Displaying items by tag: France

Netherlands: Ireland-based Ecocem has agreed a deal with Overslagbedrijf Moerdijk (OBM) to expand production and storage capacity at the company’s Moerdijk slag cement grinding plant. The project is intended to allow the unit to both produce and store the company’s advanced cement technology (ACT) product. It will quadruple the storage capacity for key materials at the site up to 40,000t. Ecocem has signed a long-term agreement to lease the site from OBM, who will manage the handling and storing materials on Ecocem’s behalf.

This expansion of the Moerdijk plant is part of Ecocem’s plans to expand its manufacturing and storage capacity to support the commercialisation of ACT across all its plants. It follows the expansion of its Dunkirk plant in France, which was announced in June 2023. These expansion plans will be supported by licencing and partnership strategies to accelerate availability and adoption of scalable low clinker cement at speed.

Conor O’Riain, Managing Director (Europe), at Ecocem, said: “We are increasing our capacity at all of our locations and our deal with OBM is a hugely important aspect of our expansion strategy. It will accelerate our ability to manufacture ACT our low clinker cement technology and make it available commercially by 2026. At the same time, we are actively pursuing licensing and partnership agreements in the construction industry to ensure the benefits of this technology are shared widely and we accelerate progress to Net Zero.”

In February 2024 Ecocem said that its ACT technology received an ETA (European Technical Assessment), which provides the technology with a route to full commercialisation by 2026.

France: Hoffmann Green Cement Technologies has commissioned its H2 plant, a 1000t/day clinker-free cement plant, adjacent to its existing H1 clinker-free cement plant in Bournezeau, Pays de la Loire. L'Usine Nouvelle News has reported that the new plant took 24 months to build and cost Euro22m. The main part of the plant consists of a 70m tower, where activated clay, ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBFS) and gypsum are mixed to produce the cement. It is installed with solar panels capable of supplying 50% of its energy consumption. The producer says that its clinker-free cement has over 90% lower CO2 emissions than cement produced with ordinary Portland cement (OPC). It aims to sell 24,000t of the product throughout 2023.

France: Hoffmann Green Cement Technologies has acquired ABC Broyage, which operates a slag grinding plant in North Dordogne. The producer says that ABC Broyage will import granulated blast furnace slag (GBFS) via La Rochelle and supply ground GBFS to its H1 and H2 green cement plants in Bournezeau. This will give Hoffmann Green Cement Technologies self-sufficiency in its raw materials processing.

Co-founders Julien Blanchard and David Hoffmann said “Managing our supply chain has always been one of Hoffmann Green's strategic priorities. After securing our supplies of co-products and their storage, we are now focusing on optimising their processing through the acquisition of ABC Broyage and the development of vertical integration.” Blanchard and Hoffmann noted that, besides strengthening the company’s control over its raw materials supply, ABC Broyage’s slag grinding capacity also secures its margins in the ‘current highly inflationary context.’

France: The Scientific and Technical Center for Building (CSTB) has certified Hoffmann Green Cement Technologies’ clinkerless H-UKR alkali-activated slag cement for structural use in buildings of all types. BusinessWire News has reported that the certification confirms the product’s safety, sustainability, lifespan and performance in conformity with Eurocode 2 and Eurocode 8 design standards.

Co-founders Julien Blanchard and David Hoffmann said “In the midst of ongoing frenetic communication regarding carbon neutrality, Hoffmann Green Cement is as usual endeavouring to back its announcements with verified and evaluated elements. The granting of these evaluations further objectifies the quality of our cement, notably with the awarding of a lifespan of 100 years. In this regard, we would like to thank the CSTB’s teams for drafting this unprecedented technical appraisal and our own teams who are working tirelessly on seeking innovative decarbonised solutions to preserve tomorrow’s world.”

UK: Ecocem and construction company Taylor Woodrow have conducted the first pour of the Exegy ultra-low CO₂ concrete at waste management site in London. The mix used on the project is reported to reduce the carbon footprint by up to 70% when compared to traditional concrete. Cemex also collaborated on the project by producing the concrete used for the pour.

The concrete product was developed by Ecocem and Vinci Construction, using Ecocem Ultra, as part of Vinci Construction’s ultra-low carbon concrete range. Ireland-based Ecocem is a producer of cement and additives made using ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBFS). Exegy is already being used at a pilot site of the Grand Paris Express and in the construction of the Athletes’ Village in Paris for the 2024 Summer Olympic Games.

Micheál McKittrick, managing director, Northern Europe, Ecocem, said, “Our Ecocem Ultra technology is already being used at scale in France, and we’re excited to now see it being adopted in the UK.” He added, “The cement and construction industries are developing and deploying a range of emission reduction technologies to help the UK Government reduce emissions by 78% by 2035, and reach net zero by 2050, and Ecocem will add a further dimension to these efforts.”

France: Hoffmann Green Cement Technologies has signed a contact with Réunion-based retailer Ravate Group, under which the latter will stock its H-Iona slag cement in its shops in Réunion, Mauritius and Mayotte until 2025.The producer says that the first deliveries will follow in late 2021.

Owners Julien Blanchard and David Hoffmann said “Providing professionals and the general public with the possibility of buying very low-carbon cement, and thus of helping fight global warming, is a source of great pride for Hoffmann. We are delighted to have signed this first H-Iona distribution contract with Ravate Group, an independent family-run business with which we share many values such as innovation and respecting the environment. This partnership will allow us to increase our current order book and generate deliveries of bags of cement from 2021. We intend to sign more partnership deals of this type in order to be able to supply H-IONA and its exceptional benefits, notably environmental benefits, to as many people as possible.”Ravate Group operates over 40 outlets.

Romania: Liberty Galați said in June 2021 that it exported 50,000t of granulated blast furnace slag (GBFS) to France. The steel company said that a French cement producer will use the GBFS along with clay and gypsum in clinker-free cement production. The alternative cement reduces CO₂ emissions by 80% compared to ordinary Portland cement (OPC), according to the supplier. Liberty Galați’s operations generate 500,000t/yr of GBFS. It says that it has cement industry customers across Europe and Africa.

General Director Aida Nechifor said “Our ambition to become carbon neutral by 2030 involves a new metallurgical route – using direct iron reduction and smelting in electric arc furnaces – increased scrap metal recycling and a transition to domestically-generated green energy. However, we are very happy to be able to ensure that even the by-products of our current production process, such as GBFS, can be used better to help reduce the carbon footprint of other products.”

France: Housing developer Ouest Réalisations has awarded a supply contract to Hoffmann Green Cement Technologies. Under the terms of the agreement, the producer will provide the housing developer with its clinker-free low-carbon cement made from blast furnace slag using its H-UKR technology. The order covers a total volume of 75,000m3 of concrete manufactured by concrete plants distributing Hoffmann Green cement, equivalent to 20,000 - 30,000t of cement, for use in Ouest Réalisations’ developments until the end of 2025. These include the 700-unit Batignolles 2025 project in Nantes and the 103-unit La Croix Blanche project in Les Sables d’Olonne.

Hoffmann Green Cement Technologies co-founders Julien Blanchard and David Hoffmann said "This five-year order commitment once again strengthens the value of our carbon-free cement solution. We are very proud to conclude our first partnership with a housing developer, and all the more so with Ouest Réalisations, a Vendée company with whom we share many values and in particular a common vision: that of decarbonising the new housing construction sector. We are looking forward to following Ouest Réalisations’ real-estate programs using our technology."

Belgium: The World Steel Association says that global steel production in the first half of 2020 was 873Mt, down by 6% year-on-year from 929Mt. Global June 2020 steel production also fell, by 7% year-on-year to 148Mt from 159Mt in June 2019 and by 0.7% month-on-month from 149Mt in May 2020. China produced 91.6Mt in June 2020, up by 4.5% from 87.7Mt, corresponding to 62% of global steel production for the month. The sharpest falls occurred in the US, by 35% to 4.7Mt from 7.2Mt, and in France, by 35% to 800,000t from 1.23Mt.

Luxembourg: ArcelorMittal plans to reduce its European steel production levels due to weak market demand and high import levels. It will reduce primary steelmaking production at its facilities in Dunkirk, France and Eisenhüttenstadt, Germany. Reduce primary steelmaking production at its facility in Bremen, Germany in the fourth quarter of 2019, where a planned blast furnace stoppage for repair works will be extended. It will extend the stoppage planned in the fourth quarter of 2019 to repair a blast furnace at its plant in Asturias, Spain.

“This is again a hard decision for us to have taken but given the level of weakness in the market, we feel it is the prudent course of action. This will be a temporary measure that will be reversed when market conditions improve. In the meantime, our employees remain our utmost priority and we are doing everything we can to ensure that the right social measures are in place to support them and their families during this difficult time,” said Geert van Poelvoorde, the chief executive officer (CEO) of ArcelorMittal Europe – Flat Products.

In early May 2019 ArcelorMittal announced its intention to temporarily idle production at its steelmaking facilities in Kraków, Poland and reduce production in Asturias, Spain. The announcement also impacted the planned increase of shipments at ArcelorMittal Italia to a 6Mt/yr run-rate. The planned increase will be slowed down following a decision to optimise cost and quality over volume in the current market environment.