Displaying items by tag: UK

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.

UK: Breedon has agreed to acquire the Sherburn Minerals Group for a total consideration of up to Euro18.4m, subject to completion adjustments. The acquisition will add Sherburn’s two terminals in northeast England and eastern Scotland, that are used to import cement and ground granulated blast-furnace slag (GGBS), to Breedon’s Hope cement plant.

Sherburn is an independent heavyside building materials business headquartered in County Durham, employing approximately 110 people. It operates four quarries and five ready-mixed concrete plants in County Durham, Northumberland, North Yorkshire and Cumbria. It also distributes cementitious products from two import terminals at Blyth near Newcastle and Dundee in eastern Scotland.

Following completion of the acquisition Paul Allison, Sherburn’s current Managing Director and a minority shareholder, will remain with the business as a consultant.

UK: Rio Tinto’s production of titanium dioxide slag has fallen by 24% year-on-year to 246,000t/year in the first quarter of 2016. The company said that its Iron and Titanium division had optimised production in line with demand. It reported that two of nine furnaces at Fer et Titane, Canada and one of four furnaces at Richards Bay Minerals, South Africa are currently idled due to low demand for high-grade feedstocks.

"In the face of a testing external environment, our focus remains on delivering further cost and productivity improvements, disciplined capital management and maximising free cash flow, to ensure that Rio Tinto remains strong," said chief executive officer Sam Walsh. Production in iron ore, bauxite and aluminium increased in the quarter but production in copper and coal decreased.

UK/Ireland: Ecocem is to open a new terminal at Runcorn to increase its exports of slag cement to the UK. A second terminal in the south east of the UK will be opened later in 2016, according to the Irish Times. It has invested Euro5m towards building both terminals. The ground granulated blastfurnace slag (GGBS) producer is targeting the UK market due to demand for cement coupled with changes in the coal and steel industries.

The company says it has received orders for 200,000t of slag cement in its first year and that it is not taking any further orders. Opening its second terminal in the UK is anticipated to give it access to 80% of the UK market. Ecocem produces slag cement at three grinding plants in Dublin in Ireland, Moerdijk in the Netherlands and at Fos in France.

UK: The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has welcomed the sale of plants by Lafarge Tarmac and Hanson.

In the Competition Commission's (CC) market investigation published in January 2014, the CC had ordered Lafarge Tarmac to sell one of two cement plants and Hanson to sell one of its ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBS) plants to enhance competition in the cement and GGBS markets in the UK. Lafarge Tarmac appealed the CC's decision to the Competition Appeal Tribunal. However, in December 2014, the European Commission cleared the merger between Lafarge and Holcim, provided it divest certain assets to a new market entrant. In accordance with those commitments, the Lafarge Tarmac business in the UK, with the exception of the Cauldon cement plant, was sold to CRH and the legal challenges brought by Lafarge Tarmac to the CC have been withdrawn.

In addition, Hanson completed the sale of its GGBS plant in Scunthorpe, as required by the CC's report, to Francis Flower on 31 July 2015. This news means that the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has completed the divestment remedies arising from the CC's report.

UK: Mineral resources company Francis Flower has announced the acquisition of the Scunthorpe ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBS) plant from Hanson Cement.

The business is capable of producing more than 500,000t/yr of GGBS and supplies customers in the Midlands and north of England. GGBS complements Francis Flower's existing range of high quality powdered minerals, which originate as by-products from various industries. This reduces the need for mineral extraction and landfill, delivering sustainable environmental solutions for its customers. The acquisition reflects both Francis Flower's commitment to developing its range of products and services in this sector and the credibility it has for making the most of mineral resources.

"We are absolutely delighted and very excited to announce this new acquisition. GGBS is an excellent fit to our existing product range and will help further our longstanding relationships in this sector," said Adrian Willmott, Chairman and CEO of Francis Flower. "We have a proven track record of making the most of mineral resources, reducing the need for mineral extraction as well as landfill and delivering sustainable solutions for our customers. We are very much looking forward to working with the team in Scunthorpe and developing the opportunities in the GGBS market as the UK construction sector continues to grow."