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drymix.info Newsletter 159/2014; ISSN Number 1613-0111; 12. December 2014

1. SEADMA and MEDMA General Assemblies in Singapore and Dubai in November

2. Casual drymix.info Evening during BAU 2015, 21. January 2015

3. Asia Summit on the Industrial Manufacturing and Application of Drymix Mortars, 24. March 2015, Mumbai, India: Call for Paper ends 31.12.14

4. Saint-Gobain Intends to Buy Controlling Stake in Sika

5. BASF Introduces Polystyrene Foams with New Flame Retardants into the Markets

6. drymix.info makes charitable donation to Ofenmacher e.V.

1. SEADMA and MEDMA General Assemblies in Singapore and Dubai in November

The Industry Associations SEADMA (South East Asia Drymix Mortar Association) and MEDMA (Middle East  Drymix Mortar Association e.V.) held their traditional Annual General Meetings (AGM) in Singapore, respectively in Dubai in November. SEADMAs AGM took place on 11. November 2014 at Pan Pacific Hotel, where also the 9th Annual SEADMA conference took place. Sujit Ghosh and Chong Choong Fee, both Singapore, both former Presidents had stepped down from their functions in the Executive Committee (EC) in May, also Fun-Tee Chen had to retreat from the EC due to other professional assignments. SEADMA  thanked all of them for the tremendous support and work they had done for the association. Eli Campilla, Grand Aces Ventures (and also Vice President of the newly formed Philippine Drymix Mortar Association) was newly elected as a member of the Executive Committee, Ferdinand Leopolder was elected President of SEADMA. So, the new EC consists of Hongfang Chen (SEADMAs Country Ambassador for Singapore), Pairat Pipattanaboon (SEADMAs Country Ambassador for Thailand and Northern Indochina), Terence Yong (SEADMAs Country Ambassador for Malaysia), Eli Campilla (SEADMAs Country Ambassador for The Philippines), Nurlijan Noerjanto (SEADMAs Country Ambassador for Indonesia and also Treasurer) and Ferdinand Leopolder (President and Head of SEADMAS Operational office in Munich). SEADMA decided on the following focal points for their work in 2015:
a) open up the EC work in order to invite in local opinions and ideas. This means, that local mortar experts, be they members of SEADMA or not, can join the discussions in the region. The first open EC Meeting takes place on 10. February 2015 in Sukho Thai Hotel, Bangkok, Thailand, the second one on or around 24. July 2015 in Jakarta, Indonesia, accompanied by a Symposium on the Automated (machine-supported) Application of Drymix Mortars.
b) to finally establish The Thai Industry Association for Drymix Mortar (working title) and include it under the SEADMA umbrella
c) to further encourage and integrate small to medium size mortar manufacturers into the network, this should also be accomplished with a new fee schedule for newcomers
d) The 10th Anniversary Conference of SEADMA will take place on 19. November 2015 in Bangkok, Thailand.

MEDMAs AGM took place on 16. November 2014 at Al Badia Golf Cllub in Dubai, the next day, the very successful MEDMA Workshop for Drymix mortars on Big5 (industrial fair) took place. During the term, Munther Al Amad had to step down due to other professional assignments, MEDMA  thanked him for the work done for the association. Hisham El-Seoud of Colmef and Jovan Sarenac of Henkel were newly elected as a members of the EC. So, the new EC consists of Mohammed Sanaobar (President), Roland Jansen (Vice President), Ammar Ali (Treasurer), Ahmed Al Bayaa, Jovan Sarenac and Ferdinand Leopolder (Secretary General and Head of SEADMAS Operational office in Munich). MEDMA decided on the following focal points for their work in 2015:
a) support the formation of The Saudi Industry Association for Drymix Mortars (Jan/Feb 2015) and include it under the MEDMA umbrella
b) intensify the work in the field of ETICS by providing a hands-on workshop on this technology with practical demonstration (scheduled to take place at Wacker Academy, Dubai, 25.2.2015) and the ongoing cooperation with Dubai Civil Defense and Dubai Municipality
c) work towards the mandatory testing of Cementitious Tile Adhesives together with Dubai Central Laboratories and the New Middle East Comptence Center for the Testing of CTA there
d) the organisation of the Third Advanced Building Materials Middle East Conference in Abu Dhabi, (date tbd., very likely on 13. May 2015)

2. Casual drymix.info Evening during BAU 2015, 21. January 2015

Mortar Masters Meet in Munich: the casual drymix.info Evening during BAU takes place again on 21. January 2014, from 19:00 at Hofbräukeller, Munich, Wiener Platz. This event has become a traditional vanishing point for tired showgoers on "BAU-Wednesday". After a hard day at the fair there is time to chat, have dinner with friends and just have a good time. Wacker-Chemie, Calucem and drymix.info are sponsoring it. Sponsoring is still welcome, for details please directly inquire at info@drymix.info.

Although the meeting is free of charge, registration is absolutely mandatory since seating is limited. Just send us an e-mail.

3. Asia Summit on the Industrial Manufacturing and Application of Drymix Mortars, 24. March 2015, Mumbai, India: Call for Paper ends 31.12.14

drymix.info, The International Community for Drymix Mortars is inviting industrial and academic professionals to propose abstracts for lectures to be presented at the upcoming Asia Summit on Industrial Manufacturing and Application of Drymix Mortars. Dr. Sumon Chakravarty (formerly Ultratech Cement) has agreed to act as the Technical Chairman of this important industry summit. We expect researchers, state officials, machinery and automation experts, formulation and raw material suppliers as well as the drymix mortar community itself to the event. The Aisa Summit is separated into two sessions: a) Industrial Manufacturing of Aggregates and Mortars and b) Formulations and Practical Advice on the Mechanical Application of drymix mortars. Since there are many submissions expected, please note that the Call for Papers ends already on 31. December 2014, so speak with us immediately once you made your decision. Sponsoring of course is welcome, we are prepared to provide special areas on the outside for machine display and demonstrations.

Online registration (recommended) is possible via our website, regular admission is 220 €, reduced to 190 € for drymix.info members and there is a specially reduced admission for drymix mortar manufacturers which is only 120 €.

4. Saint-Gobain Intends to Buy Controlling Stake in Sika

Saint-Gobain SA, Courbevoie, France, has recently announced its interest to acquire a controlling interest in Sika AG, Baar, Switzerland. Saint Gobain intends to purchase Schenker Winkler Holding AG, which in turn owns 16.1% of Sika’s capital and commands over 52.4% of its voting rights, for 2.300 mio Euro (2.750 mio Swiss Francs). Subsequently, Saint-Gobain Group would be able to fully consolidate Sika in its accounts, leading to a positive impact on net income immediately. In short to mid-range, Saint Gobain sees synergies from merging businesses (especially in construction products) and processes amounting to 100 mio Euro for 2017 reaching 190 mio Euro per year from 2019. The transaction is subject to clearance from the relevant anti-trust authorities and Saint Gobain Group expects it to be finalized in the second half of 2015 at the latest. 

Sika employs more than 16,000 people in 84 countries and reported sales of 4.300 mio Euro in 2013. Over the past few years, the company has continuously grown its position in the drymix mortar market  by acquisitions on a global level (e.g. that of Schönox, Germany and Cégécol, France in 2013, we reported earlier). 

. Introduces Polystyrene Foams with New Flame Retardants into the Markets
BASF SE, headquartered in Ludwigshafen, Germany has switched its entire portfolio of polystyrene-based insulation products (tradenames Styropor, Styrodur and Neopor) for the European market to a new flame retardant, nine months ahead of the deadline laid down in the EU REACH Regulation on chemicals. The governing body for chemical substances in Europe had classed the commonly used Hexa Bromo Cyclo Dodecane (HBCD) as a persistent organic pollutant ("POP", PBT) under the UN Environment Program and treats HBCD as a substance of very high concern ("svhc"). It prohibited the use of HBCD  as a flame retardant in the EU as of 21. August 2015.

HBCD is being replaced by a new polymeric Flame Retardant (PolyFR) technology which uses a similar mechanism for flame retardation (radical halogenic reaction uses up oxygen in case of fire). PolyFR is said to have a much better environmental profile than HBCD. It is also allows manufacturers to produce insulation materials that meet class B1 specifications under German standards (“schwerentflammbar”: difficult to ignite) and Class E under European standards (equivalent to UL 94 V1).

6. drymix.info Makes Charitable Donation to Ofenmacher e.V.

In third world countries most people still cook and heat their homes using open fires and firewood. There are no chimneys, the smoke from those fires is supposed to escape through the thatched roofs of the huts. This results in numerous accidents and illnesses and premature deaths in these households. Particularly children are affected, more than 50% of premature deaths among children under 5 are due to pneumonia caused by the polluted air inhaled from the open fires. Another serious effect of open fires used for cooking is the stripping of a villages' surroundings of wood, since incineration is very inefficient. This is a heavy toll on the women, who are not only responsible for preparing the food but also for foraging for firewood. In some areas of rural Nepal, this search for firewood accounts for 2/3 of a day's work.

Ofenmacher e.V., is a unique not-for-profit association who aims at providing save ovens with chimneys for as many households as possible (first in Nepal, nowadays also in Ethiopia and Kenya). These ovens improve the air in the households significantly and need only half of the fueling compared with an open fireplace. And the project creates new jobs: the association does not only build the ovens themselves but puts a lot of energy into training locals into a new and solid profession.

Every time drymix.info is organizing a conference in India part of the proceeds go to this extremely sustainable project. drymix.info wishes Ofenmacher e.V. a successful 2015 and encourages others to donate, too. The donation made by drymix.info allows 50 families to get their high-efficiency clay stove - which means around 250 people improve their daily living circumstances tremendously.
 
The team of drymix.info wishes you and your loved ones a successful 2015!

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