Displaying items by tag: Expansion

East African: Kenya-based East African Portland Cement Company (EAPCC) has announced plans for an international expansion into the Democratic Republic of Congo. The planned expansion will accompany continued capital expenditure investment in the company’s existing Athi River cement plant in Kenya over the five-year period up to 2028.

CEO Oliver Kirubai said that EAPCC expects ultimately to ‘outgrow the regional cement market.’

Vietnam: New cement lines will raise Vietnamese cement production capacity by 4% year-on-year in 2023 to over 120Mt/yr. Vietnam News Summary has reported that upcoming new capacity scheduled to commence operations during the year include a 4.5Mt/yr line at a Xuan Tanh Cement plant and a 2.5Mt/yr line at a Long Son Cement plant.

Vietnamese cement demand was 65Mt in 2022. Several producers suspended cement lines during the second half of that year due to high costs and unfavourable market conditions.

Pakistan: Lucky Cement commenced clinker production from a new 3.15Mt/yr kiln line at its Pezu integrated cement in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in late December 2022. This latest expansion increases the producer’s domestic production capacity by 26% to 15.3Mt/yr, from below 12.2Mt/yr earlier in 2022. The company also operates cement plants in Democratic Republic of Congo and Iraq with an additional capacity of 4.4Mt/yr.

The International News newspaper has reported that Lucky Cement anticipates domestic cement demand to grow due to the rebuilding of homes destroyed by flooding in 2022.

India: UltraTech Cement says that it recently commissioned two new grinding units in Northern India. The Aditya Birla subsidiary commissioned a new 1.8Mt/yr grinding unit at its expanded Dhar integrated cement plant in Madhya Pradesh on 27 November 2022. The company also inaugurated its new 1.8Mt/yr Dhule grinding plant in Maharashtra. The projects form the first phase of 12.9Mt/yr-worth of planned expansions, announced by the company in late 2020.

UltraTech Cement's managing director Kailash Jhanwar visited the Dhar cement plant to congratulate the team there on its contribution to the expansion drive.

India: Wonder Cement has completed a successful kiln ignition in its Chittorgarh cement plant's new Line 4. The three pre-existing lines gave the plant a former capacity of 8Mt/yr. Wonder Cement additionally operates grinding plants in Haryana, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra, with a total capacity of 5Mt/yr.

Vice chair Vimal Patni's technical assistant Lokesh Lohar congratulated the entire Chittorgarh cement plant team on its work on the latest expansion.

India: UltraTech Cement has projected six-month cement capacity growth of 8.2% to 131Mt/yr by 31 March 2023, the end of the 2023 financial year. At the end of the first half of the 2023 financial year on 30 September 2022, its capacity was 121Mt/yr. In the third quarter of the 2023 financial year, UltraTech Cement expects to commence commercial operations at its upcoming 3.5Mt/yr Pali, Rajasthan, cement plant and upgraded Dhar, Madhya Pradesh, cement plant, to which it is adding 4.2Mt/yr in new capacity. The remaining new capacity consists of smaller capital expenditure investments in various sites across India. UltraTech Cement's chief financial officer Atul Daga forecast that the producer will invest a total of US$731 - 853m in capacity expenditure throughout the 2023 financial year.

The Business Standard newspaper has reported that UltraTech Cement expects to further increase its cement production capacity by 22% over the three years up to the 2026 financial year, to reach 160Mt/yr.

Turkey: MEDCEM plans to expand its Silifke cement plant's clinker capacity by 90% to 6.5Mt/yr. Germany-based Aumund will supply the upgrade with 41 different machines. The package comprises six belt bucket elevators, two chain bucket elevators, four pan conveyors and 11 drag chain conveyors, with capacities up to 900t/hr. The order also includes 13 silo discharge gates for belt conveyors and five telescopic chutes for truck loading. The supplier will deliver the goods in October 2022, for scheduled commissioning in January 2023.

Nepal: Udayapur Cement has urged the Nepalese government's Ministry of Finance to process its application for a loan of US$3.82m. The Kathmandu Post newspaper has reported that the producer plans to invest in an upgrade to its 800t/day-capacity Gaighat cement plant in Province No.1. The plant is reportedly unable to meet its capacity due to frequent issues with its 33-year-old equipment. The producer hopes that an upgrade will increase the plant's production capacity by 41% to 2.5m bags/yr. It also expects its expenditure on coal to fall by 25% as a result.

Director general Gopi Neupane noted the Gaighat cement plant's access to high quality limestone not available elsewhere in the country. He said "We will turn the factory into a profit-making enterprise if the additional investment is provided. We have huge scope for exporting cement to Uttar Pradesh and Bihar (in India)."

Pakistan: Fauji Cement has recorded first-quarter sales of US$67.2m in its 2023 financial year, up by 27% year-on-year from US$52.9m during the first quarter of the previous financial year. The producer's cost of sales was US$47.9m, up by 29% from US$37.3m, and it recorded a profit for the period of US$10.6m, up by 10% from US$9.62m.

Fauji Cement is currently undergoing a transition into the third largest cement producer in Pakistan, through a US$122m 2.05Mt/yr expansion to its Nizampur, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, cement plant and a US$148m 2.05Mt/yr expansion to its Dera Ghazi Khan cement plant. Together, Fauji Cement will fund the projects through US$171m-worth of debt, US$54.9m-worth of internal cash generation and US$45.7m-worth of equity.

Pakistan: Askari Cement has ignited the newly installed 6500t/day kiln at its Nizampur cement plant in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. The kiln increases the plant's capacity by 73% to 4.85Mt/yr. The project, along with parent company Fauji Cement's construction of a new 2.05Mt/yr integrated cement plant in Dera Ghazi Khan, cost US$339m. Fauji Cement took a US$212m loan to support the works in January 2022. The group expects both projects to raise its capacity by 56% to 10.5Mt/yr and to increase its market share to 13%.

Fauji Cement's upcoming Dera Ghazi Khan cement plant is scheduled for commissioning in mid-late 2024.