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drymix.info Newsletter 203/2017; ISSN Number 1613-0111; 21. December 2017

drymix.info wishes you, your family and friends a wonderful 2018!

1. Drymix Mortar Yearbook 2018: Deadline for Articles and Advertorials is 31.12.17!
2. Russian Mortar Days, Moscow, 30. and 31. January 2018: Delegate Registration Starts
3. The 4th Australia Drymix Mortar Meeting, 15. February 2018: Program
4. The Third Philippines Drymix Mortar Meeting, Manila, 13. March 2018
5. The 6th American Drymix Mortar Conference admmc six, Chicago, IL, USA, April 26, 2018
6. NEW: The Second South American Drymix Mortar Meeting in Medellín, Colombia, 21. August 2018
7. Anti Dumping Duties against Tiles from China Prolonged until 2022
8. Is Lanxess Interested in Specialty Chemicals Division of Akzo-Nobel?
9. Sika Opens Plant in Texas for Drymix Mortars and other Products

1. Drymix Mortar Yearbook 2018: Deadline for Articles and Advertorials is 31.12.17!

Our Drymix Mortar Yearbooks are the key publication and the world's single and only scientific technical compendium about drymix mortars The 2018 edition will appear in Chicago, at The 6th American Drymix Mortar Conference admmc six on April 26, 2018. It will accompany any and all drymix.info, MEDMA or SEADMA event in 2018 and way into 2019.

Should you wish to position a scientific article (max 8 pages), an advertorial (max. 4 pages) or a full page, full color ad in the coming Drymix Mortar Yearbook 2018, you must decide now and submit your materials until 31.12.2017 (or negotiate a delay with us ;-).

2. Russian Mortar Days, Moscow, 30. and 31. January 2018: Delegate Registration Starts

Registration has started for Russian Mortar Days 2018. The scientific conference (on 30.1.18) and field trip (on 31.1.18) takes place at Moscow State University of Civil Engineering (MCU or MGSU) and in Kolomna. Like the previous events at MCU, Russian Mortar Days 2018 will feature 12 scientific lectures and an Industry Showcase. Actemium, AkzoNobel, Belgorod State Technical University, Cedrus/drymix.info, Ferro, Kerneos, Lahti Precision, MCU, Norkem, Poraver, Stroy Informace and Wacker Chemie have already confirmed scientific contributions and product presentations. Organized by Cedrus and drymix.info, there is a field trip  to Kolomna with a visit to the automated drymix mortar plant of Cedrus there (thanks a lot dear Cedrus team!) on 31. Janaury 2018. Due to the complexity of this excursion and safety reasons, pre registration of each participant is absolutely mandatory by 26. January 2018, spontaneous guests can and will not be admitted.

Admission per person is 350 Euro, reduced to 270 Euro for drymix.info members. Drymix mortar producers pay only 150 Euro per person. Delegate registration for international visitors is available on the drymix.info website, for payments in Roubles within Russia, it is better to register with Quintet at baltimix.ru. A suitable hotel nearby is Hotel Cosmos, from which there is also a shuttle bus to MCU in the morning of 30.1.18.

3. The 4th Australia Drymix Mortar Meeting, 15. February 2018: Program

The 4th Australian Drymix Mortar Meeting will take place on Thursday, 15. February 2018 at Q-Station, Manly, Sydney, NSW. This event will give drymix mortar experts from Australia, New Zealand and beyond to meet, network and exchange new ideas in a casual and concentrated atmosphere. Here is a glimpse at our preliminary list of lectures (subject to change without notice):
Concrete Renovation - a Key Topic for the Repair and Maintenance of Infrastructure, by Devadason Kunasagaram, Sika
Energy Savings with EIFS, by Dr. Harold Schoonbrood, Wacker Chemie
Examination of the Effect of Increasing Stone or Terrazzo Tile Size on the Potential for Thermal or Moisture Deformation - and how it Relates to the British-European Standard BS-EN 14617-12, by David Hood, Ardex
Extending the Range of Mortar Applications by Reaching out to the Contractors and Developers - A Proposal for a Joint Effort of the Industry, by Ferdinand Leopolder, drymix.info
Mortar Evolution: Bringing Technology to an Ancient Craft, by Mark Howard, Rockcote
Performance of CAC Based Motars for Sewage Applications, by Dr. Markus Schmid, Calucem
Plastic Form-Fill-Seal (FFS)-Films for Drymix Mortar Mixes – a Global Packaging Solution?, by Karsten Wamhoff, Bischof + Klein
The Reduction of Dust Emissions in Packing Plants, by Steffen Silge, Haver & Boecker
Volume-Based Formulations, by Shahram Astor, Poraver
(wt) Powering Performance of Drymix Mortars with High Alumina Cement, by Pascal Taquet, Kerneos

drymix.info club on Wednesday, 14.2.18, from 20:00: all those already arrived are welcome to join our casual evening at the boilerhouse for drinks and snacks sponsored by Calucem and Wacker (thanks a lot!).

Admission per person is 350 Euro, reduced to 270 Euro for drymix.info members. Drymix mortar producers pay only 150 Euro per person. Delegate registration is available on the drymix.info website.

4. The Third Philippines Drymix Mortar Meeting, Manila, 13. March 2018

The Philippine Drymix Mortar Manufacturer's Association PhilDMMA and The South East Asia Drymix Mortar Association SEADMA are inviting drymix mortar experts to join the Third Philippines Drymix Mortar Meeting at the fabulous Manila Polo Club on 13. March 2018 (delegates can stay on to visit the Worldbex Construction Exhibition, which starts the next day). Response to our Call for Papers (expiring 31.12.17) is vivid, we are sure to have a great program, which will be announced in our next Newsletter. Of course PhilDMMA and SEADMA would appreciate the support of the industry, please give us a signal soon.

A drymix.info Club event is being planned after the meeting on 13.3.17, 20:00, details will be published later (still looking for sponsors for this, too!).

Admission per person is 350 Euro, reduced to 270 Euro for drymix.info members. Drymix mortar producers pay only 150 Euro per person. Confirmed PhilDMMA members pay only 100 Euro per person.

5. The 6th American Drymix Mortar Conference admmc six, Chicago, IL, USA, April 26, 2018

The 6th American Drymix Mortar Conference and Industry Showcase admmc six will take place at Hyatt Regency Hotel McCormick Place in Chicago, IL, USA on April 26, 2018.  admmc six gives drymix mortar experts the ideal occasion to meet, chat, network and grasp future trends for our industry. Technical Chairman is Prof. Dr. Johann Plank, Technische Universität München (TUM), our Drymix Mortar Yearbook 2018 will be published on occasion of this event. We are currently reviewing the lecturing proposals, a list of lectures will be published in our next Newsletter.

We are planning a drymix.info Club event on the evening before the conference but have no details on this as of yet. It will be fun, we are sure.

Admission per person is 350 Euro, reduced to 270 Euro for drymix.info members. Drymix mortar producers pay only 150 Euro per person. Registration is already available on our website (Visa or Mastercard required, sorry, no other credit cards can be accepted).

6. NEW: The Second South American Drymix Mortar Meeting in Medellín, Colombia, 21. August 2018

During the past weeks, drymix.info has contacted its peers to gain support for our 2nd South American Drymix Mortar meeting (the first one took place in Buenos Aires, Argentina, back in 2016). The opinions were unanimously positive and so, today, we are proud to announce that this meeting is actually taking place. So, The Second South American Drymix Mortar Meeting takes place in Medellín, Colombia on 21. August 2018 (just the day before ExpoCamacol). The Call for Papers has been issued recently and is available through drymix.info, it expires on 28.2.2018.

Admission per person is 350 Euro, reduced to 270 Euro for drymix.info members. Drymix mortar producers pay only 150 Euro per person. Registration is already available on our website (Visa or Mastercard required, sorry, no other credit cards can be accepted).

7. Anti Dumping Duties against Tiles from China Prolonged until 2022

The European Commission, Brussels, Belgium, has recently extended its anti-dumping measures against ceramic tiles from China for another five years (until 2022). Also the level of extra duties imposed upon imports of tiles from China to Europe remains the same: 13,9 percent on value for all cooperating companies and 36,5 percent for those imports coming from non compliant tile producers. The import sanctions have been initiated by the European Ceramic Tile Manufacturer’s Federation CET, Brussels, Belgium. CET is an umbrella organization of National industry associations.

8. Is Lanxess Interested in Specialty Chemicals Division of Akzo-Nobel?

According to external sources (Bloomberg), Lanxess GmbH, Cologne, Germany, is interested in taking over the specialty chemicals division of Akzo Nobel N.V, Amsterdam, The Netherlands (we reported earlier about this re-structuring). 
Lanxess GmbH seems to have teamed up with Apollo Investment Corporation, New York City, NY, USA, to finance the deal and to submit a joint offer. Bloomberg analysts even put a price tag on AkzoNobel's chemicals division: 9.000 mio Euro.

AkzoNobel's Board of Directors had agreed earlier to separate the chemical (and polymers) business from the coatings activities and form a new entity of it. With the possible perspective to eventually spin it off in 2018. Both companies refused to comment on the market rumour.

9. Sika Opens Plant in Texas for Drymix Mortars and other Products

Sika AG (Baar, Switzerland) has recently opened a new plant near Houston, TX, USA, for concrete admixtures and drymix mortars. The new location, situated on 16 hectares of land will also feature a training center and become Sika's distribution hub in the Southwest of the US with the mega-cities Houston, Dallas, Austin and San Antonio (this region alone has over 20 mio inhabitants). The new plant is Sika's 22nd  in the US.


The drymix.info Newsletter is being sent exclusively to registered subscribers and all members of drymix.info. Editor-in-Chief: Ferdinand Leopolder. Back issues will be published on www.drymix.info.

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Sincerely Yours, Ferdinand Leopolder