance roles before moving in to project management. Most recently he was the plant and manager at the Fuhais cement plant. He holds a bachelors degree in mechanical engineering.

Canada: Lafarge Canada has signed an agreement with power provider TransAlta to recover and process fly ash from the site of the latter's decommissioned Edmonton coal-fired power plant. The project will use Ash-TEK's Ponded Ash Beneficiation System (PABS) fly ash beneficiation technology. The processed ash will then be able to replace up to 25% of cement in low-CO₂ concrete production.

TransAlta previously secured with Lafarge Canada for the supply of renewable power to its Exshaw, Alberta, cement plant in February 2022.

Italy: Holcim announced its acquisition of Nicem, Italy's ground calcium carbonate market leader. The group said that it plans to use Nicem's ground calcium carbonate as raw material in production of its ECOPact and ECOPlanet reduced-CO₂ cement and concrete range.

Holcim's Europe regional head Miljan Gutovic said “Nicem complements our existing operations perfectly and allows us to further leverage our expertise in green formulation, opening a new source of alternative materials to decarbonise our ready-mix concrete. I look forward to welcoming the employees of Nicem to the Holcim family, whose valuable expertise will help us accelerate green growth.”

Philippines: Holcim Philippines carried out 70 upgrades aimed at increasing automation in its operations during 2022. The projects aim to optimise cement production, generate cost savings and ensure best safety practices. The Manila Times has reported that new Industry 4.0 initiatives include equipment monitoring systems offering 90-day performance projections, software capable of predicting cement's strength development and drones to replace visual inspections in remote spaces.

Holcim Philippines said that it is currently exploring the use of new predictive technologies in its operations.