29 June 2015
Egypt: According to Reuters, Arabian Cement Company has commissioned new alternative fuel processing machinery at its plant in Suez.
The state-of-the-art FLSmidth HOTDISCTM allows Arabian Cement's plant to rely completely on coal and alternative fuels to run its operations. Moreover, it enables the plant to operate its kilns using alternative fuel materials directly, without the need to pre-treat them. Arabian Cement now has a designed fuel mix of 70% coal and 30% alternative fuels. The alternative fuel that will be used will be a mixture of agricultural wastes, municipal sludge and refuse-derived fuels (RDF). Alternative fuel use is expected to result in around 60,000t/yr of reduced CO2 emissions.
Canada: McInnis Cement and the St Elzear Forestry Cooperative Association (ACF) have signed a cooperative agreement to study the feasibility of using forest biomass as an auxiliary fuel for the cement plant under construction in Port-Daniel-Gascons.
The utilisation of forest biomass as an alternative fuel would enable the McInnis cement plant to reduce its emissions of greenhouse gases (GHG). McInnis Cement has provided the equipment necessary for the use of alternative fuels at its new cement plant.
"We are pleased to establish this collaboration with the region's forest industry in line with our GHG reduction plan," said Christian Gagnon, president and CEO of McInnis Cement. "Any operations that result from this agreement will be reviewed by the Environmental Committee, whose work began in April 2015," he added.
Forest biomass is a fuel source in abundant supply in Gaspé. McInnis Cement requires a local long-term quality source of supply at competitive costs. The St Elzear ACF is able to supply forest residues, wood chips, sawdust, shavings and bark.
"By studying the possibilities together, including from the outset the client's needs and the capabilities of potential suppliers, we are putting all the pieces in place to make this project a reality," said Sebastien Roy, executive director of the St Alzear ACF. "The success of a fruitful partnership between McInnis and our organisation would be a big boost to our industry. The situation is complex since, beyond availability, supply sources need to be guaranteed over the long-term and quality and prices must remain competitive, including product transportation and processing costs."
Oman: According to the Middle East North Africa Financial Network, Oman Cement has said that due to operational difficulties, it has had to prolong the shutdown of a 4000t/day kiln for planned maintenance. CEO Jamal al Hooti said that the closure has resulted in lower production and sales in recent months, which has had an impact on company performance during the current quarter.
Sephaku Cement reports strong results in 2015 29 June 2015
South Africa: According to Business Day, Sephaku Cement is ramping up production towards a steady state at both its Delmas and Aganang plants.
In the first three months of 2015 to 31 March 2015, Sephaku Cement's revenue increased by 36%, while its earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) rose by 39% to US$11.3m. Its operating profit grew by 44% to US$8.87m and its profit after tax grew by 57% to US$3.83m. Sales revenues came mainly from the Delmas plant, which reached steady state production in November 2014. Clinker and cement production at Aganang started in August 2014 and October 2014, respectively.
"We are pleased to have commenced clinker production at Aganang because it has improved our cost efficiencies and enabled Sephaku to remain highly competitive," said CEO Lelau Mohuba.
Sephaku Cement's market penetration continued, as reflected by 29% higher quarterly sales of about US$42.4m. "Our main focus going forward is to sweat the assets and increase free cash flows in preparation for the distribution of dividends," added Mohuba. Sephaku said that the operating environment remained highly competitive, as overall cement demand remained flat and the number of producers had increased. Subdued demand from South Africa's construction industry also resulted in prices remaining flat on a year-on-year basis.
Brazil/Portugal: SeeNews Portugal has reported that Portuguese holding company Semapa Sociedade Invest Gestao SGPS' Brazilian subsidiary NSOSPE Empreendimentos e Participacoes (NSOSPE) has acquired a 50% stake in Brazilian cement maker Supremo Cimentos.
The US$94m purchase agreement was announced on 29 April 2015. NSOSPE is jointly-owned by Semapa and Portuguese construction materials supplier Secil. Following the closure of the transaction, Semapa and Secil indirectly own the entire share capital of Supremo Cimentos.
India: JK Cement has received the necessary approval to make Jaykaycem (Central) its wholly-owned subsidiary by acquiring 100% of the paid up equity capital. The JK Cement board of directors approved the move on 26 June 2015.
JSW Cement to start four greenfield grinding units 29 June 2015
India: According to the Deccan Herald, JSW Cement plans to start four more greenfield grinding plants, two each in West Bengal and Tamil Nadu, as part of its plan to grow its cement and clinker capacities to 20Mt/yr by 2018.
JSW Cement director and CEO Anil Kumar Pillai said that the company expects cement demand growth in its current fiscal year, which ends on 30 September 2015 and will gain pace in the next fiscal year. "The government's new infrastructure-led industrialisation plan will really boost cement demand. Already analysts have predicted a double-digit GDP growth rate, which will give a 15% hike in cement demand," said Pillai.
The greenfield projects are part of JSW Cement's US$1.41bn investment plan. "Each of the projects will have an investment of US$54.8 – 62.6m. In Tamil Nadu, we have identified one location at Tuticorin and the other will be near Puducherry. It will take 36 months to commission the units. Funds for these projects will be raised via internal accrual and bank borrowings," said Pillai.
JSW Cement is looking for land in West Bengal and will announce the details soon. The company has production plants in Vijayanagar and Bellari in Karnataka, Dolvi in Maharashtra and Nandyal in Andhra Pradesh. JSW Cement has achieved 55% of its production capacity in the last fiscal year. "In the last fiscal year, we produced 3.2Mt of cement and we have set a target of 4.2Mt in the current fiscal year. We expect to achieve 65% capacity utilisation once growth momentum gains in the third and fourth quarter," said Pillai.
Regarding industry rumours that JSW Cement is in the race to acquire Lafarge's cement assets in Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh, Pillai said that the company was open to inorganic growth and will not go for exports.
Meanwhile, JSW Cement is installing a 10MW power plant that uses waste gas in Nandyal. "JSW Cement has committed US$15.7m of investment for this project and it will be commissioned within 12 to 14 months," said Pillai.