They have helped put the Icelandic construction sector on the map: Steypustöðin (pronounced as: stey-pus-toh-thin) concrete producers since 1947. It was unthinkable that the Russia-Ukraine war would reduce production. Raw material flows on hold? We do things differently!
From pipes to prefabricated elements and wet concrete: Steypustöðin in Reykjavik makes these. Buildings, bridges and roads are built with it. This has been happening in Iceland for a long time, albeit a little later than in the rest of Europe. A daring investment in a large plant closed the ‘concrete gap’ between this island and the European mainland.
Importing dry bulk goods
Cement, one of the raw material ingredients of concrete, had always been imported by Steypustöðin from neighbouring Denmark. That was until the war in Ukraine resulted in raw material shortages on the European market. Cement became a scarce (bulk) commodity. “I had never experienced a shortage of this magnitude before”, says Kai Westphal, who has been with Steypustöðin since early 2000.
Loading cement powder in big bags
Due to the cement shortage in their own region, Steypustöðin decided to import cement from Turkey. This was supplied in big bags, for which Steypustöðin’s logistics did not have the facilities. Kai: “We had to find a solution for the automated loading of big bags into bulk trucks.”
A smart choice: Dino bulk truck loaders
Large capacity bulk truck loaders seemed the perfect solution for the job. However, the average delivery time of 22 weeks for a new loading system was too long. An online auction solved the problem. Steypustöðin purchased a second-hand Dino bulk truck loader. Kai: “I heard through the grapevine that Dino bulk truck loaders are of excellent quality and that Van Beek is a worldwide supplier of screw conveyors. That’s why we decided to buy this second-hand Dino.”
Customised unloading solutions
As this was a standard version of the Dino bulk truck loader, modifications were required. For example, more buffer volume in the inlet hopper was needed and low dust was also required. This was not a problem. Van Beek provided an additional extension rim, a lid and an unloading plate. This enabled the shipment of cement powder for Steypustöðin to be quick, safe and efficient.
Van Beek as a reliable supplier
One bulk truck loader was barely capable of handling the daily supply of 280 tonnes of cement for the production of 800m3 of concrete per day. A second bulk truck loader was urgently required. The Icelandic concrete producer considered Van Beek to be the logical choice to supply their new bulk truck loader. This was because ‘we were equally pleased with our first Dino and Van Beek’s high level of service’, Kai explains.
The Dino bulk truck loader for cement
Roel Kneepkens, ‘Mr Bulk Truck Loader’ at Van Beek, explains the features of the Dino DS400 Cement to us: “The inlet hopper is fitted with a cross cutter to cut open the big bag. This means the fork lift truck driver does not need to leave the fork lift truck to cut open the big bag, but can immediately fetch the next big bag. A Dino Cement has a capacity of 80m3/hour, which is twice the capacity of the standard Dino. If the flow behaviour of the product cooperates in this, the bulk truck can be filled within a very short time (from 30 minutes per bulk truck).”
Worldwide delivery of bulk trucks
With this version of the Dino bulk truck loader, Steypustöðin immediately benefits from the best possible loading capacity, ease of working and fast loading. Dino’s can be delivered anywhere in the world, shipping is easy using a sea container. Also, Dino’s are optionally available for different voltages worldwide. Want to see where our Dino’s are being used? Check out the map!
