05 April 2019
Uganda: Nicolas George, the managing director of Hima Cement, has warned that a US$250m new cement plant project may be relocated to Kenya due to difficulties in obtaining land in Uganda. He made the comments to the Commission of Inquiry into Land Matters following complaints by local residents about the land purchase process, according to the Daily Monitor newspaper. The cement producer is trying to buy mineral rights in the Mwello Parish in Tororo District. Previously, it attempted to build a plant in Moroto.
George also alleged that the subsidiary of LafargeHolcim had repeatedly run up against ‘speculators with exploration licences’ with links to the Directorate of Geological Survey and Mines. He asked the government to cancel such licences within two years if the owners lacked the in financial resources to develop them.
Algeria: GICA Group’s Hadjar Soud cement plant has made its first 37,000t clinker shipment to the Ivory Coast via the Port of Annaba. It is part of a 0.2Mt/yr consignment planned for 2019 from the unit, according to the Algeria Press Service. Overall, GICA intends to export 1.5Mt of clinker to African countries in 2019.
Cbb inaugurates cement grinding plant in Arica 05 April 2019
Chile: Cbb, formerly known as Cementos Bío Bío, has inaugurated a new 0.2Mt/yr cement grinding plant at Arica. The unit had an investment of US$20m, according to the Diario Financiero newspaper. It is the company’s fifth plant in the country. As part of Cbb’s expansion strategy to target Peru, the new plant may double its production capacity in the future. The cement producer is also planning to build a US$20m plant at the Port of Matarani near Arequipa in Peru for a scheduled commission date in 2020.
Cementos Argos switching to electric trucks in Medellín 05 April 2019
Colombia: Cementos Argos is switching its trucks in Medellín to electric-powered vehicles. The new trucks will be powered by 600v batteries and be capable of carrying 4t of cement, according to the La Republic newspaper. The cement producer is planning to expand the electric-powered trucks to other cities subsequently.
Germany/China: Baltrader Capital has ordered the construction of two cement carriers from China’s Fujian Southeast Shipbuilding, who will deliver the new vessels from end of 2020. The ships will be intended for the European shortsea trade. Following the completion of the order, the Baltrader fleet will comprise 12 cement carriers with pneumatic self-discharging systems.
Each of the sister vessels, CemCoaster and CemClipper, measures 98m in length, 15.6m in width and carries 4650t at 6m draft. They will be equipped with a MaK main engine, allowing a future conversion into dual fuel operation. The ships will then be optionally run on liquid natural gas (LNG) or on marine gasoil.
The ships have been planned and designed in Germany by SDC Ship Design & Consult in cooperation with the project engineering department of the BRISE-Group. Dutch producer Van Aalst Marine & Offshore will supply the automatic self-discharging system, powered alternatively by the main engine’s shaft generator or the auxiliary generators. It can be used for the transportation of loose cement, ground granulated blast-furnace slag and fly-ash. It will have a loading capacity of 500t/hr and unloading capacity of 250t/hr. Additionally, these iceclass 1B ships are equipped with a ballast water treatment system (BWTS).
Aggregate Industries obtains PAS 2080 verification 05 April 2019
UK: Aggregate Industries, a subsidiary of LafargeHolcim, has obtained PAS 2080 verification, a new Carbon Management in Infrastructure specification. PAS 2080 is the world’s first specification for managing whole-life carbon in infrastructure. Developed by the Construction Leadership Council’s Green Construction Board with the British Standards Institute (BSI), it provides a framework and guidance for measuring and managing carbon across the whole value chain.
“We can help designers at Early Contractor Involvement (ECI) stage to design lower carbon solutions. Our management systems (ISO 14001 and 50001) ensure consistent and reliable data collection, allowing our Carbon Managers to report embodied CO2 to other members of the value chain. Baseline data made available to the value chain allows carbon targets to be set at design phase and for performance to be monitored against these targets during project delivery. This will result in infrastructure with lower embodied carbon,” said Paul McCaffrey, Sustainable Products Manager at Aggregate Industries.