Global Slag News

US: Essroc Italcementi Group has signed an agreement with Holcim to purchase its slag cement grinding facility in Camden, New Jeresy. As part of the transaction, Essroc will also obtain Holcim's cement terminal in Everett, Massachusetts. The acquisition will finalise when the pending Holcim and Lafarge merger completes later in 2015.

"The acquisition of the Camden slag grinding facility reiterates Essroc's commitment to the northeast market," said Francesco Carantani, Essroc's president and chief executive officer. "With the focus on sustainability and durability, there is a projected growth in the demand and usage of slag cement."

The Camden facility can produce upwards of 700,000t/yr of slag cement. Essroc currently produces slag cement at its Picton, Ontario, and San Juan, Puerto Rico, cement plants and at its slag grinding facility in Middlebranch, Ohio. With the addition of Camden, Essroc has a combined annual production capacity in excess of 1Mt/yr. Holcim's staff in Camden and Everett will join Essroc once the transaction completes.

India: Rashtriya Ispat Nigam (RINL) is seeking partners to set up a joint venture 6Mt/yr cement plant in Vizag, Andhra Pradesh at a cost of US$472m. The government-run steel producer is currently in the process of floating a global tender inviting expressions of interest from interested parties.

RINL's interest in the project is to use fly ash and slag generated at its 2.9Mt/yr Visakhapatnam steel plant. Previously, RINL sought partners for the project in 2011 for a 3Mt/yr cement plant at a cost of around US$200m. RINL has since decided to increase the production capacity of the proposed project to over 6Mt/yr due the amount of fly ash and slag it produces. At present 1.2Mt/yr of slag is sold to local cement producers.

US: Lafarge and Holcim have announced further details on the package of assets that they propose to divest in the US as part of their planned merger to create LafargeHolcim. The divestments include:

- Lafarge's 1.1Mt/yr Davenport cement plant in Iowa and seven terminals along the Mississippi River. The units will be sold to Summit Materials for US$450m in cash plus Summit's Bettendorf, Iowa cement terminal;
- Holcim terminals in Michigan and Illinois;
- Holcim Skyway 600,000t/yr slag grinding station in Illinois;
- Holcim Camden 700,000t/yr slag grinding station in New Jersey, along with a terminal in Massachusetts.

The proposed divestments have been negotiated with the staff of the Federal Trade Commission and remain subject to review and approval by the commission. The divestments will be completed subject to acceptance by the commission and to the closing of the merger between Holcim and Lafarge.

Korea: Korean researchers have developed a new cement-producing technology using reduced iron and steel slag.

On 11 March 2014, the Korea Environmental Industry & Technology Institute (KEITI) and the R&D Centre for Valuable Recycling announced that they have succeeded in producing rapid-hardening cement from metal slag reduced during the scrap metal recycling process, adding that the technology is suitable for commercialisation immediately.

Korean authorities bury 720,000t/yr of reduced metal slag in landfills. Using the new technology, Korea will be able to save US$3.79m in reduced slag disposal costs and produce US$254m of rapid-hardening cement. Korea has been relying on imported rapid-hardening cement for more than 80% of its domestic use.

The new technology is also expected to result in a 0.5Mt/yr reduction in CO₂ emissions, as it doesn't require the high-temperature melting of slag that is used in the current rapid-hardening cement manufacturing process. The two organisations added that the world could be supplied with US$6bn of cement if the technology was applied to the 17Mt/yr of reduced metal slag produced globally.

China: Chifeng Jilong Gold Mining plans to take over 100% of the equities in Chenzhou Xiongfeng Rare & Precious Metal Materials through a share offering and cash payment. The target equities were assessed at US$145m. Chenzhou Xiongfeng recycles metals like bismuth, silver, gold and palladium from nonferrous metal smelting slag. Chifeng Jilong Gold Mining will raise capital by selling shares to not more than ten investors and the financing will be not more than 25% of consideration for the deal.