Global Cement News

UK: Welding Alloys says that it has carried out maintenance on a vertical roller mill at HeidelbergCement subsidiary Hanson’s 1.0Mt/yr Purfleet slag plant in Essex, repairing the mill’s Loesche 46 2+2S grinding table and rollers. The company said that the mill, which had ground 3500t of granulated blast furnace slag (GBFS), was “in urgent need of refurbishment.” Following a wear audit, Welding Alloys took the grinding components back to the profile template using its Integra Wire Mill products.

The group said that “both companies overcame the challenges of completing the project within the limited shutdown period while complying with the Covid-19 lockdown measures.”

US: LafargeHolcim subsidiary Holcim US has rebranded its blended cement and supplementary cementitious materials range as Envirocore. Envirocore products include OneCem Portland limestone cement, MaxCem blended cement and NewCem slag cement.

The company noted that the partial substitution of cement with supplementary cementitious materials “not only results in more durable, high-performance concrete, but also lowers energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. CO₂ emissions are reduced by approximately 800,000kg/t of clinker replaced.” It also called on consumers to “adopt solutions that lower carbon emissions.”

Thailand: King Monkut's University of Technology Thonburi has conducted a cradle-to-grave analysis of the environmental impacts of 1t of cement from neighbouring Myanmar. The study concluded that the cement’s production had major environmental impacts in terms of “climate change, photochemical oxidant formation, fine particular matter formation, terrestrial acidification, fossil resource scarcity, damage to ecosystems and damage to human health. Resultantly, researchers concluded that “some improvement measures should be considered, which include upgrading the cement manufacturing process, increasing the share of clinker substitutes, utilising alternative fuels, optimising energy efficiency and implementing energy recovery technologies."

Pakistan: Lucky Cement has partnered with Hunar Foundation to launch scholarships for dedicated vocational training programmes for eligible young people in Lakki Marwat District, Khyber Pakthunkhwa Province. The Daily Messenger has reported that the company said that the scheme aims to “empower the youth of Pakistan through skill development.”

Pakistan: The Competition Commission of Pakistan (CCP) has conducted a search of the All Pakistan Cement Manufacturers Association (APCMA) headquarters in Lahore, Punjab Province as part of it investigation into alleged anticompetitiveness by cement producers. The Daily Frontier Star has reported that the aim of the search was “to gather evidence of possible communication, arrangement, agreement or understanding between cement producers pertaining to the alleged violation of the provisions of the Competition Act.” The CCP launched the investigation in May 2020 following a request from the Ministry of Industries and Production (MoIP).