EEUU: US cement shipments increase in January 2013

According to the USGS Mineral Industry Survey for cement, shipments of Portland and blended cement in the US and Puerto Rico increased by 5% y/y to reach 4.8 million t in January 2013. The biggest cement consuming states were Texas, California, Florida, Arizona and Oklahoma, who together received around 46% of the month’s shipments. The top three producing states were Texas, California and Florida.

Clinker production grew to 4.3 million t, with Texas, Missouri, California, South Carolina and Florida accounting for 56% of the total clinker produced in January 2013.

Shipments of masonry cement were up 8% y/y to 141 000 t. The biggest consumers of the material were Florida, Texas, California, North Carolina and Georgia.

Cement and clinker imports are estimated at 464 000 t for the month, an increase of 25% y/y.

EE.UU.: Cemex confía recuperarse

Cemex estima que la demanda de cemento en Estados Unidos continúe su recuperación, de manera que su flujo de operación (EBITDA) se ubique en alrededor de 1,200 millones de dólares (mdd).

La cementera mexicana afirmó que calcula que sus ingresos en el que representa su principal mercado, concluyan el año en 3,000 mdd, en contraste con los 2,521 millones de dólares del año anterior.

De acuerdo a Karl Watson, presidente de Cemex en EE.UU., la recuperación se vería detonada principalmente por la demanda de cemento en el sector residencial, y esperan que ésta crezca en un promedio de 14% para 2013.

Mediante una conferencia en línea, Watson declaró que la cementera espera que el inicio de construcción de casas en EE.UU. se incremente 16% para el próximo año, con lo que se impulsaría la demanda.

En los primeros 9 meses del año, el volumen de ventas de cemento de Cemex en ese país creció un 16%, aunque sus ganancias antes de intereses, impuestos, depreciación y amortización (EBITDA) fueron de apenas 30 millones de dólares.

La compañía confía en cerrar el 2012 con un EBITDA positivo en sus operaciones estadounidenses, luego de dos años de pérdidas, y un alza del 13% en volúmenes de ventas.

Cemex, que opera en más de 50 países, ha visto sus resultados presionados luego de que compró a la australiana Rinker en el 2007, que triplicó su deuda y aumentó su presencia en el golpeado mercado estadounidense justo en los albores de la crisis hipotecaria.

Watson precisó que "después de la caída (...) tenemos 15 meses consecutivos de crecimiento en volúmenes de ventas. Estamos moviéndonos en la dirección correcta".

La compañía espera que sus volúmenes de ventas pasen de 11 millones de toneladas de cemento este año a 16 millones de toneladas en el 2016 en Estados Unidos, cuando proyecta ingresos por 5,400 millones de dólares.

EEUU: Mayfield cement plant "clean and safe"

A Melbourne company has sought to reassure Mayfield residents that a proposed $40 million cement plant on the former BHP steelworks site will be clean and safe.

Independent Cement and Lime met with residents yesterday to discuss its plans to build a plant near the old BHP wharf, producing up to 170,000 tonnes of cement products annually.

CEO Michael Byrne says an environmental assessment should be complete in the next few days, but the proposal is still in its early stages.

"It's part of a long process in terms of getting a development accepted by the residents, customers and in fact our own organisation," he said.

"We're basically telling the residents it's a very, very clean process, and there's a great deal of experience in Melbourne, where we are only a few kilometres from the CBD."

Mr Byrne says it will be much smaller than the Victorian plant, which has no negative environmental impacts.

"Our experience tells us that if we are able to show and convince the residents, it makes life easy for everybody," he said.

"And gives them a sense of security that we're not doing anything at all of a disturbing nature, whether it be noise, dust or any of those issues."

EEUU: Lafarge cède des actifs à Eagle Materials

Lafarge a annoncé mercredi la cession de ses activités ciments, granulats et béton dans les Etats du Missouri et de l'Oklahama au groupe américain Eagle Materials pour 446 millions de dollars (347 millions d'euros).

"Les activités cédées comprennent les cimenteries de Kansas City (Missouri) et de Tulsa (Oklahoma) et les terminaux de distribution associés. Lafarge cède également ses activités de béton prêt-à-l'emploi et de granulats à Kansas City", précise le groupe français dans un communiqué.

"A l'issue de cette opération, soumise à l'approbation des autorités compétentes, Lafarge comptera aux Etats-Unis neuf cimenteries ou stations de broyage ainsi que les terminaux de distribution associés, d'une capacité de production totale de 11 millions de tonnes."

Lors de la publication de ses résultats du deuxième trimestre fin juillet, Lafarge avait confirmé son objectif d'au moins un milliard d'euros de cessions d'actifs cette année.

A fin juin, le groupe avait déjà cédé 100 millions d'euros d'actifs. Avec la cession à Eagle, Lafarge est donc désormais proche de la barre de 500 millions d'euros.

EEUU: Buzzi Unicem in Cape expanding use of hazardous waste as fuel

This summer a series of trials is underway at Cape Girardeau cement manufacturer Buzzi Unicem in an effort to use more hazardous waste as fuel. The company invested $1 million in the project aimed at cutting its operating expenses by burning more waste in its kiln instead of coal.

For about 20 years, the company, formerly known as Lonestar Industries, has used hazardous waste -- things like waste paint, ink, oil and solvents -- as fuel to heat its kiln.

Previously, the company burned hazardous waste in one of two combustion chambers in its kiln. The other used coal.

In June, its hazardous waste permit was modified by the Environmental Protection Agency and the Missouri Department of Natural Resources to allow it to burn the same waste fuel materials in the second chamber of its kiln, called a calciner.

The company does not burn materials such as pesticides, poisons, radioactive materials or polychlorinated biphenyls, known as PCBs.

Tankers unload an average of 5,000 gallons of waste solvents at Buzzi Unicem USA. The cement manufacturing plant can burn 12 truckloads a day in its kiln.

(Fred Lynch)

"This offsets our use of coal approximately pound for pound, thus conserving fossil fuels and safely disposing of waste materials from other industries," said Paul Schell, environmental engineer at Buzzi Unicem. The hazardous waste is burned to produce heat for the cement manufacturing process. The raw materials of cement must be heated to about 2,700 degrees for the chemical reactions that change it into clinker, the intermediate product that is ground to make Portland cement.

Cutting fuel costs has been increasingly important in recent years, as the construction industry has slumped due to the economic downturn forcing many cement plants in the United States to shut down or idle due to lack of demand for cement, Schell said.

Buzzi must buy its coal, but companies pay Buzzi to dispose of their hazardous waste.

"There are savings and revenue generated from the use of the hazardous waste," Schell said.

"The Cape Girardeau plant has been able to continue operating throughout this time without any layoffs in part due to the lower production costs associated with the use of hazardous waste fuel," he said. The company has 172 employees, including 24 at its alternative fuels facility.

Buzzi began burning hazardous waste in its calciner June 21 and conducted stack testing the weeks of July 9 and July 16.

Stack tests the week of July 9 showed that the burning of hazardous waste in the calciner does not increase emissions of sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide or total hydrocarbons when compared to coal.

The sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide emissions "decreased significantly when coal was replaced with hazardous waste fuel," Schell said.

Additional stack testing was done the week of July 16 for hazardous air pollutants including dioxins, lead, mercury, chromium and chlorine. Currently, hazardous waste is not being burned in the calciner as the company awaits the results of those tests, Schell said.

Tests this week, however, did demonstrate that more than 99.99 percent of two difficult-to-destroy chlorinated solvents were destroyed when burned in the calciner.

"By doing so, we can be assured that the other hazardous liquids that burn more easily will be destroyed in an equal or greater degree," Schell said.

Testing showed that the company can safely burn 250 pounds per minute of hazardous waste fuel in its calciner, Schell said. That's in addition to the 420 pounds per minute the company is already permitted to burn in its kiln.

The use of hazardous waste fuels is regulated by the Clean Air Act and stricter regulations have led some companies to quit using it.

In the EPA's Region 7, which covers Iowa, Kansas, Missouri and Nebraska, there used to be seven companies burning hazardous waste, but now there are only four, said Benjamin Washburn, EPA public affairs specialist.

"Since EPA established regulations for burning hazardous waste in boilers and industrial furnaces, the trend has been for fewer companies to burn hazardous waste," Washburn said.

In Missouri, Green America Recycling in Hannibal and its parent company, Continental Cement, have a similar but not identical hazardous waste burning operation, said Renee Bungart, spokeswoman for the Missouri Department of Natural Resources.

Currently all of Buzzi's hazardous waste fuel is delivered by truck from off-site manufacturers or third-party hazardous waste blenders, Schell said. The company is looking into making additional investments to allow it to receive bulk material by rail, he said.

On Friday, the Southeast Missouri Regional Planning Commission will present Buzzi with a plaque in recognition of its contributions to the organization's Clean Air Action Plan.

EEUU: Reducing Mercury Emissions At Ash Grove Cement

For many years, the Ash Grove Cement plant in Durkee has been a linchpin of the local economy.

It has also been the hub of debates about jobs versus environmental regulation.

In 2012, Ash Grove Cement Company celebrates its 130th birthday. Ash Grove was founded in its namesake of Ash Grove, Mo., and its current headquarters are in Overland Park, Kan.

Besides the Durkee plant, Ash Grove owns seven others in the U.S. and a quarry in British Columbia, Canada. It's the largest U.S.-owned cement company.

The plant in Durkee is the only cement plant in Oregon.

Its workforce of 109 includes residents from Baker City, Haines, and Huntington, as well as Ontario and the Idaho towns of Payette, Weiser and Fruitland.

The plant has an annual payroll of about $9 million and reports annual taxes of more than $790,000, according to company and county assessor figures.

Whenever things slow down at the plant, many feel the impact. Sluggish demand for concrete has led to temporary layoffs each of the past three winters.

Everything is on a large scale at the Durkee plant: from the rocks quarried to the machinery used, from the employment to the volume of cement.

"We're running 3,100 tons of cement per day," said plant manager Terry Kerby. "And if we're selling out, we can run 3,300."

In the manufacturing process, Kerby explained, limestone is mined on-site along with shale and clay.

The rocks are crushed and proportioned into a mix called raw feed.

Raw feed is transported to a huge tubular kiln and heated to around 2,800 degrees to produce clinker.

Clinker is then mixed with small amounts of gypsum and limestone and conveyed to the finish mill for final grinding into cement powder.

Voila! -- Portland cement, which needs only water, sand and some type of aggregate, often gravel, to create the concrete for building foundations, freeways and sidewalks.

Yet some point to another issue -- the amount of mercury released into the air from cement plants.

The Durkee plant is located in an area rich with limestone, and the area's volcanic activity left natural mercury deposits.

Miller wrote, "Mercury is also released from the coal burned as fuel in the kiln, but the amount is minuscule compared to what's baked out of the limestone."

High mercury concentrations were described in the Burnt River, which empties into Brownlee Reservoir near Huntington, about 15 miles southeast of Durkee.

Miller also described the impact on the Powder River: "the Powder River Watershed, 20 miles to the north, has also received heavy doses of Durkee mercury.

"The EPA estimates that of the 231 pounds of mercury deposited annually in the watershed, a full 150 pounds comes from Durkee."

"We have 1,100 parts per million of mercury in our limestone, whereas in other places it may be five parts per million," he said.

"And the EPA has put out a one-size-fits-all rule with the 2010 MACT (maximum available control technology)."

This rule would set standards for air pollutants from Portland cement manufacturers nationwide.

It has yet to take effect after delays. 2013 was the earlier target, though now it is Sept. 9, 2015.

More information is available at http://tinyurl.com/8cvs8sm.

"Mercury had never been controlled before," Kerby said. "But we already entered into a mutual agreement order with the EPA."

Brian Mannion of the Department of Environmental Quality's Eastern Oregon Region explained the carbon injection method.

"Carbon particles stick to the mercury and then that is captured in a bag house, kind of like in a vacuum bag," he said.

These bags of mixed carbon and mercury are then shipped and sold to a mercury waste company in Union Grove, Wis.

Mannion said Ash Grove self-reports mercury emissions from the Durkee plant daily.

"It's about what society wants," Kerby said. "We do it because it's what we've been asked to do -- there's probably a fairer way than what the EPA is doing now, based on what the raw quarry level is."

Environmentalists operate with a different bottom line.

"The Durkee plant has sought special exemptions based on the premise that they're not doing anything unusual," said Justin Hayes, program director of the Idaho Conservation League.

"That's little comfort for those of us downwind," Hayes said. "The mercury can precipitate and ultimately fall out of the air onto a land surface or water source.

According to publicly-available data from the EPA database, 879 pounds of mercury compounds were emitted in Baker County in 2010 and the entire amount came from Ash Grove Durkee.

About 78 percent of Oregon's mercury compounds released came from the Durkee plant that year.

However, updated numbers appear to be much lower, attributable to mercury reduction technologies.

Doug Welch, environmental engineer with the Department of Environmental Quality office in Pendleton, confirmed these numbers.

The carbon-injection system was completed in July 2010 and the dust-shuttling system in September 2011, with a total cost of around $20 million.

And yet, no matter the numbers or costs, finding an agreeable middle ground between jobs/industry and environmental regulations often proves difficult.

Hayes declined to give an amount of mercury emissions he would consider acceptable.

"I'm not gonna give you that quote," he said.

"But we are one of the most efficient plants in the U.S."

EEUU: City says CEMEX wants to burn plastic in cement kiln

It’s already burning tires, having gone through a lengthy study and approval process with regulators. Now the Kosmos cement plant owned byCEMEX has told city officials it wants to burn plastic waste and other alternative fuels in their kiln in southwest Louisville.

The company will need to secure a “consistency” determination from the Louisville Metro solid waste board, which is charged with making sure waste management practices in Jefferson County are allowed under the local waste management plan, said Pete Flood, a staffer with the city’s solid waste division.

Flood briefed the solid waste board last night on the matter, and said afterwards he’s not yet sure exactly what the company wants to do because it hasn’t filed an application. But it’s safe to say that residents of southwest Louisville, who already feel dumped on, will will want to make sure this proposal gets full and fair scrutiny.

My guess is that CEMEX might also need approvals from the local air district as well as the state Division of Waste Management, and I’ll be checking on that — and with the company.

Interestingly enough, the American Chemical Society and the University of Texas at Austin recently published a study from Texas of an “evaluation of the energetic, environmental, and economic trade-offs” of using leftover plastics and other fibers from recycling facilities as an alternative to coal in cement kilns. This sounds similar to what CEMEX to what was mentioned at the meeting.

DesignNews wrote about the study earlier this month, and provided a link to it.

The study reported test burns at a Texas cement kiln as a technical success, with the plastic and other recycling center residue equaling coal in energy output, allowing the waste to be diverted away from a landfill.

Some air pollutants went down and others went up:

– Sulfur dioxide emission rates were cut in half during the test burn.

– The emission rate of nitrogen oxides went up by 25 percent when the material was used
at 1 ton per hour and by 93 percent during the 2 ton per hour rate.

The total emissions were still within permitted levels, the study concluded.

This all ties into the movement by cities toward single-stream recycling. Remember how we used to have to separate paper from plastic, and glass — and sometimes even glass by color. Not anymore in many communities, including Louisville, where we dump all our recyclables together and they are hauled by garbage truck to a recycling facility that uses automation and workers to separate everything there.

However, the process results in some plastics and paper, paperboard, and cardboard fibers that are not able to be recycled and they go a landfill. The study said that can be 5 to 15 percent of what we think we’re actually recycling.

Those materials contain energy in them that can be put to use if burned.

If the economics are there, I think the question will come down to air quality.

In the past, burning waste products has been very controversial because of the pollutants that can be released, including a variety of toxic emissions that I did not see covered by the Texas study. That was then. We’ll see about now.

EEUU: 2012 Cement Consumption Expected to Exceed Earlier Expectations

With the first half of 2012 experiencing favorable weather conditions, gains in residential and nonresidential construction activity and robust gains in cement intensities, the new forecast from the Portland Cement Association (PCA) nearly doubles the expected increase in cement consumption for the year.

PCA revised its spring forecast upward, anticipating a 6.9 percent increase in 2012 from 2011 levels, followed by a 5.8 percent jump in 2013 and a double-digit increase of 10.9 percent increase in 2014.

The forecast points to both changes in construction activity and cement intensity as the key contributors to cement consumption growth. Cement intensity is the amount of cement used per real dollar of construction activity. Because cement usage is greatest at the early stages of a construction project, PCA estimates the drop in construction starts were responsible for roughly 75 percent of the cement declines during the recession.

"In addition to great construction weather during the first half of the year, real put-in-place construction activity is up 4.2 percent compared to 2011 levels," Ed Sullivan, PCA chief economist, said. "We expect to see a 5.5 percent gain on real construction activity this year- after seven consecutive years of decline."

According to Sullivan, one thing is certain going beyond 2012: Uncertainty will characterize the near-term economic outlook and inhibit stronger growth conditions from materializing.

For example, as with previous forecasts, job creation is the critical ingredient to recovery and key to healing the structural difficulties that currently face the construction market. An erosion of consumer and business confidence resulting from the impending 2013 "fiscal cliff" can adversely affect this. Under current law, increases in taxes and, to a lesser extent, reductions in spending will reduce the federal budget deficit dramatically between 2012 and 2013--a development that some observers have referred to as a "fiscal cliff."

"If Congress fails to address the 'fiscal cliff' issue during the first or second quarter of 2013, there is the potential for severe adverse economic consequences that could slow the recovery process, potentially leading to a severe decline in 2013 cement consumption," Sullivan said. "PCA's baseline projections assume a 'rational' Congress that will recognize these risks and take action to minimize restraints on economic growth."

About PCABased in Skokie, Ill., the Portland Cement Association represents cement companies in the United States and Canada. It conducts market development, engineering, research, education, and public affairs programs.

EE.UU: Debilidad de sector construcción en EE.UU. afecta a Cemex

El mercado mexicano continúa siendo uno de los más importantes para la empresa, ya que durante el primer trimestre de 2012 representó 24.9% de los ingresos de la compañía.


   
Notimex
El comportamiento de los precios del cemento y la debilidad de la industria de la construcción en Estados Unidos han afectado la rentabilidad de la multinacional mexicana Cemex, por lo que sus ingresos se mantendrían sin grandes cambios en el año, de acuerdo con Accival Casa de Bolsa Banamex.
La entidad financiera espera que las ventas de Cementos Mexicanos (Cemex) durante el año se vean mermadas y registren un avance marginal.
De acuerdo con un análisis, esto se debe a que en las ciudades de México, Monterrey y Chihuahua los costos del cemento se han mantenido sin cambios en julio, mientras que en Guadalajara y Aguascalientes registraron caídas de 1.0%.
Los bajos márgenes también serán influidos a que en Estados Unidos el cemento reflejó un mínimo aumento mensual de 0.4% y un repunte anual de 1.3% en el valor de la materia prima.
Aunado a ello, Accival Casa de Bolsa considera que la debilidad cíclica en la actividad de construcción en la Unión Americana hace que el apalancamiento operativo sea un factor igual de importante para la rentabilidad de la cementera mexicana.
En este sentido, destaca, los precios de Cemex y Apasco permanecieron sin cambios, mientras que los de Cruz Azul cayeron 1.0% y los de Moctezuma aumentaron 2.0% en julio.
Sin embargo, el mercado mexicano continúa siendo uno de los más importantes para la empresa, ya que durante el primer trimestre de 2012 representó 24.9% de los ingresos de la compañía.
Estados Unidos constituyó 15% de las ganancias de Cemex, mientras que Centro, Sudamérica y el Caribe en su conjunto sumaron 29.1% en este periodo.

EEUU: Cement plant is fined $1.4 million

A CalPortland cement plant near the desert community of Mojave, Calif., has agreed to pay a fine of $1.4 million and spend $1.3 million on equipment needed to reduce emissions of pollutants that cause asthma and generate smog, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced last week.

The penalties were part of a settlement that capped an investigation by the EPA and the U.S. Department of Justice into the CalPortland Co. facility, one of the largest emitters of nitrogen oxide pollution in California.

"This is one of the biggest fines against a cement facility," said Jared Blumenfeld, the EPA's regional administrator for the Pacific Southwest. "It comes at a time when the EPA is focusing on cement production as a sector which can make significant improvements in air quality nationwide."

CalPortland Vice President Scott Isaacson said, "We've chosen to settle this matter and we are not going to quarrel with EPA. Our focus will be implementation and resolution of the settlement, a process that will unfold over the next few years."

The 58-year-old plant employs 130 people and is one of the largest businesses in the unincorporated community of about 4,000 people best known as home to the Mojave Air and Space Port, a campus of more than 60 companies engaged in aerospace development, manufacturing and flight testing.

The EPA probe revealed that CalPortland made significant modifications at the plant that increased emissions of nitrogen oxide, sulfur dioxide and carbon monoxide without first obtaining a pre-construction permit and installing pollution control equipment required by the Clean Air Act. It also failed to submit accurate and complete permit applications, the EPA said.

The settlement ensures that the proper equipment will be installed to reduce annual pollution by at least 1,200 tons of nitrogen oxide and 360 tons of sulfur dioxide, said Ignacio S. Moreno, assistant attorney general for the environmental and natural resources division of the Department of Justice.

The plant, about 95 miles northeast of Los Angeles in Kern County, now emits about 3,200 tons of nitrogen oxides and 1,200 tons of sulfur dioxide per year, the EPA said.

CalPortland has one year to install and operate emission controls for nitrogen oxide and sulfur dioxide, the EPA said.

Nitrogen oxides are linked to health problems, visual impairment and asthma. Sulfur dioxide, in high concentrations, can affect breathing and aggravate existing respiratory and cardiovascular diseases.

EEUU: Buzzi Unicem holds meeting on hazardous waste burning permit

Buzzi Unicem will invest more than $1.5 million in upgrades to its Cape Girardeau cement plant if changes to its hazardous waste permit are approved.

During an informational meeting Wednesday, company representatives along with Missouri Department of Natural Resources and EPA officials answered questions about the company's plans to burn more hazardous waste in the future. About 25 people attended the meeting.

For about 20 years, the company, formerly known as Lonestar Industries, has used hazardous waste -- including solvents, used paints and inks -- as fuel to heat its kiln.

There are two combustion chambers within its kiln and hazardous waste is used exclusively in one of those chambers. The other chamber uses coal, but the company would like to begin testing the use of hazardous waste in that chamber, called a calciner, as well.

"Coal is very expensive. It's a very energy-intensive process. We have to heat materials to 2,700 degrees Fahrenheit, and it takes a lot of coal and energy to do that. If we were not burning hazardous waste, we would be burning close to 500 tons per year of coal. Right now, we're able to replace just over 50 percent of that with hazardous waste. By expanding, that will allow us to burn even less coal," said Paul Schell, environmental engineer at Buzzi Unicem.

By reducing the amount of coal it burns even more, the company will save money, allowing it to operate more cost effectively and preserve jobs, Schell said. It would require an initial investment to convert its facility to use more hazardous waste fuel. About $1 million in upgrades will be required to modify the kiln to burn more hazardous waste, he said. The company also plans to spend about $500,000 to add a railcar unloading facility with two new wash and storage tanks to allow for cleaning of the railcars. Currently, all of its hazardous waste fuel is delivered by truck. It comes to Buzzi from off-site manufacturers or third-party hazardous waste blenders.

There are many benefits to using hazardous waste, Schell said. Its emissions are similar to coal and even less than coal on some specific pollutants including sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide, he said.

"You're conserving natural resources by not having to burn that coal. You're also providing a safe and effective way to dispose of the hazardous waste that typically would just go to an incinerator and be burned with no real product, just burned for the sake of burning it. We can capture the energy in those things and keep it out of incinerators and out of landfills," Schell said.

Robert Adams, who lives not far from Buzzi on Highway 74, said when he first heard about the company's hazardous waste permit modification request he was concerned, but after attending the meeting is comfortable with the proposal.

"When you hear hazardous waste your mind goes all sorts of directions," said Adams. "You need to find out. It's your duty to do so. I see nothing here that's of any bother. Those are things you've got in your own house. I understand what they're doing."

Jeff Timmerman, who lives not far from Buzzi, said he believed the hazardous wastes the company is burning are good fuel choices.

Most of the people who attended the informational meeting were representatives of local government, the chamber of commerce and area economic development agencies.

A copy of the company's permit modification request can be found at the Cape Girardeau Public Library or by visitingdnr.mo.gov/env/hwp/permits/mod981127319/information.htm. The DNR will accept public comments in writing or online through Dec. 30 on the request. After those are reviewed, a draft permit will be put out for a second round of public comments. If requested, a public hearing will be held at that time, before a final decision on whether or not to issue the permit, said Darleen Groner, operating facilities unit chief with DNR.

The process Buzzi is proposing isn't new to Missouri. Continental Cement in Hannibal, Mo., has used the same process successfully for many years, Groner said.

EEUU: Forecast Puts Robust Cement Consumption Off Until 2014

Even with an economic recovery, construction levels will remain at new floor levels and lead to relatively flat cement consumption until 2014, according to the most recent economic forecast from PCA. 

PCA revised its cement consumption forecast to increases of 1.1 percent in 2011, 0.5 percent in 2012, and 7.4 percent in 2013—roughly half of the previous forecast. According to the report, large structural issues exist in each construction sector that will slow recovery. 

Recovery for the construction industry is tied to general economic growth and job creation. Job creation will reduce, and eventually eliminate, the adverse impacts of foreclosures, tight lending standards, commercial occupancy, and leasing rates as well as the severity of state fiscal conditions. However, because the impediments to a construction recovery are so large, even if an acceleration in economic growth and job creation occurs on a sustained basis, the benefits will not materialize quickly. 

According to the report, nonresidential construction will also remain low until 2013, and lack of assured federal funding will drag down the public sector until 2014.

EEUU: Ash Grove Cement Company in Inkom to suspend production

Ash Grove Cement Company is announcing plans today to alter operations at six of its 10 manufacturing plants in the Midwest and Western United States due to poor economic conditions that continue to affect the entire U.S. cement industry.

Ash Grove will temporarily suspend production at six plants, as inventories continue to rise and seasonal demand is projected to decrease due to the onset of winter conditions. Product shipments to current and prospective customers will not be affected as Ash Grove will draw from inventories built over the past several months.

Employees at six facilities will be affected by today’s announcement. Production at certain individual facilities will be affected beginning in late November (see list below) and plants are expected to resume production on a rolling start-up basis as sales demand dictates. Approximately 220 employees will be affected. 

“The furloughs this year are less extensive than those in the previous two years because we will work on special projects in select departments and perform regular maintenance on our facilities, which will shorten the furlough period for some employees,” according to Ash Grove senior vice president of manufacturing Mike Hrizuk.

“The economic downturn affecting the entire cement industry is an ongoing concern,” said Ash Grove spokeswoman Jacqueline Clark.

“It is very difficult for our employees and the company to experience a furlough for the third consecutive year,” said Clark. “As in the past two years, we will do our best to support our employees and the communities in which we operate during this period.”

The decision to suspend production was made because of continued poor economic conditions resulting in a decrease in the demand for cement and concrete products. The Portland Cement Association (PCA), the cement industry’s trade association, indicates that U.S. cement consumption is not beginning to rebound, following three consecutive years of unprecedented declines in demand. The most recent PCA forecasts project that demand may not tick upward for two more years.

Ash Grove will suspend production at the following locations. Dates listed below are projected as product demand will affect inventory levels and may affect furlough dates.

EEUU: Holcim down on low US cement demand

HOLCIM, the world’s second- largest cement maker, yesterday said that profit may not grow this year after a decline in second- quarter earnings due to slow demand in the US and higher raw material costs.

US markets would remain "flat" to the end of next year, CEO Markus Akermann said .

The North American construction industry showed "no sign of any substantial progress", demand for construction from European government was subdued and Indian home building weakened, Holcim said.

European construction output dropped for the first time in three months in June, led by declines in Germany and France, a report from the European Union’s statistics office showed yesterday .

Operating profit for this year will come close to last year’s results on a comparable basis after a first-half decline of 7,2%, the Jona, Switzerland-based company said yesterday.

Holcim said that in 2008 it had aimed for average annual growth of 5% over the long term. Earnings by that measure dropped in the past three years.

"The second half will be slightly better than the first," chief financial officer Thomas Aebischer said yesterday .

Holcim said it would continue to raise prices to offset rising costs for energy, raw materials and transportation, and would focus on managing costs. Net debt fell to Sf12,21b n ($15,38bn) as of June 30 from Sf14,08bn at the end of December. The shares fell as much as 7,7%, the biggest intraday decline since March 2009. They traded at Sf44,75, down 6,5%, in Zurich yesterday.

Mr Akermann, who on March 2 said the goal would be challenging to reach this year, is fighting rising raw material costs and the appreciation of the franc, which has gained 18% against the dollar this year.

Second-quarter net income fell 13% to Sf347m from a year earlier, missing the Sf373,3m average estimate of seven analysts. Sales dropped 11% to Sf5,49bn, missing estimates of Sf5,56bn.

Currency effects shaved Sf916m off sales in the second quarter and reduced operating profit by Sf203m. That was more than the combined effects on revenue and profit in the previous three quarters.

"To the best of my knowledge, we’ve never seen a currency impact this strong," Zuercher Kantonalbank analyst Martin Huesler said. He has a "market weight" recommendation on the stock.

Serge Rotzer, an analyst at Bank Vontobel, said he might cut his estimate for Holcim’s full-year earnings per share by 10%-20%.

Holcim said it will invest Sf720m in Brazil to tap faster growth in Latin America. The company said it planned to add a second kiln line at its Barroso plant north of Rio de Janeiro and improve a rail terminal, increasing capacity 49% to 7,9-million tons by 2014.

EEUU: Titan Receives Draft Air Permit

After an extended review process by the state Division of Air Quality, Titan America received its new draft air permit today. WHQR's Michelle Bliss reports that division officials will hold public hearings in Wilmington next month along with a public comment period.

The draft permit sets limits for air quality standards for the company's proposed cement plant in Castle Hayne.

Officials note that the project still needs environmental permits from other state and federal agencies and that issuing an air quality permit does not represent any state committment to issuing the remaining permits.

The division held public hearings back in 2009 regarding a previous draft permit for Titan's proposed cement plant in Castle Hayne.

That draft permit was put on hold because of a court decision requiring Titan to conduct a full environmental impact study before receiving any permits if the company accepted state and local economic incentives. Titan later declined $4.2 million in incentives, so that application processing could resume in January.

Since the previous draft permit, the Environmental Protection Agency has adopted stricter limits on air pollutants that Titan would be subject to.

The company first announced its plans to build the facility in New Hanover County back in 2008. The topic has been a controversial issue among community members ever since.

EEUU: Five CEMEX USA Cement Plants Receive 2011 ENERGY STAR(R) Awards

CEMEX USA announced today that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) have awarded five of its U.S. cement manufacturing plants the 2011 ENERGY STAR(R) award. CEMEX USA's plants in Clinchfield, Ga.; Louisville, Ky.; Miami, Fla.; New Braunfels, Texas; and Demopolis, Ala. received the awards in recognition of superior energy performance. 2011 marks the fifth consecutive year for the plants in Clinchfield, Ga., and Louisville, Ky. to receive the award and the third consecutive year for the plant in Demopolis, Ala.

Over the last year, these plants have conducted process surveys, installed variable-frequency drives to replace damper control on fans, installed area power metering equipment to better analyze consumption, installed more efficient motors, and conducted energy audits to reduce unnecessary power usage. All of the plants improved their energy performance using the ENERGY STAR(R) guidelines for Energy Management developed by the EPA and DOE.

"CEMEX USA is proud of our successful efforts in energy management and conservation and is honored to be recognized by the ENERGY STAR(R) program," said Karl Watson, Jr., President of CEMEX USA. "These awards are testament to our ongoing commitment to environmental stewardship and to the reduction of our carbon footprint."

The ENERGY STAR(R) program is a joint initiative by the EPA and DOE that focuses on strategic energy management and emphasizes the importance of demonstrating environmental leadership for future generations.

CEMEX is a global building materials company that provides high quality products and reliable service to customers and communities in more than 50 countries throughout the world. Its U.S. network includes 13 cement plants, 46 strategically located distribution terminals, more than 100 aggregate quarries and more than 320 ready-mix concrete plants. CEMEX USA was named the EPA Energy Star Partner of the Year for 2009 and 2010.

EEUU: Plans for Titan Cement to move one step forward

Mike Giles, with the North Carolina Coastal Federation, tells WECT News that tomorrow, the state of North Carolina will issue a public notice for the intent to issue a draft Air Quality permit for Titan Cement.

Giles said the word came today from Governor Bev Perdue's office.

The permit is required for operation.

Giles said this move will prompt the public hearing process.

Generally, the public comment process on such permits lasts 30 days.

However, the Coastal Federation is asking the governor to extend that public comment period to 60 days, due to the controversy surrounding the plans for the factory.

Titan America proposed to build a cement plant in Castle Hayne in 2008. It's been a contentious issue since then.

Supporters say the plant would boost the economy and provide dozens of local residents with high-paying jobs.

Opponents say the plant will threaten the area's vulnerable environment by polluting the air and producing mercury.

Following the public comment period, the Division of Air Quality will decide if it will issue a Air Quality permit.

EEUU: Cupertino: Lehigh cement could lose right to sell cement products to government agencies

In a potentially massive blow to the company's bottom line, the Lehigh Southwest Cement Company could lose its right to sell cement products to state and local government entities, after the state's Office of Mine Reclamation issued a stern 30-day notice to comply on July 20.

Lehigh could lose the privilege of being on the AB 3098 list, an approved list of mining companies that can sell products to government agencies, because of Lehigh and Santa Clara County's inability to quickly approve an updated reclamation plan on the company's mining site located in unincorporated Cupertino. A reclamation plan would see a restoration on portions of the mined land, and any surface mining operation conducted without an approved reclamation plan is a violation of the State Mining and Reclamation Act.

"It would have a huge impact on our businesses," said Tim Matz, Lehigh's corporate director for environmental affairs.

The road to this point began in October 2006, when Santa Clara County issued the quarry an order to prepare an amended reclamation plan and submit it for approval. At the time, Lehigh was told to fix violations, including unstable pit slops and surface mining operations occurring outside the approved reclamation boundary.

extended an additional two years to allow for completion of further geological studies.

The July 20 letter from the Office of Mine Reclamation, which is under the state's Department of Conservation, states that the quarry should have come into compliance by December 2007. The schedule, however, was

However, while still under the original October 2006 order to comply, the quarry operators expanded operations outside the approved boundary and started placing materials in a hotly contested area known as the East Materials Storage Area. County officials then issued another notice of violation on June 20, 2008, regarding the illegal stockpiling and dumping outside the reclamation boundary.

In a status letter to the State Mining and Geology Board on June 9, the county stated that environmental review of the amended reclamation plan is underway. The letter states that the current target date for "achieving full compliance" at the quarry is June 2012, thus creating a "best case" schedule that would be five years longer than the original compliance date of December 2007. But this proved to be too long of a wait for the Office of Mine Reclamation.

Another bone of contention from the office is that the county is reviewing two reclamation plans for the quarry: a comprehensive reclamation plan for the entire quarry and another plan just for the East Material Storage Area. According to the California Code of Regulations, a surface mining operation like Lehigh shall have no more than one approved reclamation plan applicable to the operation, according to the July 20 letter.

In order to get back on the AB 3098 list, Lehigh must prepare and submit for approval to Santa Clara County a reclamation plan that encompasses all areas disturbed by surface mining operations and include those areas conducted outside the approved reclamation boundary.

Matz said that Lehigh cannot comment further on being able to meet the 30-day deadline--set for Aug. 19--as the company still needs to meet and plan. He also could not comment on how much of Lehigh's business comes from the government.

The company in a July 25 written statement said that the action could have "devastating impacts." Materials produced by the quarry and cement plant are used for roads, freeways, bridges, canals, schools and infrastructure, according to Lehigh. Past projects include the San Jose airport expansion and the Bay Bridge reconstruction.

Lehigh officials have proudly stated over the years that the company provides about half of the cement used in the Bay Area and roughly 70 percent of cement used in Santa Clara County.

The AB 3098 list issue has been quietly simmering since a February public hearing in which the Office of Mine Reclamation first discussed removing Lehigh from the privileged list.

To date, the citizen group Bay Area Clean Environment, formerly No Toxic Air, has collected 25,857 signatures from people demanding Lehigh be removed from the AB 3098. Cupertino City Councilman Barry Chang, a vocal and visible Lehigh critic, is a board member and founder.

Chang, along with a couple dozen residents and members of BACE, rallied in support of the OMR warning on July 25 in Rancho San Antonio County Park.

"I wouldn't use the word 'victory,' but this is an affirmation of a group of citizens that marshaled some facts and made a difference," said Richard Adler, a Cupertino resident and board member of BACE. "Hopefully, this will be a wake-up call for Lehigh and the county to stop dilly-dallying around and start doing what these laws and regulations state."

EEUU: EPA regulations could cost cement companies billions, force U.S. plant closures

New federal environmental regulations will cost the U.S. cement industry billions in plant upgrades, which could lead to job outsourcing, higher prices and ultimately plant closures, according to one industry group.

The Portland Cement Association fears U.S. Environmental Protection Agency standards set to go into effect by 2013 could cripple the industry.

"It's predicted 20 percent of the U.S. plants will go out of business and will not be able to meet the new standards," said Keith E. Williams, who serves as a managing environmental process engineer for Buzzi Unicem USA in Stockertown, former chairman of the Lehigh Valley Berks Air Quality Partnership and a Hercules Cement employee.

Representatives at Hercules in Stockertown, Essroc Cement in Nazareth, and Keystone Cementin Allen Township all said they are equipped to meet the stricter standards.

The regulations, marking the first time the federal government has restricted emissions from existing cement kilns, target more than 100 cement companies nationwide.

The EPA says the regulations will benefit children, whose brains can be damaged by mercury when it makes its way through the air to the water, then to fish, which children and pregnant woman eat.

EPA representatives also say the rules will prevent thousands of serious health risks, including aggravated asthma, irregular heartbeat, heart attacks, and premature death in people with heart and lung disease, as well as thousands of premature heart and lung deaths each year attributed to particulate pollution.

Keystone Cement Plant Manager Stephen Hayden believes the regulations also could lead to the U.S. relying more heavily on Portland cement imported from developing nations. That in turn could lead to an increase in the amount of mercury pollution from other countries, he said.

"Globally, the rules could lead to increased emissions," Hayden said. "It's a possibility."

Hayden said his plant doesn’t have a choice but to comply.

"Once the rules take effect, we must ensure we are in compliance and not take issue with EPA's findings," Hayden said.

In 1993 and 1994, Hercules spent $42 million to modernize its plant, Williams said. Williams expects it will cost $15 million at Hercules to pay for equipment to monitor and control particulate matter.

While Hercules is well below the EPA’s new regulated levels, running anywhere from two times to five times below the standards, Williams doesn’t believe it makes sense to drive the whole U.S. industry out of business.

"The industry is only shipping 50 percent of what it's capable of making," Williams said. "It will be economically a severe hardship."

Essroc Cement representatives remain optimistic, saying the plant already is prepared to meet the new standards. Sites in Nazareth and Martinsburg have emission control systems that can be modified to meet the new regulations.

However, such modifications will be costly and will increase operating costs, according to Gary Molchan, vice president of environmental affairs for Essroc. Housing, infrastructure and new commercial buildings will be more expensive as a result of these changes as this cost is passed along to the consumer, he said.

"We will have no choice but to pass that onto the customer and as a result, housing and infrastructure costs will increase," Hayden said.

Williams said other countries, such as China, Indonesia, India, Brazil and Africa, do not have strict environmental regulations and they make up 98 percent of the total worldwide production of cement.

"If all cement is gone from the U.S., it will be made by high polluting countries and then shipped in boats across the seas causing even more greenhouse gas emissions," Williams said. Some countries, even in the European Union, have higher emissions than in the U.S., Williams said.

Spokesman Brendan Gilfillan said in an e-mail the EPA continues to weigh the concerns of cement makers and is considering potential changes to cement standards that would further clarify and simplify the rules, or provide flexibility without sacrificing health protections the rules provide from emissions of mercury, soot and other air pollutants.

"To ensure these important health protections are not delayed, the rules will remain in place while the agency reconsiders certain technical aspects of the rules," he said.