24 June 2015
US: According to Charlotte Business Journal, Duke Energy has proposed excavating 12 more of its 36 coal ash ponds in North and South Carolina and burying the waste in a fully-lined landfills or structural fill projects.
To date, Duke has proposed closure plans for 24 of the 36 ash ponds. In every case, it has proposed excavation and reburial. However, Garry Miller, head of closure engineering for Duke, said that might not be the case for the remaining 12 ponds. He said that the engineering work that remains to be done at those plants could yet show that a 'cap in place' process, which critics have said would be insufficient to protect against further contamination of groundwater, can effectively close them.
Miller said that none of the waste ash from Duke's 36 ash ponds would undergo beneficial reuse, the process of using the ash for commercial products such as a replacement for Portland cement in concrete and gypsum board. However, he added that Duke does send a portion of the dry ash it is currently producing at its largest plants for reuse. However, the time constraints imposed by North Carolina's Coal Ash Management Act of 2014 make it impossible for the existing ash ponds. "As we close these basins, the quantity in them is such that the market cannot handle it in a timely manner," said Miller.
Duke's current cost estimate for closing the ponds is US$3.4bn, although this is subject to revision.
India: According to Focus News, cement carrier MV Coastal Pride has sunk 45km south of Daman, Gujarat on 24 June 2015. The Navy and Coast Guard rescued 14 crew members of the vessel. The Coast Guard picked up six persons before the ship sank, a helicopter saved six crew members from the water and the Coast Guard rescued two further people after the boat sank. The rescued crew were evacuated to Umargaon, Gujarat.
Heavy industries set to miss deadline for installing online emissions monitoring systems 24 June 2015
India: According to Live Mint, the majority of 3261 highly-polluting industries in India, including the cement and steel sectors, are set to miss the June 2015 deadline set by the ministry of environment, forests and climate change (MoEFCC) to install online effluent and emission monitoring systems.
Most industries have recently sought an extension to September 2015, although some from sectors like petrochemicals and refinery asked the deadline to be extended to June 2016. The environment ministry is considering the former plea. "The ministry is favourably considering extending the deadline until September 2015 for the majority of industries. But we are not sure about extending it to June 2016 for certain industries. A final call will be taken soon in this regard," said a senior environment ministry official.
On 16 - 17 June 2015, the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) held a meeting of industrial associations and common waste management facilities to review the status of compliance of their directions regarding the installation of online effluent and emission monitoring devices. According to the minutes of the meeting, 'By-and-large, associations have agreed to meet the deadlines by September 2015, except in the case of mini cement plants, refinery, petrochemicals and common bio-medical facilities.'
In December 2014 the CPCB identified 3261 industries in 17 categories of highly-polluting industries, including the cement, iron and steel, thermal power plants, sugar, tannery, distillery, fertilisers and pesticide sectors. The CPCB had asked the industries to install online effluent and emission monitoring systems by June 2015, failing which bank guarantees of 100% of the cost of online systems (emission or effluent) would be forfeited. The CPCB had also said that its 'consent to operate' would be withdrawn from non-complaint industries.
Nigeria: According to All Africa, Cement Company of Northern Nigeria (CCNN) in Sokoto will invest US$600m to expand its power plant from 12MW to 16MW.
The Bureau of Public Enterprise (BPE) Media head Alex Okoh said that CCNN principal manager of corporate affairs Alhaji Suleiman disclosed this while addressing BPE's post-privatisation monitoring team during a recent visit to the plant. Suleiman said that the expanded plant will be built in partnership with China's CBMI. "CCNN's plant does not generate sufficient power when the plant is run at full capacity utilisation," said Suleiman.
Biberci Insaat orders Loesche LM 56.3+3 vertical roller mill for new cement plant in Konya 24 June 2015
Turkey: Biberci Insaat is building its first cement plant in Konya, Turkey and it has ordered Loesche's LM 56.3+3 vertical roller mill for clinker grinding. Biberci Insaat specialises in infrastructure works including road construction, interchange, water conduction lines, sewerage, natural gas and other energy transfer lines.
One of Biberci Insaat's first investments for the new greenfield cement plant is the order of Loesche's LM 56.3+3 cement mill for clinker grinding. The mill will produce 200t/hr of Ordinary Portland Cement at 3,800 Blaine. The gearbox is planned with a capacity of 5400kW. Delivery is scheduled for the third quarter of 2015.
India: According to the Financial Express, Jaiprakash Associates is close to selling its 1Mt/yr capacity cement plant at Sikandarabad, Uttar Pradesh to HeidelbergCement for around US$78.6m.
If the deal materialises, it would be the fifth cement asset sale by Jaiprakash Associates in little over a year. The group is looking to sell assets, including cement and power plants, to reduce its large debt. The aggregate debt of the group at the end of the 2014 financial year, which ended on 31 March 2014, stood at around US$8.65bn. Though it has so far divested assets worth US$2.36bn, the impact of the asset sales is yet to reflect on the group's balance sheet. It aims to cut down debt further by around US$1.57bn by the end of the current 2016 fiscal year, which ends on 31 March 2016. So far, Jaiprakash Associates has divested around 13Mt/yr of its overall cement capacity and is left with around 23Mt/yr.
Unnamed sources have said that Jaiprakash Associates also plans to sell two more of its cement plants, in Baga and Bagheri in Himachal Pradesh and Balaji in Andhra Pradesh, but the matter is stuck due to valuation issues. Aditya Birla Group's UltraTech Cement and HeidelbergCement have reportedly been in talks regarding their acquisition.
Two new cement plants for Mozambique 24 June 2015
Mozambique: According to Agence de Presse Africaine, two new cement plants are planned for Mozambique in the coming years.
Turkey's Limak Holding plans to invest US$150m in a 2Mt/yr capacity cement plant in the Maputo Port area of Mozambique. Limak chairperson Nihat Ozdemir said that his company would create least 500 jobs during the first phase of the plant." Limak is also interested in entering the Mozambican energy sector and later intends to assess the viability of investment in ports, railways and tourism," said Ozdemir. Mozambique's Industry and Trade minister Max Tonela pledged the Mozambican government's support for Limak.
Meanwhile, Portugal's Cimpor Cimentos group, via its subsidiary Cimentos de Moçambique, has announced plans to build a new integrated cement plant in Nacala, Nampula for an estimated investment of around U$250m. It already owns an integrated cement plant in Matola and also operates four grinding units.
Mexico: Cementos Moctezuma, a joint venture company of Cementos Molins, Buzzi Unicem and Grupo Carso, has ordered a Loesche vertical roller mill LM 53.3+3 C for its cement plant in Apazapan, Veracruz. The mill will produce 205t/hr CPC 30 cement at 4000 Blaine or 195t/hr CPC 40 cement at 3700 Blaine.
The order also includes a LDC classifier (Loesche Dynamic Classifier), as well as the COPE gearbox, including gearbox drive motors, developed in cooperation with RENK AG. The COPE gearbox features a redundancy of eight motors. With all eight motors in operation, an output totaling 4.6MW is achieved. The customer advantage lies in the fact that the COPE gearbox can reach up to 100% of the mill capacity performance even with a reduced number of motors. The COPE gearbox has the same external dimensions as a conventional planetary gear system and thus requires no extensive enlargement of the mill foundations.