
Displaying items by tag: Egypt
South Valley Cement to consider cost of second production line
06 December 2016Egypt: South Valley Cement is considering the cost of building a second production line following an increase in the cost of equipment from foreign suppliers due to the devualtion of the Egyptian Pound. The company’s management will meet in December 2016 to discuss the new 1.5Mt/yr line and how to pay for it, according to Daily News Egypt. The line will be built at the producer’s plant in Beni Suef’s industrial zone, increasing its overall production capacity to 3Mt/yr. It will take three years to build. South Valley Cement won a cement licence from the Industrial Development Authority in December 2016.
Egyptian government sells three cement licences for US$28m
02 December 2016Egypt: The Industrial Development Authority (IDA) has tendered three licences to build new cement plants to El Sewedy Cement, South Valley Cement and Cement Egypt. The licences were sold for a total of US$28m, according to the Daily News Egypt newspaper. IDA chairman Ahmed Abdel Razek said that the three cement plants built using the new licences will have a total production capacity of 6Mt/yr. The new capacity is intended to support local infrastructure projects including the construction of a proposed new capital city.
Arabian Cement to spend US$5.7m on new coal mill
21 November 2016Egypt: 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.
Algerian investors to buy ASEC Algeria for US$60m
31 October 2016Algeria: A group of Algerian investors have agreed a share purchase framework to buy 100% of ASEC Algeria from ASEC Cement and ASEC Cement Djelfa Offshoren for US$60m. ASEC Cement is an Egypt-based producer and supplier of cement and other construction materials. ASEC Cement Djelfa Offshoren is a subsidiary of ASEC Cement, a subsidiary of Qalaa Holdings.
European Bank for Reconstruction and Development helps to reduce carbon emissions from the Egyptian cement industry
29 September 2016Egypt: The Egyptian cement industry could reduce its CO2 emissions by 2030 by following new recommendations in a report from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD). These recommendations have been published in the EBRD’s report, ‘Policy roadmap for a Low-Carbon Egyptian Cement Industry,’ which highlights the need for decisive and collaborative action by the industry’s stakeholders in order to achieve a reduction in CO2 emissions.
“Improving environmental standards in the cement industry and offering commercial incentives is realistic and vital for the profitability of the sector,” said Philip ter Woort, the EBRD Director for Egypt.
The roadmap outlines recommendations for policy actions from the Egyptian government that may provide effective incentives for the cement industry to improve its energy efficiency and to reduce CO2 emissions. The report points out that the potential for improvement is high despite that 50% of the Egyptian cement industry’s production capacity was built after 2000, and is using up-to-date equipment and clinker kilns that use best available technology (BAT).
Until 2014, the Egyptian cement industry, one of the most energy intensive industries in the country, had primarily used state-subsidised natural gas and heavy fuel oil to fire its cement kilns. However, following a gradual phasing out of the energy subsidies, Egyptian cement companies have switched to using high CO2 intensive fuels such as coal and petcoke.
The roadmap suggests that in order to reduce CO2 emissions, the industry should reduce the clinker content in cement, increase the use of alternative fuels, improve electrical energy efficiency and use more renewable sources of energy. Under one of the more ambitious scenarios, 2.2Mt/yr of coal will no longer have to be imported by 2030, saving about US$200m. Furthermore this would lead to a reduction in CO2 emissions to about 2% below the historic level prior to the fuel switch. In addition the cement industry could increase its usage of alternative fuels substitution.
The report was initiated by the EBRD, in cooperation with Egypt’s Ministry of Industry and Trade, the Egyptian Environmental Affairs Agency (EEAA), the Chamber of Building Materials Industries/Cement Industry Association (CBMI) and the Cement Sustainability Initiative (CSI) of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD).
FLSmidth signs operation and maintenance contract with Wadi El Nile Cement Company
15 September 2016Egypt: FLSmidth has signed a contract with Wadi El Nile Cement Company (WNCC) for operation and maintenance of its cement plant. The contract is a five-year continuation of the existing contract signed in 2010. In addition, WNCC also ordered an upgrade of the plant from 6000t/day to 7200t/day of clinker. The upgrade will be executed as part of the operation and maintenance contract. The value of the deal has not been disclosed.
"The continuation of the contract is visible proof of the successful partnership we have with WNCC. We have now operated their 6000t/day for almost five years. The performance delivered was the main driver for WNCC to expand and continue its partnership with FLSmidth. The extension of the operation and maintenance contract reflects our ability to increase our customers' productivity and preserve asset value," said FLSmdith Group Executive Vice President, Cement Division, Per Mejnert Kristensen.
The initial contract will expire at the end of 2016 and the new contract term is from January 2017 to December 2021. The upgrade to 7200t/day is planned to be operational from the summer of 2017.
Royal Cement gains logistics base in Poland
02 September 2016Poland/Egypt: Royal Cement EU, the European arm of the Egyptian white cement producer Royal El Minya Cement, is planning to expand in the Gdansk-Kowale IV logistics centre in Poland, belonging to 7R Logistic. Querco Property acted as Royal Cement's advisor in finding and negotiating the deal.
Siemens to launch Sicement Electrification system in Egypt
18 August 2016Egypt: Siemens will launch its Sicement Electrification system at the Bringing Power to Cement Industry forum in Cairo. The product line is designed to provide electrical distribution and optimisation systems for cement plants including high-voltage electrical substations required for the interconnection with the national grid. All components are coordinated with each other to reduce costs and CO2 emissions.
Arabian Cement to build US$9m petcoke mill
16 August 2016Egypt: Arabian Cement plans to build a US$9m petcoke mill for its cement plant. It is preparing all the necessary legal and financial requirements for the project. The new mill will help the cement plant reduce its operating costs.
Arabian Cement appoints Sergio Alcantarilla as CEO
10 August 2016Egypt: Arabian Cement has appointed Sergio Alcantarilla as its CEO with effect from 3 August 2016. He succeeds Jose Maria Magriña Vadillo.
Alcantarilla was previously the Chief Operation Officer of Arabian Cement. He graduated from the Superior Industrial Engineering School at the University of Seville in Spain. After entering the cement industry in 2002 he worked for five years as a plant manager in Spain before moving to Egypt in 2009.