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Briquetting
Overview
Built in 1993, Oxbow’s Eldon Colliery Limited (ECL) facility produces smokeless briquettes for the United Kingdom’s home heating market. The ‘cold cure’ briquette has established itself as the UK’s leading solid fuel. As we and others move away from bituminous coal, Oxbow now produces a ‘greener, cleaner’ product fully compliant with new legislation designed to improve air quality and satisfy the demands of the more environmentally savvy consumer.
Briquetting
ECL is located in Newfield, a short distance away from the historic and beautiful city of Durham. Started by the Bartlett family, the business produces a range of briquettes for multiple markets. Shaped as either an ovoid or the more familiar square, Oxbow’s briquettes combine petroleum coke, anthracite and a binding ingredient to produce a robust yet responsive fuel. The near smokeless product with less than 15% volatile matter provides an affordable home heating source to many of the traditional users of solid fuel in the UK. Highly volatile, ‘dirty’ bituminous coal is being replaced by ‘greener, cleaner’ manufactured solid fuels, with the advantage of higher efficiency and lower costs than the traditional fuels.
Bagging Operations
Driven by consumer demand, Oxbow is ‘getting closer’ to our customers. Bagged product is in greater demand year on year. The convenience of purchasing 10kg, 20kg and 25kg bags of product cannot be denied, nor indeed can the economics. Consumers used to buy perhaps one metric ton of fuel at a time, delivered by the local coal merchant and tipped into a bunker. These days ‘cash and carry’ plays an ever greater role. A significant investment in a new facility close to our Durham production unit has seen Oxbow enter this market, and there is plenty of potential for growth as the market continues to develop.
Customer Satisfaction
ECL is managed with the same high standards as other Oxbow facilities with regards to health, safety and the environment. Fully compliant with all UK legislation, we continue to enjoy a 10% year-on-year increase in sales.
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Leadership |
Mike Cusick |
Commercial Director |
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Locations |
- Newfield, Bishop Auckland, United Kingdom
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