Displaying items by tag: Ireland

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.

Ireland: Ecocem has launched Superfine, a ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBS) for use in specialist applications in the European market. The product is a GGBS that has been ground to a very fine particle size. It is intended to be added to other products to improve their strengths in applications such as high performance and ultra-high-performance concrete (UHPC). It can also be used to improve the finish of concrete and reduce the amount of pigment required.

Superfine will be launched across Europe, with the product already being trialled in Abu Dhabi and specified in projects across Ireland. It is designed to be used as a specialist additive in binders, industrial mortars, ultra-high performance concrete (UHPC) and precast concrete.

Susan McGarry, the managing director of Ecocem Ireland, said “After extensive time in research and development, launching Superfine onto the Irish market is testament to our global range of innovative and sustainable concrete solutions.”

Ireland: Ecocem says that its slag cement products have saved 10Mt of CO₂ emissions compared to regular cement since it started trading in 2002. It produces cement products from ground granulated blastfurnace slag (GGBS). It says its GGBS cement has a carbon footprint of 32kg CO₂/t compared to 850 - 900kg CO₂/t for Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC). The Irish company operates four plants in Europe with a production capacity of 2.4Mt/yr.

Ireland: Ecocem Material’s pre-tax profit fell by 37.5% year-on-year to Euro2.5m in 2017 from Euro4m in 216. Its costs rose by nearly 12% to Euro76.5m from Euro68.6m and its interest bill more than doubled to Euro0.3m, according to the Irish Times. The slag cement producer turnover increased by 9.4% to Euro79.4m from Euro72.6m.

Ireland: Eocem Ireland has introduced new corporate branding following growth in the Ecocem Group across Europe. The rebrand has been timed to tie in with group integration and new product launches. The ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBS) producer has adopted a new logo with a company tagline – ‘Innovation Powering Sustainability’ – to accentuate the group’s innovation and environmental sustainability. Ecocem says that the rebrand of Ecocem Ireland, which is tied in with a rebrand across the group, is an indication of the revised focus of the group over the coming years.

“It is an exciting time for the Ecocem Group as there are many areas that we are working on with our innovation teams that will bring targeted solutions to customers across Ireland and the UK enabling them to benefit from using increased percentages of GGBS within their market offerings,” said Micheál McKittrick, the Managing Director for Ecocem Ireland.

Ecocem says it is Europe’s largest independent specialist producer of GGBS cement with a capacity of 2.4Mt/yr. Developments in the organisation have seen a growing interaction across its operating regions in Ireland, Holland, France, UK and Sweden, as well as the emergence of new products. Ecocem Ireland is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Ecocem Materials and it operates a slag grinding plant in Dublin Port.

Ireland: Ecocem Ireland has appointed Micheál McKittrick as its Managing Director for Ireland and the UK. His role involves the management of all aspects of the Irish and UK operations. McKittrick is a Chartered Engineer and graduate of Trinity College Dublin. He previously worked in several senior roles with Atkins Consulting Engineers.

UK/Ireland: Ecocem is to open a new terminal at Runcorn to increase its exports of slag cement to the UK. A second terminal in the south east of the UK will be opened later in 2016, according to the Irish Times. It has invested Euro5m towards building both terminals. The ground granulated blastfurnace slag (GGBS) producer is targeting the UK market due to demand for cement coupled with changes in the coal and steel industries.

The company says it has received orders for 200,000t of slag cement in its first year and that it is not taking any further orders. Opening its second terminal in the UK is anticipated to give it access to 80% of the UK market. Ecocem produces slag cement at three grinding plants in Dublin in Ireland, Moerdijk in the Netherlands and at Fos in France.