02 January 2019

Japan: Taiheiyo Cement says it has started the country’s first carbon capture and storage (CCS) test at its Fujiwara plant in Inabe, in conjunction with the Ministry of Environment. It is testing a chemical absorption method on kiln exhaust gases at the plant. Further installations on the project will continue during January 2019.

Bangladesh: Saudi Arabia’s Southern Province Cement has signed a deal with Peakward Enterprises in Hong Kong to export 1.5Mt of clinker to Bangladesh. The first shipment was scheduled to start on 31 December 2018 and they will run until the end of June 2020. No value for the contract has been disclosed.

India: Shree Cement has commissioned its 3Mt/yr integrated plant at Kodla, Kalaburagi in Karnataka state. The cement mill and the clinker line at the line were commissioned at the same time in late December 2018.

Namibia: China’s Tianjin Cement Industry Design & Research Institute (TDI) has successfully ignited the kiln on a new 1.2Mt/yr production line at Whale Rock Cement’s plant near Otjiwarongo. The Chinese equipment supplier says that the line was started on 25 December 2018, 58 days ahead of the contracted start date. The project officially began in late 2017. The US$350m plant was originally scheduled to be commissioned in late October 2018, according to local media.

Nigeria: The Cement Company of Northern Nigeria (CCNN) says it has received formal approval from the Securities Exchange Commission and the Federal High Court for its merger with Kalambaina Cement. It added that the scheme of the merger was effective from 24 December 2018. New CCNN shares have been issued to and allotted to Kalambaina Cement’s shareholders at an agreed ratio.

Russia: South Ural Mining and Processing Company has purchased a 77% stake in Gornozavodsktsement in Perm region. It intends to buy the rest of the company at a later date, according to the Kommersant newspaper. The acquisition was supported by Gazprombank.

Belarus: The Architecture and Construction Ministry has supported the country’s use of a commodity exchange to sell cement. Deputy Architecture and Construction Minister Alexander Sidorov said that his ministry was prepared to support an increase in supply to the exchange if demand allowed, according to the Belarusian Telegraph Agency (BelTA). It was previously announced that the country was planning to make 0.2Mt/yr of 10% of the country’s cement exports available to purchase via the Belarusian Universal Commodity Exchange (BUCE) from the start of 2019.

Chile: Colbún has signed a deal with Grupo Polpaico to supply the cement producer with 183GWhr/yr of renewable energy for a 10 year period. Cementos Polpaico will start using renewable energy at its Cerro Blanco integrated plant and its Coronel cement grinding plant in 2019 to allow energy efficiency upgrades to be implemented. Other plants in the group’s portfolio will start using the renewable energy supply by 2022.