Cement news highlights: 30 June – 4 July

July 2014 issue

World Cement’s July issue is now available online. Subscribers can view the whole issue by logging in and non-subscribers can see a preview here. The issue includes our annual World Review, a plant-by-plant, country-by-country listing of project and contract news from across the international cement industry. To accompany this, take a look at our global cement factsheet and Paul Maxwell-Cook’s ‘Global Viewpoints’, which includes an overview of the cement markets in Central Asia, the Middle East and Africa among others.

Reducing carbon emissions in North America

The Lafarge Brookfield plant in Canada and the Cementos de Chihuahua plant in Mexico are working to reduce their reliance on traditional fuels. The Brookfield plant has announced plans to apply for a trial permit to use waste plastic as an alternative fuel while the Mexican cement facility has been giving bags of cement to local groups in exchange for old tyres.

In the US, a research project into the properties Solidia Cement™-based concrete continues with the support of the US Department of Energy’s National Energy Technology Laboratory. The laboratory is providing US$1.1 million in funding through its Carbon Storage Technology Programme.

Launched from California, but with the whole Earth in mind, NASA’s Orbiting Carbon Observatory-2 has begun its 2-year mission to study atmospheric carbon dioxide, both in terms of CO₂ sources and storage locations. A video of the launch can be found here.

New contracts

Two new contracts from South America have been announced this week. In Colombia, Argos has signed a 3-year deal with SKF to provide a range of engineering products and services for its cement operations in the country. In Chile, Cemento Melón has selected River Logic Inc. to provide an Integrated Business Planner™ solution, which will be implemented by River Logic Chile. Meanwhile, over in the Middle East, Etihad Rail has signed an MoU with Tarmac Middle East for the distribution of its products from Al Futtaim Tarmac Quarry Product Company in Shawkah, Ras Al-Khaimah, across the UAE and later to other GCC countries.

This week’s not to be missed articles…

• Robin Harpe, Cemcon International, Inc., USA, talks through some of the key steps for designing a succession plan to ensure that an organisation has access to the talent required for continued success.
• Donn C. Thompson AIA, CGP, LEED AP BD+C. Director, Market Development, Portland Cement Association, discusses the need for stronger building codes.

Written by Louise Fordham

Read the article online at: https://www.worldcement.com/the-americas/04072014/cement_news_highlights_30_june_4_july_35/