Displaying items by tag: GCW120

Kenya: The East African Portland Cement Company (EAPCC) has asked the Kenyan government to renew the term of its CEO, Kephar Tande, whose current three year term is set to end in October 2013. Tande's re-appointment presents a test to the new Kenyan government, elected in March 2013, which may follow its predecessors and attempt to influence the composition of the cement producer's management board.

"The board is satisfied with Tande's work and we have asked the Cabinet secretary to offer him another term," said the chairman of EAPCC, Mark ole Karbolo, in an interview with Kenyan newspaper Business Daily. He added that the EAPCC will announce a profit of nearly US$12m for the year ending June 2013.

In 2012 the government unsuccessfully attempted to oust eight EAPCC directors including the chief executive, accusing them of poor governance. The directors, including Karbolo, Kenya Airways CEO Titus Naikuni and lawyer Hamish Keith, moved to court to block the move following the state's directive to disband the cement maker's board. The court reinstated them in a legal battle that also saw former President Kibaki's appointment of Karbolo's replacement revoked.

Democratic Republic of Congo: PPC (formerly Pretoria Portland Cement) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Democratic Republic of Congo's Barnet Group to build a US$230m greenfield cement plant. The project will involve building a 1Mt/yr plant and an associated quarry 20km from Kimpese in western Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

"This investment is another of PPC's commitments to invest in sub-Saharan Africa and we are very confident about DRC. 22% of PPC's revenue comes from outside South Africa, at present, but the target is to increase this to 40% by our 2016 financial year. We look forward to a growing contribution and partnership with the DRC in the years ahead," said CEO of PPC, Ketso Gordhan.

In its press release announcing the project, PPC noted that the existing cement market in DRC was 'severely' undersupplied. At present, the DRC has 16kg/capita annual cement consumption, the lowest in Africa, compared with the South African average of 240kg and the global average of 400kg.

For the project PPC has partnered with Jean Saidi Bamanisa, Chairman of the Barnet Group, who is also the Honorary Secretary of the Federation of Congolese Companies. He was elected Governor of the Oriental Province of the DRC. The project will take advantage of DRC's first special economic zone.

Vietnam: The Vietnam Cement Association (VNCA) has said that three more cement plants will open later in 2013 – X18, Quang Phuc and Dong Lam - despite the country's current cement surplus.

According to reporting by the Tuoi Tre newspaper, the new plants will raise national cement production capacity to around 70Mt/yr. Domestic cement demand is estimated at up to 46Mt/yr in 2013. The opening of the new plants will lead to a surplus of up to 25Mt/yr.

Local cement producers in Vietnam face rising debts and high stock inventories due to inaccurate demand forecasts and massive investment. The country's cement sales are expected to rise by 4 - 5% year-on-year to up to 57Mt in 2013, including 49Mt of domestic sales and 8Mt of export.

Thailand: Asia Cement, the Thai subsidiary of Italcementi Group, has projected slower growth in revenue in 2014 due to a likely weaker domestic market and uncertainty over the government's US$64bn infrastructure investment.

Co-managing director of Asia Cement, Nopadol Ramyarupa, said that Thailand's fourth-largest cement maker expects revenue growth of only 4% in 2014, according to the Bangkok Post. The company's revenue for 2013 is predicted to rise by 17.6% year-on-year to US$319m from US$271m in 2012.

"The economic slowdown and revised gross domestic product figures have affected our projection," said Nopadol, adding that growth in the overall cement industry is heavily tied to the country's economy and to the construction sector in particular. Co-managing director Roberto Callieri added that he hoped that the Thai government's US$64bn infrastructure investment would stimulate the construction sector sufficiently to meet Asia Cement's 'optimistic' growth projection of 4% over five years. Asia Cement has not been affected by labour shortages in the country or by an increase in the daily minimum wage to around US$9.50/day.

Asia Cement has a 14% share of Thailand's 33Mt/yr cement market. The company is operating at 80% of its combined annual capacity of 7.3Mt/yr its cement plants in Saraburi, Nakhon Sawan and Phetchaburi provinces.

Iran: Cement producers in Iran owe about Euro750m to the country's banking system, according to Abdolreza Sheykhan, the secretary of Iran's Cement Producers Association.

Sheykhan added that cement producers were also incurring losses due to changes in foreign currency rates, in a report by Iran's Donya-e-eqtesad newspaper. Cement producers received bank credits based on an old official rate of 9000 rials to the US$. However they have to pay back the credit at a new rate of 25,000 rials to the US$.

Portugal: Cimpor intends to increase its cement production capacity in Mozambique to 2.4Mt/yr after a new grinding unit is put on stream, the company has said in a statement.

The new unit at the plant in Dondo, in southern Mozambique, has a production capacity of 60t/hr. The unit will double the Dondo plant capacity and will add almost 0.5Mt/yr to Cimpor's overall cement output in the country. Tests at the new grinding unit began on 27 August 2013. Works for optimisation of the capacity and reduction of electricity consumption will be carried out in October 2013.

In July 2013 Cimpor signed a contract to rent a cement grinding plant close to its Matola cement plant.

Belgium: CEMBUREAU, the European Cement Association, has published a roadmap, the role of cement in the 2050 low carbon economy, detailing how the cement industry could achieve lower carbon emissions.

The project presents five parallel routes that can each contribute to lowering emissions related to cement production, as well as concrete production. These include methods such as resource efficiency, energy efficiency and carbon sequestration and reuse. These methods have been quantified in the roadmap because they are under the cement sector's control. The other two routes, product efficiency and downstream, look at how cement and concrete can contribute to a low carbon society.

"The cement roadmap is a view into the future. It shows us what is possible and where we find limitations. It is a good basis for future work, a good starting point. We need cooperation, not confrontation, but we also need to push each other to find new ideas, new pathways, towards a more sustainable future," said MEP Karl-Heinz Florenz at the launch event on 25 September 2013.

Ireland: A TEC GRECO Combustion Systems Europe GmbH has been awarded a contract by Irish Cement's Platin Works to deliver a new kiln burner for its kiln line 3.

At Platin Works, the 4300t/day FLS kiln uses petcoke and alternative fuels. The modern concept of A TEC GRECO´s Flexiflame® burner offers a high flame momentum to be able to control the flame shape according the required kiln- and process parameters in consideration of a high solid alternative fuel substitution rate.

The new Flexiflame® kiln burner will allow the plant to work more flexible with respect to future fuel supply scenarios. The new equipment is part of a policy to fulfil very strict environmental controls.

Brazil: Germany's Hazemag & EPR GmbH has received an order from the Brennand Cimentos Group in Brazil for the delivery of two crushing plants for its new cement works in the federal state of Paraiba, Brazil. The order comprises one limestone crusher and one clay crusher.

The limestone crushing plant is designed for a throughput rate of 1500t/hr for the production of a final product of 95% <90mm. A second product of 95% <50mm may also be produced at a lower throughput rate. HAZtronic, a hydraulic input apron control, can switch between the two production modes. The clay crushing plant is designed for a throughput of 300t/hr for the production of a finished product of 0 - 90mm.

The plant consists of the following components: Hazemag apron feeder, Hazemag roller screen VARIOwobbler® with adjustable gaps, Hazemag primary impact crusher fitted with the hydraulic impact apron control, Haztronic discharge belt conveyor.

The commissioning of both plants is planned for spring 2014.