Displaying items by tag: UK
LKAB Minerals to buy Francis Flower
10 October 2018UK: Sweden’s LKAB Minerals has signed a deal to buy Francis Flower. The acquisition is intended to bring a portfolio of sustainable products into LKAB Minerals’ portfolio. Implementation of the agreement is subject to Austrian merger clearance. Both parties are confident that the merger control process will be completed by the end of November 2018. No value for the agreement has been disclosed.
Francis Flower is a family owned business, and the main shareholder is the current chairman and chief executive officer (CEO), Adrian Willmott, who upon completion of the sale will resign his position in the business but remain available in a consultancy capacity during an integration phase. The company will be integrated into LKAB Minerals’ existing UK business under the leadership of Darren Wilson, who manages the UK and European business within LKAB Minerals.
Francis Flower recycles blast furnace slag from the steel industry for production of ground granulated blast furnace slag for use in cement production, among other offerings for industrial and agricultural use. It employs 130 people across four sites in the UK: Scunthorpe, Wicken, Gurney Slade and Runcorn.
LKAB Minerals in the UK has a similar size business across four sites and employs around 160 people. Its main operations are processing and marketing of minerals, primarily for the building, construction, polymer, coating, refractory and foundry industries.
“We have an ambition of growing the industrial minerals business significantly over time, to balance LKAB’s growing iron ore production,” said Leif Boström, Senior Vice President for the Special Products Division in LKAB and CEO of LKAB Minerals group. “This will strengthen LKAB Minerals’ offering to the building and construction industries.”
UK: Cement companies from Asia and North America are the latest to join the Global Cement and Concrete Association (GCCA), bringing the total number of member companies to 20. News members include Mexico’s Grupo Cementos de Chihuahua (GCC), Israel’s Nesher Israel Cement, India’s Shree Cement and Taiwan’s Taiwan Cement Corporation. The number of GCCA affiliates is also growing with the addition of the Cámara Nacional del Cemento in Mexico the Federación Interamericana del Cemento (FICEM) in Colombia and the Union of Cement Producers – Soyuzcement in Russia.
GCCA members now include: Buzzi Unicem, Cementos Argos, Cementos Pacasmayo, Cemex, Çimsa Çimento, CNBM, CRH, Dangote Cement, Eurocement, GCC, HeidelbergCement, LafargeHolcim, Nesher Israel Cement, SCG Cement, Shree Cement Ltd, Taiheiyo Cement, Taiwan Cement Corporation, Titan Cement, UltraTech Cement and Votorantim.
The association added that further applications for membership and affiliate status have been received and are being processed.
Schenck Process buys Process Components
01 October 2018UK: Germany’s Schenck Process has acquired Process Components and its subsidiaries, including Kemutec Group in the US, with its brands Kemutec, Kek-Gardner, Mucon and PPS Air Classifier Mills from EPIC Private Equity. Process Components is a UK-based designer and manufacturer of powder processing and handling equipment, components and spare parts, serving the Chemical, Food, Pharmaceutical and Environmental industries.
The product portfolio of Process Components includes the brands: Kek-Gardner - founded in 1860, recognised for milling and sieving as well as mixing and blending technology; PPS Air Classifier Mills - founded in 1980; Mucon - founded in 1946, known for Iris Valves; and Kemutec - founded in 1980, known for powder processing equipment and systems.
“The acquisition of Process Components with its very well established product lines, a large installed base as well as a great reputation of its brands Kek-Gardner, PPS Air Classifier Mills, Mucon and Kemutec enriches the expertise and capabilities of Schenck Process. We are delighted to add key process steps in the area of mixing, milling and classification for our customers,” said Jay Brown, President Food, Chemicals & Plastics at Schenck Process.
Anthony Goodwin, managing director of Process Components will continue to lead the business following the takeover. No value for the purchase has been disclosed.
Minimising risk in the UK cement industry
26 September 2018More positive news emerged from the UK cement industry this week with the news that Cemex is planning to restart the second kiln at its South Ferriby plant later in 2018. This marks the full recovery of the plant after a disastrous flood in late 2013 and it is an all round good news story. Around the same time the local government in Scotland approved the planning application for an upgrade to Tarmac’s Dunbar cement plant. That project involves installing a new cement grinding mill, a new cement storage silo and a rail loading facility.
Graph 1: Domestic cement, imported cement and other cementitious sales in the UK, 2001 - 2017. Source: Mineral Products Association.
The timing is interesting given the general uncertainty in the UK economy ahead of the UK exit from the European Union (EU). However, data from the Mineral Products Association (MPA) shows that total cementitious material sales (cement plus products made from fly ash and ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBS)) reached 15.3Mt in 2017 from a low of 10.3Mt in 2009 following the financial crash. This isn’t as high as the 15.8Mt figures recorded in 2007 but it does mark a recovery. This masks to an extent the change in the market since 2007. Cement sales in 2017 at 10.2Mt were still below a high of 11.9Mt in 2008. The recovery has been driven by higher imports, 1.9Mt in 2017, and higher use of fly ash and GGBS products, which reached 3.2Mt in 2017.
Cemex and Tarmac are not alone in announcing projects. HeidelbergCement’s local subsidiary Hanson is upgrading its Padeswood plant with a new Euro22m mill. Irish slag cement grinding company Ecocem opened its import terminal at Sheerness in mid-2017 and French grinding firm, Cem'In'Eu, has also expressed interest in building a plant, in this case in London.
As discussed earlier in the year, new upgrade projects in the UK appear to carry an element of risk given the unknown status of its departure from the EU. Supply chains may be affected, companies are delaying investment and the value of Pound Sterling is falling. The collapse of construction services company Carillion also had a knock-on effect in the industry and, with major work on the Crossrail infrastructure project finishing, the industry has no major infrastructure projects in support. A quarterly graph of UK construction industry output volume by Arcadis shows almost uniform growth since mid-2012 although this started to flatten in 2017. A badly-handled Brexit (UK exit from the EU) could undo this growth.
All of this presents a picture of risk-adverse capital projects in the UK. The MPA figures help to explain the focus on grinding at Padeswood and Dunbar. The market has changed since 2007, with a growing focus on imports and secondary cementitious materials. Hence spending money on equipment to process these inputs makes sense. The decision to increase production at South Ferriby meanwhile depends on reviving existing equipment. Regional cement sales figures to 2016 from the MPA appear to indicate static demand in counties close to the plant (Yorkshire and Humberside) but sales have increased in the East Midlands and the East of England.
Just compare the current UK approach to the situation in Egypt. This week the head of the cement division of the Chamber of Building Materials described the decision to build the Beni Suef cement plant to local media as “not based on precise information” and that it had harmed local production. In case you had forgotten, that plant is one of the biggest in the world with six lines. The commentator may well have been representing smaller local producers but opening a 12Mt/yr plant in Egypt in these turbulent economic times marks a different approach to risk than the modest plant upgrades in the UK. Let’s wait and see who has the best approach.
Titan Group joins the Global Cement and Concrete Association
26 September 2018Greece/UK: Titan Group has joined the Global Cement and Concrete Association (GCCA), a global organisation dedicated to strengthening and promoting the sector’s contribution to sustainable construction. The cement producer said that its participation would build on its commitment to, “actively engage in collaborative initiatives aiming to address global sustainability challenges.”
Launched in January 2018, the GCCA intends to become a respected industry voice and trusted source of information on sustainable construction. It complements and supports the work done by cement associations at national and regional level. As of January 2019 GCCA will incorporate the activities of the Cement Sustainability Initiative (CSI) following a strategic partnership with the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD).
Second kiln to be restarted at Cemex South Ferriby cement plant
19 September 2018UK: Cemex is planning to restart commercial production on the second kiln at its South Ferriby cement plant in November 2018. The company says that this investment highlights its confidence in the long-term potential of the UK building materials market.
The kiln has a capacity of 1000t/day and was originally installed in 1973. Since then the cement producer has conducted upgrade work on the production line to comply with environmental legislation and to install new electrical infrastructure, a control system and instrumentation. The second kiln was previously the first Cemex line in the world to achieve a 100% alternative fuel substitution rate in 2011. Once fully operational both kilns at the plant will give it a production capacity of 0.7Mt/yr.
Planning department approves upgrade to Tarmac Dunbar cement plant
19 September 2018UK: The planning department of East Lothian Council in Scotland has granted planning permission to an upgrade of Tarmac’s Dunbar cement plant. The work will include building a new cement grinding mill, a new cement storage silo and a rail loading facility. The work will also include a shed, belt conveyors pneumatic pipelines and associated works.
In its supporting statement the company said that the new cement mill was necessary to produce new grades of cement required for modern construction and the cement market. The proposed mill will replace two existing mills on the site and is intended to be more energy efficient and quieter than the existing mills. It added that the plant would benefits from rail sidings on both the south and north side of the East Coast Mainline railway line. At present trains are fed only on the south side using adjacent silos where train capacity is already fully used. Additional products are exported by road.
New Breedon director
12 September 2018UK: Peter Cornell will join the Board of Breedon Group as an independent non-executive director on 1 October 2018. He is a Partner in Metric Capital, a Special Situations Fund targeting mid-sized companies throughout Europe with approximately Euro2bn of assets currently under management.
Prior to founding Metric Capital with his two partners in 2011, Peter was a Managing Director at Terra Firma, one of Europe's leading private equity firms. He formerly spent more than 20 years with international law firm Clifford Chance, latterly as Global Managing Partner.
Peter is currently non-executive Chairman of Grant Thornton and Lexington Consultants, a professional service firm consultancy. He is also a non-executive director of Schroders Limited, F&C Commercial Property Holdings Limited and IE Business School in Madrid.
Quinn Cement launches new cement range in Ireland
12 September 2018Ireland: Quinn Cement has launched a new range of bagged cement products in Ireland following its launch previously in the UK. The company invested over Euro3m in their cement plant to bring the new range to the market, which includes three new cement products: General Purpose Cement, Master Grade Cement and Premium Grade Cement.
General Purpose Cement is intended to be a versatile cement product, suitable for general use, particularly in smaller jobs and repairs. Master Grade Cement is targeted at plastering and mortar due to its workability. Premium Grade Cement is a high-strength product at 42.5N.
“We’re delighted to bring the new range to Ireland, particularly given the success we’ve seen in the British market, where bagged cement sales have seen a huge increase since the range was launched earlier this year. News of the Irish launch has been very well received by our merchant customers, and the demand to stock the new products here has been growing since they were unveiled for the British market. In particular, we expect the weatherproof bags to be very popular across Ireland, as they have been in Britain,” said Quinn Building Products’ Irish Sales and Marketing Director, Seamus McMahon.
Breedon benefits from Lagan purchase
05 September 2018UK: Breedon Group has reported its first half results for 2018, which showed a 16% year-on-year increase in revenue to Euro419.3m and a 3% fall in profit before tax to Euro33.7m. The group completed the acquisition of Ireland-based Lagan Group during the period under review, as well as other companies in the UK.
Peter Tom CBE, Executive Chairman, commented, “This was one of the busiest periods in the Group’s history, with four acquisitions completed by 1 July 2018, including our first outside Great Britain, coupled with continued organic investment in a number of key projects. We had anticipated a challenging 2018 and so it proved in the first half, with testing trading conditions exacerbated by the severe weather in the first quarter and rising input costs throughout the period. Despite these headwinds, we delivered a resilient performance.”
“We continue to view the medium- to long-term outlook in Great Britain positively, with infrastructure spending forecast to increase steadily over the next three years and government strategies to address our chronic housing shortage expected to fuel continued growth in the residential sector. Market conditions in Ireland are expected to be even healthier, with construction output in the Republic forecast to grow by approximately 28% in the three years to 2020 and Northern Ireland expected to sustain construction output at approximately Euro3.33bn/yr from 2018 to 2022.”