ICR attended the Refratechnik Kolloquium held on 5-8 June 2012 at the Estrel Hotel, Berlin, Germany. The meeting attracted some 800 invited guests including Refratechnik’s customers and its local and regional sales agents as well as many cement industry suppliers and industry media. The company has seen many changes in the market for refractories since its last REFRA-Kolloquium in 2008 and was pleased to tell everyone of the progress it has been making.

Wolfgang Tabbert, Refratechnik managing director, opens

the REFRA-Kolloquium 2012 before an audience of 800 guests

Wolfgang Tabbert, Refratechnik managing director, opened proceedings on the first day by welcoming and thanking all 800 guests for accepting the invitation to attend the Kolloquium.

Reflecting on events of the last four years since the last meeting, he recalled: ”Four years ago, the global economy was at the peak of its performance that resulted in shortages of raw materials. Autumn 2008 then saw the downturn and a new crisis. By the end of 2011 and early 2012 the stock markets had recovered from the bottom line. But whether it will still be going well tomorrow is hard for us to tell.”

Mr Tabbert talked of the all too familiar headlines since 2008: ‘Restructure, Refunding and Takeovers.’ For refractories China controls supply and demand and it has been less affected than the rest of the world. The refractory raw material prices have been increasing by 75 per cent in China since 2002, while export prices have risen by 360 per cent. Duties, mining VAT and export taxes have all advanced along with energy and raw materials prices as well as changes in currency exchange.

“Lower demand resulted in a minor  correction of prices only in 2009. The raw material prices continued to rise again steadily afterwards,” said Mr Tabbert. “Raw material costs make about 60 per cent of refractory costs and the rising prices of input factors could not be passed on to customers completely.”

Ralf Hoffmann, Deutsche Bank, offers further

warnings over the euro economies

Ralf Hoffmann, head of global macro and risk analysis, Deutsche Bank and vice head of Deutsche Bank Research in Germany, then gave an update on ‘the global economy under the spell of the euro crisis,’ citing the current strategy problems of growth versus austerity in Europe and the recent weakness that has been seen in the US economy. He remarked on Europe’s need to take control of the euro currency and the mounting debt crisis in countries like Spain and Greece. He explored how difficult this was to achieve with Germany exporting 40 per cent of its goods to euro countries, while Spain is Europe’s second largest exporter.

 

Mr Hoffmann said that we would hear a lot about ‘fiscal consolidation’ and ‘structural reforms’ as euro countries aim to get back on an even keel. The European Central Bank and the IMF would shield and protect to a certain extent, but “structural reform is the only solution to the problem,” said Mr Hoffmann.

He added that emerging markets are not immune to the crisis either and that China’s economy is also cooling.
The meeting continued with further presentations on the cement sustainability initiative given by Philippe Fonta, managing director of the Cement Sustainability Initiative (CSI), followed by Dr Klaus Eichas, VDZ senior consultant in Germany, with an overview of the impact of alternative fuel usage in cement production. Peter Groger, Refratechnik’s executive director sales, updated on ALMAG® A1 and  TOPMAG® A1, the products for mechanically-loaded rotary kiln zones and Dr Hans-Jürgen Kilschat, Refratechnik’s director of R&D and QM/QA, presented the new generation of PERILEX® CF as the first chrome-ore free product on the market with thermoplastic behaviour.

One of the highlights of the presentations on the first day was from Juan Carlos Lozada, project director of Grupo Gloria, Peru, who reported on Cementos Yura’s 4200tpd Line No 3, involving an investment of US$270m and installation by FLSmidth in 2011. Mr Lozada explained Yura’s cooperation with Refratechnik comprising the complete service of installation and the full range of refractories, including SiC-containing material to best cope with the high amounts of alkalis in raw materials and to protect the calciner, inlet chamber, kiln, riser duct cooler and bull nose. He pointed out the tongue-and-groove design of the refractories for ease of installation and that the project took just 24 weeks to complete. The new line used 45,000m3 of concrete and 5200t of steel and 3261t of refractory materials.
The afternoon of Day 1 continued with a scenic boat trip along the river Spree. The excursion took participants past famous landmarks such as the Reichstag with its glass dome and remains of the Berlin Wall. The evening was spent with dinner held at Diedersdorf Castle.

The largest section of the Berlin Wall that still remains
 View of the Reichstag from the boat trip

Day two

The second day was given a lively start by Dr Joachim Harder, managing director of OneStone Consulting Group, who spoke about cement growth between 2030-50 and the feasibility of future cement scenarios. He projects that world cement production will increase from 3565Mta in 2011 to 4700Mta by 2050. He also forecast that China would see a slight fall in per capita consumption to 1750kg by 2017, while India’s per capita is likely to continue rising.

Another trend that can be expected is for the mature markets’ share of world cement consumption to fall further while it is most likely to advance in the BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India, China) nations. Looking ahead to 2050, Dr Harder projects that cement production in mature and BRIC nations will fall, while the emerging markets of Africa, Latin America, Asia and CIS will see increases.

He also highlighted that thermal efficiency of modern cement plants had already reached 3.7GJ/t by 2006 for 5000tpd plants with a six-stage preheater. The best plants in China achieved 3.5GJ/t in 2007 but these plants are unlikely to be replaced before 2035-40, so further improvements will be difficult. Alternative fuels can increase thermal efficiency by up to 0.3GJ/t, due to a lower calorific value than fossil fuels and the installation of bypass systems. Average worldwide thermal efficiency values of 3.3GJ/t will only be achieved by 2050 if Chinese plants can improve their performance. Indian factories are expected to lead the way as they are the most efficient.

For most cement majors, Dr Harder noted, it has been hard to significantly increase alternative fuel usage in the last few years – with the exception of Cemex which has seen consistent improvements during the 2008-10 period. Dr Harder suggested that alternative fuels could reach saturation levels as competition for resources intensified. Developed regions are still likely to see alternative fuels in cement plants rise from an average of 16 per cent to 40 per cent by 2030. Meanwhile, clinker substitution is expected to drop from 78 per cent in 2006 to 71 per cent by 2050.

Regarding CO2 emissions, the cement industry will see significant reductions from 2016 onwards, according to Dr Harder. Opportunities exist to reduce emissions via energy efficiency, alternative fuels, clinker substitution and particularly carbon storage (accounting for some 56 per cent of reductions). Dr Harder said 44 per cent of CO2 emissions can be further saved by 2050.

Several Refratechnik plant case studies were presented during the morning, including tailor-made solutions by Denis Franc, refractory coach of Lafarge Technical Centre Europe at Lafarge Aberthaw plant (UK) and by Dr Stefan Linder, plant manager at Rohrdorf Cement factory (Germany).

Kai Beimdiek, Refratechnik’s head of R&D unshaped refractories, informed about further developments of monolithic products and Klaus Kassau, director of Refratechnik ’s refractory engineering department, gave an insight of the state-of-the-art engineering and emphasised the strategic relevance of refractory products and services, as failures do cause high direct costs and may lead to significant damages to the equipment.

Angel Valtierra speaks about the Cementos y

Concretos Nacionales SA project in Mexico

Towards the end of the REFRA-Kolloquium, Angel Valtierra, production manager of Palmar de Bravo plant, Cementos  y Concretos Nacionales SA Mexico (Grupo La Cruz Azul SLC), also spoke of Refratechnik Mexico’s integral service package carried out at the Palmar de Bravo cement plant. The plant’s main equipment supplied by Polysius includes a dia4.4m x 6om rotary kiln with 3000tpd capacity, a preheater equipped with a Dopol precalciner, a tertiary air duct and a Repol cooler. Refratechnik supplied 1380t of refractories for the preheater, 500t for the kiln, 560t for the cooler, kiln hood, TAD and inlet chamber and 60t for the meal ducts.

On this final evening of the event Refratechnik held a Gala Dinner.

Article first published in International Cement Review, August 2012.