17 October 2018

Spain: Cemex España is preparing to close its cement plants at Gádor in Almería and Lloseta in Baleares. It has blamed reduced demand for cement and European regulations on CO₂ emissions for the decision, according to the Cinco Días newspaper. The closures will affect 200 employees and the cement producer is has started to hold union discussions. Cemex will retain integrated plants at Morata de Jalón, Alicante, Alcanar, Castillejo Anover and Buñol.

Lesotho: Lafarge South Africa and Lephema Executive Group have launched a cement plant project, Maloti Mountain Cement. Thesele Maseribane, Minister of Communications, attended the ceremony with representatives of Lafarge South Africa, according to the Informative newspaper. Although reported at an ‘initial stage’ of development, the project has hired 150 employees.

China: Guangdong Tapai has ordered two coal mills from Germany’s Loesche for its two 10,000t/day clinker production lines in Jiaoling, Meizhou in Guangdong. This is a repeat order, following an order for two LM 35.3 D coal mills that was made in 2015. The 3-roller mill grinds 50t/hr of pulverised coal to a fineness of 3% with a sieving residue of 0.08 mm. The installed power is 1200kW. The order has been placed through Loesche Shanghai and the two newly ordered coal mills are expected to be delivered in April 2019.

Peru: Cal & Cemento Sur (Calcesur) plans to add a sixth production line to its cement and lime plant in Puno at the end of October 2018. The upgrade will increase the unit’s production capacity to 1Mt/yr from 0.63Mt/yr, according to the Gestion newspaper. The company says that following the expansion the site will be the largest lime plant in Latin America.

The subsidiary of Gloria Group has targeted a 12% year-on-year growth in sales in 2019. It plans to sell lime to the mining sector in northern Chile and it is also focusing on Ecuador and Bolivia. The company plans to launch lime-sand bricks in 2019 for local demand and in Chile.

The cement and lime producer also plans to launch its Tipo LH cement product at the end of October 2018 and to sell cement in 25kg bags. At present, the company sells 42.5kg bags.