UK: DB Group has supplied its Cemfree concrete product to a site in Birmingham, West Midlands for use by the Environment Agency in a flood defence project. It says that the agency will use the concrete “for kerb bedding and backing over several kilometres in conjunction with various recycled products in an effort to reduce the projects’ carbon footprint.” Cemfree is a low carbon concrete made using ground blast furnace slag (GGBS) and pulverised fly ash.

Bahrain: Angles and beams producer SULB Company has renewed its steel mill services contract with US-based Harsco Environmental. The supplier has held the contract since 2012.

Harsco Environmental vice president and chief operating officer (COO) Russ Mitchell said, “We are pleased to continue working with SULB. It is an innovative customer which has leveraged our sustainable solutions to maximise environmental benefit and return valuable raw material into production. The multiple renewals speak to the mutual trust and understanding which has been forged with SULB over a long-term and meaningful working relationship.”

Luxembourg: Paul Wurth marked its 150th anniversary on 4 November 2020 by expressing its thanks to “Customers and partners for the faith they have placed in us and in our technologies during so many years. From supplying metal structures to local steelmakers at the beginnings to the present transformation of the industry towards decarbonised production processes, the prime objective of our business strategy has always been to listen to our customers and meet their requirements with added-value solutions.”

The group also expressed its hope for a “safe situation and positive mood” in which to connect with customers to “celebrate this important anniversary in a festive way, even with half a year of delay,” in mid-2021.

US: CRH subsidiary Ash Grove Cement says that it is undertaking an upgrade of its Port Manatee, Florida deep water cement terminal to install a high capacity FLSmidth Kovako unloader and modernise existing material transfer and electrical systems, as well as establishing self-loading capabilities. The aim of the upgrade is “to improve Ash Grove’s capacity to import cement clinker, slag and fly ash to meet the existing and future needs of customers in the Florida and South Georgia markets.

Regional president Monica Manolas said, “The underlying fundamentals in the Florida market are positive with good population and employment growth. The upgrade of the Port Manatee import terminal will expand our capabilities and strengthen our ability to meet growing demand in the region.”

The company says that construction will begin in early 2021 and the upgraded terminal will open in late 2021.