Maryland’s Sun Services says maintenance critical to performance of its material handlers.

Beltsville, Maryland-based Sun Services LLC cites preventive maintenance (PM) as a key to keeping its fleet of three Sennebogen material handlers ready to take on an average of 70 tons or more of per hour of construction and demolition materials. The company uses the Sennebogen machines to help receive, process and ship its C&D materials.

According to Stanley, North Carolina-based Sennebogen LLC, when the Sun Services site was first designed, it was targeted for a capacity of 400 tons per day. To meet customer demand, Brian Shipp, one of the founders, streamlined the firm’s receiving bays and upgraded its material handling machines to double that volume.

Says Shipp, “Everything that comes in here has to go out the same day. We only have 250 cubic yards of metal storage onsite and two bunkers for concrete.” Operating a large truck and container fleet, including rolloffs and large walking floor trailers, the compact facility is now taking on peak traffic of up to 60 trucks in one hour. Sun Services’ shredder line goes nearly non-stop.

Sun started out with a conventional fleet of wheel loaders and excavators, but those machines could not keep up with the growing demand, according to the firm. In early 2019, Shipp acquired his first purpose-built Sennebogen 818 waste handler from Pennsylvania-based dealer Midlantic Machinery. After seeing it perform, Sun added two more 818s later that year. But only two of the new machines are operating at any given time, which ties into Sun’s full-time PM plan.

To ensure that each machine gets the service attention it needs to perform on demand, Sun says it keeps two units on the job, with another on the bench. “One 818 sits on top of the pile and feeds the shredder,” says Shipp “While the shredder is processing, the loader can pre-sort oversize items out of the stream, such as big concrete, metal, cable, tanker vessels. Another 818 sits at the other end of the stream, loading out residual material.”

While two of the 818s handle the workload of the 10-hour day, the third unit is getting serviced. “Our machines look terrible at the end of a week-long shift,” Shipp admits. “We rotate out one of the machines so it can get a thorough cleaning. We’ll do two or three rotations between scheduled maintenance intervals.”

The Sennebogen machines are all equipped with hydraulic reversing fans. Shipp says they pause a few times each day to run the fans and clear the cooling system, then they dig into the stockpiles once more.

Meanwhile, factory-trained technicians from Midlantic are routinely onsite to maintain and inspect one of the waste handlers. “Any gremlins we have had, Midlantic figured it out quickly,” Shipp says. On the next rotation cycle, the technicians apply any adjustments they made to the other two machines, to prevent the same problem from coming up again. Sun signed on for Midlantic’s service plans, and Sennebogen’s built-in Sencon software keeps Midlantic aware of the machines’ service needs.

The 818’s responsive hydraulics and agile grapple allow a single machine to pre-sort material while it keeps the shredder fed and producing, says the company. Sun’s efficiency in reclaiming material for recycling has allowed the firm is able to offer LEED credits for customer projects.

With 4,000 hours on the original 818 and about 3,000 hours on the other two, Shipp says of the units, “They have been exponentially better than excavators we used previously. We’re very happy with them. When it comes time to open our next plant, we plan to build our fleet with Sennebogen when the time comes.”

Turkey, India join China in surpassing 2019 production levels; U.S. still lagging last year’s output.

November global steel production figures aggregated by the Brussels-based World Steel Association (Worldsteel) show the 64 nations reporting produced more than 158 million metric tons of steel in November 2020, a 6.6 percent increase compared with November 2019.

While China, the world’s largest steel producer, has been surpassing its 2019 monthly totals since the second quarter of 2020, other nations are showing signs of having rebounded to reach their pre-COVID-19 levels of output.

Turkey, the largest global importer of ferrous scrap, produced 3.2 million metric tons of steel in November 2020, up by 11.6 percent compared with November 2019.

In the European Union, the 3.4 million metric tons of steel made in Germany in November 2020 represents a 14.8 rise over what was produced in November 2019. Steelmakers in Italy made 3.2 percent more steel in November 2020 compared with November 2019, while those in France enjoyed a 3.7 percent year-on-year increase.

In the United States, where steel-intensive infrastructure funding has been slow to be used as economic stimulus, the 6.1 million metric tons of crude steel made in November 2020 represents a decrease of 13.7 percent compared with November 2019.

In Asia, China’s output of 87.7 million metric tons in November 2020 represents an increase of 8.0 percent compared with November 2019. India’s year-on-year November output rose by 3.5 percent, but production in Japan and South Korea continues to lag compared with 2019 output levels.

The rebound of steel production globally has caused both iron ore and ferrous scrap prices to spike in the final two months of 2019. The upward price pressure could continue if steel mills in the U.S. keep showing signs of ramping up output closer to pre-pandemic levels.

Keycycle will take over sales and project implementation of the deinking technology developed by Cadel.

As of January 2021, Erema subsidiary Keycycle GmbH will take over worldwide sales and project implementation for Cadel Deinking, a Spanish-based developer of technology to remove printing inks from plastic surfaces. The technology is patented in more than 20 countries.

Additionally, Keycycle will operate the pilot system in Alicante, Spain, together with Cadel Deinking.

"Together, we are making ink-removal technology a process step that can be integrated into the plastics recycling chain," says Michal Prochazka, managing director of Keycycle, and Pablo Cartagena, business development manager at Cadel Deinking.

Printing inks pose challenges in plastics recycling. While design for recycling strategies call for reducing printing directly on packaging film, Keycycle says it often is not possible to eliminate it completely in many different applications for film products.

Ansfelden, Austria-based Erema has been working with Cadel Deinking since June 2020 with the aim of removing printing inks during the recycling process. The technology they have developed removes the ink from the shredded film before the material is fed into the recycling extruder. Combined with an Erema Intarema extruder, the ink removal process has been successful during test runs, according to a news release about the partnership issued by Keycycle.

The company adds that orders already have been placed for five deinking systems.

"We see great potential in developing this new technology for recycling solutions to process in-house and postindustrial waste film ecologically and cost-effectively,” says Manfred Hackl, CEO of the Erema Group. “It will increase our market presence and expand our range of products for particularly challenging turnkey recycling solutions. It is also an important step towards closing plastic cycles."

Hackle says he also is thinking about developing the technology so it can be integrated into washing systems made by various manufacturers.

"We are delighted that with Keycycle we can continue along the route we started when our company was founded six years ago," says Rafael Garcia Vidal, managing director of Cadel Deinking.

The company will represent Mecalac in Florida.

Mecalac, a leading global designer, manufacturer and distributor of compact construction equipment for urban environments, has added Florida-based Trekker Group to its dealer network. Trekker Group will offer Mecalac’s MCR crawler skid-excavators, MWR wheeled excavators and AS swing loaders at six locations throughout Florida.

The Trekker Group is one of five dealers Mecalac added in 2020 to expand coverage across North America.

“Growing a brand — especially one as unique as Mecalac — requires a strong partner with exemplary customer service,” says Peter Bigwood, general manager for Mecalac North America. “Trekker Group recognizes Mecalac’s potential for their landscaping and construction customers. They also have the support network necessary for helping us foster a whole new way of thinking about the job site.

Trekker Group originated in Puerto Rico more than 66 years ago, reaching mainland U.S. in 2010 with the establishment of Trekker Tractor. Several divisions of the company, including the original Puerto Rico Wire Group, continue to provide construction wire products, tools and accessories across Puerto Rico and the Caribbean.

In addition to Trekker Tractor, the equipment sales, rental and service division, the group also manages Trekker Distributor in the U.S. This division provides concrete formwork and shoring supplies and design consultation services, as well as multiple construction equipment lines throughout Florida and most states in the Southeast.

“Partnering with Mecalac is an ideal fit with our customer base,” says Adam Stegeman, vice president of operations for Trekker Group. “We focus on site work, utilities, water treatment plants, pool contractors, landscapers and municipalities. Job sites are often crowded and difficult to access. Mecalac equipment is compact, highly maneuverable and the most innovative machines our industry has seen in the last 50 years. With Mecalac, our customers can be more resourceful and efficient. We’re happy to be able to help make that happen.”

The companies report that the EAF will produce about 1.5 million tons of steel slabs.

Luxembourg-based ArcelorMittal has signed a definitive agreement with Japan-based Nippon Steel Corp. to build an electric arc furnace (EAF) at the AM/NS (ArcelorMittal/Nippon Steel Corp.) Calvert, Alabama, rolling mill complex. The EAF will be capable of producing 1.5 million tons of steel slabs for the adjacent hot strip mill and will be able to produce a spectrum of steel grades required for Calvert’s end-user markets.

ArcelorMittal had announced plans to build an EAF at AM/NS Calvert in August. According to a news release from ArcelorMittal, the EAF will be a 50/50 joint venture between ArcelorMittal and Nippon Steel.

ArcelorMittal reports that construction of the new EAF capacity, which will cost about $775 million, will start in 2021. The company aims to have the EAF come online in the first half of 2023. The project is being funded by AM/NS Calvert.

“This is an important project for AM/NS Calvert, which builds additional flexibility to its slab sourcing and will increase its responsiveness to short lead time orders,” says Brad Davey, CEO of ArcelorMittal North America. “AM/NS Calvert is already one of the world’s finest steel finishing facilities. Adding this state-of-the-art EAF will further strengthen its capabilities and enhance its ability to serve its full range of customers. I am very pleased we will be undertaking this with Nippon Steel; it is a natural extension of our existing, successful partnership.”

Nippon Steel reports in a news release that Calvert currently produces steel sheet products by processing semifinished slabs procured from domestic and overseas suppliers. With the new EAF, Calvert will be able to manufacture by itself part of slabs necessary to produce its steel sheet products. Nippon Steel says the EAF will produce slabs for automotive flat products, including Gen3 advanced high-tensile steel sheets.

“Nippon intends to concentrate its resources on Calvert, which has one of the most distinguished equipment capabilities in the United States, and to further strengthen its supply capability of full range of products including the state-of-the-art steel products in [N]orth America,” Nippon Steel reports.