Industrial high-temperature processes, in which refractories are involved, request flexible temperature control and frequent thermal cycling. For the refractories, the resulting thermal shock is the predominant factor that shortens ther service life. R&D on refractories with superior resistance to thermal shock is therefore an ongoing concern for research centres and producers of refractories. Technological testing methods to determine the thermal shock resistance at a laboratory scale significantly support the development of improved refractories.

More information, download .PDF

Delegates at MagMin heard that declining production and consumption of cement is likely to continue as investment in construction and GDP fails to exhibit anticipated growth. With a number of external factors preventing a rebound in Europe and the cement sector facing environmental pressures, consumption of refractories in the region is likely to remain weak.

Cement production and consumption in Europe has been declining over the last eight years as macroeconomic recovery in the EU continues to be disconnected from the construction cycle, delegates at MagMin 2016 in Dusseldorf, Germany heard this week.

Claude Lorea, deputy chief executive and industrial policy director for CEMBUREAU, the representative organisation of the European cement industry, told delegates that the production of cement has seen a 41% decline in the EU since 2007, while production from CEMBUREAU has seen a fall of 27%.

Consumption has also seen a decline, with compound annual growth rate (CAGR) from 2000 to 2014 contracting; down 0.9% for France; 2% in Germany; down 4.5% in Italy; 8.7% for Spain; and down 1.4% in the UK, although Euroconstruct forecasts show a potential increase of 3.5% in 2016 for the EU-28.

As a result, in recent years, cement exports have outperformed imports for EU-28, Lorea said.

Around 60-70% of the world’s refractories output is destined for the steel making sector, although other markets such as cement, iron, glass and non-ferrous metals production consume a large portion of production.

A number of refractory mineral suppliers, particularly in China, have reported declining prices and sales volumes in Q1 as a result of weak demand in the steel and cement markets.

Eurozone construction confidence and activity

2014 production in the EU-28 stood at 159m tonnes, while Chinese cement production totalled 2.4bn tonnes. Return on capital employed (ROCE) was believe the cost of capital impact investment and growth in Europe.

«In the short term macroeconomic picture, UK, Germany and France all have higher GDP than the EU-28 average, while Italy and Spain are below the EU-28 average GDP, but Italy is stable and Spain is increasing,» Lorea said.
In terms of CEMBUREAU’s economic outlook for 2016, Lorea said there are some positive external factors such as; the ECB’s Asset Purchase Programme, labelled as «Quantitative Easing» extended until March 2017; oil prices at record lows – down by 69.3% in nominal terms since June 2014; EU/USD exchange rate down towards the parity: -20% EUR depreciation since 2014 benefits exports.

However, she added that that there were a number of potential negative factors that could affect the cement sector.

Among these are the slowdown in Chinese GDP growth, the decline in exports and global trade due to the recession in many emerging and oil producing countries such as Brazil and Russia, and due to plummeting revenues from oil and other commodities.

Lorea also noted that the «oil price bonanza» was leading to serious sustainability issues for producing countries and was likely to become a destabilising factor.

«In the EU, there is also the ineffectiveness of hyper-expansionary monetary policy,» she added, referring to deflation, i.e. the Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices (HICP) y-o-y growth rate, which is already negative in the Euro area, down 0.3% in February 2016, after insufficient investment recovery.

Other potential impacts on the construction sector, and as a result cement consumption, is political instability, such as IS-driven turmoil in the Middle East, a possible exit by the UK from the European Union, and the refugee crisis.

«Although this resulted in lowered GDP forecasts and a real construction investment growth rate of only 1.7% in the EU-28, forecasts for 2016 and 2017 have increased to growth of 2.2% and 3.6% respectively. US forecasts expect construction investment to decrease from growth of 4.8% in 2015 to 4.5% in 2016 and 2017 while the EU-28 real construction output is also expected to grow 3% and 2.7% respectively in the next two years,» Lorea said.

Cement sector challenges

As focus on reducing carbon emissions and ensuring sustainable operations increases, the cement industry in Europe is likely to face more pressure than in other areas.

EU net CO2 emissions per tonne for grey clinker have reduced from 900kg in 1990 to 750kg in 2013, while the world level is still as high as 812kg, Lorea told delegates.

The low carbon roadmap also commands a 32% CO2 reduction by 2050 from 1990 and 80% with carbon capture.
Lorea added that cement is also the key to circular economy because 36% of primary fuels in kilns can be replaced by alternative fuels, saving 16m tonnes in CO2 each year. «Even primary raw materials are being replaced by alternatives with material recycling.»

China’s steel mills, which supply half of global output, churned out less steel in the first two months of the year, extending a decline amid government efforts to reduce reliance on manufacturing for growth.
Crude-steel production for the January-to-February period dropped 5.7 percent from a year earlier to 121.07 million metric tons, data published by the country’s statistics bureau Saturday showed. Steel products output fell 2.1 percent to 162.28 million tons.
Steel mills in China are battling losses and overcapacity as the nation transitions its economy to one fueled by consumption and services, from growth driven by manufacturing, and have seen their output fall off record highs in 2014. Steel output tends to drop before and during the weeklong Lunar New Year holiday, which began Feb. 8 this year, before climbing after the break when manufacturing activity picks up.
January and February is a lull period for the steel industry, Huang Huiwen, an analyst at Shanghai Cifco Futures Co. in Shanghai, said before the figures were published. “We expect a recovery in March data as sentiment toward China’s economy and demand has improved.”
Annual steel output shrank 2.3 percent to 804 million tons in 2015, the first contraction since 1981. Steel consumption in China, which fell 5.4 percent last year, will drop a further 3 percent in 2016, according to estimates from the China Iron & Steel Association.
A recovery in steel output and consumption after the Lunar New Year holiday boosted demand for iron ore, powering prices higher, the China Iron & Steel Association said in a statement this month. Ore with 62 percent content delivered to Qingdao — the benchmark for the physical market — surged an unprecedented 19 percent in a single day on March 7 and ended the week at $57.09 a dry ton, according to Metal Bulletin Ltd.

El pasado día 29 de junio tuvo lugar en el Hotel Ayre de  Oviedo el VIII Congreso de Materiales, Maquinaria y Montaje de Refractarios. Congreso que resultó todo un éxito con casi 80 congresistas procedentes de distintos países.

El Congreso se abrió con una Espicha asturiana , donde además de charlar y degustar una variada  cena pudimos admirar el paisaje asturiano.

Los patrocinadores del Congreso, miembros de ANFRE y representantes de las patronales  de industrias siderúrgica y cementera fueron los encargados de realizar las ponencias. Se trataron temas de interés para  los refractarios y se habló, entre otros temas, de las materias primas electrofundidas y sinterizadas, las propiedades de los hormigones refractarios, los productos basados en partículas microesféricas, las chamotas y las  mullitas.

Destacar  la presencia de dos invitados de gran  relevancia dentro de su sector. D. Alfonso Hidalgo, Director de Estudios Económicos de Unesid, que abrió el Congreso con una charla sobre la situación de la industria siderurgica  y D. Ricardo López, Director de Relaciones Institucionales de Oficemen, que nos habló sobre la Industria del Cemento.

Una vez finalizadas las ponencias se realizó una mesa redonda de Materias Primas donde se llevó a cabo un intercambio de opiniones entre todos los congresistas.

Querríamos agradecer a todos los patrocinadores, que se citan a continuación, la ayuda prestada, una vez más.  Sin ellos los Congresos no serían posibles.

• IMCD ESPAÑA ESPECIALIDADES QUÍMICAS S.A
• CALUCEM – ARCIRESA
• KERNEOS ESPAÑA S.L.U
• GORKA CEMENT – MIDEGASA
• IMERYS
• ARCICHAMOTAS
• ELKEM IBERICA
• CEMENTOS MOLINS
• EXCLUSIVAS ENERGÉTICAS

Por último, pero no por eso menos importante, desde ANFRE queríamos agradecer a Fernando López de Arciresa su ayuda incondicional para la  realización y  éxito de este Congreso.

Os esperamos a todos en el próximo Congreso.

PRE congress 2016 in Krakow, Poland

The 63rd PRE congress took place in Krakow, Poland and was attended by over 80 participants from 13 European countries.
During the PRE Economic Committee and General Assembly, PRE members were updated on 2015 PRE production statistics and the different European policies currently being debated in the European institutions (such as the future of the Emissions Trading Scheme or the revision of the Carcinogens and Mutagens Directive). Mr Dariusz Konieczny, Head of law and technology in the Polish Cement Association, gave a presentation on the Polish, Europe-an and world cement market.
Next year’s congress will take place from 7 to 9 June in Chester, UK, kindly organised by BCC, the British Ceramic Confederation.

PRE activities on Coal Tar Pitch, high temperature

The Coal Tar Pitch High Temperature (CTPHT) was recommended in September 2014 for inclusion in the Annex XIV of Reach, the so-called Authorisation List. It was followed by a public consultation to which PRE replied.

CTPHT is pending addition to the Authorisation list (Annex XIV), with a proposed La-test Application Date (LAD) of 21 Months. PRE has edited a position paper in order to defend a longer LAD. For the “intermediate use” for sliding gates, PRE experts on CTPHT have edited a technical gui-dance document, in order to have this use reco-gnised as an intermediate use (and thereby exempted from authorisation). An external review was conducted by the consultant Bipro. The propo-sals from different sectors will be examined by ECHA and the final technical guidance will be presented on the ECHA website.
For the uses that will not be covered by an exemp-tion, PRE has organised a workshop meeting on 22 June focused on the possible strategies for CTPHT Application for Authorisation (AfA). The companies are invited to develop their own strategy.

NEPSI 10th Anniversary and CMD update

The conference celebrating the 10th Anniver-sary of the NEPSI Agreement took place on 16 June. This event took place in the light of the recently proposed revision of the Carcinogens and Mutagens Directive (CMD) proposing the inclusion of Respirable Crys-talline Silica (RCS). During the event, the Commissioner for Employment and Social Affairs, Mrs Marianne Thyssen delivered a message by video, indicating the European Commission’s support to the NEPSI initiative and its recognition of the Agreement and good practices as an effective tool to implement the coming EU limit value on the ground. The NEPSI Employers, including Cerame-Unie, will have to secure this recognition of NEPSI as an implementation tool of the CMD during the next regulatory steps, the co-decision process between the European Parliament and the Council.

Ceramic BREF questionnaire

The current Ceramic Manufacturing Industry Best Available Techniques (BAT) Reference document, the so-called Ceramic BREF, was published in 2007 and is going to be reviewed officially in 2017. The BREF has gai-ned more importance as it becomes, with the IED Directive, the legal base for the factory permits in the EU. To be prepared for this 2017 revision, the CU BREF Task Force needs a strategy, based on data linked to the emissions and abatements systems used in the ceramic production sites. A data collection is taking place be-tween 15 June and 15 August 2016 with the circulation of a CU BREF questionnaire. The national associations are involved in this exercise and translated versions of the questionnaires are being circulated to the facto-ries. It is important that for companies to take part in this data collection.

Short news and publications

 SPIRE brokerage event: On 15 June, the SPIRE brokerage event took take in Brussels. About 150 participants took part. In the morning session, representatives from the European Commission gave an update on the success rate of the 2016 calls and deadlines for the 2017 calls. In the afternoon, a series of project ideas for the 2017 calls were presented. The calls for 2017 are already known, they will be published officially end of July.
 Cumulative Cost Assessment (CCA): The CCA Mirror Group met on 20 June with the European Commission and consultants performing the CCA study. The consultants presented their sampling and data collection strategies as well as plan for next steps. Samples are to be composed of refractories’, wall and floor tiles’ and bricks’ and roof tiles’ companies from the regions: Southern Europe, Central Eastern Europe and Northern Western Europe. Consultants are ready to send out the questionnaire and start data collection from mid-June until mid-August. More ceramic companies are requested to confirm their participation in the next weeks, which is necessary to ensure the representativeness of the study.

Más información descargar .PDF