Displaying items by tag: Egypt

Egypt: Four workers were killed and at least 35 others were injured on 27 December 2014 when a scaffold collapsed in the Sinai Cement plant in central Sinai. Sinai Cement denied that it had a connection with the accident in a statement.

Egypt: Suez Cement plans to spend US$84m in 2015 to convert its Helwan and Tora 2 cement plants to use coal. The move is a response to Egypt's on-going energy crisis.

The company reported a 40.5% rise year-on-year in third-quarter profit in November 2014 after it managed to pass on higher production costs to consumers. However, its nine month profit fell by 14.6% year-on-year due to severe energy shortages that forced the company to cut output by 40% so far in 2014. Suez Cement was one of the companies affected when the government cut natural gas supplies to factories in January 2014 and has had to import clinker at higher cost.

Egypt: Titan Cement has ordered a vertical roller mill of the type MPS 2800 BK from Gebr. Pfeiffer SE, to be set up in production line no. 1 at its Beni Suef plant. The mill is designed for a finished product rate of 40t/hr and will grind coal with a Hardgrove grindability index of 45 to a product fineness of 12% residue 90µm, while simultaneously drying it from a maximum 12% feed moisture to a maximum 1% residual moisture by using hot gases from the cement process.

Egypt: El Arish Cement is extending the clinker production capacity of its existing cement plant and will add two new lines with a clinker production capacity of 5500t/day.

El Arish Cement already operates two Loesche vertical roller mills, type LM 56.4, for cement raw material grinding within its existing two lines. The new type LM 56.4 mills will have 450t/hr of grinding capacity and a product fineness of 12% R90μm. As the new mills are of the same type as the existing ones, common spare parts can be used, keeping the spare parts demand to a minimum.

For cement grinding, El Arish Cement has also selected Loesche vertical roller mills of type LM 63.3+3. The table diameter of the mills is 6.3m and will be driven by a drive system with a rated capacity of 6800kW. The mills will grind various cement types, with capacities of up to 305t/hr.

Egypt/Brazil: Egypt's Arabian Cement has entered a joint venture for a cement grinding plant with Brazil's Cementos La Union. The project is worth US$28.8m.

Arabian Cement's board of directors approved the venture with Cementos Relampago, an affiliate of Cementos La Union, 'to establish a cement grinding plant in Northwest Brazil with a total capacity of 230,000t/yr.' The US$28.8m investment cost will be financed 50% through debt and equity. Arabian Cement's contribution would be US$8.76m, representing 60% of the total paid-in capital.

Egypt: Suez Cement has started trial production using coal at its Kattameya plant, with commercial production expected to start in November 2014, according to its chairman. Preparations for coal usage at the company's Suez plant are expected to be completed before the end of 2014.

Egypt: Misr Beni Suef Cement has reached an agreement to build a coal mill worth US$27.9m in 12 months.

"The project will be funded through self-financing and loans," said Misr Beni Suef. The company expects the project to be completed by the end of 2015. Egypt is currently struggling with blackouts and the government has cut natural gas supplies to plants, which has prompted cement companies to switch to coal.

Egypt's natural gas production has been declining for years. Production in January 2014 was down by 10% from January 2013, according to the most recent government figures. In September 2014, the Egyptian government began to allow coal imports despite environmental concerns from the high pollution coal emits.

Egypt: Egypt's National Company for Construction and Development (NCCD) plans to build its own cement plant as the price of locally-produced cement is high, according to NCCD's chairman Mahmoud Hegazy. The new plant will cover the cement requirements of NCCD's subsidiaries. The state-run firm is currently evaluating the best timing for the project.

Egypt: The military-run Al-Arish cement plant is building a new cement production line, which will be completed by the end of 2015, according to the head of the construction materials department at the Cairo Chamber of Commerce Ahmed El-Zeiny. After completion, the production line will double the plant's production from 3.5Mt/yr to 7Mt/yr. It is expected to cost up to US$112m.

"This is an attempt to fight the monopoly imposed by foreign cement facilities that sell cement at higher prices than the international standards," said El-Zeiny.

Egypt: Suez Cement Co has voluntarily agreed to close its Tourah Cement Factory 1 to comply with the local government's policy to reduce the number of facilities that do not meet environmental standards. Suez Cement has instead chosen to invest US$69.9m in environmental mitigation measures at its Tourah Cement Factory 2.