Cuba: The production of ‘low-carbon’ (LC3) cement consisting of clinker, calcined clay, limestone and gypsum has begun at Marta Abreu University’s 1460t/yr pilot integrated cement plant in Las Villas. The Granma newspaper has reported that the plant is currently producing 4t/day of cement, and plans to double this to 8t/day when fully operational.

India: UltraTech Cement’s consolidated net sales grew by 8% year-on-year to US$1.39bn in the second quarter of its financial year to 30 September 2020 from US$1.29bn in the same period in 2019. Its profit after tax more than doubled to US$167m from US$78.5m. The group attributed its progress to, “strong quarterly performance on the back of operational efficiencies and its ability to serve all India markets.”

It added that it had focused on health and safety and ‘efficient working conditions’ as it had gradually resumed operations following coronavirus-related lockdown restrictions. Overall, the group’s revenue from operations fell by 14% year-on-year to US$2.44bn in the first half of its financial year from US$2.85bn in the same period in 2019.

Germany: Mining equipment supplier Halbach & Braun has announced its 100th anniversary, and says that it has postponed an official ceremony for the event until after Covid-19 lockdown restrictions are over.

Sales and marketing director Uwe Hackenberger gave, “very special thanks to our partners, the Yangquan Coal Industry Group, whose support paved the way for us to enter a new home market. Together and strong enough for the future, we are now able to supply complete mining systems from one source.” He added, “We would also like to thank our employees, suppliers, banks and state and local politicians who have always supported us with all their strength and accompanied us on our journey through the century.”

Germany: Robecco says that it took over the inerting business from Yara on 1 September 2020. The acquisition is intended to support customers and their future needs. The company says that combination of Yara’s inerting systems and robecco’s monitoring and control technology is a ‘unique tailor-made solution’ to maximise safety in preventive explosion protection.

With over 25 years’ experience, Robecco has become a specialist in preventive explosion protection and can provide complete packages of equipment for monitoring, control and CO₂ / N₂ inerting systems from a single source and one interface according to the relevant international and European norms and rules. The company holds long-established business relationships with customers worldwide providing preventive explosion protection solutions and automation services for the integration of explosion protection solutions into customers’ systems.