Displaying items by tag: CNBM
CNBM and Fives sign collaboration agreement
01 February 2019China/France: China’s CNBM and France’s Fives have signed a cooperation frame agreement for future collaboration. The cement plant equipment manufacturers will explore projects together, in plant upgrade, plant expansion and new plants to implement Fives technologies, such as the FCB Horomill grinding system, the FCB Pyro-line and Pillard burners on an international basis. The signing ceremony of the agreement took place in late January 2019 bringing together Song Zhi Ping, the chairman of CNBM and Frédéric Sanchez, the president of Fives.
Eurocement to commission new line at Akhangarancement by 2021
30 January 2019Uzbekistan: Russia’s Eurocement plans to commission a new 3Mt/yr production line at the Akhangarancement in Tashkent region by 2021. Company president Mikhail Skorokhod discussed the project with representatives of the Chamber of Accounts of Uzbekistan, according to Uzbekistan Daily. US$160m is being spent on the new line and US$40m will be invested towards other improvements at the site. Work on the upgrade stated in October 2018. China’s CNBM is the main contractor on the project.
Tanzania: The Tanzania Investment Centre (TIC) says construction of a new 7Mt/yr cement plant by China’s Sinoma and Hengya Cement is due to start soon. TIC executive director Geoffrey Mwambe said that the government body had provided all the necessary incentives for the US$1bn project, according to the Citizen newspaper. The TIC licence gives investors a three-year window in which to start construction, otherwise the licence revoked.
The Chinese company plans to build a cement plant with a 1200MW captive power plant. At least 70% of the cement produced at the plant will be exported and the remainder will be sold domestically. The unit is expected to create 4000 - 8000 direct and indirect jobs.
Devki Group orders waste heat recovery unit from Sinoma Energy
22 January 2019Kenya: Devki Group has ordered a waste heat recovery (WHR) unit from China’s Sinoma Energy for its Athi River plant as part of a US$250m package. The deal also includes supplying a power plant for the company’s steel plant in Kilifi, according to the Daily Nation newspaper. Both projects will be completed by late 2020.
China: Sinoma International Engineering’s new order intake fell by 14% year-on-year to US$4.56bn in 2018. No reason for the decrease was given but orders from its construction business segment fell by 10% to US$3.43bn. By region, local Chinese orders rose by 34% to US$1.3bn but foreign orders dropped by 24% to US$3.26bn.
Installation work starts at L'Amalí plant upgrade project
08 January 2019Argentina: China’s Sinoma International says that it has successfully lifted the first steel column of the pre-heater tower on a 5800t/day production line it is building at Loma Negra’s L'Amalí cement plant. The work in late December 2018 marked the start of the installation phase of the project. It is the subsidiary of China National Building Material’s (CNBM) first engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) project in South America. When the project was first announced in late 2017 it had a completion date of early 2020.
Algeria: Germany’s Aumund has received two clinker conveying equipment orders for cement plants at Zahana and Bechar. The two orders comprise 26 belt and chain bucket elevators, two bucket apron conveyors, ten pan conveyors and ten drag chain conveyors. No value for the deals has been disclosed.
The first order is for the 4500t/day Société des Ciments de Zahana (SCIZ) plant near Oran. Here three chain bucket elevators with centre distances ranging from 22.5 - 34.9m and capacities from 50 - 220t/hr will be used to convey cement and clinker. 11 belt bucket elevators (22.5 -116.1m) will convey raw meal, cement and clinker with capacities between 190 - 680t/hr. The Aumund bucket apron conveyor, with a centre distance of 61.1m and a capacity of 360t/hr, will join the five Aumund pan conveyors (18.3 - 106.8m, capacity 300 - 360t/hr) in conveying clinker. The ten Aumund drag chain conveyors with centre distances between 6.1 - 33.8m will be used in clinker dust extraction and are designed for conveying capacities from 15 - 80t/hr.
The second order is for the 3200t/day Bechar cement plant. This order was placed by China’s CBMI to Aumund Beijing with support from Aumund France. This plant will operate 15 Aumund belt and chain bucket elevators, five Aumund pan conveyors and an Aumund bucket apron conveyor for its bulk materials handling. The bucket elevators, with centre distances ranging from 11 - 102.9m, will convey raw meal, cement and clinker with capacities from 70 – 480t/hr. The five pan conveyors, with centre distances from 22.2 - 89.8m, will convey their loads at up to 480t/hr. The Aumund bucket apron conveyor in Bechar (centre distance 88.5m, capacity 200t/hr) will also convey clinker.
BUA Group orders new production line from CBMI
07 January 2019Nigeria: BUA Group has ordered a 3Mt/yr production line from China’s CBMI for its Kalambaina cement plant in Sokoto State. It follows the commissioning of a 1.5Mt/yr line at the site in mid-2018, according to the This Day newspaper. The company also completed a new line at its Obu plant at Okpella in Edo State in late 2018. BUA Group will have a production capacity of 11Mt/yr once the new project is completed. BUA Group is also in the process of merging with the Cement Company of Northern Nigeria (CCNN).
Global Cement and Concrete Association takes form
28 November 2018Chief executives from over 30 companies attended the Global Cement and Concrete Association (GCCA) inaugural event last week in London. Its first president Albert Manifold, the chief executive officer (CEO) of CRH, laid out the line by saying that, “For the first time we have a global advocacy body.” He followed this up by emphasising that ‘our product’ is the most used man-made product in the world. Just like the Cement Sustainability Initiative (CSI), the body the GCCA is partly-replacing, it is a CEO-led organisation. The target is very much about giving a global voice to the cement and concrete industries and the vertically integrated companies that produce these products.
Along with the head of CRH, the leaders of LafargeHolcim, HeidelbergCement, CNBM, Votorantim, Buzzi Unicem and Eurocement, amongst others, were all on the attendance list too. That kind of representation gave the event a charged air and a real sense of intent. At present the association says it represents 35% of global cement production and its aim is to reach 50%. That compares to the 30% base that the CSI had.
Representatives from some major cement associations were also present, including Europe’s Cembureau, the Federación Interamericana del Cemento (FICEM), the Canadian Cement Association and the VDZ. The only thing stopping the US Portland Cement Association being there was reportedly the Thanksgiving holiday. Although not comprehensive, that kind of representation suggests serious interest from the regional cement associations. The word from the GCCA CEO Benjamin Sporton was that the GCCA is here to provide a global level of coordination to the advocacy and sustainability side of the industry dealing with global organisations like the United Nations (UN), development banks, other associations and non-government organisations (NGOs).
How this will work in practice has yet to be seen, but at the very least, the GCCA can take over the work of the CSI and run with it. The word from the attendees we spoke to was uniformly positive for the association. It was seen as a long-overdue move to finally give the industry some sort of uniform voice at a global scale. In this sense it is catching up with similar bodies in industries like wood and steel. One benefit from moving from the CSI to a full advocacy organisation is that the industry can actually talk about the good things it does rather than being limited to sustainability and environmental data reporting. It seems like a small change in focus but it’s a big shift in mind-set.
A cynic might suggest that the exercise is one of a dirty industry trying to wrest the Overton window, or window of public discourse, back from legislators facing mounting environmental pressure. The latest UN Emissions Gap Report for 2018, for example, reported this week that CO2 emissions rose in 2017 after four consecutive years of decline. This is the latest environmental report in a long line pointing out bad news. Yet, the GCCA’s unwritten mantra, that concrete improves lives, is sound. Somebody or something needs to link it all up. That somebody might just be the GCCA.
A review of the inaugural annual general meeting and symposium of the GCCA will be published in a forthcoming issue of Global Cement Magazine.
Global Cement and Concrete Association holds inaugural annual general meeting in London
27 November 2018UK: The Global Cement and Concrete Association (GCCA) has held its inaugural annual general meeting and symposium in London. Member companies ratified key deliverables for the association and set-out its priorities and work program. Albert Manifold, chief executive officer (CEO) of CRH, was confirmed as GCCA President and will serve for two years. Fernando A González, CEO of Cemex and Jianglin Cao, CEO of CNBM, were confirmed as Vice-Presidents.
The work program will focus on: position concrete as the sustainable building material of choice; promote international best practice in the areas of safety, production and the use of cement and concrete in the built environment; foster innovation in the cement and concrete sectors; make a positive contribution to global sustainable development; and promote the principles of a circular economy across the value chain.
“Concrete is the enabler of critical buildings and infrastructure that enhance the way we live – safe and durable homes, roads, hospitals, clean water, effective wastewater management, as well as providing the vital structures for the clean energy of tomorrow,” said Benjamin Sporton, the CEO of the GCCA.
The association was launched in January 2018. It represents 32 member companies with nine affiliate organisations. Its members hold 35% of global cement production.