Germany: Hargreaves Raw Material Services has ordered a coal grinding plant from Claudius Peters. The plant will be installed at DK Recycling und Roheisen’s plant in Duisburg. DK, a recycler of ferrous waste including slag, will also operate the unit. Hargreaves, a raw material trader, plans to use the coal mill to supply clients in Germany and Western Europe.

The scope of supply comprises the raw coal handling, a EM 95 – 6118 type mill with a capacity of 52t/hr, the pneumatic conveying to the (already existing) coal dust silos at a distance of about 500m and four coal dust silos with truck loading. Claudius Peters will be responsible for engineering, delivery, erection and commissioning including staff training. Commissioning is planned for the fourth quarter 2018.

Indonesia: Semen Indonesia has launched a new slag cement product under the brand ‘Maxstrength Cement.’ The cement producer said it was the first Portland Slag cement produced in the country. The company can producer 1500t/day of the slag cement and it is intended for use in large scale infrastructure projects that require high flexural strength, such as bridges or road flyovers.

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.

Brunei Darussalam: Butra HeidelbergCement has launched 52.5 Brunei Cement, a new slag cement in its product range. German ambassador Peter Wolff and Legislative Council member YB Ong Tiong Oh attended the launch event.