Displaying items by tag: US

US: Vicat subsidiary National Cement has received a fine of US$148,000 from the Alabama Department of Environmental Management (ADEM) for exceeding mercury emissions regulations over a 123-day period between May 2019 and February 2020 at its integrated Ragland plant in Alabama. The Daily Home newspaper has reported that unexpectedly high mercury levels in coal and other raw materials burned as fuel during that time caused the breach, which the company immediately reported to ADEM.

National Cement president Spencer Weitman said, “The issue took several months to fix.” Multiple upgrades and operational changes solved the issue, including installation of a US$400,000 mercury absorption carbon injection system. ADEM said, “National Cement did not economically benefit from the emissions violations.”

In January 2020 National Cement began work on construction of a new US$250m kiln line, due for completion in 2022.

Canada/US: Lehigh Cement says that it has adopted the latest North American Product Category Rules (PCR) across its entire product range.

Lehigh Hanson Canada regional cement sales and logistics vice president Shawn McMillan said, “We have made it one of our top priorities to benchmark and lower our CO₂ emissions with ambitious targets. Much like food nutrition labels highlight calorific values, our plant and product-specific environmental product declarations (EPD) communicate the environmental impact through global warming potential (GWP) for cement in a simple and easy-to-understand manner. We intend to use the added product transparency to more effectively gain adoption for our lower carbon products. We have several research projects and studies on-going to continue to optimise the carbon impacts from cement and concrete.”

US: Cemex has announced that its De Zavala and Tyler cement terminals, both in Texas, have received the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Energy Star certification for energy efficiency. The De Zavala terminal reduced its energy intensity by 53% between June 2015 and June 2020, while the Tyler terminal reduced its intensity by 39% over the same period, both exceeding their five-year targets of a 10% reduction.

US: Bruks Siwertell has launched a new branding, including a brand new logo. Group chief executive officer (CEO) Peter Jonsson said, “Our new appearance is part of a recognition process. It shows customers that Bruks and Siwertell products are part of the same family, and enables the instant association of our equipment with the ability to add value to operations, generate profitability and offer an impressive return on investment for their owners.” He added, “We have grown our business significantly over the last few years and this is a natural stage in our transformation process: a new look to show the market that we are bigger than our individual brands.”

Mexico: Elementia has appointed Jaime Rocha Font as its new chief executive officer (CEO) with effect from 2 September 2020. He succeeds Fernando Ruiz Jacques, who will focus on, “new business and development opportunities.” Rocha and Ruiz will work together over the transition process.

Rocha is currently the CEO of Elementia’s Cement Division, including Cementos Fortaleza in Mexico and Costa Rica, as well as Giant Cement Holding in the US. He holds 29 years of experience in the cement industry, and prior to Elementia he held a number of senior positions at Holcim. He has a degree in Civil Engineering from Universidad Católica de Chile and an MBA and postgraduate studies from the IMD in Switzerland, the Free University of Brussels in Belgium and IPADE in Mexico.

France: Vicat says that group business activity increased month-on-month between April and May 2020. In a special update on business in the context of the coronavirus, the company said that the outbreak’s impacts varied across the 12 countries in which it operates, all of which locked down due to the pandemic.

In France, the level of business is “slightly lower” than in May 2019 following a steady recovery from a “strong slowdown in mid-March 2020.” Macroeconomic and competition issues continue in Egypt and Turkey, not however due to the coronavirus outbreak, while volumes and prices have generally increased in Switzerland, the US, Brazil and Western Africa, except in Senegal, where the government has cancelled infrastructure projects. Following the pan-Indian lockdown between 24 March 2020 and 17 April 2020, business in India has resumed, albeit at a “level significantly below that of the same period of 2019.”

The group says that it is planning cost-cutting measures and has postponed a planned US price rise to late 2020.

Australia: James Hardie has revised its guidance for the quarter ending 30 June 2020, the fourth quarter of the Australian fiscal year 2020, following “improved housing market activity, particularly in North America.” Australian Associated Press – Financial News has reported that James Hardie has revised its North American fibre cement boards volumes growth estimate to 1% year-on-year from a 3% drop previously. It expects Australian volumes to remain constant year-on-year, as previously predicted, and European volumes in the quarter to fall by 13%, rather than by 16%.

US: Hawaiian Cement has announced the relocation of its Kahului Harbour cement terminal to an adjacent facility, previously occupied by a sugar company. The Maui News newspaper has reported the reason for the relocation as a disruption caused by operations at the terminal to a neighbouring company’s unloading operations, which caused “a significant constraint to operations and safety at Pier 2.” The new terminal, adjoining Pier 3, will have two cement silos with a joint capacity of 6000t, up by 88% from 3200t. Hawaiian Cement says that this will enable it to meet 100% of demand on the island of Maui.

US: Bulk materials handling specialist Conveyor Components has announced the launch of the Tripper Position Switch (TPS), a control unit consisting of two SP/DT micro switches rated for 20A at 120V, 240V or 480V. The unit indicates when the tripper of a shuttle conveyor is located on a multiple discharge point and will activate the dumper when signalled. Conveyor Components says that the device is housed in a “cast aluminium enclosure rated for NEMA 4 weather-proof or NEMA 7/9 explosion proof.”

Switzerland: LafargeHolcim has announced its participation in a project aimed at increasing the height of wind turbine towers by producing larger bases on-site using 3D concrete printing technology. LafargeHolcim will supply concrete for use with Denmark-based COBOD’s 3D printing technology, while US-based GE Renewable Energy backs the project. The method enables bases to exceed the 4.5m maximum diameter necessitated by road transportation. This increases the maximum height of turbine towers by 100% to 200m from 100m, which in turn raises power generation by 33% to 20.2GWh/yr from 15.1GWh/yr.

LafargeHolcim research and development head Edelio Bermejo said, “Concrete 3D printing is a very promising technology for us, as its incredible design flexibility expands the realm of construction possibilities. Being both a user and promoter of clean energy, we are delighted to be putting our material and design expertise to work in this ground-breaking project, enabling cost efficient construction of tall wind turbine towers and accelerating access to renewable energy”