Displaying items by tag: Coal

Egypt: The Arabian Cement Company plans to spend US$5.7m on a new coal mill for its Suez cement plant. The upgrade is intended to increase production capacity at the site, according to the Daily News Egypt newspaper. At present the plant is operating at 60% capacity by using one coal mill. It imports coal from Europe, China and South Africa through the Dekheila Port of Alexandria and Adabiya Port in Suez.

The cement producer reported that its net profits fell by 36% year-on-year to US$8.97m in the first nine months of 2016 from US$14.1m in the same period in 2015. It blamed this on foreign exchange rates and a drop in sales due to technical problems at the plant.

Pakistan: The All Pakistan Cement Manufacturers Association (APCMA) has expressed concern over the effect that rises in the price of coal have had on the cost of cement production. Coal prices have nearly doubled to US$105/t from US$54/t in May 2016, according to the Nation newspaper. The cost of coal contributes more than 30% to the total production cost of cement manufacture. Coal prices have been rising since May 2016 when China started to limit its coal mining capacity. This has since been compounded by stricter local rules on coal transportation in Pakistan. The APCMA has urged the government to focus on the residential sector to diversify the construction industry.

Pakistan: Maple Leaf Power has submitted an application to National Electric Power Regulator Authority (NEPRA) for a power generation license for a 40MW coal-based thermal power plant. The plant will be used to supply power to the Maple Leaf Cement plant at Mianwali in Iskanderabad, according to the Associated Press of Pakistan. The project will cost US$52.5m and it expected to start operation in December 2017.

Nigeria: Dangote Cement has switched to using coal at its cement plants in response to disruption to gas supplies and to lower input costs. The cement producer intends to use 12,000t/day of coal, according to Reuters. "All our cement plants have been converted to coal," said owner Aliko Dangote.

Lebanon: Intercem is building a hot gas system for a coal mill at the LafargeHolcim Chekka plant. The engineering company won the contract for the job in 2015. It is the second such contract for Intercem to build a hot gas system following a previous project at a plant in Jordan in 2013.

The new hot gas system in the coal mill plant in Chekka connects the preheater with the coal mill and comprises a hot gas duct with a length of 360m and a diameter of 900mm. The process data of the hot gas outlet of the heat exchanger are of 18,500Nm³/hour at 400°C.

The turnkey scope of supply and services for the project includes:

• Project management
• As-built-survey of the existing plant using 3D-Laser scanning
• Review of the statics of the existing steel structure and concrete construction
• Process- and detail engineering
• Supply of the mechanical equipment including steel structure
• Coordination of the locally produced components
• Supply of the electrical equipment including clarification of connections and integration into the existing control systems
• Execution of the complete foundation works
• Transport management
• Electrical and mechanical assembly of the plant
• Commissioning of the hot gas system
• Training of the operating team

In addition ducts, a cyclone, a process fan and several control dampers, compensators, the complete instrumentation and automation as well as a new recirculation duct with two control dampers at the existing vertical coal mill have been supplied.

Handover to the customer is planned for fourth quarter of 2016.

Japan: Japan's Sumitomo Osaka Cement consumed 1.41Mt of coal in financial year 2015 to March 31, 2016, down 2.7% year on year. Petroleum coke consumption in FY2015 was 0.10Mt, up 19%.

Tanzania: Charles Mwijage, the Minister for Industry, Trade and Investment, has advised local cement producers to complain to the government regarding imports of cement and a ban on imported coal. Mwijage made the comments at the inauguration of Tanga Cement’s second clinker production line, according to the Tanzania Daily News newspaper.

"We ask the government to either stop the imports or at least impose higher tariffs on imported clinkers. We are also pleading with the government to ensure clinkers on transit reach their destinations. This will remove unfair competition in the market," said Reinhardt Swart, the managing director of Tanga Cement.

The cement producer has complained to the government previously about the same issues. He added that the some of the cheap products were clinker on transit that are diverted to the local market and then sold cheaply because they are not taxed. In addition the government ban on coal imports has raised the company’s energy costs. Swart said that the company is also appealing to the government to secure more reliable electricity supplies.

Colombia: Cementos San Marcos has ordered a vertical roller mill to grind coal from Loesche. The order follows a previous purchase of a LM 35.2+2 mill to grind cement. The new coal mill will replace an existing smaller mill and reuse its foundation. The classifier and the plant ducting equipment will also be part of the contract. The cement plant was designed as a two-phase project to start a conservative market entry with the aim to more than double production capacity to meet market needs within a short period of time. The new coal mill fits into phase two of this progression.

Nigeria: Dangote Cement intends to start mining its own coal at Ankpa, Kogi State in order to cope with gas shortages in the country. The coal will be of a high enough quality to be used without blending. Most of the cement producer’s production lines in Nigeria will have operational coal mills by September 2016. At present the company is using locally purchased coal that is blended with imported coal to ‘assure optimal quality.’

“Our investment in coal is enabling us to reduce our dependence on both oil and gas as fuel sources, thus protecting our production from disruption and improving margins,” said chief executive Onne van der Weijde.

India: Shree Cement has won its bid for a coal contract from South Eastern Coalfields Ltd (SECL) for 80,000t/yr. The cement producer will gain the supply from the New Kusmunda mine in Chhattisgarh for US$14/t. In May 2016 the company announced plans to build a 2.8Mt/yr clinker production line at its integrated cement plant in Raipur, Chhattisgarh. The US$104m line, excluding land and other infrastructure costs, is set to be completed by March 2018.