Displaying items by tag: Egypt

Egypt: Suez Cement has ordered a bag filter system from Boldrocchi srl for its Helwan Plant. The turnkey contract includes new bag filters, a heat exchanger and fans for the kiln, raw mill and clinker cooler. This will replace the plant's existing baghouse and glaver bed filters.

Previously Italian engineering firm Boldrocchi had signed a contract with the Helwan Plant in 2012 to provide bag filters and fans for the Helwan Plant. Line one was commissioned in November 2013 and Line two is expected to be completed at the end of May 2014.

Egypt: Suez Cement has introduced a new filter system to reduce dust emissions to up to 10mg/m³, a level referred to by the company as being 'well below Egyptian and European standards.'

The Egyptian group plans to spend Euro55m to improve the environmental standards of its five in-country facilities.

Mounir Abdel Nour, Trade and Industry Minister, took part in the inauguration ceremony, saying that the new filter system is, "A perfect example of how the Egyptian government and industries can work together to provide facilities with the best technology in terms of production and environmental impact."

"The new filter system makes use of the most highly advanced technology so that the plants can produce the lowest level of dust emissions possible,'' added Bruno Carre, Suez Cement group managing director.

Omar Mohanna, Group chairman, underscored that 2013 has been a challenge for the Egyptian cement industry, with problems in terms of fuel and energy supply. To stay competitive, the industry must find better energy sources in addition to the existing plans to make use of wind energy and alternative fuel sources, Mohanna added, saying that he hoped the Egyptian government would continue to support efforts that work towards this end.

Egypt: The managing director of Suez Cement has announced that the company intends to invest US$145m by 2016 energy security measures. US$72.5m will be spent on converting two of its five cement plants for the use of coal instead of gas and diesel. The remaining US$72.5m will be spent on environmental upgrades.

Egypt: ASEC Minya, formally Arab National Cement Company, has begun cement production at its 2Mt/yr cement plant in Minya, Egypt. The ASEC Cement subsidiary has been producing clinker at the site since May 2013.

"We are extremely proud to have been able to see this project through to completion despite the challenging operational environment," said ASEC Cement CEO Giorgio Bodo. "The launch of cement production, which marks the official completion of this project, is a clear reflection of our confidence in the Egyptian economy and our belief in the country's ability to recover from the current volatility."

Bodo cited security issues, fuel scarcity and general 'instability' as causing major setbacks that the cement producer had to overcome. Construction of the plant originally began in December 2010 but work was interrupted by the Egyptian Revolution in January 2011.

ASEC Minya will be connected to the Egyptian national electric grid via a 42km transmission line to be completed by the end of 2014. Until then the plant will use rented generators. The new cement plant has created 400 direct and 800 indirect jobs.

Egypt: Suez Cement Company has reported that its consolidated revenue rose by 7% year-on-year to US$368m in the first half of 2013 from US$343m in the same period in 2012. Despite continued energy-supply uncertainties and increased energy prices, the Italcementi subsidiary managed to increase its profits by controlling and improve costs and improving manufacturing efficiency.

Suez Cement's recurring earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) rose by 15% year-on-year to US$93.3m from US$81.3m. Net profit rose by 46% to US$55.7m form US$38.0m.

For the second quarter of 2013 Suez Cement's revenue rose by 11% to US$186m from US$168m. EBITDA rose by 18% to US$45.1m from US$38.3m. Net profit rose by 19% to US$20.2m from US$24.0m.

In its outlook, Suez Cement issued caution over ongoing market uncertainty in the second half of 2013. If the country stabilises politically the cement producer expects cement demand to improve as public and private construction spending resumes. Given growing supply shortages for energy, Suez Cement will continue to focus on industrial and environmental efficiency and postpone any capacity expansion projects.

Egypt: At least three people have been killed and 17 wounded in a grenade attack upon a bus carrying cement plant workers in the north of the Sinai Peninsula. Security and medical sources reported that suspected militants used rocket-propelled grenades to attack the bus.

Egypt: Several Egyptian cement producers have reported how they are coping with gas shortages in the country. Production at South Valley Cement has stopped. The company has announced that the gas supply will resume on 28 June 2013. Alexandria Portland Cement has reported that its plant has not stopped production. Its subsidiary, Beni Suef Cement, has reported that it cannot yet assess the impact of the shortage on production.

The National Cement Company has announced that operations are ongoing on a normal basis and that there are no shortages in gas capacity. Misr Cement Qena has said that its cement plants are operating using Mazut and not natural gas. However, due to a shortage in the supply of Mazut, clinker production has been suspended more than once recently.

Saudi Arabia: The Saudi Port Authority (SPA) has said that cement shipments have been arriving since King Abdullah decree for the country to import 10Mt was issued in April 2013. About 350,000t of cement have been shipped from the UAE and Egypt through various Saudi ports.

"Shipments have come through Dammam, Jeddah and Jazan ports, some through Yanbu and some others are scheduled to arrive through Jubail and Dammam ports," said Musaid Al-Darees, press spokesman for the SPA. Al-Darees added that incoming shipments from the UAE will help face the continuing cement crisis. Around 90% of cement comes from Al-Batha Port, which is witnessing a lot of incoming shipments from the UAE. Shipments from Egypt form only 10% of total imports coming through Jeddah Islamic Port.

Egypt: The Egyptian Electricity Transmission Company has signed a contract with Italgen, a subsidiary of global cement producer Italcementi Group, to produce electricity from wind energy. The contract authorises Italgen, which has been studying the possibility of incorporating wind technology since 2008, to become the first private investor to enter the Egyptian National Grid and construct a wind energy park in the area of Gulf El-Zeit, according to a statement.

Electrical energy generated from the wind park will be transmitted to plants run by Suez Cement, another Italcementi subsidiary, and will help in the reduction of CO2 emissions. The first phase in the project will represent an investment of around Euro120-130m. It will equate an installed capacity of 120MW and is expected to cover around 40% of Suez Cement's power needs. After the completion of the second phase, electrical energy is estimated to reach a capacity of 400MW.

Egypt: Misr Cement Qena has announced that production has restarted at its plant after a period of disruption that was brought about by a shortage of mazot (a type of heavy fuel oil) at the plant.

The price of mazot has been increased by a factor of nearly 2.5 by the government since the start of 2013. Cement companies like Misr Cement Qena are increasingly looking to use other types of fuel, including alternative fuels.