Quarry Southern Africa March 2017 | Page 12

Aspasa attends Chinese aggregates conferences
The 17th SMOPYC International Show of Public Works, Construction and Mining Machinery is returning to Spain’ s Zaragoza Exhibition Centre from 25 to 29 April 2017. Over 450 brands will be in attendance, displaying machinery, equipment, and technology. The show serves as a meeting point for professionals and leading brands, and organisers have designed an ambitious programme to run alongside it. One of the highlights will be SMOPYCDEMO, a demonstration area outfitted to enable companies to exhibit the full potential of their machinery. Zaragoza Exhibition Centre will offer a unique doorway into Europe for businesses from Spain, Portugal and North Africa.
Volvo Construction Equipment( Volvo CE) will be moving its global headquarters from Brussels, Belgium, where it has been since the 1980s, to Gothenburg, Sweden. The relocation will facilitate closer co-operation with the Group’ s other business areas and allow for better usage of the competence and resources of the whole Volvo Group. According to Martin Weissburg, president of Volvo CE and member of the Executive Board of the Volvo Group, Sweden is home to around 4 000 Volvo CE employees and is where some of the company’ s largest manufacturing, commercial, and technology sites are located. The new headquarters will be operational in Q3 2017.
Powerscreen announced its intention to enter the Chinese market at bauma China in December 2016. The first machines will enter the Chinese market in 2017.“ We see a requirement for Powerscreen products working in the small recycling business, medium-size contractors, and mine sites in China,” said Willie Yin, business development director at Powerscreen China.“ While the Chinese market has traditionally used static crushing and screening equipment, we believe there is an expanding market for the mobile concept.” According to Yin, the company plans to replicate its global distribution network in China. An applications department has also been established to provide the necessary guidance to Chinese customers.
Aspasa attends Chinese aggregates conferences
The Aggregate and Sand Producers Association of Southern Africa( Aspasa), directed by South African representative and Aspasa director Nico Pienaar, attended the China International Aggregates Conference and the China Recycled Aggregate Associations from 13 to 14 December 2016.
According to Pienaar, recycling is a current focus area for the association and it was included in discussions by the Department of Environmental Affairs at the end of 2016. The department has started focusing on the correct handling of rubble, and Aspasa will also be paying attention to this issue.
South Africa has an abundance of minerals, whereas China has little and has to purchase its
minerals, but it does mine its own aggregate, with volumes in the region of 20 billion tonnes per annum( tpa), compared to South Africa’ s 120 million tpa.
Pienaar says that suppliers to the aggregate industry in China have realised that they need to work with the Aggregate Association, and they are heavily aligned with and involved in the industry body. Chinese suppliers were also very interested in what Aspasa’ s function in South Africa is. Aspasa will be focusing on supplier membership in South Africa.
“ It also became clear that the sharing of information in the aggregate industry in China as well as other countries is essential. Aspasa has been reasonably successful in this, but needs to expand,” says Pienaar.
“ A further issue that was raised at the Global Aggregate Information Network( GAIN) meeting last year was again raised: illegal aggregate and sand mining. The Chinese association has convinced the country’ s government to act, and serious steps are being taken to stop illegal aggregate and sand mining in China.”
The China Aggregate Association is eager to work with other international aggregate producer bodies, and GAIN is an ideal vehicle for co-operation. Roads and infrastructure development were highlighted as essential to growing a country’ s economy.
At the China Aggregates Conference, Jim O’ Brien, GAIN co-ordinator and honorary president of the European Aggregates Association( UEPG),
delivered a presentation and shared global production trends. The presentation covered Europe’ s recession from 2007 to 2013, with a 30 % decline in production during that period and subsequent signs of slow economic recovery, with a production increase of approximately 1 % per year since 2013.
Also covered were national production levels for 2015, which have Germany as the largest producer( 545 million tpa) and Malta as the smallest( two million tpa). According to O’ Brien, globally, aggregate production comprises 47 % crushed stone, 41 % sand and gravel, 8 % recycled, and the remaining 4 % split between manufactured and marine aggregates.
Some of the GAIN key industry ambitions identified by O’ Brien were: eliminating fatalities and accidents; ensuring employee health; minimising water impacts; nurturing biodiversity; increasing recycling; planning for future demand; ensuring future access to resources; campaigning against illegal quarrying; preparing for upscaling; lobbying for the future; continuing to promote the sector and its benefits to society; and attracting excellent people.
Aspasa
A huge delegation from China and around the world was present at the recent China International Aggregates Conference and China Recycled Aggregate Associations, which took place in China from 13 to 14 December 2016.
10 _ QUARRY SA | March 2017