Displaying items by tag: US

US: Heidelberg Materials North America and Levy Group of Companies signed a granulated blast furnace slag (GBFS) supply contract on 9 August 2023. Under the contract, Levy Group of Companies will supply Heidelberg Materials North America with 400,000t/yr of GBFS for use in its slag cement production. Deliveries will begin in early 2024. Heidelberg Materials North America says that it has upgraded its Speed cement plant in Indiana to increase the efficiency with which it grinds GBFS. Following the inauguration of its nearby 2.4Mt/yr Mitchell cement plant in June 2023, Heidelberg Materials North America plans to transition the 1Mt/yr to 100% speciality and slag cement production. Levy Group of Companies will supply the GBFS from steel industry sites in the Midwest Region.

Heidelberg Materials Midwest US president Axel Conrads said “Our agreement with the Levy Group of Companies to secure a consistent supply of slag granules will help us accelerate the transition of the Speed plant to slag cement production and better meet the increasing demand for more sustainable cement products in the growing Midwest market.”

US: Harsco Corporation has changed its name to Enviri Corporation. It says that the new name and brand identity reflect its transformation since the late 2010s into a company that provides services to manage, recycle and reuse waste and by-product materials across many industries. Its subsidiaries - Harsco Environmental, Clean Earth and Harsco Rail - will continue to operate under their existing names as divisions of Enviri.

Nick Grasberger, chair and chief executive officer of Enviri Corporation, said “As we considered where we are today, how our business has evolved and our commitment to the environment, it is important to have a name and brand identity that align with this image.”

US: Heidelberg Materials North America has inaugurated the Port Canaveral slag cement plant and terminal in Florida, following an expansion. MENAFN News has reported that the producer invested US$24m in the installation of a new roller press at the facility.

Heidelberg Materials North America said "Heidelberg Materials' investment in the Port Canaveral slag cement facility is reflective of our commitment to supporting sustainable and resilient construction projects in the state of Florida and throughout the country. It is also aligned with our goal to significantly reduce our carbon footprint by 2030 and another milestone in our overall strategy to grow our portfolio of more sustainable products, technologies and customer-focused solutions on the path to Net Zero."

UK: SteelPhalt, a subsidiary of US-based Harsco Environmental, has been awarded a research grant through the Industrial Energy Transformation Fund (IETF). The grant is part of a government effort to distribute funding to help energy-intensive industries cut their carbon emissions and energy costs. The grant funds will enable the company to conduct a feasibility study on energy-efficient solutions for asphalt production. The research will seek to identify ways to capture the waste heat in the exhaust gases and transform it into electrical power, with the objective of reducing the energy demand and carbon impact of the process. The company uses steel slag as a main component of its asphalt products.

US: The Slag Cement Association (SCA) has announced the winners of its 2022 Slag Cement in Sustainable Concrete Awards program at the ACI Concrete Convention that took place in San Francisco in early April 2023.

Eighteen construction projects from across the US were chosen to showcase the broad applications of slag cement. These construction projects were awarded in six categories: infrastructure, high performance, architectural, durability, innovative applications, and lower carbon concrete. Two research projects on slag cement use were also recognised in the program. The slag cement and concrete suppliers included Argos, Heidelberg Materials, Holcim, Ozinga, Skyway Cement and St Marys Cement.

US: Research by the United States Geological Survey (USGS) estimates that local sales of iron and steel (ferrous) slags were 15Mt in 2022 with a value of around US$795m. This is a slight decrease from the 15.7Mt reported in 2021. 49% of the volume sold in 2022 was blast furnace slag and this accounted for the majority of the total value of the slag. Steel slag produced from basic oxygen and electric arc furnaces accounted for the remainder of sales. Around 2Mt of slag was imported for consumption.

The USGS said that slag was processed by 25 companies servicing active iron and steel facilities or reprocessing old slag piles at about 123 processing plants in 33 states, including facilities that import and grind unground slag to sell as ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBFS). It added that domestic GGBFS remained in limited supply in 2022 because granulation cooling was available at only two active US-based blast furnaces and only one local plant produced pelletised slag in limited supply. It noted that granulated blast furnace slag was only ground domestically by cement companies.

US: Harsco Environmental’s Total Recordable Incident Rate (TRIR) fell by 27% year-on-year to 0.45 in 2022 from 0.62 in 2021. The division of Harsco Corporation says it is its third consecutive year of improvements in workplace health and safety. It was attributed this to its Visible Felt Leadership program, which launched in 2021. The initiative is focused on engaging and empowering employees to take personal responsibility for safety and communicate with their peers and leaders when they spot health and safety concerns.

In 2022, Harsco Environmental added four International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 45001 certified sites. With the addition of these four sites, Harsco Environmental has a total of 65 ISO 45001 certified sites globally.

US: Royal White Cement has leased a site on the Houston Ship Channel in Houston, Texas. Local press has reported that the company plans to build its second cement terminal in the city there. The Houston Peninsula Terminal will operate unloading systems for the storage of cement across three facilities at the site. It is also equipped with multiple railway tracks and heavy truck loading facilities. Royal White Cement owner Marcel Fadi said that the move would help the producer to expand its footprint in Houston and beyond.

Fadi said "We have long operated in the Houston market, but this direct access to storage and bulk unloading along the channel will provide greater efficiencies and flexibility, allowing Royal White Cement to handle and store approximately 100,000t of multiple cementitious products such as slag, grey cement, and white cement."

US: The Slag Cement Association (SCA) has released the curriculum for its Slag Cement University. The initiative is intended to be an educational resource on slag cement use in concrete construction for university professors and students. Teachers are encouraged to incorporate the content into existing construction management course material. The educational material was curated and developed by SCA members and staff to provide an overview of the applications, uses, and benefits of slag cement use. Content includes syllabus, exam questions, slide decks, and pre-recorded presentations on various topics.

US: The Slag Cement Association (SCA) has announced the recipients of its 2021 Slag Cement in Sustainable Concrete Awards program. Thirteen construction projects were chosen to showcase the broad applications of slag cement and its impact on creating more durable and sustainable concrete. The infrastructure winners included projects with slag cement supplied by companies including Argos USA, Cemex, Lehigh Hanson, Ozinga, Skyway and St Mary’s Cement. These projects included work on roads, bridges, residential construction, a concert venue, a sport stadium, airports, a theme park and a hydroelectric dam. Two research projects on slag cement from Cleveland State University and Florida State University were also recognised.