Cement, concrete and dry mix mortars in Russia

1 Dr. Bolshakov organized the event

2 View of the exhibition

3 Professor Plank gave a lecture on cement aging

Lecture by Philippe Fonta from WBCSD

From November 27–29, 2012 at the Expocentre in Moscow the 14^th International Construction Forum “Cement. Concrete. Dry Mixtures” was held, organized by Dr. Eduard Bolshakov from ALITinform (Fig. 1). The event managed to combine five conferences, three exhibitions (Fig. 2) and a number of specialized business programs. Started in 1999, the Construction Forum has grown into one of the biggest of its kind in Russia. Financial support came from several key industry players: Lafarge Russia as the general sponsor; Sinoma (China) as official sponsor and Russian admixture companies Polyplast, Hess AAC Systems and Addinol as local sponsors. The conference was held under the patronage of the Parliament of the Russian Federation, the Union of Cement Producers and the Russian Union of Builders.

In three days over 7200 specialists, among them 550 experts from 20 countries, visited the exhibition booths of 150 companies. The conference program included more than 130 speakers from all over the world and was divided into five sections:

2^nd Global Conference “CemEnergy 2012” with the focus on reducing energy consumption and CO₂ emissions in the cement industry of fast developing economies.

3^rd International Scientific and Technical Conference “BlockRead” focussed on modern technologies and equipment for precast concrete and reinforced concrete constructions.

4^th International Scientific and Practical Conference “ReCon” with design, operation and repair of concrete and reinforced concrete structures of transport facilities as the main topic.

5^th Scientific and Practical Conference “ConAer 2012”, discussing operation and service life of structures of autoclaved aerated concrete.

14^th International Scientific and Technical Conference “MixBuild 2012”, dealing with modern technologies of dry building mixtures in construction.

In “MixBuild 2012”, presentations from local and foreign industrial and academic researchers on dry mortar additives and formulations were given (see box). Speakers from Western Europe included representatives from SE Tylose, Evonik, Knauf Gips KG, Tolsa SA, MC Bauchemie and Technische Universität München (TUM) (Fig. 3). Dr. Carlos Duarte, Vice-President of the European Dry Mortar Association, gave a keynote speech where he emphasized the importance of high-quality dry mortar mixtures for energy saving and environmentally friendly construction.

The conference documented the high level of current construction activity in Russia. Prof. Plank from TUM said: “It is evident that Russia is a significant player in global construction activity and that because of highly ambitious programs for infrastructure, industrial as well as residential construction, exceptionally high growth rates can be expected there.” The Forum also demonstrated the growing demand for top-performing building materials.

According to Rosstat, in 2012 cement production in the Russian Federation increased by 9.5 % compared to 2011 and amounted to 61.5 million tons which for the first time is above the pre-crisis level of 2007. Also commissioning of houses reached 65.2 million m² which represents a growth of 5 % over the previous year. Main application of cement was prefabricated reinforced concrete structures, ready-mix concrete and building mortar. More information is available under info@alitinform.ru.

From May 24–31, 2013, ALITinform will hold an International Business Meeting in St. Petersburg/Russia where analysts and government representatives will report on significant market trends and figures for concrete, cement and dry mix mortar in the Russian and global construction industry. The event will be hosted at the “Grand Hotel Europe”, program details can be retrieved at //www.white-nights.info" target="_blank" >www.white-nights.info:www.white-nights.info.

The next Construction Forum “Cement. Concrete. Dry Mixtures” is scheduled by organizer ALITinform for November 26–28, 2013 at the Expocentre/Moscow. Information is available at //www.alitinform.ru" target="_blank" >www.alitinform.ru:www.alitinform.ru.