Displaying items by tag: Bedeschi

Morocco: Bedeschi has reported that erection works are underway at a project it is carrying out for LafargeHolcim in Morocco. Following an intense civil work phase, during which the single trusses were preassembled and equipped with the mechanical comports, the 4.3km-long belt conveyor is taking shape. The site team is taking full advantage of Trimble Connect to facilitate the erection works.

The conveyor, which trusses up to 5t completely assembled at ground, has been erected on a mountain using a suspended cableway. The system, installed and operated by Bedeschi team with its partner SEIK, allowed fast-track operations with high degree of safety and quality.

Last month Soyuzcement, the Union of Russian Cement Producers, reported that cement production was on course to grow by 8% year-on-year to 58Mt in 2019. This estimate was based on growth from January to October 2019 followed by a modest rise in November.

Graph 1: Cement production in Russia, 2010 – 2019. Source: CM Pro, Ernst & Young.

The pickup is significant because it’s the country’s first annual resumption of growth since 2014. At that time low commodity prices, a worsening economy and international sanctions broke a fairly steady growth cycle that had started in 2000. The only blip in that run was the global economic downturn around 2008. In the medium to long term Soyuzcement’s review pinpointed growth drivers as being government-backed residential housing schemes, integrated land development projects and an increase in the construction of concrete roads. This increase has been driven by consumption growth in most regions, led by a 12% rise in the Central Federal District although the Volga Federal District started to slow in the second half of 2019.

Figure 1: Russian Federal Districts by cement production in 2016. Source: Soyuzcement.ru.

Anecdotally, this change in the fortunes of the Russian cement industry can be seen in the volume of news coverage on the Global Cement website over the last few years. The mean number of news stories on the country in 2016 and 2017, increased by half in 2018 and then again in 2019. Partly this is down to our attempts to increase our coverage of the region but it also shows a general trend. In the news specifically there haven’t been many new plant projects domestically but there has been a steady stream of upgrades and maintenance related stories. For example, Eurocement subsidiary Kavkazcement reported in recent weeks that it had installed a replacement dry kiln. This has been part of a group of upgrades that Eurocement has started in 2019. On the supplier side both Germany’s Gebr. Pfeiffer and Italy’s Bedeschi opened subsidiaries in Russia in 2019.

One thing that didn’t seem to slow down the growth were mounting tariffs on Russian exports into Ukraine. Russia’s neighbour first blocked imports of cement from Russia in May 2019 due to, what it said was a Russian ban on imports. It then followed this with an antidumping rate of 115% for imported clinker and Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC) from Russia. It also penalised imports from Belarus and Moldova, although at lower rates. Russia’s cement export rates seemed untroubled by this, rising by 13.5% year-on-year to 0.8Mt in the first 10 months of 2019. Exports hit of high of just below 2Mt/yr in 2014 but have since stabilised at around 1Mt/yr. Imports reached around 5Mt/yr in the early 2010s and have been slowly declining since then, reaching 1.5Mt in 2018.

The lowered production rate that the Russian cement industry has faced over the last five years has been noteworthy given the apparent low capacity utilisation rate. The Global Cement Directory 2019 records the country as having a production capacity of 111Mt/yr. This gives Russia a capacity utilisation rate of 48% in 2018! Unlike, say, the countries in southern Europe that have had to rationalise their cement industries following the post-2008 decline, Russia may have structural aspects to the industry that have helped protect it from lower utilisation rates. These include relatively low export-import rates and the large size of the country with limited sea access to many regions. Most of its production capacity is located in the west but a sizable minority of plants are based further east across the Ural, Siberian and Far Eastern regions. Even under subdued economic conditions, plants in these places are likely to be less susceptible to foreign imports, for example.

Looking ahead, the question is whether the current growth that the cement industry is enjoying is viable once government spending slows down. Alongside this the industry could also focus on sustainability. As the government announced in early January 2020, the country expects to face both negative and positive effects from climate change. The cement industry could be at the front of this trend if it decides to clean up production and/or move into new markets as the Arctic region opens up.

Russia: Italy’s Bedeschi has set up a new subsidiary in Moscow. The company is working on a project for OTEKO at its dry bulk terminal at the port of Taman on the Black Sea. It consists of the supply of a fully automated coal export terminal with a total aggregated capacity of more than 50,000t/hr on six loading lines. The supply includes bucket wheel stacker-reclaimers, several kilometres of conveyors and shiploaders. The system allows the blending of different types of coal. The new company in Russia joins existing subsidiaries in the US, Morocco, India and the UAE.

Vietnam: Italy’s Bedeschi has signed a contract to supply a double roller crushing unit and relevant control panels for the Quicklime Plant being built in Hoa Binh, Northern Vietnam. The unit is being built by a local cement producer. Start-up is scheduled by mid-2020.

Italy: Bedeschi has signed a contract to supply a clinker storage system to Cementeria Costantinopoli in Barile. The order includes a type STK P bridge stacker and a type BEL C bridge reclaimer. The storage system consists of: a belt conveyor (15m x 1m); a belt conveyor (60m x 1m); a STK P 25/1000 bridge stacker; and a BEL C 160/21 bridge reclaimer. The system will have a stacking capacity of 100t/hr and a reclaiming capacity of 130t/hr.

Algeria: Zahana Cement, part of Groupe des Ciments d’Algérie (GICA), has ordered a RL 850/1500 double roller crusher from Italy’s Bedeschi. The contract is on an engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) basis and it includes the supply of the new machine, designed for 500t/hr of marl, the removal of the existing machine and the installation of the new crusher with the revamping of the existing electrical board. Commissioning is expected by mid-2018.

Algeria: Italy’s Cimprogetti says it is making progress on a lime plant it is building with Bedeschi for Algerian Qatari Steel. The project is to build a lime plant supporting a steel plant at Bellara in Jijel. It includes the design and supply of the entire lime plant, from the limestone receiving area to quicklime storage, which is directly connected to the Danieli steel mill. The design of power and control systems has been developed by Cimprogetti, including the supply of all electrical panels, medium and low voltage transformers, the diesel generator set and all cables. Cimprogetti is also working with Idom, a Spanish company, on the design and erection phases of the project.

The lime plant will use two Flex Reversy 9 kilns with a daily production of 420t/day each, and will be operated with natural gas. The mechanical erection is almost complete and the electrical installation has recently started. The erection works are being checked by Cimprogetti site engineers in collaboration with the end user.

Italy: Bedeschi has won an innovation award from Smau. The award was given to the bulk materials handling systems manufacturer for its use of virtual and augmented reality to display its products to customers at trade fairs. Bedeschi has worked with Airlapp to create 3D models and virtual reality simulations to allow it to visualise its models. Together the companies have used a smartphone app, Regiverse, to presents tours of its models that can be used on both Android and Apple iOS platforms.

Turkey: A shiploader that Bedeschi has supplied to Sönmez Çimento is being commissioned. The slewing, luffing and travelling type shiploader has a loading capacity up to 1000t/hr. It will serve Sönmez Çimento’s integrated plant in the Adana Yumurtalık Free Zone. It follows a previous port installation by Bedeschi at Yesilovacik.

Turkey: Bedeschi has released more information about its contract with Sönmez Çimento to help build a clinker and cement export terminal in the Adana Yumurtalık Free Zone. The contract was awarded in April 2016. A slewing, luffing and travelling type shiploader, equipped with a telescopic chute, will be installed at the plant’s port terminal. The shiploader will be able to load vessels of up to 55,000DW and beam 32.2m. The nominal loading capacity of the machine is of 1000t/hr with a peak flow rate of 1100t/hr. The equipment will include de-dusting systems, such as filters, installed on board to reduce the dust pollution caused by material flow between belt conveyors.