Displaying items by tag: Spain
Cementos Molins to move registered address to Madrid
23 October 2017Spain: Cementos Molins is moving its registered address from the town of Sant Vicenc dels Horts in Catalonia, to Madrid. Sources quoted by the Expansión newspaper say it is due to the legal uncertainty in Catalonia. The company will continue to operate its cement plant in Sant Vicenc dels Horts but the publicly traded company and the group's holding, through which it channels its foreign investments, will be moved.
The Catalan regional government approved an independence referendum held in early October 2017. The central Spanish government rules it illegal and has moved to impose direct rule on the region.
Oficemen releases CO2 emission reduction roadmap
19 October 2017Spain: Oficemen, the Spanish cement association, has released its roadmap for reducing CO2 emissions to 2050. The document highlights the potential of new technologies, including carbon capture and storage (CCS), which could decrease the CO2 footprint of the Spanish cement industry by up to 80% in 2050. Using existing the technology the association estimates it could reduce emissions by 35% from a 1990 baseline.
RHI and Magnesita make sales ahead of merger
11 September 2017Europe: RHI and Magnesita have announced divestment agreements ahead of their proposed merger. RHI has signed a contract with a European refractories supplier for an undisclosed sum regarding the sale of its dolomite business in the European Economic Area. The sale consists of the production sites at Marone in Italy and Lugones in Spain. Magnesita has entered into a definitive agreement with Intocast to divest its business related to the production and supply of magnesia carbon bricks produced at the company's Oberhausen plant in Germany for Euro20.3m. Both sales were required by the European Commission as part of the merger process.
“With the sale of the two sites, the combination of RHI with Magnesita is also still right on schedule,” said RHI’s chief executive officer Stefan Borgas with regards to his company’s divestments “We expect the confirmation by the European Commission in the near future.”
RHI signed a contract in August 2017 to sell its production sites at San Vito in Italy and Sherbinska in Russia that produce fused cast refractories for the glass industry. Production at the company’s plant at Aken in Germany was stopped in the first half of 2017 for an indefinite period. RHI plans to sell or close the plant to maintain its production utilisation rate across the business.
Hanson Cement to reuse vertical roller mill from Spain
23 August 2017UK: Hanson Cement intends to reuse a 0.65Mt/yr vertical roller mill from a site in Bilbao, Spain for an upgrade to its Padeswood cement plant in north Wales. More information on the Euro22m project to demolish existing cement storage and loading facilities, erect a new mill and make changes to its railway facilities have emerged in planning documents. The cement producer intends to mothball three older mills at the site, continue to use a third (Mill 3) and install the mill from Bilbao. New cement rail loading facilities and silos will also be built to allow 4000 – 5000t/week of material to be transported from the site. In addition the railway line at the site will be modified and extended.
The subsidiary of HeidelbergCement says that the proposed development is intended to stop it transporting excess clinker by road from Padeswood to its Ketton plant for grinding into cement. It is also being implemented to meet increasing demand in the UK. Subject to planning approval by the local council the upgrade is planned for completion by the end of 2019.
Jesús Ortiz elected new president of Oficemen
02 August 2017Spain: The board of directors of Oficemen, the Spanish cement association, has elected Jesús Ortiz, the chief executive officer (CEO) of HeidelbergCement in Spain, as its new president. He suceeds Jaime Ruiz de Haro, the CEO of Cemex España.
Jesús Ortiz, aged 56 years, worked between 1983 and 1989 as a Diplomatic Commercial Attaché for the French Ministry for Economy and Finance in various overseas postings and in France. In 1989 he joined Italcementi Group in France and then held different operational responsibilities at its Spainish operations. Between 2003 and 2007 he served as Managing Director of Italcementi Group’s activities in Greece and Bulgaria. He joined HeidelbergCement in 2007 as its General Manager for Spain before moving to Brussels to assume responsibilities for the group’s aggregate and concrete business in Europe and Africa. Following HeidelbergCement’s acquisition of Italcementi in 2016 he returned to Spain to coordinate the integration of the companies.
He holds a diploma in Economics and Business Administration from the ESC Clermont Graduate School of Management in Clermont-Ferrand, France and a master's degree from the European Institute of Business Administration in Fontainebleau, France. He is also the president of the European Aggregates Association (UEPG).
Spain: Sergio Martínez Hernández has been appointed as the new director of LafargeHolcim’s Carboneras cement plant in Almería. Martínez Hernández holds over 24 years of experience in the cement industry, according to Teleprensa. He joined Holcim in 1993 after training as an engineer at the Escuela Técnica Superior de Ingenieros Industriales (ETSII) in Madrid. During his career he has worked at plants in Gádor in Almería, Yepes in Toledo and Portland in Colorado, USA.
LafargeHolcim Spain obtains ISO 9001 certification
20 July 2017Spain: LafargeHolcim Spain has obtained the International Standards organisation (ISO) UNE-EN ISO 9001:2015 certification for its cement plants. It says it is the first cement company to do so in the country one year ahead of an adaption period granted by the ISO. The standard provides a quality management system for companies and organisations to ensure that their products and services comply with external standards.
The subsidiary of LafargeHolcim’s Central Quality Laboratory has also revalidated its ISO 17025 status with the Entidad Nacional de Acreditación (ENAC), the national body that applies European accrediation standards.
Spain: The Spanish cement makers association Oficemen says that cement consumption grew by 11% year-on-year to 4.9Mt in the first five months of 2017. It attributed the rise to increased residential housing construction. The association forecasts that, if the growth continues, the consumption may reach 12.3Mt in 2017, the strongest figure since 2012.
However, exports have fallen by 7.6% to 3.76Mt. Oficemen said that this decline has reduced the benefit of improvements in the domestic market and kept production capacity levels of 50% at cement plants. It also raised recent increases in electricity costs as cutting the competiveness of the industry’s exports.
Belgium: The European Commission has cleared a proposed merger between Brazil’s Magnesita and Austria’s RHI Group subject to the divestment of a number of production sites in Europe. Magnesita is required to sell its plant in Oberhausen, Germany along with its Oberhausen business in the European Economic Area (EEA). RHI is required to sell its dolomite business in the EEA including plants in Maroni, Italy, and Lugones, Spain. Magnesita and RHI said they are speaking to potential buyers at present.
“With today’s milestone, we have come significantly closer to the planned merger with Magnesita – and thus a globally leading company in the refractory industry which optimally combines the strengths of both companies,” explains Stefan Borgas, chief executive officer (CEO) of RHI and designated CEO of the future RHI-Magnesita Group.
Outstanding approvals required to complete the merger include that from the Brazilian Antitrust Authorities and the approval of the cross-border merger, of RHI AG with its subsidiary RHI MAG NV in the Netherlands, by the RHI General Meeting.
Metso signs distribution agreement with Process Control Equipment to cover UK, Benelux and Spain
28 June 2017Finland: Metso has signed a distribution agreement for its valve products with Process Control Equipment (PCE) to cover the UK, Benelux and Spain. Under the non-exclusive agreement, PCE will add to its current portfolio of Metso's Neles and Jamesbury product families for all process industries in all countries. PCE has been distributing Metso's Jamesbury valves in the UK since 2012.
"The new agreement brings benefits for Metso's customers in UK, Benelux and Spain to ensure better availability and service support for them. The expansion of distributors in these countries will bring additional value, including more local support, local inventories, and faster deliveries of our products," said Kyle Rayhill, Director of Global Distribution, Flow Control, Metso.