Displaying items by tag: FLSmidth

Rwanda: Construction work has started on Prime Cement’s new grinding plant in Musanze District. The subsidiary of Milbridge Group plans to complete the unit by mid-2019, according to the New Times newspaper. The plant is expected to have a cement production capacity of 0.7Mt/yr, with plans to expands this to 1.2Mt/yr. Denmark’s FLSmidth signed a deal with Prime Cement in 2017 to supply equipment for the plant. Once finished the plant is expected to create 600 jobs.

There 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.

Denmark: Equipment manufcaturer FLSmidth says that the cement market has remained ‘unchanged’ so far in 2018. It described the market for new cement capacity as ‘subdued’ but that opportunities for small and medium projects were available. In addition, the second quarter of 2018 showed a number of single equipment and upgrade project orders which the company has marked as a strategy area.

Order intake for its cement division fell by 42% year-on-year to Euro215m from Euro368m. However, revenue rose by 2% to Euro272m. Overall, the group’s order intake fell slightly to Euro1.35bn but revenue rose by 18% to Euro1.2bn.

"We saw the highest order intake in the Minerals division for several years, which shows that miners are starting to put action behind their investment plans. Most activity is related to single equipment and brownfield expansion. We benefit from our business model of full life-cycle offerings which enables us to support customers in their pursuit of productivity enhancements", said group chief executive officer (CEO) Thomas Schulz.

Central America: Denmark’s FLSmidth has been awarded two contracts for cement plants worth over Euro250m. One deal is for a new plant and the other is for an expansion to an existing site. The expected start-up for each project is by mid-2021 and once operational, the cement plants will have a capacity of 2000t/day and 3500t/day respectively.

Both contracts include design and engineering, equipment supply, automation systems, training as well as advisory services for installation and commissioning. Each project is also dependent on FLSmidth receiving an agreed down payment before work can commence.

UAE: Lafarge Emirates has ordered a Jetflex Plus burner for its Fujairah cement plant from FLSmidth. Thierry Terriere, the plant manager, and Simon Jensen, head of FLSmidth Middle-East, signed the contract.

“As the business has shifted towards using low-cost fuels with high-quality clinker, we have made an ambitious decision and chosen the best option on the market – this next generation burner from FLSmidth," Sohail Qaiser, Process Manager at Lafarge Emirates Cement. He added that the company expects a ‘significant’ change in its fuel mix cost as well as a more sustainable kiln operation.

FLSmidth says that the Jetflex Plus burner is the first to be installed in the LafargeHolcim Group and that the company was selected for procurement and supervision of the installation of it. The burner product has rotatable jet air nozzles allowing for optimal adjustment of the flame as well as the low NOx emissions for various fuel types and operating conditions.

The relationship between the companies dates back to 2007 when FLSmidth built the 7500t/day Fujairah plant for Orascom.

Philippines: Big Boss Cement is considering procuring a mill for its new US$215m plant project from European equipment manufacturers including Denmark’s FLSmdith, Germany’s Gebr. Pfeiffer and Germany’s Loesche. Ishmael Ordonez, vice-president of the cement producer, said that a vertical roller mill would take up less space than the horizontal mill it was currently using from a Chinese supplier, according to Inside International Industrials. The company is set to start production at a new plant in Porac in Pampanga in August 2018. However, it is planning to expand the production capacity at the unit based on anticipated demand.

Pakistan: DG Khan Cement, part of Nishat Group, has announced the official opening of its recently commissioned Hub plant in Balochistan, Pakistan. The company claims that the 9000t/day (2.9Mt/yr) plant is ‘Asia's most modern’ and is constructed entirely from European equipment. FLSmidth was the main supplier of the pyroprocessing equipment, with Loesche supplying three complete grinding plants, Haver & Boecker supplying packaging solutions and IBAU Hamburg supplying silos and loading technology. The plant was built in just 30 months.

Global Cement visited the Hub project when it was under construction in the March 2018 issue.

Bolivia: Soboce (Sociedad Boliviana de Cemento) has inaugurated a new vertical grinding mill at its Viache integrated plant. Together with its other integrated plants at Oruro and Tarija and a grinding plant at Santa Cruz the company now has a cement production capacity of 2.9Mt/yr, according to the Diario Pagina Siete newspaper. The upgrade cost US$85m. Soboce ordered an OK 36-4 vertical roller mill from Denmark’s FLSmidth for the project. To coincide with the new mill the company will also launch ‘Viacha LP12 Insuperable,’ a new cement product.

China/Denmark: Denmark’s FLSmdith and China National Building Material (CNBM) have signed a framework agreement about future collaboration. Song Zhiping, chairman of CNBM Group and Thomas Schulz, Group chief executive officer (CEO) of FLSmidth signed the deal at FLSmidth’s headquarters in Denmark in July 2018.

"It was a pleasure to welcome the guests and to participate in such collaborative discussions about future opportunities to work together. Through this framework agreement, we see numerous benefits over the coming years for us and our customers, such as expediting our quotation response time, which will improve our delivery performance and increase productivity," said Schulz.

FLSmidth is an engineering company that provides machinery and connected services to the cement and mineral industries. CNBM Group is both the world’s largest cement producer and a leading cement plant construction company. The companies have worked together on projects previously, such as the Relizane cement plant order for ETHRB Group in Algeria.

Pakistan: Maple Leaf Cement’s new production line at its Iskanderabad cement plant is expected to start production by mid-2019. It is building a new 7300t/day line at the site to increase its total production capacity to 18,000t/day. The cost is US$206m. Denmark’s FLSmidth is building the line. Approximately 66% of civil work has been completed and 14% of plant erection work was reported complete at the end of June 2018.