07 September 2016
Vietnam/Germany: Loesche GmbH has won an order for a new cement grinding plant in Ha Nam. The customer is Xuan Thanh Cement Joint Stock Company, a private company group (est. 1976) in Vietnam with more than 30,000 employees. In December 2015, Xuan Thanh Cement decided to invest in a new cement line from FLSmidth. Germany's Loesche GmbH, however, was chosen for the delivery of the cement mills.
After Loesche had already supplied a vertical roller mill for the first cement line in the same plant, Xuan Thanh JSC placed the order for the construction of the new grinding plants with two cement mills with Loesche once again.
During the signing ceremony, Mr Nguyen Xuan Thuy, General Director of Xuan Thanh Cement JSC, thanked Dr Thomas Loesche on behalf of the Xuanh Thanh Group. The contracting partners discussed future developments and confirmed their interest in continuing to work together on a long term basis.
The challenge of this project for Loesche lies in the integration of the new grinding plants into a cement line which is presently under construction.
The key elements of the scope of supply are two cement mills type LM 56.3+3 CS. In addition to the two cement mills, Loesche is also supplying further plant components, from the fresh material supply, the product filter and the mill fan to the finished material transport to the product silos. Loesche Automatisierungstechnik GmbH will be the supplier for the electric part and the automation of the grinding plants. Two hot gas generators type LF 20 L are designed to provide the product moisture guaranteed in case of kiln standstill. An extensive engineering package provided by Loesche will conclude the scope of supply.
Xuan Thanh cement plant will thus be fitted with state-of-the-art equipment for low energy consumption and for reduction of emission values to European standards. The lead time for the entire package is eleven months. Commissioning is forecasted for the second quarter of 2017.
Lucky Cement wins environmental award 07 September 2016
Pakistan: Lucky Cement Limited has received the 13th Annual Environment Excellence Award 2016. The awards ceremony took place on the occasion of a conference titled 'Making our cities sustainable' organised by The National Forum for Environment and Health. Provincial ministers, the Secretary of the Environment, representative of United Nations and other notables were also present on the occasion.
Pakistan records strong cement sales growth in mid-2016 despite Afghan export drop 07 September 2016
Pakistan: Total cement despatches in Pakistand during the first two months of the current fiscal year clocked up at 4.9Mt, a 14% increase from 4.3Mt recorded in same period of 2015-16. However, according to data released by the All Pakistan Cement Manufacturers Association (APCMA), overall export despatches have decreased: Exports in July-August were down almost 1% on a year-on-year basis to 1.022Mt. Overall domestic sales in August rose 21% to 3.02Mt from 2.5Mt in August 2015. Cement sales in the north zone were 2.495Mt in August, up 22.6% from a year ago. In the south zone sales recorded an increase of 13.2% at 0.532Mt from the same month of 2015.
Exports to Afghanistan dropped 12% to 346,928t in July-August on an annual basis, APCMA data shows. Exports by sea suffered even more. As opposed to 537,120t exported during the first two months of the preceding fiscal year, exports by sea in July-August 2016 were 407,120t, showing 24% decline on an annual basis.
However, increased exports to India made up for these shortfalls to some extent. Exports to India during the first two months of the current fiscal year grew 167% year on year to 268,230t.
A spokesman for the APCMA said the industry has been doubling its production capacity every seven to eight years. The buoyancy in the sector on the back of healthy domestic consumption during the last 20 months has encouraged the industry players to go for further capacity expansion. He said growth in the sector during the first two months of the fiscal year was in spite of Eid holidays. Growth of domestic consumption in August was also 'impressive,' as consistent rains failed to hurt construction activities, he added. He said upcoming projects along the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) will further boost cement consumption.
The industry has yet to realise its export potential due to the lack of support from the government. The loss of the Afghanistan market is a matter of concern for the industry, which has been marginalised there because of subsidised Iranian exports.
MD of Malabar Cements denied bail over irregularities but receives diagnosis and treatment 07 September 2016
India: Kerala Inquiry Commissioner and Special Vigilance Judge P. Jayachandran has denied bail to K. Padmakumar, managing director of Malabar Cements Limited, who was arrested in Palakkad on Monday 5 September by the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau (VACB) on charges of corruption and irregularity. Mr. Padmakumar is accused of irregularities in fixing dealers for the products of the cement company located at Walayar in Palakkad.
The judge also remanded him in judicial custody till Friday 9 September on the condition that he must be subjected to expert treatment at Government Medical College Hospital here for acute diabetes, after he was diagnosed with acute diabetes during medical examination at the district hospital. The doctors there also recommended his admission to the medical college hospital for specialised treatment and observed that he was not physically fit for custodial interrogation, at least for the time being.
In his bail plea, Mr. Padmakumar had contended that whatever actions he had taken as the managing director of the company were in accordance with collective decision and approval of the director board.
Dangote attracted to Ethiopia with alleged cheap electricity deal 07 September 2016
Ethiopia: The former governor of Nigeria's central bank, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, has claimed that it was a cheap electricity deal that attracted Dangote to set up a cement plant in Ethiopia and that the cement market in East Africa will be impacted as the Adaberga wereda-based plant starts exporting cement costing almost 40% less than regional manufacturers, according to AFK Insider.
To attract Dangote to the East African country, the government offered to supply the company with electricity at a discounted rate of US$0.03/kWh, in exchange for the company building a plant in Ethiopia. This enabled Dangote Cement to cut the cost of producing a ton of cement by 60%, according to Sanusi in an opinion piece published by Premium Times. For a cement manufacturer, that is all the incentive that you need, Sanusi said, adding that this helped the construction industry in Ethiopia to boom.
The low-cost cement is now being exported to neighbouring countries like Kenya, where retail prices have remained static even as competition increased in the sector over the last decade. This is likely to shake up the regional cement market and make it affordable for developers to build more properties. Dangote Cement, one of the largest manufacturer of the product in Africa, said in a statement last week that it had started exporting to Kenya at US$74/t, more than 40% cheaper than what local manufacturer sell their brands for.
Dangote also started selling cement in Tanzania in 2016 after completing its factory in Mtwara about 400km from Dar es Salaam.
Ethiopia, one of the beneficiaries of the Power Africa program, an initiative of US President Barack Obama, has the highest electricity generating potential in East Africa due to its vast number of rivers and hilly terrain. It has invested billions of dollars to build several hydro-electric power plants including what will be Africa's largest dam, the Grand Ethiopia Renaissance Dam.
Original story from AFK Insider, http://afkinsider.com/132330/ethiopias-cheap-electricity-helps-dangote-shake-up-east-africas-cement-market/