Displaying items by tag: Plant
Nigerian President inaugurates Line 4 at BUA Sokoto
28 January 2022Nigeria: President Muhammadu Buhari inaugurated BUA Group’s new 3.0Mt/yr Line 4 at its Sokoto plant in northern Nigeria on 27 January 2022. The plant is the largest private sector employer of labour in the north-western part of Nigeria.
At the inauguration, the President expressed delight that the Federal Government policies on economic diversification, job creation and creating an enabling environment for businesses to thrive were working. He pledged to continue his administration’s support for ‘serious investors’ to set up businesses that will take advantage of huge reserves of resources in different parts of the country.
The President thanked the Founder of BUA Cement, Abdul Samad Rabiu and the BUA team for the ‘great work they are doing’ in supporting the government's economic diversification and job creation agenda.
Speaking personally, President Buhari added that, as the head of Sokoto State in 1985, he had also inaugurated Line 2 at the same plant, saying, "Today, almost 37 years later, to commission the fourth line is a very special day for me personally. As you all know, one of the key economic pillars of our administration has been to create an enabling environment for businesses to thrive. This is necessary for job creation and indeed, for our economy and national security.”
GCC to invest US$500m in North America by 2024
27 January 2022Mexico/US: GCC plans to invest US$500m over the next three years to the end of 2024 on increasing its production capacity and strengthening its logistics and distribution network in North America. New projects in development include the expansion of a cement plant, debottlenecking at the integrated Samalayuca plant in Mexico, the construction of two new terminals and other projects to improve the company’s operational efficiency and its social and environmental strategy. The cement producer reported strong sales in 2021 and it expects even better results in 2022 and 2023, particularly in the US, due to the effect of the US infrastructure bill.
Notably GCC reported that both the kilns at its Odessa plant in Texas were running at full capacity in 2021 and an additional kiln at a plant in Chihuahua, Mexico was complimenting supply to the US state. High demand was also recorded in Montana.
Ceskomoravsky Cement planning Euro12m upgrade of Radotín plant
27 January 2022Czech Republic: Ceskomoravsky Cement is planning a Euro12m upgrade of its integrated Radotín plant. The work will include installing a new vertical grinding mill and other environmental measures, according to the Czech Information Agency. The subsidiary of Germany-based HeidelbergCement will choose suppliers and apply for building permits by early 2023, ahead of construction in mid-2023 and potential operation in 2025.
India: Ramco Cements plans to commission a new 2.5Mt/yr clinker production line at its new plant near Kurnool, Andhra Pradesh in February 2022. A 1Mt/yr grinding unit, 12MW waste heat recovery system and 18MW captive power unit at the plant are expected to be commissioned in the 2022 – 2023 financial year, which starts in April 2022.
The cement producer also intends to commission at upgrade to its Nagar cement plant in the 2023 – 2024 financial year. The US$63m project includes installing a new 300t/day kiln at the plant in Tamil Nadu.
Canada: Lehigh Cement and Enbridge have announced a memorandum of understanding to collaborate on carbon storage for the integrated Edmonton cement plant in Alberta. Captured emissions will be transported via pipeline and sequestered by Enbridge. Lehigh Cement says it is developing North America’s first full-scale carbon capture, utilisation and storage (CCUS) unit for the cement industry at its Edmonton plant, with the goal of capturing approximately 0.78Mt/yr of CO2.
Pipeline company Enbridge intends to apply to develop an open access carbon hub in the Wabamun area, west of Edmonton in conjunction with Lehigh Cement and Capital Power, as part of the Government of Alberta's Request for Full Project Proposals process. Once complete the Open Access Wabamun Carbon Hub would be among the largest integrated CCUS projects in the world. Subject to the award of carbon sequestration rights and regulatory approvals, the project could be in service as early as 2025.
Cookstown Cement to invest Euro14m in plant
27 January 2022UK: Northern-Ireland-based Cookstown Cement plans to invest around Euro14m on environmental and process upgrades to its integrated 0.45Mt/yr plant in Cookstown. The company is managed and co-owned by David Millar, a sales director with Lafarge, according to the Belfast News Letter newspaper. Holcim announced the sale of its cement business in the region in late January 2022. Cookstown Cement has acquired a cement plant, a limestone quarry in Cookstown, a shale quarry in Dungannon and a terminal at Belfast Harbour.
Update on Uzbekistan, January 2022
26 January 2022An acquisition in Uzbekistan by Russia-based Akkerman Cement this week highlights resurgence in the local market.
The subsidiary of USM has just purchased a majority stake in Akhangarancement with the help of financing from Gazprombank. No value for the acquisition has been disclosed. However, the move follows the sale of Russia-based Eurocement to Smikom in early 2021. Then in June 2021 Eurocement sold off its majority stake in Akhangarancement to Cyprus-based Lamanka Enterprises for US$53m. Now, as part of the sale to Akkerman Cement, the start of a new 2.5Mt/yr dry process production line at Akhangarancement in 2021 has also been highlighted. As for Akkerman Cement’s interest in become a multinational cement producer, it said that, “The investment in Akhangarancement, like all USM investments in Uzbekistan, is primarily aimed at the development of this country, the small homeland of Alisher Usmanov, the main shareholder of USM.”
Aside from any potential sentimental yearnings from a billionaire, the Akhangarancement deal follows a few developments in the Uzbek market in recent months. At the start of January 2022 the state assets management agency UzAssets agreed to sell the government’s majority stake in Qizilqumcement for US$174m to United Cement Group (UCG). This was a significant move locally given the size of UCG in the Central Asian states. UCG operates two integrated plants and one grinding unit in Uzbekistan. The acquisition of Qizilqumcement’s 3.4Mt/yr plant now makes UCG the largest cement company by production capacity in the country. It has also been building a new production line, like Akhangarancement, with commissioning last reported as scheduled as sometime in 2022.
Finally, the other recent development in Uzbekistan occurred in December 2021 when China-based Anhui Conch announced that it had started building a new 2.5Mt/yr cement plant in the Akhangaran district in Tashkent. The project has a price tag of US$200m.
Graph 1: Cement production in Uzbekistan, 2016 – 2020. Source: State Committee of the Republic of Uzbekistan on Statistics.
In early 2021 the government suspended tariffs on cement imports and this was then later extended into late 2022. President Shavkat Mirziyoyev says he signed the decree to keep house prices low. Subsequently, imports grew by 26% year-on-year to 2.2Mt in the first nine months of 2021. The main importers were Kazakhstan (44%), Tajikistan (25%) and Kyrgyzstan (25%). Graph 1 above shows recent annual production trends over the last five years. So far in 2021, to September 2021, overall domestic cement production rose by 17% to 9.08Mt. In 2020 annual production was about the same as the country’s production capacity of 10.3Mt/yr.
The mixture of Russian and Chinese companies involved with the recent plant acquisitions and new projects chimes with the general position of the Uzbek economy and its geographical position between the larger economies of Russia and China. For example, January 2022 data from the Uzbek State Statistics Committee showed that bilateral trade with Russia overtook that with China in 2021 for the first time since 2014. The two countries have had similar trade turnover with Uzbekistan over this period. Since the mid-2010s the national economy has liberalised and investment by foreign companies into industries like cement reflects this. The sale of Qizilqumcement also shows the further movement of state assets into private ownership. With apparent production utilisation closing to 100% and the government encouraging imports, it’s a good time to be a cement producer in Uzbekistan. Accordingly, foreign cement companies are investing.
Cementos Argos donates cement for local roads
26 January 2022Colombia: Cementos Argos has donated 21,500 bags (1075t) of cement to the Mayor's Office of Sogamoso to contribute to the rehabilitation of several main roads in Sogamoso, Boyacá and thus contribute to the improvement of the mobility of the municipality and benefit to more than 30,000 people. The company’s Sogamoso de Argos plant is in the vicinity.
“This donation has been fundamental for us. An acknowledgment, a thank you to Argos,” commented Rigoberto Alfonso, mayor of Sogamoso.
Akkerman Cement buys majority stake in Akhangarancement
25 January 2022Uzbekistan: Russia-based Akkerman Cement has acquired a 98.6% stake in Akhangarancement. Gazprombank provided a loan to the subsidiary of USM to support the deal after previously supporting Akkerman Cement’s acquisition of its Gornozavodsk plant in 2018. Eurocement started selling its majority stake in Akhangarancement in early 2021 prior to its own acquisition by Smikom later in the year. No value for the latest Akkerman Cement deal has been disclosed.
“The investment in Akhangarancement, like all USM investments in Uzbekistan, is primarily aimed at the development of this country, the small homeland of Alisher Usmanov, the main shareholder of USM. All the profit that will be generated here will remain in Uzbekistan and will be directed to the socio-economic development of the republic. We see great potential in this. A growing population, demand for quality new housing, and in the long term support for consumer demand through mortgage lending, all this will contribute to the growth of cement consumption,” said Anton Selyavko, chairman of the board of directors of Akkerman Cement. He added that growth in Uzbekistan might not be easy due to production overcapacity and high levels of imports from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan but that Akkerman Cement had experience of this from the Russian market.
Founded in 2002 Akkerman Cement was previously known as the South Ural Mining and Processing Company. It operates two integrated cement plants in Russia, at 2.3Mt/yr unit at Novotroitsk and a 2Mt/yr unit at Gornozavodsk, and 12 terminals including sites at Ekaterinburg, Izhevsk, Kazan, Moscow, Orenburg, Perm, Samara, Tumen and Ufa. The company also runs metal and lime divisions. Akhangarancement reportedly started a new 2.5Mt/yr dry process production line in late 2021.
Holcim sells cement business in Northern Ireland for Euro67m
25 January 2022UK: Holcim has sold its cement business in Northern Ireland to Cookstown Cement for Euro67m. The latter is a newly formed local construction company established by a longstanding business partner of Holcim. It will take control of Holcim’s integrated 0.45Mt/yr Cookstown cement plant.
Miljan Gutovic, Region Head EMEA at Holcim, said, “This divestment advances our ‘Strategy 2025 – Accelerating Green Growth’ with a focus on consolidating our leadership in core markets to become the global leader in innovative and sustainable building solutions. With Cookstown Cement, we are pleased to have found a strategic and trusted owner for the business, better positioned to continue investing in its long term growth. We are delighted about Cookstown Cement’s vision, offering a solid platform for the team to continue to thrive.”