Lehigh Cement Plant Transitions to EcoCem

The Lehigh Cement plant in Union Bridge, Md. will see primary output shift from ordinary portland cement to the branded EcoCem portland-limestone cement –clinker + up to 10% finely graded limestone.  Union Bridge is presently the producer’s largest plant in North America; the switch to the branded Type IL cement positions the mill to avoid approximately 126,000 tons of carbon…

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Green Turn

National Cement Dedicates First U.S. Plant Engineered To Run On 100% Alternative Fuels. By Don Marsh National Cement Company of Alabama Inc. has completed a generation-level plant upgrade at its Ragland location, the $300 million investment certain to drive respective capacity and carbon dioxide emissions/ton metrics on sharply higher and lower trajectories versus prior plant performance.  Ragland Kiln 2 has…

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Cement Shipments Flat in July

Total shipments of portland and blended cement, including imports, in the United States and Puerto Rico in July 2022 were an estimated 9.6 million metric tons (Mt), essentially unchanged from shipments in July 2021, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. Shipments for the year through July totaled an estimated 62.0 Mt, an increase of 3.3% from those for the same…

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Let’s Talk

The World Cement Association’s PEGASUS Benchmarking Program Aims To Bring A New Culture Of Collaboration And Communication To The Cement Industry. CEO Ian Riley, Explains How. By Jonathan Rowland Traditionally, the cement industry has been relatively reticent about sharing of best practices. There are ad hoc exchanges at trade conferences and within the pages of trade magazines. But more often…

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In With The New

Plant With New Technology Boasts Energy, Environmental Efficiency. By Mauro Nogarin The cement company Cielo Azul began production at its new cement plant in Treinta y Tres, Uruguay, a project that employed more than 1,000 people. The investment made to date exceeds $140 million, 35% for equipment and 65% for services and labor. According to projections made by Cielo Azul,…

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What to Expect Up the Road

Shipments of portland and blended cement increased by 4% in the fourth quarter of 2021 compared with that in the fourth quarter of 2020, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. Annual consumption increased by 4% in 2021, compared with that of 2020. They obtained this information via its monthly survey of U.S. cement producers. But Portland Cement Association (PCA) Chief…

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Country Report: Cement Production in Uruguay Recovers

By Mauro Nogarin After registering six consecutive quarters of year-on-year declines, the Uruguayan Ministry of Economy ratified the official growth projection for the economy of the country: 3.5% in 2021, after registering a year-on-year decline in the first quarter of 2.8%. Among the indicators that confirm a better performance of the economy are tax collection, industrial production and the evolution…

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LafargeHolcim to Convert Texas Plant to Low Carbon PLC

As part of a global effort to adopt more sustainable products and lower the industry’s carbon footprint, LafargeHolcim in the US announced that its Midlothian, Texas, facility will be the first cement plant in the country to fully convert to portland limestone cement (PLC). The decision to convert Midlothian to OneCem, part of the Envirocore blended cement portfolio, represents what…

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