15th IIBCC, Fuzhou, China, 2016

The 15th International Inorganic Bonded Cement Composites Conference was held  at Fuzhou Empark Grand Hotel, Fuzhou, Fujian Province, China from 7th to 11th November 2016. The conference was organized and managed by the Executive Committee, with the skillful assistance of Mr. Lin Zhen (Elkem) and the C & D local agency. It was the biggest conference ever of the IIBCC series both in numbers of delegates and sponsors/exhibitors.

The conference comprised 4 components

• Fibre Cement course
• Suppliers Day
• Conference lectures and papers
• Site Visits

As a 1-day course the Fibre Cement Course covered the basics of fibre cement composites and was a repeat of initiative of the 2014 conference. While originally targeted at new entrants to the fibre cement industry, it attracted a wider audience and was very well patronised. The course was presented by Professor Holmer Savastano of Universidade de Sao Paolo, Brazil, Dr Stephen Akers of Akers Consulting, Switzerland and Mr Tony Cooke of Building Materials and Technology, Australia.

The supplier’s day was an initiative of 2014 conference and was a great success being oversubscribed.

At the conference proper various authors presented 26 papers either by oral presentation or by poster.

A total of 188 registrants attended the conference proper, 69 of those attended the fibre cement course. 12 Sponsors and Exhibitors contributed to once again a successful conference.

At the conclusion of the conference delegates were offered the opportunity to visit factories relevant to the manufacture of fibre cement around Ho Chi Minh City. Visits were undertaken to Navifico and to Vinh Tuong Industrial Corporation both of whom are manufacturers of autoclaved fibre cement in Vietnam.