Displaying items by tag: US
US: Vulcan Materials has reported that it made a first-quarter profit, helped by a recent asset sale and improved revenues. Vulcan reported a profit of US$54m. This compares to a loss of US$54.8m in the first quarter of 2013.
Vulcan's revenue for the quarter climbed by 6.7% year-on-year to US$574.4m. Net sales were up by 9% to US$44m and adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) came in at US$39m, compared to US$26m in the first quarter of 2013.
The latest reporting period included a gain of US$1.04/share related to the sale of the company's Florida-area cement and concrete assets in March 2014 to Colombia's Cementos Argos. Excluding that benefit and other items, the company had a first-quarter loss of US$0.28/share compared to a loss of US$0.47/share in the same period of 2013.
Don James, Chairman and CEO of Vulcan Materials said, "We continue to experience strengthening demand in each of our end markets and across most of our footprint. Our operations and sales teams continue to deliver strong incremental margins."
US: Gebr. Pfeiffer Inc., the US subsidiary of Germany's Gebr. Pfeiffer SE, has been contracted to supply a new raw material vertical roller mill for the Holcim (US) Hagerstown plant as part of a wider renovation project. The order was placed through KHD Humboldt Wedag, which is the engineering and equipment supplier for the Hagerstown plant modernisation. KHD has been contracted to modify the existing production line to increase the plant's potential production rate to approximately 2400t/day and to comply with the new NESHAP environmental regulations.
KHD's scope of supply begins with modifying the raw material feed system and continues through to the clinker handling system and storage hall. As part of the solution, a new raw material grinding mill, the MPS 3750 B, along with all related engineering services will be supplied by Gebr. Pfeiffer, Inc. The raw material grinding mill includes a rotary air lock with drive, MPS 3750 B mill, an SLS 3150 B high efficiency classifier and includes Gebr. Pfeiffer's patented 'Lift and Swing' technology.
Commissioning for this project is planned for mid-2016.
Papadopoulos announces retirement from Titan America
16 April 2014US: Titan Group has announced that after 20 years at the helm of Titan America, Aris Papadopoulos will retire from the position of CEO, effective 1 August 2014. According to a release, he will become Executive Chairman of ST Equipment & Technologies (STET), reporting to the Group CEO and also serve as an advisor.
The company noted that, commencing with a 1994 joint venture with Roanoke Cement, Papadopoulos led Titan America through a growth trajectory that included the acquisition of Tarmac America and Separation Technologies, modernising the company's two cement plants, numerous operational expansions and multiple concrete acquisitions.
"During Aris' tenure, Titan America grew from a cement joint-venture in Roanoke, Virginia, to the pre-eminent East Coast construction materials producer," said Dimitri Papalexopoulos, CEO of Titan Group. "Aris, more than anyone else, has shaped Titan America over two decades."
Bill Zarkalis, Group CFO since 2010, will succeed Papadopoulos. Zarkalis joined the Group in 2008 as Director of Business Development. He previously held executive positions at Dow Chemical. As CEO-designate, he will work closely with Papadopoulos to ensure a smooth transition. Michael Colakides will become Group CFO, effective 16 May 2014. Colakides recently returned to the Group as Senior Strategy Advisor after more than a decade in several banking industry executive roles.
Ravena cement plant rebuild to launch amidst merger
10 April 2014US: The rebuilding of Lafarge's Ravena cement plant will move ahead days after the announcement of the Lafarge-Holcim merger. Construction will begin on 11 April 2014.
"We are moving forward with our current plans on the Ravena plant modernisation," said Lafarge US communications director Joelle Lipski-Rockwood. The rebuilding is part of a December 2010 settlement with state and federal officials to dramatically reduce emissions of NOx and SO2 at Lafarge's plants in the state of New York.
Two kilns that date from the 1950s will be replaced by a modern kiln with advanced pollution controls. Pollution at the Ravena plant, which sits across from the local high school, has concerned many local residents for many years. The new plant, which is expected to be running by mid-2017, will emit no more than 26.8kg/yr of mercury. In 2012 the plant emitted 63.5kg of mercury and in 2011 it emitted 64.9kg.
The project was initially due to be completed by the end of 2015, but in 2013 Lafarge received an extension from the state Department of Environmental Conservation in exchange for greater pollution cuts. As part of the emissions agreement, Lafarge also would have spent US$2m to retrain workers if plans to rebuild the plant were shelved and the plant was closed.
US: Essroc's cement plant in Nazareth, Pennsylvania has earned certification for superior energy efficiency from the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The Energy Star certification signifies that the plant performs in the top 25% of similar facilities nationally and meets the strict energy efficiency performance levels set by the EPA.
The plant has recently improved its performance by managing its energy strategically across the entire organisation and by making cost-effective improvements, such as meters, LED, low-voltage lighting, timers and sensors. To earn the certification, the plant established a local energy team to discuss actions to be implemented to lower energy consumption, establish an action plan and review progress of those being implemented.
"Energy reduction is the most important part of the programme. The certification is the cherry on top of the cake," said Jean Paul-Morel, Essroc's chief electrical engineer.
Changing the fuels mix in North America
26 March 2014Three news stories this week cover the gamut of fuels used by the cement industry in North America.
First we had an example of the changing trends in fossil fuel usage when TruStar Energy announced a deal to supply compressed gas to Argos USA. Then we moved to an example of recycled fuels used in co-processing when chemical waste firm ChemCare trumpeted its 100 million gallon milestone (that's 379,000m3 to the rest of the world) in supplying fuel-quality waste to the Lafarge co-processing subsidiary Systech Environmental. Finally, Cemex rounded off the main fuels groups with renewables, when it released pans to build a US$600m wind farm project in north-east Mexico.
Obviously fossil fuels still dominate in kilns north of the Darian Gap, as they do almost everywhere else, and fuel buyers wouldn't be doing their job properly if they weren't searching for the next best deal. Yet the range here shows a dynamic industry.
Jan Theulen from HeidelbergCement pointed out one example in the US at the recent Global CemFuels Conference held in Vienna. Here, rising landfill prices are increasing opportunities for alternative fuels use alongside changing US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) permitting for solid recovered fuel. Alternative fuels consultant Dirk Lechtenberg, in an interview with Global Cement Magazine in February 2014, singled out the US as one country that is developing its alternative fuels use. As he explained, "Even though the fossil fuel prices are quite low in the US, the industry is developing supply chains for alternative fuels to be more independent with their fuels sourcing."
This race between cheaper fossil fuels in the US (via shale gas) and increasing development in alternative fuels is fascinating. Specifically: why is it happening now? Gas prices have fallen and demand for cement is returning in the US. The annual mean Henry Hub natural gas spot price in the US fell from US$8.86/million BTU in 2008 to a low of US$2.75/million BTU in 2012. This compares to up to US$15/million BTU in Japan and US$9/million BTU in Europe.
Public environmental pressure made manifest by the policies of the EPA and general increased knowledge about co-processing may be factors for the surge in alternative fuels investment. Long lead times for alternative fuels schemes may be another. Planners making a decision about what fuels mix to pursue in 2008 at the start of the recession might well have bet on alternatives to spread their risk. Yet the cause could be something else, as shale gas takes over higher paying industries, such as electrical generation, and the cement industry continues to be priced out of the leftovers.
Ultimately what burns in a cement kiln comes down to price. Depending on how the shale gas market plays out in North America it would be ironic if 'frackers', the bogeymen of current environmentalists, inadvertently cleaned up the cement industry.
US: Chemical distributor Univar has shipped 379,000M3 (100 million gallons) of fuel-quality waste from its waste chemical business, ChemCare, to Systech Environmental, a subsidiary of Lafarge. The two companies have been in partnership in waste management since 1989.
"We are committed to responsible waste management for our ChemCare customers, including the recycling of materials wherever possible. Our 25 year partnership with Systech has been an outstanding reflection of this, enabling the responsible disposal of waste while providing an alternative fuel source for cement kilns," said Greg Vas Nunes, vice president of ChemCare. Systech Environmental added that the arrangement had prevented the generation of 800,000t of CO2.
ChemCare provides waste management service that collects both hazardous and non-hazardous waste products at customer locations in the US and Canada. It then works with partners in the waste disposal business to transport these materials to licensed third-party treatment, storage and disposal facilities.
Systech Environmental processes hazardous and non-hazardous industrial waste for use as fuel in cement kilns. It is actively processing or marketing fuels at 16 cement plants in the US.
US: After five years in the red in its US business, Taiheiyo Cement expects to return the segment to profitability in the year that ends in March 2015, according to company president Shuji Fukuda.
The American subsidiary had been a major source of revenue, raking in just over US$200m in 2006, but began posting losses after the 2008 financial crisis hit. With the US housing market slow to recover, the subsidiary has remained stuck in the red year after year.
However, the segment is doing more business, particularly on the West Coast, while the average selling price rose by 10% in 2013.
CeraTech establishes new standard for sustainable cement
20 February 2014US: CeraTech has announced the release of an Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) for ekkomaxx™ cement concrete. This is the first EPD completed for a non-Portland bulk cement.
The EPD confirms that CeraTech has produced a cement system with a virtually zero-carbon footprint, a 95% reduction in the use of virgin resources and a 50% reduction in the use of water.
The cement system comprises 95% recycled fly ash and 5% liquid additives. Meeting ASTM International C1157 as a hydraulic cement system, it is accepted by industry standards, codes and rating systems, including the American Concrete Institute (ACI), International Code Council (ICC) and the United States Green Building Council (USGBC).
"The growing interest in sustainable construction has fuelled industry-wide interest in CeraTech. Our recently completed EPD and Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) for ekkomaxx independently validates our having established a new industry standard as the greenest, most sustainable concrete available in the world," said Jon Hyman, CeraTech's president and CEO.
Release of the third-party validated EPD followed the guidelines set forth by the Carbon Leadership Forum's North America Product Category Rules (PCR). Independent verification was conducted by the Athena Sustainable Materials Institute under the National Ready Mixed Concrete Association's (NRMCA) Programme Operator Rules.
According to Narayanan Neithalath, senior sustainability scientist and associate professor of the School of Sustainable Engineering and Built Environment at Arizona State University, "This EPD and LCA quantify the environmental benefits of well-designed cement systems that do not use Portland cement as a binder. CeraTech's next-generation, environmentally-responsible cement is eminently suitable for several high-end, special-performance applications and should be well-received by companies and organisations that are committed to sustainable, green construction."
Gebr. Pfeiffer wins Ravena upgrade contract
10 February 2014US: Lafarge North America has contracted Gebr. Pfeiffer Inc. to supply an MVR vertical roller mill as part of the overall modernisation project underway at the Lafarge Ravena plant located in the Town of Coeymans, New York. The modernisation project will replace the current wet process kiln with a dry line, allowing the plant to cut emissions and also increase its capacity.
A Gebr. Pfeiffer MVR 6000 R-6 will be installed in a complete new line at the plant, replacing two existing raw material mills. The scope of supply will also includes a 5600kW motor, engineering, supply and related services. Commissioning for this project is planned for the middle of 2016.