17 November 2020
Shree Cement orders vertical roller mills from Gebr. Pfeiffer 17 November 2020
India: Shree Cement has ordered two vertical roller (VR) mills from Germany-based Gebr. Pfeiffer for the upcoming clinker line at its Raipur cement plant in Chhattisgarh. The supplier says that one of the mills will grind raw materials and the other will grind coal.
A MVR 6000 R-6 type raw mill will grind 800t/hr of raw material and have a drive power of 8700kW. Gebr. Pfeiffer said, “The grinding rollers of this mill can be equipped with roller tires for raw meal grinding as well as for cement grinding, provided that they have been designed according to the same force module. This saves money, because the identical components of rollers, tensioning system, roller arms, etc. mean that customers can reduce their spare parts inventory, since the same spare parts can be used for a raw meal mill and for a cement mill.” The mill will be equipped with an SLS 6000 VR high-efficiency classifier.
A MPS 2800 BK type mill will be used to grind coal with a capacity of 28t/hr, a drive power of 720kW and be “equipped with the latest design of the integrated SLS 2900 BK high-efficiency classifier optimised for MPS mills.”
The supplier said, “While the core components of the mills as well as the drive units will be supplied by Gebr. Pfeiffer from Europe, the Indian subsidiary Gebr. Pfeiffer (India) will provide components such as the mill and classifier housings, the steel foundation parts as well as internal parts of the classifiers.”
Tanzanian prime minister orders probe into cement shortage 17 November 2020
Tanzania: Prime Minister Kassim Majawali has ordered regional commissioners to investigate a cement shortage that has reportedly caused a price rise. The Daily News newspaper reports that, in response to price rises first noted in October 2020, Majawali has requested a report by 20 November 2020, and questioned the part that cement producers had played in the issue. He said, “For those who use coals, we have enough to supply them. Clinker is also available at the same market price. We need an explanation behind cement price hiking."
Producers have refuted the accusation that they caused cement prices to rise.
Kenya: A union representing 150 of East Africa Portland Cement Company’s remaining 270 employees, who it made redundant on 1 September 2020, has rejected the company’s offer to take back the workers on a three-year contract with a pay cut of 50%. The rehiring was to be the third phase in the producer’s programme to cut down its 936-strong workforce, according to the Business Daily newspaper.
Acting managing director Stephen Nthei said, “We ran into teething issues between ourselves and the union. There were a few unionisable staff who did not sign, and that is what we are still discussing and agreeing.” He added, “Whatever we will discuss and agree between ourselves and the union will apply to everybody, even those who have signed. It should not be a discriminative procedure.”
Isigenere installs solar power plant at HeidelbergCement quarry 17 November 2020
Germany: Spain-based Isigenere has installed a 739kW floating solar power plant on a lake at HeidelbergCement’s Dettelbach quarry in Bavaria. PV Magazine has reported that the 1900-panel solar power array, Bavaria’s largest, will power HeidelbergCement’s operations at the quarry.