November 23, 2016 – Concrete Products

LafargeHolcim, 3D printing specialist aim to commercialize structural elements

November 23, 2016 Concrete News

Through a partnership with French start-up XtreeE, a developer of large-scale 3D printing systems, LafargeHolcim Ltd. is eyeing commercialization of the first concrete structural element of its kind in Europe. Bringing the digital revolution to construction, the producer notes, 3D printing allows complex geometric structures to be created at a reasonable cost and with shorter production times compared to traditional fabrication. LafargeHolcim has initially pegged three 3D-printed concrete targets: high value-added architecture, affordable housing, and robotics-enabled, precast building element fabrication.

Holcim spotlights $96 million Maryland plant capacity, environmental upgrades

November 23, 2016 Concrete News

Holcim (US) staged a ribbon-cutting ceremony late last month to cap a two-year Hagerstown, Md., cement plant modernization. The company underscored a clinker capacity increase upward of 200,000 tons annually, plus emissions controls abiding new Environmental Protection Agency National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants (NESHAP) thresholds.

Concrete end uses help propel coal ash recycling to record level

November 23, 2016 Concrete News

“We are pleased to report that 52 percent of coal combustion products were beneficially used in 2015—up from the previous year’s record of 48 percent. For the first time, we are using more of these valuable resources than we are throwing away,” reports American Coal Ash Association Executive Director Tom Adams, taking stock of the central metric in the group’s latest “Production and Use Survey.”

Forterra floats 29 percent stake in $340 million initial public offering

November 23, 2016 Concrete News

Water and wastewater infrastructure-geared Forterra Inc., a recently established entity emanating from Forterra Building Products, raised $340 million in a mid-October initial public offering, trading under the symbol FRTA on the Nasdaq Global Select Market. In U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC) filings, the company indicated that the IPO would give new investors and principal owner Forterra US Holdings LLC, respectively, 29 percent and 71 percent stakes in a 96-plant operation with annual sales of about $1.6 billion across Drainage Pipe & Precast Products and Water Transmission Pipe & Products segments.

Cement production a blip on EPA greenhouse gas emissions radar

November 23, 2016 Concrete News

U.S. portland cement production accounts for just under 2.3 percent of carbon dioxide-equivalent (CO2e) emissions in the Environmental Protection Agency Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program 2015 data, which was released last month. Modern kilns increasingly running on natural gas and other coal alternatives, coupled with limited offsetting import factors, appear to position the domestic cement industry favorably in a business often tagged as the source of about 5 percent of global carbon dioxide emissions.

FHWA revisits Buy America provisions for rebar tie wire, lifting devices

November 23, 2016 Concrete News

In a mid-October Federal Register notice, the Federal Highway Administration indicated a possible one-year Buy America Act provision waiver for tie wire spools used in rebar-tying guns, and the potential for similar action on precast concrete lifting devices. The agency will weigh public comment on three points:

Stainless steel bar producers invoke antidumping duty terms

November 23, 2016 Concrete News

Through the U.S. Department of Commerce, seven domestic stainless steel bar producers have filed a request for changed circumstances reviews, arguing that Viraj Profiles and Venus Wire Industries Pvt. should be reinstated back under the existing antidumping duty order on competing product from India. Following respective 2004 and 2011 revocations from the order, they contend, Viraj Profiles and Venus Wire resumed dumping stainless steel bar products in the U.S.