22 October 2014
Misr Beni Suef Cement to build coal mill 22 October 2014
Egypt: Misr Beni Suef Cement has reached an agreement to build a coal mill worth US$27.9m in 12 months.
"The project will be funded through self-financing and loans," said Misr Beni Suef. The company expects the project to be completed by the end of 2015. Egypt is currently struggling with blackouts and the government has cut natural gas supplies to plants, which has prompted cement companies to switch to coal.
Egypt's natural gas production has been declining for years. Production in January 2014 was down by 10% from January 2013, according to the most recent government figures. In September 2014, the Egyptian government began to allow coal imports despite environmental concerns from the high pollution coal emits.
Savannah Cement focuses on East Africa 22 October 2014
Kenya: Savannah Cement has confirmed on-going plans to include the East African market as part of its regional integration support project. The regional market development project is based on a commitment to pursue sales opportunities in all East African countries by 2015, according to managing director Ronald Ndegwa. He added that plans to appoint local dealers in Rwanda and Burundi are at an advanced stage.
Savannah Cement has good market performance in the Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania and South Sudan markets. In Tanzania it has expanded its market reach by retaining in-country dealers in Arusha and Mwanza to cover the country's inland cement demand.
"Savannah Cement's overall corporate development is anchored on a regional market coverage strategy and we are glad that we have made good inroads in the respective East African markets," Ndegwa said. "With our current installed production capacity of about 1.5Mt/yr, we are well placed to meet regional demand." The company is also considering doubling its current production capacity to meet demand.
Ndegwa disclosed that Savannah Cement is lining up development projects valued at more than US$300m, including an investment plan to establish a clinker manufacturing facility and to commission its second grinding plant.
Italcementi launches upgraded Devnya Cement plant 22 October 2014
Bulgaria: Italcementi has launched its upgraded cement plant in Bulgaria, which is operated by its subsidiary, Devnya Cement. The upgrades will allow Italcementi to meet domestic demand and export demand from Eastern Europe.
"The new plant will enable us to respond to demand from the domestic market and from the neighbouring areas in Eastern Europe," said Italcementi Group chief executive officer Carlo Pesenti in a statement.
The revamp of the cement plant, located near the port of Varna in eastern Bulgaria, began in April 2012 and invovled an overall investment of more than Euro160m. Once the current test and commissioning stage has been completed on all the systems, the cement plant will be fully operational in early 2015. The new facility can produce around 4000t/day of clinker and about 1.5Mt/yr of cement.
The completion of the project will allow the group to consolidate its operations in Bulgaria, where it also runs the Vulkan grinding center in Dimitrovgrad, and boost its export capacity thanks to its proximity to the port of Varna West, which gives access to all the countries on the Black Sea and on the eastern part of the Mediterranean Sea.
The Italcementi Group entered the Bulgarian market in 1998 with the acquisition of Devnya Cement, followed in 1999 by the acquisition of Vulkan Cement. In 2013, the Group reported revenue of Euro59m in Bulgaria.
Skyonic opens commercial-scale carbon capture unit at Capitol Aggregates cement plant 22 October 2014
US: Skyonic has opened its first commercial-scale CO2 capture and utilisation facility, at the Capitol Aggregates cement plant in San Antonio, Texas. The US$125m Capitol SkyMine will have a total CO2 mitigation impact of 300,000t/yr, through the direct capture of 75,000t of CO2 and transformation into sodium bicarbonate, bleach and hydrochloric acid. The unit is expected to generate around US$48m/yr in revenue and US$28m/yr in annual earnings.
"The Capitol SkyMine facility is the first step in our vision to mitigate the effects of industrial pollution and close the carbon cycle," said Joe Jones, founder and CEO of Skyonic. The SkyMine process allows up to 90% of CO2 emissions from flue gas to be captured and transformed into solid products that can then be sold.
Nepal Environment and Scientific Services accredit Sonapur Cements with low alkaline content 22 October 2014
Nepal: Sona Cement has been awarded the 'Proven Low Alkaline Content' accreditation by Nepal Environment and Scientific Services (NESS) NS Accreditation laboratory. According to a statement from Sonapur Cements, the accreditation will make it the first and only Low Alkaline Content Clinker and Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC) cement producer in Nepal.
Sonapur Cements has a plant in Dang, from which it produces different kinds of high grade and low alkaline content cement under the trademarks of Sona, Sonashree, Sonatech and Sonapur Cement.