24 October 2018

Republic of Congo: The Congolese Ministry of Industry says that it is ready to inaugurate the Diamond cement plant. The new plant is located in the district of Mindouli, about 200km south of Brazzaville, according to Agence de Presse Africaine. The 0.1Mt/yr unit started production in early 2018 at a cost of around US$100m. The project had previously been delayed by four years due to local security issues. The plant will be the fifth cement plant in the country and will bring local cement production capacity to over 3.0Mt/yr.

Kenya: The creditors of ARM Cement have approved a sale of a subsidiary or assets of the company to reduce its debt by US$190m. The creditors have not disclosed which subsidiary or assets will be sold, according to Reuters. One of the administrators from PricewaterhouseCoopers said that 102 of the creditors, representing US$95m, had supported the decision. However, two creditors had rejected the plan. The cement producer was placed into administration in late August 2018.

Germany: KHD has been awarded a contract to upgrade Thomas Zement’s grinding plant in Erwitte. The engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract includes process, mechanical, electrical and civil engineering services.
Mechanical and electrical equipment supply includes a roller press for raw material grinding, a static v-separator, an SKS dynamic separator and a KHD HKF process fan.

The deal also includes structural steel supply, erection and installation services for mechanical and electrical equipment as well as structural steel and supervision services for erection, installation and commissioning. KHD is also responsible for the tie-in of the new equipment to the existing raw material and product transport, as well as gas handling and treatment systems.

The erection and installation of the new grinding plant will be carried out during operation of the production line followed by a minimal possible switch over period. No value for the deal has been disclosed.