05 February 2015
India: Ramco Cements Ltd expects to commission the US$76.9m grinding unit in Vizag, Andhra Pradesh in April 2015. The company said that, while it has witnessed increased in cement sales in Kerala and West Bengal, in other states where it has operations the demand for cement has become sluggish.
In its unaudited standalone results for the three months that ended 31 December 2014, Ramco Cements showed a decline in income from operations to US$132m as against US$141m in the corresponding quarter of 2013. Net profit for the quarter fell to US$3.72m from US$4.14min the same quarter of 2013.
In the first nine months of the current fiscal year, Ramco Cements sold 5.66Mt of cement in the domestic market, compared to 6.2Mt in the corresponding nine months in the previous year. Exports amounted to 129,000t, taking the total sales to 5.79Mt in the first nine months of the 2015 financial year.
Ramco Cements said that cement production was 8% lower and sales fell by 9% in the first nine months of the 2015 financial year compared to the corresponding period in the previous year. Sales declined in Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telengana and Odisha.
More than 90% of Brazilian cement has sustainable additives 05 February 2015
Brazil: Votorantim Cimentos said that the proportion of alternative raw materials used in Brazilian cement is one of the best in the world, according to data from the Brazilian construction industry association SNIC. In 2013, 91% of all the cement commercialised in Brazil had some additive in addition to the clinker derived from limestone used in cement production.
"Brazil has one of the highest clinker substitution rates in the world. This is due to industry research and the development of technologies to incorporate natural substitutes and even steel industry rejects into cement manufacture", said Edvaldo Rabelo, executive director of energy, sustainability and safety for Votorantim Cimentos. "The addition of alternative raw materials ensures a product as strong and durable as cement made with pure clinker and generates gains such as reductions in gas emissions, water consumption and the burning of fossil fuels in the production process."
Votorantim Cimentos Research and Development manager, Silvia Vieira, said that the company plant in Porto Velho, Rondônia is considered a model in climate change initiatives. In operation since 2009, the plant saw alternative raw materials as a means of reducing operational costs. Located in the north of Brazil, there is a lack of limestone for clinker production and the high cost of transporting it from other mines is prohibitive. "This led us to think about producing calcined clay pozzolan at the plant and increasing the proportion of substitutes. After research, the involvement of scientists to establish technical specifications and diverse tests, we developed our own furnace for producing the material," said Silvia.
Amaka Cement Industries plant on the cards 05 February 2015
Zambia: Scirocco Enterprises Limited has entered into an agreement with a consortium to construct a state-of-the-art cement plant in Lusaka's Makeni area at cost of US$200m. Scirocco Enterprise managing director Moustafa Saadi said that the cement plant would have the capacity to produce 2500t/day of cement. He added that the company, Amaka Cement Industries Limited, had been incorporated in Zambia.
Saadi said that Scirocco has entered into an agreement with a Chinese firm and an international funder to carry out the project. "The agreement has been signed and feasibility study is being undertaken to establish the viability of the project. As soon as the exploration work that needs to be carried out is finalised, an environmental impact assessment will be carried out to comply with the prevailing laws," said Saadi. "We expect that the process can be concluded quickly without any undue delays. We are looking forward to the support of our community and various government institutions to facilitate the process in order to begin the physical work."
According to Saadi, the plant will be modern and efficient and will exceed all the environmental regulations in Zambia and have a positive impact on the economy of the area and the nation as a whole. He said that construction of the plant is earmarked to start in September 2015 and it is expected to be completed by 2017. Amaka Cement Industries would produce two grades of cement for the local and international markets. 500 people will be engaged during the construction period and 200 people will be employed on a full time basis once production starts.
Dangote starts preparations to set up cement plant in Nepal 05 February 2015
Nepal: A team of technical experts from Nigeria's Dangote Group recently visited potential sites in Makawanpur and Dhading Districts to study the feasibility of opening a cement plant there.
The team, composed of civil engineers, geologists and mine experts, visited different sites in the district, according to K R Rao, team leader of director of Dangote Group's Cement Production Division. According to Rao, the team has sent limestone samples collected from the sites for laboratory tests. He said that Dangote would choose the project site and start land acquisition process within two months.
Dangote plans to open a 6000t/day capacity cement plant in Nepal, which would be the 15th country for Dangote's cement plant operations. The government has already approved the proposal to invest US$550m to establish a cement plant. For the purpose, the group has registered 'Dangote Cement Nepal Private Limited' at the Office of Company Registrar.
"We will start cement production by June 2017. Our product will be of high quality as we will put in place a high-tech quality control mechanism. Similarly, we are adopting vertical roller mill technology, which is a modern and efficient technology," said Rao. He added that Dangote has seen cement market in Nepal growing. "We expect the market to grow to 6Mt/yr by 2020." Nepal currently consumes 3.5Mt/yr of cement and imports 1.5Mt/yr. However, with big plants coming up, experts say that the country will soon be able to start cement to neighbouring countries. "We are eying the markets in Bihar and Utter Pradesh in India," said Rao.
As the government has prioritised infrastructure development, mega projects like hydropower plants, road, airport and irrigation projects are being implemented in different parts of Nepal. These projects are likely to propel demand for cement and other construction materials in the near future.
Dangote Group's technical officials have not yet decided on an alternative power supply for the proposed plant. "Though our initial plan was to invest in hydropower project, we have aborted it as it takes lot of time to develop. We are thinking of investing in coal or diesel-fed power plants to arrange a stable power supply," said Rao. The proposed plant needs a 35MW supply of uninterrupted power.
Vietnam: Hoang Phat Vissai Group began work on the Song Lam cement plant with an investment of US$488m in Vietnam's central province of Nghe on 4 February 2015.
Located in Bai Son commune and being transformed from the current Do Luong cement plant, the new 5.6Mt/yr clinker plant will be developed in two phases and will be ready for operation within 18 months, according to company chairman Nguyen Ngoc Oanh. The first phase will last until 2017, with two production lines with a combined capacity of 12,000t/day of clinker installed. The second phase, adding 6000t/day of clinker, will be developed in 2017 - 2020.
Vietnam has 74 cement production lines with a combined output estimated at 81Mt/yr, while sales of cement and clinker are projected to be 73Mt for 2015, according to the data from the Ministry of Construction. Of the sales, 52 – 53Mt are expected to be sold to the domestic market, while 19 – 20Mt will be exported.