Displaying items by tag: Fly Ash

India: A joint-venture project involving the Steel Authority of India (SAIL) to build a new cement plant at Sundargarh in Odisha has stalled. Following support by local politicians for the plans in February 2017 no further action has been taken, according to the New Indian Express newspaper. SAIL originally made plans in 2006 to use blast furnace slag from the Rourkela Steel Plant and fly ash of NTPC-SAIL Power Company for the unit. It also intended pick up the lease for a limestone mine at Purunapani. However, it later ran into troubles securing state agreement to use the mine.

India: Star Cement has imported over 1200t of fly ash from NTPC Kahalgaon in Bihar. The ash was transported by the Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) via Bangladesh to Pandu Port in Assam, according to the Financial Express newspaper. The water route was chosen due to a lack of railway links in India's north-eastern states.

India: The Singareni Thermal Power Plant based in Pegadapalli in Telangana is supplying around 4000t/day of fly ash to local cement producers including Orient Cement, Kesoram Cement and others companies. The 1200MW coal power is part of the Singareni Collieries Company, according to the Hindu newspaper. The management of the plant believes that they achieved a record in 2017 – 18 by utilising over 91% of the fly and bottom ash generated by the power plant.

Vietnam: The environment ministry has approved fly ash from the Formosa steel company for use in cement production. Sông Gianh Cement in Quảng Bình Province has been cleared for its use provided the materials meet current technical specifications and that the company has the responsibility to monitor the transport of ash, according to the Viet Nam News newspaper.

Sông Gianh Cement initially denied receiving fly ash from Formosa. However, the transport company carrying the by-product from Hà Tĩnh to Quảng Bình admitted to local media that it had been hired for the job. The Quảng Bình environment department then revealed that Sông Gianh had asked the government if it could buy fly ash from Formosa but that it had been denied due to poor public opinion regarding the steel producer.

Formosa received widespread public criticism when it was blamed for a chemical spill into the sea in 2016 that caused mass deaths of marine life and public outcry.

Canada: CSL Group has agreed to buy 50% of Eureka Shipping, SMT Shipping agreement for CSL to acquire 50% of Eureka Shipping, SMT’s pneumatic cement vessel business. The new joint venture will allow Eureka and CSL to expand services to customers in the seaborne cement powder and fly ash transportation markets around the world. CSL’s Australian cement shipping business is not included in the joint venture.

“The joint venture represents an important step in CSL’s strategy to increase its presence in the global construction material sector,” said Louis Martel, President and chief executive officer (CEO) of CSL Group.

The companies say that the partnership is a strong strategic fit, leveraging the companies’ respective strengths in the shipping and handling of dry bulk cargos. There will be no change in the day-to-day management and operation of vessels in the Eureka fleet. The transaction is subject to regulatory approval and is expected to be completed by the end of June 2018.

Eureka Shipping operates a fleet of self-unloading cement carriers in the Baltic Sea, the Atlantic Ocean, the Mediterranean Sea, the Caribbean and Asia. SMT Shipping Group has, over the past 30 years, built a fleet of about 45 vessels through a number of joint venture companies operating in various bulk commodities markets, focusing on geared bulk carriers, floating storage/transhipment terminals and belt-unloaders.

India: The Fly Ash Council of Maharashtra has asked state power generation company Mahagenco to plan how to give fly ash for free to industrial users. The initiative follows the decision by the state government to adopt its Fly Ash Utilisation Policy, according to the Indian Express newspaper. An official said that the power company would give away fly ash for free within 100km of the plant if it is affordable. The measure was introduced to encourage cement manufacturers and construction companies to use more fly ash by offsetting the transportation cost. At present smaller companies receive the fly ash for no charge.

In 2015 - 2016, Maharashtra used 69% of the fly ash generated in thermal power plants in the state. With an installed capacity of 20,976MW, the state generated 18.6Mt of fly ash during this period, of which 13Mt was used, mostly to make bricks and to build roads. With the new policy the government is targeting a 100% utilisation rate.

Algeria: Work on the construction of low CO₂ cement plant will commence shortly in Bellara, El Milia, according to the local Minister of Environment. The plant, a project by an Algerian-Emirati-Indian partnership, will produce cement using slag and fly ash from the nearby Bellara power station and steel complex, as well as its own clinker. It will have a capacity of 2Mt/yr for the local and export market. It will generate 143 direct jobs when fully operational.

UK: Tarmac has acquired full ownership of ScotAsh by purchasing the remaining 50% share of the company from Scottish Power. Tarmac will now take full ownership of ScotAsh, which it has operated since 1999, and will continue to operate the company under the ScotAsh name. ScotAsh manufactures products using recycled pulverised fuel ash (PFA) from power stations, which is used in the cement, aggregate and grout industries.

“Each year, ScotAsh supplies its range of sustainable, technologically advanced products to customers within the UK and global construction industry, including to Tarmac’s Dunbar cement plant for production of its Phoenix cement,” said Allan Everett, Ash business manager at Tarmac. He added that further integrating the company into Tarmac would help it to enhance expertise at both businesses, leverage the national supply and import capabilities for PFA and strengthening its product portfolio.

Australia: The Federal Court has upheld an appeal by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) and raised a fine against Cement Australia and its subsidiaries for anti-competitive agreements to US$16.1m. Originally the cement producer was fined US$13.4m but the ACCC argued it was too low. A cross appeal by Cement Australia was dismissed.

“The penalties imposed in competition cases are hugely important in deterring anti-competitive conduct, which is why we appealed the original penalties given to Cement Australia,” said ACCC Chairman Rod Sims.

The ACCC first brought the proceedings in 2008 against Cement Australia, Cement Australia Holdings, Cement Australia Queensland (formerly Queensland Cement Ltd), Pozzolanic Enterprises and Pozzolanic Industries. They were related to contracts that were entered into by Cement Australia companies between 2002 and 2006 with four power stations in South East Queensland, to acquire fly ash. The court found contraventions of the Competition and Consumer Act in 2014 and a fine was issued in 2016.

Italy: Cementir has defended its conduct in an illegal waste investigation. It expressed ‘full confidence’ in the Prosecutor’s Office of Lecce following the decision by a judge to seize a power plant run by Enel, according to Reuters. The probe is exploring whether Cementir Italia’s Taranto plant purchased ‘illegal’ by-products from Enel and the ILVA steel plant to produce cement. Cementir confirmed that it had regularly purchased fly ash for its Taranto plant but that this ended at the start of 2016. It added that its use of sludge in cement production was covered by an Integrated Environmental Authorisation.