Displaying items by tag: Cruz Azul
Mexico: Nearly 500 cement and concrete plants in the northern Mexican states of Chihuahua, Coahuila, Nuevo León and Sonora have partly or fully suspended production due to an on-going regional shortage of natural gas. The El Financiero newspaper reports that plants run by Grupo Cementos Chihuahua (GCC), Cemex, Holcim and Cruz Azul operate in this region.
GCC said that a lack of electricity and natural gas had affected production at three of its plants in Chihuahua, Samalayuca and Juárez. Mexican Association of the Ready-mix Concrete Industry (AMIC) president Ana Laura Burciaga said that the situation has caused a 50% drop in the cement supply to concrete plants.
The cause of the shortage is reported to be the suspension of natural gas exports from Texas, US. Mexican steel and automotive manufacturers have also been affected.
Judge issues arrest warrants for criminal network that stole cement from Cooperativa La Cruz Azul
22 December 2020Mexico: Police have received arrest warrants for three leaders of an alleged criminal network which stole 10,000t of cement from Cooperativa La Cruz Azul. The El Universal newspaper has reported that the accused stole the cement by running a parallel accounting system from within the company. They sold the stolen cement via the company Azul Concretos y Premezclados.
18 injured in clash at Cemento Cruz Azul’s Oaxaca plant
16 October 2020Mexico: 18 people have been injured after representatives of Cemento Cruz Azul and police took control of the integrated 2.2Mt/yr Oaxaca plant in Lagunas. The La Jornada newspaper has reported that Cruz Azul’s directors José Antonio Marín and Víctor Manuel Velázquez entered the plant accompanied by security personnel in fulfilment of a court order before fighting broke out with cooperativist members of the organisation. Police arrested five members of the group, allegedly linked to a criminal organisation, while the Cruz Azul representatives successfully retook control of the plant.
Cooperativists restricted access to the plant in August 2020. The board of directors of Cruz Azul also asserted legal control of its Cementos y Concretos Nacionales (CYCNA) subsidiary cement plants in Puebla and Aguascalientes in September 2020.
Cemento Cruz Azul asserts control of CYCNA cement plants in Puebla and Aguascalientes
30 September 2020Mexico: The board of directors of Cemento Cruz Azul has asserted legal control of its Cementos y Concretos Nacionales (CYCNA) subsidiary cement plants in Puebla and Aguascalientes following accusations of ‘looting’ by partners in the company. In a video statement José Antonio Marín, president of the board of directors, said that the move would give the producer greater control over its operations since all cement would be registered in an internal audit programme, according to the Milenio newspaper. He alleged that some partners of the company had sold cement manufactured at the units independently.
José Antonio Cárdenas has been appointed manager of the CYCNA plants to replace Benito Rodríguez Fayad. Fayad allegedly had links to Cruz Azul’s former director Guillermo ‘Billy’ Álvarez, a former director of the company who is currently being investigated by law enforcement for links to organised crime and money laundering.
Mexico: Two workers died after falling in a crane basket from a height of 35m at Cooperativa La Cruz Azul’s integrated Oaxaca cement plant in El Barrio de Soledad Municipality. Noticias Financieras newspaper has reported that the victims died on impact and that the causes are under investigation.
Cement ship sinks
16 March 2020Mexico: A ship carrying cement from Cooperativa La Cruz Azul’s 2.2Mt/yr Oaxaca plant in Lagunas, Oaxaca state has sunk with 1500t of cement. Maritime Bulletin has reported that the Togo-registered vessel, Duban, had been delivering cement to Manzanillo, Colima state.
Fives issues update on upgrade projects at Cruz Azul’s Hidalgo and Oaxaca cement plant
13 December 2019Mexico: France’s Fives has issued an update on the two raw meal grinding plants it is supplying to Cruz Azul’s Hidalgo and Oaxaca Lagunas cement plants.
Construction work at the Oaxaca Lagunas plant started in August 2018. Mechanical erection of the raw materials feeding workshop and the FCB Horomill grinding circuit started in July 2019. Electrical installation is currently under progress. The raw meal grinding workshop is scheduled to be operational by the end of March 2020.
Construction work at the Hidalgo plant started in December 2018. Mechanical erection started at the end of August 2019, electrical erection works will start in December 2019. First raw meal date is scheduled by the end of May 2020.
Both orders were finalised in November 2017. The Hidalgo plant ordered a 280t/hr grinding unit and the Oaxaca Lagunas plant has ordered a 300t/hr grinding unit. Each raw grinding plant features an FCB Horomill 4000mm grinding mill, a FCB TSV Classifier 6500 mm and a FCB Aerodecantor.
Two Loesche mills for La Cruz Azul
16 August 2019Mexico: Installation of two Loesche petcoke grinding plants will be installed at La Cruz Azul’s cement plants Lagunas and Hidalgo later in 2019.
Both mills are LM 41.4 D type coal mills, the largest of their type. They will form part of new production lines at each of the two plants. In addition to the mills, which both have a capacity of 50-65t/hr, Loesche will also supply process gas filters, mill fans, inerting units, explosion vents, cyclone separators, conveyor augers and drag chain conveyors, as well as the complete electrotechnical equipment. The scope of supply also includes the complete detail engineering for the steel and concrete construction.
The equipment has already been fully dispatched. Installation is planned to start in December 2019 in Hidalgo. Installation of the grinding plant in Lagunas has already begun.
Mexico: Cruz Azul has launched the construction of a fifth production line at its Oaxaca cement plant in Lagunas. State governor Alejandro Murat Hinojosa presided over the ceremony. The new line has an investment of over US$130m and is scheduled for completion by the end of 2020. It will also be able to co-process alternative fuels up to a rate of 40%. Previously, Germany’s Loesche and France’s Fives sold grinding mills for the upgrade.
Mexico: Germany’s Loesche has sold two coal or petcoke grinding mills to Cruz Azul. Both will be used on new production lines at cement plants in Hidalgo and Oaxaca respectively. No value for the deal has been disclosed.
Each mill will have a capacity of 65t/hr. Loesche will be supplying complete plant equipment, including process gas filters, mill fans, inerting units, explosion protection valves, kiln gas cyclone separators, feed screw and drag chain conveyors as well as the complete electrotechnical equipment. The scope of supply also includes engineering for steel and concrete construction.
Loesche previously delivered a LM 46.2+2 CS type mill to Cruz Azul’s Tepezalá cement plant, operated under the Cycna subsidiary, at the end of 2016.