Slovenia: SIJ Acroni, part of SIJ Group, has acquired the operations and equipment for processing slag from Harsco Minerali for an undisclosed sum. Previously the company used Harsco Minerali for the service, according to the Slovenian Press Agency. SIJ Acroni has taken over both Harsco's activity and equipment, and invited all Harsco employees to join the company.
Harsco Minerali processed 0.2Mt of slag for SIJ in 2017. The company mainly processed old slag deposits but new slag is created on an on-going basis during steel production. The processing products are used as inputs for asphalt and other engineering materials including insulation, and some products can be recycled for steel production. Harsco Minerali reported sales of Euro12m in 2016 and a net loss of Euro0.22m.
"By taking over the equipment and operations of Harsco Minerali we shall process what was once waste material into a by-product that we shall use in the subsequent production process or sell as an input material for construction, road construction, and environment remediation," said SIJ Acroni managing director Branko Žerdoner.
US: Charah has purchased SCB International to jointly develop and deploy technologies including fly ash beneficiation and mineral grinding technologies. Its intentions are to target: the beneficiation of fly ash for sale to concrete producers; processing kiln dust to remove mercury for emissions regulations compliance; and grinding granulated blast furnace slag (GBFS) and pozzolan for sale to concrete producers. Charah says that the acquisition will also allow it to more than double the volume of materials available to its customers.
“By leveraging SCB’s diversity of materials available and by benefiting from their experience in sourcing materials overseas, we see great potential in marketing the fly ash beneficiation and grinding technologies to our customers, both utilities and concrete producers,” said Scott Ziegler, Vice President of Ash Sales and Marketing at Charah.
As part of this agreement, Charah has acquired SCB’s proprietary fly ash beneficiation technology which will allow Charah to improve the quality of fly ash produced by electric utilities and to increase Charah’s supply of fly ash to concrete producers in the US. Charah also will deploy grinding technologies for GBFS and pozzolan and will market these supplementary cementitious materials (SCMs) to the manufacturers of concrete products.
Both the ash beneficiation and the mineral grinding technologies will support Charah’s expanding MultiSource fly ash distribution network. The MultiSource fly ash network will help ensure that Charah can provide a steady and reliable supply of SCMs for ready mix concrete producers throughout the US.
Italy: Buzzi Unicem has announced that it purchased a 50% stake in Ecotrade in early 2017. Ecotrade supplies industrial byproducts, such as fly ash and blast furnace slags, from power plants and steel mills to the cement industry with deliveries of over 2Mt/yr at its peak. The company is a member of the Italian Register of Environmental Operators and it has a national distribution network in Italy. Buzzi Unicem intends to use Ecotrade’s expertise to expand its operations internally.
UK: Breedon has agreed to acquire the Sherburn Minerals Group for a total consideration of up to Euro18.4m, subject to completion adjustments. The acquisition will add Sherburn’s two terminals in northeast England and eastern Scotland, that are used to import cement and ground granulated blast-furnace slag (GGBS), to Breedon’s Hope cement plant.
Sherburn is an independent heavyside building materials business headquartered in County Durham, employing approximately 110 people. It operates four quarries and five ready-mixed concrete plants in County Durham, Northumberland, North Yorkshire and Cumbria. It also distributes cementitious products from two import terminals at Blyth near Newcastle and Dundee in eastern Scotland.
Following completion of the acquisition Paul Allison, Sherburn’s current Managing Director and a minority shareholder, will remain with the business as a consultant.