Displaying items by tag: Plant

India: Ramco Cements has approved plants to build a second production line at its Haridaspur grinding plant in Jajpur District, Odisha with a capacity of 0.9Mt/yr. Around US$16m has been earmarked for the project. Once commissioned the plant’s total capacity will be 1.8Mt/yr.

The cement producer’s revenue grew by 31% year-on-year to US$442m in the first half of its financial year to 30 September 2022. However, its earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) fell by 35% to US$61.9m. It blamed the loss in earnings on falling cement prices and mounting fuel costs. The company currently has cement and clinker production capacities of 21Mt/yr and 14Mt/yr respectively. It also reported that a 6MW waste heat recovery unit at its Kurnool plant in Andhra Pradesh will be commissioned in November 2022. An additional 6MW at the same plant is scheduled to start operation in March 2023.

UK: Cookstown Cement has rebranded as Cemcor. The company formed in January 2022 following its acquisition of the 0.45Mt/yr Cookstown cement plant from Holcim in January 2022. It then announced investments of around Euro14m towards making environmental and process upgrades at the unit. The company also purchased a limestone quarry in Cookstown, a shale quarry in Dungannon and a terminal at Belfast Harbour.

Germany: The Catch4Climate project says it is ready to build an oxyfuel pilot unit at Schwenk Zement’s Mergelstetten plant following approval by the Stuttgart Regional Council. The project comprises Dyckerhoff, Heidelberg Materials, Schwenk Zement and Vicat, and It has set up a research company called CI4C to run it. Over Euro120m will be invested towards building a dedicated 450t/day production line to test the oxyfuel process. Jürgen Thormann, the Technical Managing Director of CI4C, said that this is the first time a so-called ‘pure’ oxyfuel process will be used for CO₂ capture. At a later stage in the project the consortium plans to use the captured CO₂ to produce so-called ‘reFuels’, climate-neutral synthetic fuels such as kerosene for aircraft, with the help of renewable electrical energy. Commissioning of the unit is scheduled for mid-2024.

Bangladesh: The Infrastructure Development Company (IDC) has agreed to loan Crown Cement US$25m to help it build a sixth plant. The new unit will use a vertical roller mill, according to the New Nation newspaper. The IDC is a government-owned non-banking financial organisation that finances projects in the infrastructure, renewable energy, and energy efficiency sectors.

Saudi Arabia: China-based Sinoma has signed a contract with Yamama Cement for the construction of a new 10,000t/day clinker production line at its new plant site. The announcement of the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract at the Arab-International Cement Conference in Amman, Jordan, came shortly after the news that Sinoma had been contracted to dismantle, move and rebuild one of Yamama Cement’s existing cement production lines in a strategic move between the producer’s old and new plant sites.

Namibia: The Mineworkers Union of Namibia (MUN) and Cheetah Cement yesterday reached a wage agreement to end a strike that has crippled the company’s Otjiwarongo plant for the past three months. A total of 80 Cheetah Cement’s employees, which is the trading name of the Chinese-owned company Whale Rock Cement (WRC), had been striking after the company and the MUN failed to reach an agreement in negotiations about wage increases and improved conditions of service.

The agreement will see all workers receive a 5% increase in salary, as well as a 5% increase in housing allowances. “We would like to place on record that the company's generous offer is not based on an admission of affordability but rather a commitment to bring an end to the prolonged wage dispute,” said WRC’s general manager Kevin Lee said in a statement.

Other increases include the company paying 80% of employees’ medical aid contributions, the introduction of a new pension fund in January 2023 and back-pay for 12 months at employees’ new rates, to be paid by the company within 14 days.

Paraguay: Cementos Concepción (CECON), a company belonging to the Cartes Group, has begun commissioning its US$300m cement plant in the Concepción Department. Test bags are currently being made, with commercial operations expected in late 2022 or early 2023.

Jorge Méndez, CECON's manager said that the test production represented an ‘historic day for the production of 100% Paraguayan cement.’ He added, “Cementos Concepción will bring many benefits to the country. Paraguay needs many infrastructure works, but the deficit of the lack of cement always played against us.”

The 1.0Mt/yr plant was built with the support of nine Paraguayan banks. Méndez emphasised that the cement plant is now generating labour in the ‘forgotten’ Department of Concepción.

India: JK Cement subsidiary Jaykaycem has commissioned the 2Mt/yr grinding unit of its upcoming Panna cement plant in Madhya Pradesh. The producer expects to commission the plant's clinkerisation unit later in the 2023 financial year.

India: A violent disturbance brought an end to a public hearing over ACC's plans to establish a new integrated cement plant in Masturi, Chhattisgarh, on 3 November 2022. Police reportedly used 'mild force' to subdue protestors who claimed that ACC has acted illegally. The Free Press Journal has reported that land recorded by ACC as 'barren' in document submissions is allegedly used by residents for cultivation of rice and other crops.

Limestone mining has already commenced at the Masturi site.

Malaysia: Borneo Oil has entered into a conditional share sale agreement with Makin Teguh's 45% owner Global 2332 to enlarge its stake in the cement company by 31%, to 60%. Borneo Oil has proposed a private placement to raise US$11.3m towards funding the US$21.2m deal. It previously completed a US$4.65m shares issue on 26 October 2022. Bernama Daily Malaysian News has reported that Makin Teguh plans to commence operations at its 220,000t/yr Sabah integrated cement and clinker plant in early 2023. It owns two limestone mines, with total reserves of 14.4Mt.