Global Cement News

US: Charah Solutions has launched a proprietary fly ash thermal beneficiation technology that improves the quality of fly ash. It says that its new MP618Multi-Process technology reduces loss on ignition (LOI), ammonia, activated carbon and moisture in fly ash.

The technology allows for the beneficiation of both wet and dry fly ash. It advantages include lower costs, self-contained environmental controls that can be deployed in weeks, as opposed to years and a modular design that can be scaled up or down to increase production based on market demand.

MP618 can process both wet and dry fly ash. It can be installed at both operating and non-operating power plants, regardless of whether the fly ash is current production or legacy ash stored in ponds or landfills. The technology also allows for the processing of kiln dust to remove mercury for emissions regulations compliance. With the introduction of MP618, Charah Solutions expects to increase its supply of marketable fly ash to concrete producers and add greater value to its utility customers.

“MP618 will expand our MultiSource materials network, a unique distribution system of more than 30 nationwide sourcing locations, and improve our ability to provide a continuous and reliable supply of supplementary cementitious materials, including quality fly ash and slag cement, for ready mix concrete producers and other customers throughout the US,” said Scott Ziegler, Vice President of Byproduct Sales at Charah Solutions.

Greece: Titan Group has submitted a share exchange offer to help list its shares at exchanges in Brussels and Paris. Following the completion of the process, Belgium-based Titan Cement International will become Titan's ultimate parent company managed from Cyprus, according to Reuters. The group intends to list its shares at Euronext Brussels with secondary listings on the Athens Exchange and Euronext Paris. Titan says it wants to broaden its funding sources by improving access to international finance.

Germany: HeidelbergCement has warned that its result from current operations before depreciation will be lower than expected so far in 2018 due to poor weather in the US and rising energy costs. It maintained that its sales volumes and revenue for the first nine months of 2018 would be ‘within expectations.’ The building materials company also reassured investors that its group share of profit for 2018 would also be as expected. It will release its results for the third quarter of 2018 on 8 November 2018.

India: ACC’s net sales rose by 13% year-on-year to US$1.45bn for the first nine months of 2018 from US$1.3bn in the same period in 2017. Its sales volumes of cement grew by 8% to 20.9Mt from 19.3Mt. Its operating earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) rose by 6% to US$212m from US$200m and net profit after tax rose by 10% to US$107m from US$98m. The cement producer attributed its performance to growing cement sales that were able to offset rising input costs including coal, petcoke, diesel and slag.

Pakistan: Thatta Cement has approved a waste heat recovery project with its associated company, Thatta Power, at its annual general meeting. The two subsidiaries of the State Cement Corporation of Pakistan have ratified a waste heat utilisation agreement. The cement producer operates a 0.6Mt/yr plant at Thatta near Karachi.