Kyung Boo - Finding success in sand

Restrictions pose challenges for urbanization

Kyung Boo Corporation is one of the largest producers of aggregates and manufactured sand in South Korea. The family-run quarry, located in Gimhae in the South Gyeongsang province, is run by the owner Mr. Park Sa Ick. Kyung Boo specializes in producing raw materials including rocks and sand for construction and base materials for railroad track beds. The company produces 2.2 million tons of manufactured sand and -25mm aggregates annually.

Manufactured sand, also known as crushed sand or artificial sand, refers to aggregate that is usually finer than 5 mm. For quarries like Kyung Boo, it means growth because sand is a basic building component needed to accommodate growing populations.

Until today, aggregates producers in South Korea have been extracting and using sea sand. Now natural sand is becoming depleted and the quarrying of river and sea sand has been prohibited to prevent environment destruction. But urbanization and the rapid development of infrastructure mean that the demand for sand is higher than ever. Consequently, there is an increasing demand for manufactured sand.

Mr. Park, owner and CEO of Kyung Boo Corporation, has worked in the aggregates industry for over 20 years and has seen the times and regulations change: “Due to the ecosystem destruction, natural sand is becoming depleted. Fishermen, for example, are against further sand extraction because there is not enough sand for fish to lay eggs. The restrictions on sand extraction have become stronger compared to last year.”

More high-quality production in less time

One of the key challenges for Kyung Boo was to increase the production of manufactured sand to meet the increasing demand. Any plant can produce aggregates, but making manufactured sand requires several size reduction stages – and that means investments in crushing, transport, size control and classification equipment.

The production cost per m³ tonne of -25mm aggregate is approximately EUR 4.8 whereas the production cost of manufactured sand is around EUR 7.5. Because the production is more expensive, Kyung Boo can also demand a higher price for the final product. The price of manufactured sand in Korea is approximately 10 euros per m3 ex-quarry.

Having enjoyed significant growth in Kyung Boo’s first 25 years and keen on cementing its long-term success, in 2011 Mr. Park decided to start making plans for a substantial investment in new high-quality crushing and screening equipment. “I had been using South Korean crushers for a number of years but realized that they could not give me the volume and consistent quality of material that I now needed,” he remembers.

To increase the production of manufactured sand, Kyung Boo invested in Metso equipment. “The reason I chose Metso was because of the history of the company. Metso handles hard rocks well,” explains Mr. Park. “After extensive research and analysis, I decided to purchase Metso equipment, which is known for a low failure rate. Once I started running the machine, I witnessed the performance in action.”

Metso’s aggregates solutions are available in Korea through HAEIN Corporation, the country’s largest dealer of premium construction and civil engineering equipment and the authorized dealer of Metso’s product range since 2012. “To stand out from the competition, we have worked hard over the past few years to provide our customers with a one-stop solution. Partnering with Metso enabled us to provide the best solutions also for crushing, which is one of the most critical tasks for our customers,” explains Mr. S.W. Choi, Managing Director of HAEIN Corporation.

Kyung Boo brought in the first Metso machines, 2 x B9100SE and 1 x HP300, 3 years ago , and today it has numerous Metso systems including a Nordberg® C160™ jaw crusher, a Nordberg® GP500S™ cone crusher, Nordberg® HP6™ cone crushers, and Metso TS5.3™ screens. For Mr. Park, the size of the equipment is a benefit. Mr. Choi has noticed the same at HAEIN: “After customers use Metso machines, they are impressed by two things: the productivity and product quality compared to the amount of production. Customers express their appreciation for the very competitive product quality, which directly relates to profitability for our customers.”

The big investment has paid off in productivity and efficiency gains for Kyung Boo. “Our aggregate production percentages are now 60% aggregates and 40% sand. The total production amount is approximately 150,000, which can be expanded to 200,000 when needed. The production ratio is about 4:6,” Mr. Park tells.

Continuing support

Kyung Boo was the first plant in Korea to acquire all its equipment from Metso. The investment included vibrating equipment as well as basic design. According to Mr. Suhen Agarwal, VP of Aggregates Sales & Services in the region, Kyung Boo was an extremely important project for Metso: “Mr. Park is a very visionary person, but also very demanding. His aspiration for high quality and high performance is exceptional. When it comes to plant uptime, a timely completion and after sales support, he wanted the best and I believe we succeeded in fulfilling Kyung Boo’s needs.”

“In my opinion, a machine, no matter how luxurious it is, cannot be called a good machine if there is no support for it. HAEIN and Metso share the same company philosophy in this matter. We not only focus on selling machines, but also on providing support for the machines we sell,” says Mr. Choi.

Mr. Park agrees that support is important for Kyung Boo: “For a crusher plant, the crusher needs to be in good operating condition so that the plant can operate. There are multiple other machines in the yard, but if the crushers stop running, the entire operation stops.”

An urban future ahead

Urbanization is expected to double the South Korean market for manufactured sand in the next few years, and the price per m3 of manufactured sand is estimated to rise from the current EUR 12.1 to EUR 15.6 in 2019 – and even higher in 2020.  “When we speak to other customers in Korea, there is an emphasis on producing more and more sand. RMC production is going up and there are high-value infrastructure projects in the pipeline where manufactured sand will be needed,” estimates Metso’s Mr. Agarwal.

Still, Kyung Boo holds a good position in the Korean market, as getting a new license to operate in the aggregates business is more difficult for new companies. “It is not easy to produce high-quality manufactured sand because it requires spending a lot of money on premium equipment. Kyung Boo has already invested in premium plants, while many other quarry operators have yet to do so. The company will likely grow its manufactured sand output to around 80% of its total annual material production,” Mr. Park says. Kyung Boo also plans to bring in more machines in the future. “I am contemplating the first, second, and third plants as well as trying to find ways to produce more sand. I believe we need more machines to achieve that,” Mr. Park plans.

Metso will continue to operate in the region and support the local aggregates producers with its offering of manufactured sand equipment. “I personally believe that Metso made a good choice by entering the Korean market. By further strengthening the after-sales service and by earning the customers’ trust, Metso will achieve tremendous success in Korea,” Mr. Parks says.

Summary

Large-scale infrastructure projects and government regulation in South Korea have put manufactured sand in high demand. The amount of manufactured sand produced with a Metso plant is 2.5-3 times greater than with a local plant. Metso’s solutions have created growth in South Korea both for the manufactured sand producer Kyung Boo as well as the official Metso dealer HAEIN Corporation.

Kyung Boo Corporation, located in Gimhae in the South Gyeongsang province, currently produces 2.2 million tonnes of aggregates and manufactured sand annually. 60% of production is aggregates and the remaining 40% consists of sand. The percentage of manufactured sand production is set to increase in the coming years. The aggregates produced by Kyung Boo are distributed to ready-mixed concrete companies and construction companies in the Busan and Gimhae areas.

Metso has been a trusted partner of HAEIN Corporation since 2012, helping them to solve issues around crushing. With the help of Metso, HAEIN can now provide solutions for all processes important to its customers: blasting, loading, transportation, and crushing.

How Kyung Boo does it

Kyung Boo uses a VF866-2V™ grizzly feeder, a Nordberg® C160™ jaw crusher, a Nordberg® GP500S™ cone crusher for secondary crushing, two Nordberg® HP6™ cone crushers for tertiary crushing, and two Metso TS5.3™ screens for its 0-8mm and 8-25mm aggregates products. The 8mm-10mm sized material comes via the screening media aperture on the bottom deck of the two Metso TS5.3™ screens and is processed into -8mm material with two Nordberg® HP6™ cone crushers. The -8mm material is put through washing screens, with material over 4.5mm going into one of the two Barmac® B9100SE™ (VSI) crushers. The material is then put through the washing screens again, and the screened -4.5mm material is washed out as manufactured sand.

Additional material comes from the scalping screen at the primary crushing stage, which takes the product down to -40mm. The -40mm material goes into washing screens, with 4.5mm-13mm particles going into the other Barmac® B9100SE™ (VSI) crusher, and 13-40mm particles going into the Nordberg® HP300™ cone crusher for more crushing. The resulting materials from both the Barmac® B9100SE™ (VSI) crushers and Nordberg® HP300™ cone crusher then go to a washing screen for separation. The -4.5mm particles are then washed out as manufactured sand.

Metso products at Kyung Boo:

Nordberg® HP6™ cone crushers (2)
Nordberg® C160™ jaw crusher (1)
Metso TS5.3™ screens (2)
Nordberg® GP500S™ cone crusher (1)
Barmac® B9100SE™ (VSI) crushers (2)
Nordberg® HP300™ cone crusher (1)
Lokotrack® LT120™ mobile jaw crushing plant (1)
VF866-2V™ grizzly feeder (1)