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drymix.info Newsletter 152/2014; ISSN Number 1613-0111; 13. July 2014

1. Post-Event Report: The Philippine and Taiwan Drymix Mortar Meetings, July 2014
2. cedmmc four, Istanbul, Turkey, 10. (Bosporus Cruise) and 11. September 2014
3. SEADMA/Singapore, 11.9. and drymix.info/Melbourne, 14.9.: Call for Papers Ends this Week
4. Austrotherm Opens Plant for Thermal Insulation Boards in Wittenberge
5. Maco Group Starts Construction of Twin Line Mortar Plant in Beijing
6. Sika Opens New Manufacturing Facility in Western India
7. Lafarge / Holcim Merger: Parties Announce List of Divestments
8. drymix.info Outlook into 2015

1. Post-Event Report: The Philippine and Taiwan Drymix Mortar Meetings, July 2014

Philippines: The South East Asia Drymix Mortar Association SEADMA and drymix.info, the International Community for Drymix Mortars invited to the first Philippine Drymix Mortar Meeting on 1. July 2014, 09:00 - 14:00 in Manila. 37 delegates came to the first drymix mortar industry reunion in The Philippines, more than 70% of the delegates were from drymix mortar producing companies. The rest of the delegates came from distributors and  raw material suppliers. The meeting was sponsored by Eirich, Grand Aces, Sofraden, Wacker and m-tec.  Technical Lectures were given by the sponsors as well as by ABC Philippines and SEADMA. The most important part of the meeting was a moderated discussion about standards and their application in The Philippines.

Results: ISO 13007 is the standard approved by legistators in The Philippines, thus, the nation has a very good basis to specify the performance of a cementitious tile adhesives (CTA). For other applications no standards exist. And even for CTA no control and/or enforcement is being carried out and the contractors give no warranties on tile installations. Also, there are products in the market (both imported and of local manufacture) that are clearly inferior to the minimum requirement of C1 as set out in ISO 13007. In order to tackle this serious quality problem as well as the enforcement of the existing standard, the drymix mortar manufacturers in a separate meeting decided to form a (working title) "Philippine Drymix Mortar Manufacturer's Quality Circle" which is later intended to become an industry association. SEADMA is supporting the future meetings as well as the formation process of this association with technical and organisational advice.

Taiwan: drymix.info invited all drymix mortar experts to the Taiwan Drymix Mortar Meeting on 3. July 2014 in Taipei. The meeting united virtually all manufacturers of quality drymix mortars with their suppliers and distributors - a total of 39 delegates actually showed up, 75% of which came from drymix mortar producers. The Taiwan Drymix Mortar Meeting was arranged in cooperation with The Taiwan Concrete Institute (TCI), Dr. S.T. Lin gave a speech and TCI Chairman Prof. Huang Ran greeted the assembly during lunch. Sponsors were Wacker Chemie, Sofraden and Siam Modified Starch, they also gave lectures as well as Ferdinand Leopolder of drymix.info. In a joint discussion after the scientific part, the situation of drymix mortars in Taiwan was discussed.

Results: In terms of drymix mortars, Taiwan is still being dominated by the CTA application, other applications such as renders and screeds are not well developed. Pioneering tiling on the facades already in the 1970ies, Taiwan has - for the lack of suitable specifications - created its own standard for this application, Chinese National Standard CNS 12611. It was agreed to arrange for a critical review of this standard in comparison with ISO 13007 and also taking into account how tile and substrate qualities have changed during the last decades. This review is already under way: Dr. ST Lin, who is serving on the National Standardisation Committee committed doing this comparison, and Ferdinand Leopolder of drymix.info will provide specifications of testing tiles and testing substrates (concrete slabs).

2. cedmmc four, Istanbul, Turkey, 10. (Bosporus Cruise) and 11. September 2014

The Fourth Central and South European Drymix Mortar Conference and Industry Showcase cedmmc four takes place on 11. September 2014 at Çırağan Palace Kempinski Hotel, Istanbul, Turkey. The full-day event is the only one addressing the drymix mortar industry in Turkey, Minor Asia, Southern Europe, Ukraine and beyond. It features scientific lectures as well as ample networking time. The Drymix Mortar Yearbook 2014 is published on occasion of this event. Online registration is now possible at www.drymix.info (Visa or Mastercard required). Special (reduced) registration fees are available for drymix mortar producers and members of drymix.info.

Between Two Continents: the Delegate Welcome for cedmmc four promises to become a memorable experience: we will take a dinner cruise on the Bosphorus, enjoy the night between Europe and Asia. The cruise takes place in the evening of 10. September 2014, we meet at 19:00 at the jetty near the Beşiktaş Stadium. Sponsors so far are Calucem and Wacker Chemie, additional sponsoring is encouraged. The cruise is included in the admission, but seating is limited and thus advance registration by e-mail to info@drymix.info is absolutely mandatory.

3. SEADMA/Singapore, 11.9. and drymix.info/Melbourne, 14.9.: Call for Papers Ends this Week

Singapore: The South East Asia Drymix Mortar Association SEADMA invites to its 9th Annual  Conference in Singapore. The event takes place on 11. November 2014 at Parkroyal Hotel on Pickering, a splendid new eco-design hotel in downtown Singapore (near Boat Quay). The technical programme will be completed during this month, interested lecturers are encouraged to submit an abstract along with their image and CV, since there are a few lecturing slots still available (the Call for Papers is from drymix.info, if needed). This unique  conference traditionally unites drymix mortar experts from South East Asia in a professional and networking-oriented atmosphere. Especially in Singapore, the audience is particularly international, last time we had delegates from almost all Nations of ASEAN (except for Myanmar, Brunei and Laos).

Apart from their regular support of the conference itself, SEADMA is also encouraging sponsors to consider supporting the welcome event on the pool level of Park Royal on Pickering in the evening of 10. November 2014. Great views of downtown Singapore and a stylish atmosphere in lush green surroundings are guaranteed to make your customers happy.

Melbourne: drymix.info is again inviting drymix mortar experts from Australia, New Zealand and beyond to the Second Australia Drymix Mortar Meeting on 14. November 2014.  Unfortunately we could not find available space in Yarra Valley, which would have been our favorite - we will book a venue in Melbourne instead and make sure at least the wine is there. We are truly sorry about this but we are sure, Melbourne will welcome us just the same. The new location will be announced shortly. Online registration will go online next week, too. Admission fee for the full-day meeting is 250 Euro / 240 AU$, drymix.info members pay only 210 Euro / 300 AU$. For drymix mortar manufacturers it is even cheaper: entry fee is only 125 Euro/ 180 AU$. a special arrangement has been agreed upon for Delegates from New Zealand: the first delegate of each company gets free admission!

The Call for Papers expires next week, and speakers with potential topics are encouraged to submit their proposals now. (CfP is available from drymix.info if needed). A meeting such as this one is not possible without the support of sponsors, please contact us for the details.

4. Austrotherm Opens Plant for Thermal Insulation Boards in Wittenberge

Austrotherm, headquartered in Waldegg/Wopfing, Austria has recently inaugurated its first  manufacturing base in Germany (we reported earlier). The new plant for Extruded Poly Styrene (XPS) required an investment volume of about 40 mio Euro including infrastructure development, it will employ 70 people. The capacity was not disclosed. The Austrotherm Group, with 18 production units in 11 countries reported a turnover of 250 mio Euro in 2013 and employed 850 people.

5. Maco Group Starts Construction of Twin Line Mortar Plant in Beijing

Maco Group, Beijing, China has recently started the construction of a completely automated drymix mortar plant in Beijing area. The project consists of 2 individual plants joined together, one for Skim Coats ("dry putty") and the other one for specialty drymix mortars. The completion is expected at the end of this year. 
The plant can source up to 100 different additives and polymers and contains two separate lines with Eirich 3.000 l high intensity mixers.
The engineering of the whole preparation plant, from raw material supply to the ready mixed product distribution has been designed by Eirich, too.

6. Sika Opens New Manufacturing Facility in Western India

Sika AG, headquartered in Baar, Switzerland has inaugurated its new manufacturing plant and R&D-center in Jhagadia, Gurajat, India. The industrial compound includes a production of additives for concrete as well as a plant for cementitious mortars servicing the booming construction industry in the region. This is the sixth manufacturing location Sika operates in India, along with an additional 5 representative offices, R&D facilities and a technical center

Jan Jenisch, CEO of Sika, comments: “... Following the opening of the Surabaya plant in Indonesia just one month ago and the recent inauguration of the Jhagadia plant with its  (...) R&D activities in India, Sika has (...) extended its presence in two of the world’s most populous countries which are home to major infrastructure and construction projects.”

7. Lafarge / Holcim Merger: Parties Announce List of Divestments

In order to prepare for the rulings of Anti-Trust regulators worldwide, (we reported earlier), Lafarge (Paris, France) and Holcim (Holderbank, Switzerland) have established a Divestment Committee for their merger project. This committee has recently published a list of assets to be spun off. Amongst actions in smaller markets, this list includes the Lafarge plant in Mannersdorf, Austria, all of Lafarge's assets in Germany and Romania, part of Lafarge Tarmac's assets in the UK, all of Holcim's Assets in Hungary, Serbia and Canada and part of Holcim's assets in France (exception: Haut Rhin and Alsace Regions). A plan is being worked upon to merge Lafarge Republic Inc. (LRI) and Holcim Philippines Inc., with the possible spin-off of several cement plants there, as well as in Brasil, where Lafarge and Holcim will file a package of divestments with the regulating offices (CADE). The companies aim at completing their merger within Q1/2015.



8. drymix.info Outlook into 2015

Here is a short outlook into 2015, with focus on activities for drymix mortar manufacturers and their suppliers:
19. to 24. January 2015, Munich, Germany: Bau 2015, featuring our traditional drymix.info evening on Wednesday, 21. January, most likely at Hofbräukeller Munich, don't miss this casual event. Sponsor so far is Wacker, we do need more supporters to pick up the tab!

February 2015: Production of the Drymix Mortar Yearbook 2015 - all those interested to publish a paper with us are encouraged to contact us early enough - our doors are open, even already now!

20. April 2014, Nürnberg, Germany: The 5th International Drymix Mortar Conference idmmc five, the key event for all drymix mortar experts. The Technical Chairman is Prof. Dr. Johann Plank of Technische Universität München (TUM), the Drymix Mortar Yearbook 2015 is being published on occasion of idmmc five. A Call for Papers (draft) is available at drymix.info, proposals for lecturing are being accepted until 30. September 2014 (absolute deadline!). Do not miss our casual Delegate Welcome at Barfüsser im Mautkeller, so far sponsored by Calucem and Wacker. Additional sponsoring is encouraged.

21. April 2014, Nürnberg: European Coatings Congress (ECC), Construction Chemical Sessions: Again Ferdinand Leopolder is Technical Cairman of this important industry symposium. The Call for Papers is available from drymix.info as well as from Vincentz Network, the organizers of ECC, it expires on 15. September 2014.

21. to 23. April 2014, Nürnberg, Germany: European Coatings Show (ECS): this is surely the most comprehensive industry exhibition for all relevant materials and technologies for drymix mortars. A "must" for drymix mortar experts worldwide.

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. Please also check our Chinese Edition on www.drymix.info.

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Sincerely Yours, Ferdinand Leopolder