Displaying items by tag: Russia
New environmental projects for Eurocement
08 January 2014Russia: Ruslan Ponomarev, deputy to the chief technical officer of the Voronezh branch of Eurocement, introduced a project for processing municipal and industrial waste as an alternative fuel in cement production at an environmental conference held in Voronezh, Russia, in December 2013.
Particular attention was given to issues involving the technical specifications and advantages of solid waste processing in cement kilns. Eurocement's new power plant in Voronezh allows for up to 300t/yr of waste to be disposed of. Thanks to the establishment of a new removal system, the project will allow the region, which has a population of over 2.5m, to cut its normal waste disposal by 90%.
Belgorod Region Governor, Evgeny Savchenko, met with the president of Eurocement, Mikhail Skorokhod, to discuss prospects for the construction of new cement production lines at Belgorodskiy Cement and Oskolcement. The construction of new lines will reduce the amount of clinker kilns at Oskolcement and Belgorodskiy Cement from six and seven respectively to one at each plant, significantly improving the environmental impact. Energy reduction is expected to reach approximately 30% and fuel consumption can be reduced more than two-fold.
"We are pleased to be working with Eurocement Group. The implementation of construction projects at two cement plants is bringing a completely new level of environmental awareness, allowing a tremendous reduction in manufacturing emissions," said Savchenko.
Mikhail Skorokhod also commented on the project: "Eurocement Group is involved in the continuous modernisation of its production facilities, in order to improve product quality, reduce energy costs and improve the environment. The transition to new technology platforms will be done without interrupting the existing production lines. Regional projects will provide orders for the construction sector in the region. This project will also provide an opportunity to create a completely new situation and quality of life both for the factory workers and residents of Belgorod and Stary Oskol."
Novorostsement orders 12th gas engine from GE
31 October 2013Russia: Novorostsement has ordered its 12th Jenbacher J624 gas engine from US multinational GE (General Electric). The south-western 2.3Mt/yr Russian cement plant in Novorossiysk is expanding its 33.3MW captive gas power plant.
"In order to increase production capacity, we chose GE's technology since we have already had a successful operating experience with the J624 gas engines. The use of GE's gas engines has allowed us to improve the economic performance of our facility," said Anatoly Ziskel, managing director of the JSC Verhnebakanskiy Cement Plant.
Novorostsement originally installed 11 of GE's 4-MW Jenbacher J624 units in 2011. At the time, the project marked the largest single order of Jenbacher gas engines in Russia and also represents GE's largest J624 power plant project worldwide. Max Motors LLC of Sochi will supply the latest J624 unit for the power plant, which Max Motors designed, built and maintains. The on-site power station uses natural gas provided by a local pipeline.
Made in Russia
30 October 2013Eurocement recently trumpeted the production of two new types of cement at its Podgorensky plant in Voronezh Region. A focus on standards follows a self-declared offensive being taken by the leading Russian cement producer against foreign imports since August 2013.
When the 3Mt/yr Podgorensky plant reached its full production capacity in July 2013, Eurocement president Mikhail Skorokhod gave a press conference to promote his products over the imports from Iran and Turkey. Some of the more humorous comments Skorokhod made to the press included suggesting that Iranian cement might be radioactive and the revelation that the title of Eurocement's in-house magazine, 'All Shades of Grey', might be inspired by an erotic novel with a similar name ('50 Shades of Grey').
More seriously, Russia's southern regions between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea are vulnerable to foreign imports. Both Turkey and Iran have high cement production capacities and they have access to the country via these two seas. In addition to rising housing construction in Russia since 2010, cement demand is expected to further take a boost from building associated with the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics and the 2018 FIFA World Cup.
As stated by Skorokhod, the Podgorensky cement plant was created to fight foreign imports. Hence the focus on standards and government approval. The cement types in question - TSEM I 52.5N and TSEM II/ A-Sh 42.5N - were certified by NIIMosstroy (the Moscow Construction Research Institute) with additional testing conducted by the Voronezh Regional Center for Hygiene and Epidemiology. The move was similar to attempts made in recent years by local producers in southern and eastern Africa to focus consumers' minds on quality versus the potential risks of low-cost imports.
Eurocement clearly wants to fight imports head on given that, according to CMPRO data, total cement imports to Russia nearly doubled from 2.8Mt in 2011 to 5.1Mt in 2012. Turkey, Belarus and Iran were the main importers in 2012. In 2012 cement imports as a percentage of consumption hit their highest level since 2008. At the same time Russian consumption of cement rose by 13% to 65Mt in 2012 from 58Mt in 2012.
Back in August 2013, Skorokhod said that the Podgorensky plant had cut imports to the southern ports. With no figures available yet for imports in 2013 we can only wait and see.
Eurocement starts new jet filter at Maltsovsky Portlandcement
29 October 2013Russia: Maltsovsky Portlandcement, a Eurocement Group cement plant in the Bryansk region, has started operation of a new jet filter at the cooler of its rotary kiln no. 7. The project cost Euro0.55m with the equipment built by Czech firm Cipris Filtr Brno.
"The company pursues a transparent environmental policy and will continue to keep the public informed of all its planned measures on a regular basis," said Nikolay Karyakin, the Director General of Maltsovsky Portlandcement.
Part of a project to increase the cement plant's environmental standards, the plan was agreed upon with the Rostechnadzor (the Federal Service for Environmental, Technological and Nuclear Supervision) and Rospotrebnadzor (Federal Consumer Protection Agency) Departments for the Bryansk region and approved by the Bryansk region administration in 2010.
Since 2007 Maltsovsky Portlandcement has spent more than Euro14m on environmental upgrades. These have included: the installation of two new electric filters manufactured by Alstom Power Stavan (France - Sweden) at rotary kiln No. 7; replacement of jet filters at additive overturning units Nos. 5 and 6; modernisation of jet filters at bag machines Nos. 1 and 2; modernisation of the jet filter at cement mill No. 7; and the installation of modern jet filters manufactured by SIMATEK (Denmark) at the feed conveyors cement mills Nos. 11 - 16.
André Martin appointed as CEO of Lafarge Russia
09 October 2013Russia: André Martin has been appointed as Chief Executive Officer of Lafarge Russia effective from 16 September 2013. He had been the Senior VP, Industrial Customer Segment at Lafarge corporate head office in Paris since 2012. Martin replaces Alex de Valukhoff.
A graduate of French management school ESSEC, Martin joined Lafarge in 1995 as cement M&A in Central and Eastern Europe manager. Highlights in his career include becoming president of Lafarge-Agregate-Betoane in Romania in 1999 and joining Lafarge-Beton de Paris as President in 2002. In 2005 André Martin moved to North America as VP Marketing Aggregates and Asphalt & Paving at Lafarge and he became President at Lafarge East US Aggregates & Asphalt in 2008.
Lafarge appoints new chief executive in Russia
24 September 2013Russia: France's Lafarge, the world's largest cement producer, has announced that it has appointed André Martin to the position of chief executive in its Russian division. He replaces Alex de Valukhoff.
"To come to Russia and serve as the CEO of Lafarge Russia is an honour I find humbling and motivating," said Martin to the Moscow Times. "Together with the team of professionals we are committed to contributing to the building of better cities."
Martin joined Lafarge in 1995, initially working in cement mergers and acquisitions before rising to the post of president of Lafarge-Agregate-Betoane in Romania in 1999. He has also worked for Lafarge in North America. Most recently Martin was the senior vice president for Lafarge's industrial customer segment in Paris.
Uralmash supplies mill frames to Holcim Russia
04 September 2013Russia: Heavy machine producer Uralmash has signed a contract with Holcim Russia to supply a 4kh13,5 mill frame with covers and liners for its Schurovsky plant. A total of approximately 130t of equipment will be manufactured for delivery by January 2014.
This is a third set of frames that will be manufactured for this plant by Uralmash. The first two were delivered in 2010 and 2011. Holcim Russia has been conducting an upgrade of this plant since 2007. A new production line began operation in 2011.
Eurocement to invest heavily in Ryazan plant
27 August 2013Russia: Eurocement Group has announced that it will invest Euro203.9m on the upgrade of its affiliate company Mikhailovskcement, which is located in the Ryazan Region in the west of Russia.
Eurocement said that the upgrade will see the plant's capacity rise to 3.6Mt/yr from 1.9Mt/yr via the addition of a new dry-process cement kiln line. The plant currently has four wet process kilns. A time-scale for completion of the upgrade was not given.
Eurocement to fight cement imports to Russia
21 August 2013Russia: Eurocement Group intends that its Podgorensky cement plant will fight imports from Turkey and Iran. The Russian cement producer's plant in the Voronezh Region in the south of the country will help to replace 80% of imports from these countries, said Eurocement president Mikhail Skorokhod in a press conference reported upon by the Moscow Times.
"If you look at the southern ports, you'll see that the amount of incoming cement has fallen sharply," said Skorokhod. "That is because the Podgorensky plant came into being." He added that the customers agreed to switch to the more expensive Eurocement products after the company convinced them of their higher quality.
Imports accounted for almost 8% of the 65.2Mt of cement that the Russian market consumed in 2012, an increase from 5% in 2011. Skorokhod said Iran's state-owned companies were able to offer lower prices because they receive subsidies from a government that is under US-led trade restrictions. Eurocement may also turn to the World Trade Organization for an antidumping investigation.
Russia: Eurocement Group has reported that it has produced more than 11.5Mt of cement in the first six months of 2013, a year-on-year rise of 5%, in its 16 cement plants in Russia, Ukraine and Uzbekistan. Cement shipments have increased by 7% in the period.
The Russian-based cement producer announced plans to upgrade all of its production facilities to make cement using a dry-process by 2018. Currently only 25% of its plants use the dry process. Eurocement also plans to increase its annual cement production capacity by 4Mt/yr.
According to Russian newspaper Kommersant, half of Russia's regions are not meeting housing construction targets due to a lack of building materials. The country needs more than 20 new cement factories, according the government, but companies are refusing to build new plants due to a lack of potential returns on investment. Eurocement responded to the claims by saying that it is cheaper to modernise existing plants.