2012 Annual Report - Italcementi Group

Engineering, technical assistance, research and development
(CTG S.p.A. – Group Technical Center)
In 2012 CTG S.p.A. carried out engineering, investment project management, technical
assistance, and R&D activities for the Group companies in Italy and abroad, providing
services for 49.6 million euro (55.2 million euro in 2011).
Staff at the end of 2012 numbered 371 (398 at December 31, 2011), of whom 286 in
Bergamo, 78 in Guerville and 7 at Group companies.
Regarding current projects managed by CTG in coordination with the relevant Group
companies, for the revamping of the Devnya cement plant in Bulgaria (4,000 mt of clinker
per day), an agreement was signed with the supplier responsible for building the plant; at
the beginning of April 2012, the project moved into the executive stage with the significant
involvement of Devnya and CTG in monitoring construction operations. For the revamping
of the Rezzato cement plant (Italy, 3,000 mt of clinker per day), completion of which is
scheduled by the end of 2014 with an investment of 150 million euro, purchase orders have
been issued for the main plants and engineering services. In Gulbarga, India, work
continued on the new plant (7,000 mt of cement per day) and the related power station and
environmental approvals are pending; meanwhile, analysis of the tenders for the
construction of the plant is underway. Regarding the opening of the Barry quarry (Belgium),
a series of technical project decisions were taken, and the project should become
operational in 2015.
Other projects concern, in India, a feasibility study for a grinding center (1.2 million mt/y) in
Sholapur in the state of Maharashtra; in Morocco a new grinding center (0.45 million mt/y)
in Jorf Lasfar, currently under construction and due for completion in January 2014; in
North America a new cement terminal on Lake Ontario, Toronto, Canada, under
construction and scheduled for completion in March 2014.
Assistance operations included activities to improve product quality and boost efficiency at
a number of cement plants, and support for the fine-tuning of the most recent projects that
have gone into operation.
R&D work focused on materials and processes; seven patent applications were filed during
the year.
For the new products, i.light, TX Active, Alipre, the Group is defining new formulations,
improving performance and containing production costs.
New formulations were defined and tested for various types of concrete.
Regarding reduction of CO 2 emissions, the Group continued monitoring new technologies
and assessing their applications in the cement sector, while constant attention was devoted
to the formulation of cements and to production of clinker with lower emissions.
Innovation
2012 focused on achieving greater proximity to the markets on which the Group operates
by transferring new-product know-how, providing assistance to improve existing products
and support for promotion and marketing operations. The result was an extension of the
portfolio of innovative projects with attention to strengthening the Group’s image as industry
leader in innovation, and to renewing the offer of services and products for application, to
flank standard production.
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