Displaying items by tag: Texas

US: Buzzi Unicem USA plans to switch from producing Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC) to Portland Limestone Cement (PLC) at all of its plants by the end of 2022. It said that it intends to transition from traditional ASTM C150 type I and II (OPC) cements in favour of ASTM C595 type IL cement (PLC). So far its Cape Girardeau and Festus plants in Missouri, Greencastle plant in Indiana, Maryneal plant in Texas and Pryor plant in Oklahoma have already completed the move to the PLC. The San Antonio plant in Texas will complete its transition in June 2022, the Chattanooga plant in Tennessee will switch its product line by September 2022 and the Stockertown cement plant in Pennsylvania will complete its conversion later in 2022. The company added that its engineers will continue working to increase the limestone content in cement by up to the permitted 15% and develop High Early Limestone cement, along with other new cement products with reduced clinker content.

US: Cement companies produced 79.2Mt of cement in 2021, according to United States Geological Service (USGS) data. The figure corresponds to a 0.1% year-on-year rise from 79.1Mt in 2020. Texas contributed 10.7Mt, 13% of the production total, followed by Missouri with 8.97Mt (11%) and California with 8.94Mt (11%).

Mexico/US: GCC plans to invest US$500m over the next three years to the end of 2024 on increasing its production capacity and strengthening its logistics and distribution network in North America. New projects in development include the expansion of a cement plant, debottlenecking at the integrated Samalayuca plant in Mexico, the construction of two new terminals and other projects to improve the company’s operational efficiency and its social and environmental strategy. The cement producer reported strong sales in 2021 and it expects even better results in 2022 and 2023, particularly in the US, due to the effect of the US infrastructure bill.

Notably GCC reported that both the kilns at its Odessa plant in Texas were running at full capacity in 2021 and an additional kiln at a plant in Chihuahua, Mexico was complimenting supply to the US state. High demand was also recorded in Montana.

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.

US: The commissioners of Grayson County in Texas have agreed to take legal advice to try and stop Black Mountain building an integrated cement plant. The Herald Democrat newspaper has reported that the administration plans to launch its claim on the basis of air quality. The city councils of would-be host communities Dorchester and Sherman will contend the plans on the basis of other issues within their respective powers.

Sherman mayor David Plyler says that the plan would interfere with the area’s aim of attracting high-tech industry and investment. District court judge Bill Magers said “The county doesn't normally step into fight city battles, but the county feels that the proposed plant would be bad for the county overall.”

US: Cement companies in the US produced 57.8Mt of clinker in the first nine months of 2021, in line with production in the corresponding period of 2020. Cement shipments including imports rose by 4.2% year-on-year to 79.9Mt from 76.7Mt, according to the United States Geological Service (USGS). The lead cement consuming states by total shipments were Texas, California and Florida. Texas received 11.4Mt of cement (14% of the national total), down by 8.5% from 12.4Mt, California received 8.19Mt (10%), up by 7.8% from 7.6Mt and Florida received 5.4Mt (6.8%), up by 5.6% from 5.11Mt.

US: LafargeHolcim US says that the integrated 2Mt/yr Midlothian plant in Texas will become the first cement plant in the country to fully convert to Portland Limestone Cement (PLC) production. The unit will switch to producing the company’s OneCem product, a blended cement manufactured with up to 15% of finely ground limestone. The move is intended to help LafargeHolcim US and its customers meet sustainable construction goals and lower carbon emissions.

“This is an important, but not unique, step for us. We were the first to produce OneCem, a PLC product, in one of the fastest-growing metro areas in the country, and fuel our industry’s step towards a zero carbon future,” said Patrick Cleary, senior vice president of sales, LafargeHolcim US Cement.

The company is promoting OneCem as an alternative to Ordinary Portland Cement in terms of concrete workability, set time, durability and strength development. It can be incorporated into a broad spectrum of applications that will support foundational structures. The product is available in the Western and Southern regions of the US and the company plans to ‘rapidly’ expand production.

US: Pozzolan cement producer Green Cement has appointed Grant Quasha as its chief executive officer (CEO). He succeeds John T Preston, who will remain as chairman of the board. Quasha will be based in Texas, where the company has its headquarters and existing production facilities. He will also be joining the company's board of directors.

Quasha previously worked as the regional chief investment officer of GFG Alliance. Before this he was the CEO and managing director of Paringa Resources, a mining company, and the chief commercial officer of Wolverine Fuels, a producer of bituminous coal. He also worked as the North American Manager of Corporate and Structured Finance at Trafigura AG, as an investment banker in JPMorgan's New York mining and metals division and has worked on the board of directors of the National Mining Association. Quasha holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Harvard College and a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from Harvard Business School.

Green Cement produces cements made using pozzolonic materials including its PozzoSlag product. It sold over 2Mt of cement in 2020.

US: Sweden-based Bruks Siwertell has commissioned a 1500t/hr rail-mounted Siwertell ST 640-M screw-type ship unloader for an undisclosed cement customer at Houston, Texas. The unloader will serve ocean-going vessels on the Buffalo Bayou watercourse. The producer is transitioning from bagged to bulk dispatch. Contract manager Per Wahlström said that the company was also looking to expand its US operations.

The supplier says that the new unloader offers continuous dust-free cement handling with a peak capacity of 1650t/hr, discharging vessels up to 80,000dwt with zero spillage. Bruks Siwertell also supplied192m-long jetty conveyors with a belt width of 1.6m. Wahlström said “The Siwertell unloader was an ideal choice for this terminal. It was light enough to minimise costs, yet deliver the through-ship capacity required.”

US: SRM Concrete has completed its acquisition of 24 former Argos USA ready-mix concrete plants in Dallas, Texas. No issues were reported by the regulators, according to Agencia CMA. The purchase, valued at US$180m, was announced in May 2021.