Ambitious cement plant on the rise

The port of Ghent has gained an asset since June last year: the Cemminerals cement plant took off. "Despite the corona crisis, we are producing more than the volumes we had envisioned. We are even doing slightly better," says a satisfied CEO Dirk De Leus. Now that the BENOR certificate for Liacemm - the hydraulic binder for road construction - has been obtained,  Cemminerals expects demand to increase further. In addition, since July 1, Cemminerals has also been on ATG list 2609 allowing its product CEM I 52.5 N LA to 70% to be combined with LMA.

Cemminerals shot out of the starting blocks at Kluizendok in Ghent last June as the only independent Belgian producer of cement. The family business has a solid history and experience in both the cement and concrete industries. CEO Dirk De Leus takes stock one year after the start-up: "Despite the corona crisis, our production is perfectly on track. Like everyone else, we were running at a low ebb for a while at the height of the crisis, but our customers have almost completely made up for it in the meantime."

Cemminerals is the only independent Belgian producer of cement.

Cemminerals prides itself on quality. The company invested in its own laboratory to keep improving its products. This was recently expanded to include tests on concrete. The producer stands out above all with its service. Customers can place an order at any time, exceptionally even on the day of delivery itself. Pick-up is possible 24/7 and loading is fully automated. When ordering, the customer/transporter receives a QR code that gives him day and night access to the site, where he can load the desired product. Mistakes are excluded. If the QR code is scanned at the wrong loading point, loading will not start.

New certificates

Recently, Cemminerals obtained both CE marking and BENOR certification for its hydraulic binder for road construction 'Liacemm'. The product is used for soil stabilization and in (under) foundations. "We expect that Liacemm will now be prescribed more and more in public works," said Dirk De Leus. "Also the certification of the use of CEM I 52.5 N LA with blast furnace slag up to 70% will not hurt our company either."

International growth

In Belgium, Cemminerals has gotten off to a flying start. The producer is now looking to neighboring countries for even more growth potential. "We are focusing primarily on the southern Netherlands and northern France. With coasters of 5,000-10,000 tons, we also want to eventually serve the United Kingdom and the Scandinavian countries," concludes an ambitious Dirk De Leus.