09 February 2015
57th annual IEEE-IAS/PCA Cement Industry Technical Conference to have 11 new training courses 09 February 2015
US: The 57th IEEE-IAS/PCA Cement Industry Technical Conference will take place at the Sheraton Centre Hotel in Toronto, Canada from 26 – 30 April 2015.
This year's conference theme is 'BIG.' The participants will visit the biggest cement plant in Canada, the St. Marys Bowmanville facility. According to the organisers, every major cement producer will be represented. 11 new professional training sessions will be offered in 2015, each one twice. There will also be tutorial sessions including Mines Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) recertification as well and a general practices tutorial entitled 'Alternative fuels and raw materials (AFR) thermal substitution and its impact on process and emissions.'
Twiga Cement shut over dust pollution 09 February 2015
Tanzania: The National Environment Management Council (NEMC) has indefinitely closed down Tanzania Portland Cement Company (TPCC, Twiga) over environmental pollution.
NEMC senior legal officer Heche Suguta said that the plant was also required to pay US$26,944 in penalties. He said that the NEMC had established that the plant was discharging a huge amount of dust, which was bad for the environment and the people surrounding the plant. "We have several times asked the plant management to work out this shortcoming, but they have not taken any steps to mitigate the problem," said Suguta.
Twiga manufactures almost half of the cement produced by the three major plants in the county and its closure is likely to spark the fear of a sharp rise in cement prices. According to 2013 statistics, Twiga produces 1.4Mt/yr of cement out of the 3Mt/yr the country can produce. The remaining 1.6Mt/yr is shared among Mbeya Cement Company and Tanga Cement Company.
Suguta said that, previously, Twiga had four chimneys to emit pollutants, but three broke down and the plant was using only one out-dated chimney, which was overwhelmed. "The plant will be allowed to resume operations only after sorting out the problem by controlling dust," said Suguta. He said that the NEMC had been receiving complaints from residents surrounding the area that the dust from the plant was causing headaches and respiratory problems. "If they disobey this order, we will arrest their managing director and other stern legal action would follow."
Twiga's managing director and area manager for East Africa, Alfonso Rodriguez, said that the dust was coming from an old plant after the filter of the new plant got a technical fault. He said that they had ordered a new filter, which might take a month to arrive in the country.
HeidelbergCement India dips on weak third quarter 09 February 2015
India: HeidelbergCement India has reported a net loss of US$1.59m in the third quarter of its 2014 - 2015 financial year, which ended on 31 December 2014. This compares to a net loss of US$1.07m in the same period of 2013. Its total income rose by 16.6% year-on-year to US$67.8m in the October - December 2014 quarter. Heidelberg Cement India said that pursuant to the sale of the Raigad plant in Maharashtra, which came into effect on 3 January 2014, the result for the quarter is not comparable with the same period of 2013.