Displaying items by tag: Plant
Bolivia: Empresa Publica Productiva Cementos de Bolivia’s (ECEBOL) new plant at Caracollo in Oruro is planning to enter the testing phase in late August 2018. The new 1.3Mt/yr plant is scheduled to start commercial operation in early 2019, according to the La Razón newspaper. The cement producer is also building a new plant at Potosí but this unit is not expected to open until 2020. Once both plants are operational the company expects to meet up to 30% of the country’s demand for cement.
Government and Dangote Cement sign gas deal in Tanzania
21 August 2018Tanzania: The Petroleum Development Corporation (PDC) and Dangote Industries Tanzania have signed a 20-year deal to supply gas to Dangote Cement’s plant at Mtwara. The cement plant will produce up to 35MW of electricity from natural gas and this will later increase to 45MW, according to the Daily News newspaper. The energy supply will allow the unit to increase it production capacity to 6000t/day from 2000t/day and reduce its production costs.
At the ceremony marking the signing, Dangote Industries chief executive officer (CEO) Jagat Rathee said the company has been using an average of 106,000l/day of diesel to produce 2000 – 2500t/day of cement. The 3Mt/yr plant was commissioned in 2015 and is supported by 500Mt of limestone reserves. It is hoped that the new gas deal will reduce the price of cement in the country.
Wonder Cement plant launched in Maharashtra
20 August 2018India: Wonder Cement, a part of the Rajasthan-headquartered RK Group, has announced that it will set up a 2Mt/yr clinker grinding unit in Dhule, Maharashtra at a cost of US$64.7m. The plan marks the company’s first foray into the state. This is in addition to the earlier-announced plan to invest US$359m by the end of the 2020 financial year.
“The Dhule plant will distribute cement mainly across Maharashtra, while a minimal quantity will be supplied to Madhya Pradesh,” said Managing Director JC Toshniwal, who added that the company is also in the process of developing a railway siding for the unit.
Following the commencement of the Dhule facility, Wonder Cement’s production capacity will increase to 8.75Mt/yr from the present 6.75Mt/yr. The clinker required for the unit will be supplied from Nimbahera plant in Rajasthan. Gypsum, another raw material used for manufacturing cement, will be procured from Gujarat and fly ash from a nearby thermal power plant.
In addition to the plants in Nimbahera and Dhule, Wonder Cement is in the process of setting up a third clinker facility of about 2.5Mt/yr in Nimbahera, Rajasthan. “The civil works for the third clinker unit is in full swing,,” confirmed Toshniwal. “We will commission it by mid-2019. This will help to increase our cement production capacity to 11Mt/yr.”
Under its expansion plans, the company will look at setting up two more clinker units. One will be in Madhya Pradesh, but the location for the other is yet to be finalised.
Mega cement and marble plant inaugurated in Egypt
16 August 2018Egypt: Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi inaugurated a cement and marble production complex worth US$1.1bn to the south of Cairo on 15 August 2018. The 500-hectare industrial complex is located 12km north of the Upper Egyptian governorate of Beni Suef.
It took 21 months to complete the complex, which includes three cement plants with a combined annual production capacity of 12Mt/yr. Egypt, through the Armed Forces Engineering Authority, worked together with 20 local and international companies on the project.
During the unveiling ceremony, Sisi said that such industrial projects would help reduce imports, while saving foreign currency and offering thousands of job opportunities to local people.
Chinese global cement influence grows
16 August 2018There have been quite a few new cement plant project announcements in the past week, with expansions announced in Mexico, Nigeria, Bangladesh, Indonesia, India and Uzbekistan. 11.8Mt/yr of new capacity has been announced in just a week, mostly from a whopping 9.0Mt/yr project in Central Sulawesi, Indonesia, the first in that Province. Notable in this project, as well as two of the others, is the involvement, once again, of large Chinese-based cement plant manufacturers and / or finance and associated influence from Chinese parties.
Of course, this trend is nothing new. The rise of Chinese cement plant manufacturers, particularly into Africa and other developing cement markets, has been covered in previous Global Cement Weekly columns. However, it does appear to be stepping up a notch in 2018 compared to previous years. So far this year we have reported on 21 confirmed Chinese cement plants being built in 15 countries other than China, from the planning stage to ‘up-and-running.’ A total of 37.2Mt/yr, more than the capacity of Germany, is being built across Algeria, Cambodia, Cameroon, Indonesia, Kyrgyzstan, Namibia, Nepal, Nigeria, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkey, Ukraine, Uzbekistan and Zambia. That’s not including a similarly large number of news stories where the supplier is not explicitly stated. This is seen a lot in Indian projects, as well as in Vietnam, where the cement sector appears to still be expanding, despite the government’s pronouncements. In many of these cases, and elsewhere, these unidentified suppliers are likely to be Chinese.
The driver for this increase in Chinese-led cement sector investment is, of course, the severe overcapacity in China’s domestic cement sector. The government is currently undertaking its most drastic capacity reduction measures so far. The ongoing integration of Sinoma and CNBM is one example of the lengths it will go to to reduce the current inefficiencies in the sector. This week the Chinese government reiterated its strict prohibition on new greenfield cement plants. It also warned that any producer that wants to upgrade its plant with a new line must only install the same capacity as the line that will be replaced, amid concerns that some were flouting this rule. This comes as the profits of major producers have been rising. Presumably the government would like them to climb further still.
So where does this leave the more established (read ‘European’) cement plant manufacturers such as Fives, FLSmidth, KHD and thyssenkrupp Industrial Solutions, some of which are fully or partly-owned by Chinese companies? Well, with fewer full-line projects available in developing regions due to the rise of the Chinese, they have become increasingly specialised in specific areas. Those that want European equipment will increasingly specify a pyro-line from Supplier A, a mill or two from Supplier B, conveyors and storage from supplier C, and so on. Arranging this, as it turns out, is something that Chinese plant manufacturers are quite keen to do. Take, for example, FLSmidth working for Sinoma (China) alongside Atlas Copco (Sweden) and Kawasaki Heavy Industries (Japan) on a cement plant in Indonesia. Indeed, FLSmidth signed a framework with CNBM on future collaborations in July 2018. FLSmidth and CNBM already have an extensive ‘back catalogue’ of joint projects. FLSmidth has valuable expertise that Chinese firms need to complete these kinds of projects.
Of course, another European supplier, Germany’s KHD, is mostly owned by China’s AVIC. In a forthcoming interview in the September 2018 issue of Global Cement Magazine, KHD’s CEO Gerold Keune states that the Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) scene is now ‘completely dominated’ by Chinese suppliers. KHD fits in by providing a wide range of equipment but, crucially, great expertise in pyroprocessing and crushing solutions. It itself relies on smaller firms to provide their knowledge to specific parts of a larger project, be it conveyors, feeding systems or silos. Everyone is getting better and better, but in a smaller and smaller area.
Also in the September 2018 issue of Global Cement Magazine will be a report from the VDMA’s Large Industrial Plant Manufacturer’s group (AGAB) in Germany, which highlights another advantage for the Europeans: Digitisation. According to a VDMA survey, the industry anticipates a positive influence from digitisation activities on sales and earnings and expects to see margins improve by up to 10% as a result of the efficiencies it offers over the next three years. In this regard they are ahead of the Chinese mega-suppliers.
The conclusion from this wide-ranging column? The integration of Chinese weight and European know-how is stepping up a notch and will only accelerate from here. Can everyone be ‘winners?’ The next few years may reveal some of the answers.
Chzhungtsai Mohir Cement to build plant in Uzbekistan
09 August 2018Uzbekistan: Tajik-Chinese joint venture Chzhungtsai Mohir Cement is planning to build a cement plant near Tuda in the Boisoun district of the Surkhandarya region in Uzbekistan. The unit will have a production capacity of 1.2Mt/yr, according to Asia-Plus. The company operates a 1.2Mt/yr cement plant in Tajikistan than opened in 2016. Tajikistan exported 0.66Mt of cement in the first half of 2018 and 0.36Mt of this went to neighbouring Uzbekistan.
Fauji Cement to set up solar power plant
08 August 2018Pakisan: Fauji Cement has approved plans to set up a 12.5MW captive solar plant. The company operates a 3.4Mt/yr cement plant near to Attock in Punjab Province.
Zambia: ZCCM-Investment Holding, an investment company owned by the Zambian government, says that it will be the junior partner in a cement plant that it is planning to build in a joint venture with China Machinery Construction Group Limited (SinoConst). ZCCM will hold 35% of the joint venture, Central African Cement, and SinoConst will hold the remaining 65%. The US$680m project was announced in early 2018.
ZCCM also announced that its subsidiary, the Ndola Lime Company, was continuing to be in ‘distress.’ It said that its board was considering its options. The lime producer has reportedly suffered from liquidity problems and low production due to old equipment.
Eurocement employee at Nevyanskiy Tsementnik faces Euro42,000 fine for dust emissions
07 August 2018Russia: The head of Job Safety, Industrial Safety & the Environment Department at Eurocement’s Nevyanskiy Tsementnik cement plant has been fined Euro42,000. The fine was issued by the local authorities for emissions of non-organic dust with high silicon content, according to URBC Daily News. The plant does not have an emissions permit.
FCI Aravali Gypsum and Minerals India plans to set up white cement plant in Himachal Pradesh
07 August 2018India: FCI Aravali Gypsum and Minerals India Limited (FAGMIL) is preparing to build a 1000t/day white cement plant in Himachal Pradesh. The state-run company, under the control of the Department of Fertilizers, Ministry of Chemicals & Fertilizers, has received a letter of intent from the state government of Himachal Pradesh granting it a mining lease to support building a white cement plant. This will be followed by the signing of a memorandum of understanding between FAGMIL and the state government.
The lease area is 108 hectares and it is located near Nohra Dhar Village, Tehsil Sangrah in the Sirmour District. Limestone from the site will be used to support a white cement plant. A pre-feasibility study has been completed by the National Council for Cement and Building Materials, Ballabgarh in Haryana and further planning activities are in progress.