August 2025

Sudan: Fuel shortages and power cuts have reduced cement production by half. The Atbara Cement Plant reduced its production to 60,000t/month from 120,000t/month, according to Radio Dabanga. Production fell to 20,000t/month from 60,000t/month at Alsalam Cement, to 32,000t/month from 80,000t/month at El Takamol Cement, to 50,000t/month from 120,000t/month at North Cement and to 30,000t/month from 70,000t/month at Berber Cement. Parts of the country experienced fuel shortages in 2017 and this has continued in 2018, leading to problems far various industries.

India: Bharathi Cement plans to build new plants in Vizag and Mumbai. The new units are intended to meet market demand in the east and west of the country respectively, according to the Economic Times newspaper. The company hopes to raise its national market share to 5% from 4% at present with the new plants and from new products.

India: Ramco Cement has ordered three vertical roller mills from Germany’s Loesche. It has ordered two LM 41.2+2 CS type mills with two grinding rollers and two support rollers with a power range of 3000kW and a capacity of 130t/hr for two of its cement plants to grind the Portland Pozzolana Cement (PPC). The first mill will be installed at Kolaghat, West Bengal, where Ramco Cement is upgrading a grinding plant to 2Mt/yr from 0.95Mt/yr. The second mill will be used at a grinding plant in Gobburupalam, Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh.

A third mill has been ordered for a newly-built plant at Haridaspur in Odisha. Here, a LM 46.2+2 CS type mill with a capacity of 3750kW will be used to grind PPC with a throughput of 165t/hr. This order also includes mill fans, bag-type filters and further auxiliary equipment. It will all be delivered by the end of 2018.

India: Dalmia Bharat has launched a fine blend composite cement product called Dalmia FBC. The product is a mix of slag and silica and it is intended to combine the properties of Portland Slag Cement and Portland Pozzolona Cement. The new brand was launched by BK Singh, Senior Executive Director, Group Marketing and Communications, Dalmia Bharat Group and Indrajit Chatterji, Executive Director Sales and Marketing (East) Dalmia Bharat Cement.

US: Lehigh Hanson’s Speed cement plant in Indiana will be converted into a distribution terminal. The decision follows an investment of US$600m towards upgrading the Mitchell cement plant in Indiana, according to the Evening News and Tribune newspaper. At present the Speed plant has a cement production capacity of 1Mt/yr and the Mitchell plant has a production capacity of 0.7Mt/yr. Following the upgrade the Mitchell plant will have a capacity of 2.8Mt/yr. Changing the focus of the Speed unit is expected to lead to the loss of 100 jobs. although half of these could be moved to Mitchell.

Germany: Two cement plants are installing selective catalytic reduction (SCR) units ahead of new environmental emissions limits that will start in 2019. CRH Opterra Zement’s Karsdorf plant has started a Euro23m upgrade project to its emissions systems. The plant will install SCR units on each of its production lines. Work on the upgrade is scheduled to be completed by the start of 2019.

Holcim WestZement is also installing a SCR unit purchased from Yara at its Beckum cement plant. The Euro14.2m project will start trial operation by the end of 2018.

Russia: Iskitimcement’s sales volumes fell in the first half of 2018 due to a poor construction market. Its sales dropped by 7.5% year-on-year to 0.42Mt from 0.44Mt. A particular dip was noted in Western Siberia.

Oman: Raysut Cement’s turnover grew by 14.5% to US$111m in the first half of 2018 from US$97.2m in the same period in 2017. However, its profit after tax fell by 85% to US$1.8m from US$12m. The cement producer also noted that it is expected to receive US$10m from insurance claims relating to a loss of a ship and other claims relating to Cyclone Mekunu.

US: Lehigh Hanson plans to spend US$600m on modernising and upgrading its Mitchell cement plant in Indiana. The project will increase production capacity and reducing energy usage and emissions per ton of cement produced. The project is the largest expansion and modernisation that the subsidiary of Germany’s HeidelbergCement has undertaken in North America.

Lehigh Hanson is working with the Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM) to obtain the required air permits and anticipates the permitting process to be completed in the summer of 2019. The company is also working with the Indiana Economic Development Corporation regarding available business incentives. Construction is scheduled to begin in 2020 and completion of the new plant is anticipated by the end of 2022. Once finished the upgrades will create around 50 new jobs at the unit.

The cement producer has also worked with local and state officials to develop increased infrastructure surrounding the plant, which will support the expanded operation. This includes a road connecting the plant to a local highway, alleviating truck congestion from the centre of town. Overall logistics will also change to accommodate additional rail activity to handle increased cement shipments from the plant.

US: Sempertrans USA has officially opened its new Atlanta warehouse in Georgia. The event was attended by distributors and end-customers. The Sempertrans USA team which includes sales, customer service, technical management and finance moved into the new location in December 2017. At the beginning of June 2018 Sempertrans USA was able to process, cut and slit to order and distribute heavy-duty textile belts from the unit. Sempertrans belts from the site can be slit within 24 hours and then distributed across North America.

“Our North America Team is ready to tackle any challenge. From impact and abrasion resistant belt solutions, our wide product portfolio ensures safe and highly efficient conveying even under the most demanding conditions,” said Wes Tyre, Head of Sales North America.

Sempertrans is a conveyor belt manufacturer. Its portfolio includes textile belts and steel cord belts for applications in the cement, mining and steel industries as well as other applications such as ports, quarries and the chemical industry.