Turkey: Harsco and Tosyali Holding, a flat steel and steel pipe producer, have started a joint venture relationship for metal recovery services and slag sales at the Toscelik Osmaniye flat steel plant, a unit owned by Tosyali. The agreement with Tosyali marks Harsco’s first entry into Turkey’s steelmaking sector.

“Since slag disposal is one of the main challenges of the Turkish steel industry, we aim to recycle and recover these slag wastes,” said Tosyali’s board chairman Fuat Tosyali. He added the two companies intend to increase the number of slag disposal units in the country to handle 1.2Mt/yr of slag.

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.

India: Harsco has announced a new Metals & Minerals division contract to provide metal recovery and slag sales services at Tata Steel's Kalinganagar steel mill in a multi-year contract valued at over US$25m. The company will be responsible for developing the commercialisation of slag in the region.

India: Ambuja Cement has launched Ambuja Compocem, a composite cement made from fly ash and slag. The product is being produced at its Chhattisgarh plant and it has been introduced to markets in Bihar and Jharkland. It is being marketed to all market segments including individual house builders, real estate developers and infrastructure projects.

“With the launch of Ambuja Compocem, we have achieved a three pronged sustainability approach by conserving natural resources, creating a greener product and fulfilling customer needs for a superior performance product. We call this approach delivering true value,” said Ambuja Cement’s managing director and chief executive officer Ajay Kapur.