Australia: The New South Wales Environment Protection Authority (EPA) has fined Port Kembla Milling’s cement and slag grinding plant US$23,000 for allegedly storing raw materials in the open, in breach of its licence conditions. Raw materials, including gypsum and limestone, were allegedly stored in the open at the subsidiary of Cement Australia on at least five occasions since January 2016 in breach of the site’s planning approval and licence conditions. Such materials should be stored in an enclosed location to prevent dust emissions.

“The requirement to store materials in an enclosed building is a key way to ensure dust emissions from bulk materials are prevented. A measure that is very important given the residential areas near Port Kembla port,” said EPA Regional Director Metropolitan Giselle Howard.

In addition to the fines, the EPA has also required Port Kembla Milling to complete an independent raw materials handling audit to confirm appropriate storage and management systems are put in place. The company has made some initial steps to respond to this request, and the EPA will continue to work with the licensee to ensure full compliance.

US: Legislation removing the ‘waste’ classification of steel slag in Pennsylvania has received final approval in Pennsylvania. The bill will now been sent to the state governor for enactment, according to the New Castle News newspaper. Previously, mills and slag processors had to obtain special classification from the state Department of Environmental Protection to sell the product.

India: Loesche has provided an update on the operation of a slag grinding mill it sold to Sri Balaha Chemicals in 2016. The LM 35.2 +2 S cement mill was supplied in 2016 and installed and commissioned by March 2017 at the customer’s site in Hindupur, Andhra Pradesh. The mill produces 50t/hr of granulated ground blast furnace slag (GGBFS) at 4000cm²/g Blaine. Subsequently the mill has achieved a production rate of 52t/hr and a specific power consumption rate as low as 27.2kWhr/t.

US: The Slag Cement Association (SCA) says that slag cement shipments in 2017 grew by 14 year-on-year. This follows a growth of 12% to 2.7Mt in 2016. The SCA says this shows increasing demand for slag cement in the US.

“As consumers are becoming more aware of the variety of benefits and applications associated with slag cement use in construction, they also start to rely on its consistency,” said Ed Griffith, president of the SCA. “The reliability of the product seems to go over well with the industry, it’s nice to see the shipping trends reflect this industry awareness.”