Author: Cement Optimized News

Ottawa’s Competition Bureau said July 7 that it will look into the $40-billion merger between Lafarge SA and Holcim Ltd., both of which have extensive operations in Canada, reports the Montreal Gazette. The newspaper quotes Competition Bureau spokeswoman Mélanie Beauchesne as stating in an email that “… the Bureau is currently reviewing Holcim’s proposed acquisition of Lafarge … (to) determine…

Total shipments of portland and blended cement in the United States and Puerto Rico in April 2014 were 7.4 million metric tons (Mt), up by about 11 percent from the level in April 2013, according to the recent USGS Mineral Industry Surveys. Shipments for the year through April were 23.1 Mt, up by about 6 percent from the same period…

SKF announced that Argos, one of the largest cement producers in Latin America, has chosen SKF to provide a broad range of engineering products and services for its operations in Colombia over the next three years.

Cemex participated in the construction of the Arena da Amazonia soccer stadium in the northern city of Manaus, Brazil, which has hosted several competitive matches of the 2014 FIFA World Cup including England vs. Italy, USA vs. Portugal, and Honduras vs. Switzerland. The company worked in close collaboration with renowned construction company Andrade Gutierrez S.A. providing 28,000 tons of its…

Holcim and Lafarge have taken another step toward their planned merger of equals to create LafargeHolcim with the release of a list of proposed asset disposals.

Lafarge Canada’s cement plant in Brookfield, Nova Scotia, Canada, plans to burn plastic waste to reduce its dependence on coal. The company introduced its idea to the Colchester County council on June 24, and launched an advertising campaign this week, according to The Chronicle Herald.

HeidelbergCement has started its Continuous Improvement Program (CIP) in order to continuously optimize the working processes in cement production. The new program, which will be introduced at 65 cement plants worldwide, takes a systematic approach in order to generate ideas among the employees, prioritize, and implement them. The process enhancements shall lead to sustainable result improvements of at least 120…

Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder has signed into law the use of coal ash and other industrial byproducts in cement and asphalt, according to Businessweek. The ash is a byproduct of coal combustion that poses environmental threats in landfills but also is commonly recycled for use in roads and parking lots. The laws signed last month shield people and businesses that…