Displaying items by tag: Expansion

Brazil: Votorantim Cimentos has received and begun installing a new cement mill at its Salto de Pirapora plant near São Paulo as part of its US$878m national expansion programme.

The 210t mill took six months to arrive from China via ship, and was then transported by a truck convoy from the Port of Santos to the plant. The mill will increase the plant’s capacity by 1Mt/yr. The unit is part of the Salto-Santa Helena complex, which will see its capacity grow by 20% when the expansion completes in the second half of 2025. Construction began in the first half of 2024.

General manager Rafael Frederico said “We are celebrating a new phase in the expansion project of the Salto de Pirapora plant with the arrival of the mill and all the equipment for assembling the new mill. The operation to transport the equipment from China to our unit was complex and executed with great operational excellence by our multidisciplinary teams and partners.”

India: India Cements has successfully completed a de-bottlenecking initiative at its Banswara cement plant in Rajasthan, increasing its production capacity by 0.3Mt/yr. The company’s cement manufacturing capacity now stands at 14.75Mt/yr.

Ethiopia: Ethiopia has increased its cement production capacity to 20Mt/yr following the inauguration of Pioneer Cement’s expansion project in Dire Dawa city, according to The Ethiopian News Agency.

Minister of Mines Habtamu Tegen said that the country has been increasing its infrastructure and building large cement plants such as Lemi Cement to meet national demand, and that it was also commissioning four coal processing plants to further increase supply, including to neighbouring markets.

The Pioneer Cement expansion was reportedly the result of a partnership between Ethiopian and Chinese investors. Pioneer Cement general manager Leon Zone said that the factory had been operational for 16 years, and that the expansion project had increased the plant’s production capacity by 0.6Mt/yr and created 550 direct jobs.

France: Ecocem will invest €170m to build four new production lines for its ACT low-carbon cement technology in Fos-sur-Mer and Dunkirk. This follows a €50m investment at Ecocem’s Dunkirk facility to deliver its first production line. The additional manufacturing capacity will come online between 2028 and 2030. At full capacity, ACT production in France will reach 1.9Mt/yr, reducing CO₂ emissions by 800,000t/yr and creating 60 jobs. The French government has reportedly committed to working closely with Ecocem to identify operational and financial solutions to accelerate and deliver the expansion.

Iraq: Lucky Cement has expanded its clinker production at its joint venture Najmat Al-Samawah plant in Samawah with a new 1.82Mt/yr line, with the kiln successfully firing on 13 May 2025, according to a company announcement published on 14 May 2025. Lucky Cement said that it is also building a 0.65Mt/yr cement grinding plant at the site, due for commissioning in early 2026.

The producer said that the new capacity will enable it to supply more cement to the local market, with surplus marketed and sold domestically. These additions will bring Lucky Cement’s total consolidated production capacity to 21.48Mt/yr, across operations in Pakistan, Iraq and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

India: Wonder Cement’s managing director Kiran Patil led the inauguration of Line 5 at the Nimbahera plant in Rajasthan on 7 May 2025, according to a social media post by the producer. The project increased the producer’s clinker capacity by 2.8Mt/yr to 13.35Mt/yr and cement capacity by 2.5Mt/yr to 21.5Mt/yr. The company partnered with APBCO on the expansion, which also includes a 12MW waste heat recovery system to increase energy efficiency.

Philippines: Concreat Holdings Philippines, a majority-owned subsidiary of DMCI Holdings, announced the full operations of the new production line at its Solid Cement plant in Antipolo City. The upgrade raises the plant’s capacity from 1.9Mt/yr to 3.4Mt/yr.

Concreat Holdings Philippines CEO Herbert Consunji said “This expansion is a pivotal step in Concreat’s turnaround. With higher capacity, a more efficient kiln and the use of Semirara coal, we are rebuilding momentum and lowering production costs - laying the groundwork for long-term recovery.”

North Korea: The Kangso Cement Factory has reportedly increased the rate of extraction from its quarry following an earlier kiln capacity upgrade, according to the Korean Central News Agency, which speaks for the Workers’ Party of Korea and the country’s national government.

It says that officials and workers have fulfilled production plans by ‘ensuring proper cooperation between shifts and between production lines’ and operating equipment at full capacity. It said that the workers and technicians of the calcining work-team are improving the quality of products and that workers responsible for cement production are producing more cement than planned every day by ‘checking, repairing and maintaining equipment with foresight.’

China: According to China Cement Net, Chongqing Tongliang Southwest Cement has inaugurated a 7300t/day (2.25Mt/yr) clinker production line. The company previously operated a 2500t/day (0.75Mt/yr) and a 4800t/day (1.55Mt/yr) clinker line, which will be relocated.

India: ICRA expects cement volumes to grow by 6-7% in the 2026 financial year, following a 6% rise in 2025, driven by housing and infrastructure demand. Capacity additions are forecast to increase to 43-45Mt/yr from 32-35Mt/yr in 2025. Eastern and northern regions will lead the expansion, with 22–24Mt/yr of new grinding capacity.

The assistant vice president of corporate ratings, Abhishek Lahoti, added “The southern region, despite an oversupply of capacity, is experiencing significant capacity additions by large cement companies as it is operating at optimal utilisation levels and intends to maintain its market share in the near term. Overall, the industry’s capacity utilisation is likely to remain stable at 70% in the 2026 financial year, similar to the previous financial year, on an expanded base.”