Articles on the cement industry from Global Cement

A round-up of cement sector news fron Brazil.

Brazil is a massive country, covering almost half of the area of South America. Its industries are well developed and its large cement industry is still growing rapidly. Such growth looks set to continue and may accelerate ahead of substantial government infrastructure projects and work for the 2014 FIFA World Cup and 2016 Summer Oly1mpic Games.

As part of the company's sustainability ambitions, HeidelbergCement is aiming to increase its alternative fuel and raw material use and at the same time reduce its stack emissions. By viewing waste as a resource, HeidelbergCement is reducing the use of natural materials such as coal and limestone. As a consequence, CO₂ emissions are being reduced and an environmentally-sensitive and economically sensible waste removal service is provided to local citizens, industries and agricultural activities.

Iraq has a troubled past that has adversely affected its development for decades. The country now needs foreign investment to (re)develop its cities and wider infrastructure that have seen under-investment for years. Subject to an increasingly stable political situation, the country is likely to be a hot-bed of development, with oil reserves among the highest in the world. Now that the last US military personnel have left the country, has the time come for Iraq to fully exploit its development potential? The cement industry will have a major role to play if it does.

The contract for the construction of the Sinjar Cement Plant, located near to Mosul in Ninevah Governate in northern Iraq, was signed between the government of Iraq and the Romanian company Uzine Exportimport in 1981. The project endured a long period of construction and work was not completed until 1990. Despite being designed with two dry-process 3200t/day OPC clinker production lines, (giving it a capacity of 2Mt/yr), its contractual production capacity was never acheived. The original Gulf War (1990-91) caused production at the plant to be stopped almost as soon as it had begun in 1990.