Displaying items by tag: China

Switzerland: Chemicals producer Sika reported sales of €6.08bn in the first half of 2024, up by 9% year-on-year. The company’s earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) grew by 24% to €920m. During the reporting period, the company successfully integrated Germany-based MBCC. It also acquired US-based Kwik Bond and opened new production facilities in Peru and China. The company confirmed its Strategy 2028 targets for sustainable, profitable growth.

Sika CEO Thomas Hasler said "With our good operating result in the first half of 2024, we have shown that we are in an excellent position to gain market share even in challenging markets. Furthermore, our emissions reduction targets, aiming for net-zero emissions by 2050, have been validated by the Science-Based Targets Initiative (SBTi). This important achievement underscores Sika's commitment to sustainability and its proactive role in decarbonising the construction and automotive industries."

For the full year 2024, Sika forecast 6 – 9% sales growth in local currencies and an over-proportional increase in EBITDA.

China: Switzerland-based Sika has opened its new Suzhou Technology Centre in Jiangsu Province. The centre will help Sika to develop its sustainable and high-performance technologies in order to grow it market potential throughout the Asia/Pacific region. By strategically expanding its research and development activities across all core technologies, Sika aims to further strengthen its global innovation leadership.

Chief innovation and sustainability officer Patricia Heidtman said "With our new technology centre, we are strengthening our innovation capabilities in the Asia/Pacific region and are fostering synergies in sustainable construction and environmentally friendly mobility. We have created the ideal framework for close collaboration between our research teams. It will thus enable us to develop forward-looking technologies for our customers that combine sustainability with performance."

Tajikistan: Shimsho has commissioned its new 15,500t/yr Darvoz dry construction mixes plant in Durobak. The government of Tajikistan says that the plant is equipped with Chinese technology, and uses locally mined calcite, cement, lime and gypsum in its dry construction mixes production. It will sell the mixes in 20, 25 and 30kg bags. It will directly employ 25 local people.

China: A team at Southeast University has developed an alternative concrete that contains 8% cement. It uses coral reef limestone fragments and biodebris with an upper particle size of 53mm as fine aggregate. The researchers concluded that the material proved suitable for use in precast concrete paving slab production.

China: China Resources Cement (CRC) plans to sell subsidiaries CRC Changzhi and China Resources Concrete (Lucheng) for US$168m or more. CRC Changzhi operates a 2Mt/yr cement plant in Changzhi City, Shanxi Province. Both it and China Resources Concrete (Lucheng) serve the Shanxi Province market.

China: China Building Materials Academy (CBMA) has patented a new 3D printing method which uses short rebars to reinforce printed layers. The developer says that this will enable builders to ensure structural strength without the disruption caused to 3D printing by the long rebars of conventional building skeletons.

CBMA said that "An inverted U-shaped or inverted L-shaped short rebar is vertically inserted into the cement slurry layer, wherein the bending mechanism comprises two bending members, separately disposed on two sides of a clamp."