Displaying items by tag: UK

UK: HeidelbergCement’s subsidiary Hanson is supplying its Regen GGBS (ground granulated blastfurnace slag) cement replacement for a project to build a new tidal barrier across the New Cut River in Ipswich. The Euro24m project is being managed by the Environment Agency to protect properties at risk of flooding.

The work is being carried out by VBA, a joint venture between VolkerStevin, Boskalis Westminster and Atkins, and is due to be fully operational by September 2018.

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.

UK: David Ball Group has run a series of trials with Bouygues UK of its Cemfree concrete product at a redevelopment scheme at the Gascoigne Housing Estate in Barking, London. The group says that the trial went ‘exceptionally’ well and teaming Cemfree with Bouygues UK further down the line on future projects looks ‘hopeful.’ Cemfree is a low carbon concrete made using ground blast furnace slag (GGBS).

“We are always looking for new ways to innovate, and the carbon-saving potential of Cemfree is considerable. Initial trials have been very positive and we will continue to explore its potential as a sustainable alternative to traditional concrete – a hugely exciting possibility,” said Jean-Marie Perret, a project manager for Bouygues UK, who is leading the Cemfree trials for the Gascoigne Estate.

UK: Gary Brennand has been appointed as the Group Commercial Manager at David Ball Group. He has worked in the construction materials industry for 17 years, starting his career as an aggregates and asphalt technician before moving on to commercial, operational and general management roles in companies such as Aggregate Industries, Hope Cement and the Breedon Group. Brennand holds an MBA in Business Administration.

Europe: Tata Steel and ThyssenKrupp have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to create a European steel company by merging their flat steel businesses in Europe and including ThyssenKrupp’s steel mill. The proposed 50:50 joint venture will have its headquarters in Amsterdam and will be able to supply around 21Mt/yr of flat steel products.

“The Tata Group and ThyssenKrupp have a strong heritage in the global steel industry and share similar culture and values. This partnership is a momentous occasion for both partners, who will focus on building a strong European steel enterprise. The strategic logic of the proposed joint venture in Europe is based on very strong fundamentals and I am confident that ThyssenKrupp Tata Steel will have a great future,” said N Chandrasekaran, the chairman of Tata Steel.

The merger will create the region’s second largest steel producer after ArcelorMittal. Cost synergies of up to Euro600m/yr are expected through the integration of commercial functions, research and development and other supporting activities. In addition to this, ThyssenKrupp Tata Steel would seek to improve capacity utilisation of the network across the three hubs of Ijmuiden in the Netherlands, Duisburg in Germany and Port Talbot in the UK and their related downstream facilities.

UK: Kostas Koutselas has been appointed as the Group Technology Manager at David Ball Group. Previously he worked in senior technical and research roles for Aggregate Industries, Unibeton and Fosroc, including international positions in Dubai and Qatar.

UK: Hanson has re-opened its ground granulated blast-furnace slag (GGBS) grinding plant at Teesport Docks in Middlesbrough. Euro2.4m has been spent on starting up the plant again and 20 new jobs have been created.

The plant was mothballed in 2009 following the financial crisis in 2007. A continuing upturn in construction activity prompted Hanson to return to the site in 2016 and prepare it for re-opening. Slag for the plant will now be imported following the closure of a local steel plant.

“It has taken nine months to get up and running again. One of the main problems we had to overcome was to replace all the copper wiring, which had been meticulously stripped out by thieves,” said site manager Duncan Felgate.

Hanson sells its ground granulated blast furnace slag under the Regen brand name and operates a further two UK production plants at Purfleet in Essex and Port Talbot in south Wales.

UK: David Ball, founder of the Cambridge-based David Ball Group, has announced he is standing down from the board and operational activities. Ball, who has been chairman of the company for 46 years, said that he will now focus on ‘other interests.’ Ball’s daughter, Victoria Ball will join the board as a non-executive director.

“My business interests have always been driven by the needs of the market and pressing global issues: sustainability, a major concern of our time, drove me to co-invent Cemfree. I will continue to pursue my interests, both in the construction arena and in the area of ethical business practice, which has long been a passion. I am confident that the business will continue to grow and prosper in this exciting new phase,” said Ball.

Ball founded the company in 1970, focusing on special sands and cements. David Ball Group developed Pudlo into a concrete waterproofing systems and invented Cemfree, a low carbon concrete made using ground blast furnace slag (GGBS).

UK: Francis Flower’s logistics partner, Turners, has added 18 new vehicles to its fleet to help support the production of ground granulated blast-furnace slag (GGBS) at its Scunthorpe grinding plant. The new vehicles will carry out a variety of tasks, including tramping and day deliveries from Scunthorpe. The DAF vehicles, a mix of eight XF 440 FTP and 10CF 440 FTP models with light mid-lift axles and all fitted with Space Cabs, will be coupled with 18 new, specialised Feldbinder bulk powder tankers on the GGBS work across the UK.