Displaying items by tag: GCW144

Our spotlight is on Uzbekistan this week following an update on the Almalyk Mining and Metallurgical Combine's (AMMC) plans to build a new cement plant in the south of the country. The news emerged in the wake of the completion of the AMMC's cement grinding plant, in the Jizzakh region, which was finished in late March 2014. Meanwhile, Eurocement announced that its subsidiary in Uzbekistan, the Akhangarancement plant, had received a limestone and marl quarrying licence.

Previous to the new AMMC grinding plant, Uzbekistan had five cement plants with a total cement production capacity of nearly 6Mt/yr. Only one of these was a dry production process plant, the 2.5Mt/yr Krzylkumcement plant, in the south-western Bukhara province. Cement consumption in the country was estimated to be around the same, also at 6Mt/yr.

Back in 2011 the government of Uzbekistan planned to invest US$6.94bn to develop infrastructure, transport and communication construction from 2011 - 2015. This investment has now been followed up with a direct financial injection into the cement industry.

In late February 2014, local building materials company JSC Uzbuildmaterials announced government plans to invest US$49.1m into the local cement industry. The programme includes nine projects for the three largest cement plants in the country: the Kyzylkumcement plant, the Ahangarancement plant and the Bekabadcement plant. Kyzylkumcement will receive the majority of the investment, US$39.6m to spend over three years on a new cement mill, upgrades to the clinker production lines and construction of a 220/10kV main substation. Ahangarantcement and Bekabadcement will replace 'out-dated' equipment and will upgrade their production lines.

Mineral-rich Uzbekistan is relatively undeveloped but this is changing. Its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) was reported to be US$51bn in 2012 by the World Bank, having seen steady growth since 2002, and its population was just over 30m in 2013. Its cement consumption is 300kg/capita, a figure below the global average (estimated at 536kg/capita in a forthcoming Global Cement Magazine report on 'Cement consumption versus Gross Domestic Product'). This places Uzbekistan in a favourable position for future development on a graph of GDP per capita against cement consumption per capita. The latest investment programme suggests that the Uzbek government are hoping that this is the case.

Venezuela: Industries minister José David Cabello has overturned a resolution designating Gilberto Barrios Contreras as president of the Cemento Andino. Barrios Contreras was appointed to the post by the previous industries minister in a resolution dated 25 march 2014.

Saudi Arabia: ABB has completed a process control system upgrade to three cement production lines at Eastern Province Cement Company (EPCC) in Al Khursaniya, Saudi Arabia. Power and automation technology supplier ABB updated the Extended Automation System 800xA to the latest standards.

"ABB has completed the final upgrade on site in a record time during the planned maintenance shutdown of the plant", said Mohammad Arif Khan, Electrical and Instrumentation Manager at EPCC.

The scope of supply included the updating the Extended Automation System 800xA licences, computer, laboratory and raw meal proportioning system hardware, as well as project management, engineering and site services, including training. The modernisation follows a previous process control system upgrade of the production lines number one and two in 2003, as well as equipment deliveries for the extension of the plant with line number three in 2005. The contract was booked in June 2013. Commissioning was completed in December 2013.

Vietnam: Larger cement producers in Vietnam have failed to build government mandated waste heat recovery (WHR) systems. Under Vietnam's cement industry development plan until 2020 with a vision towards 2030, all cement plants with a clinker production capacity of 2500t/day or above have to implement a WHR system to save at least 20% of their electricity consumption by 2015. However, local media has reported that only Holcim and Ha Tien 2 have invested in the technology. Other cement producers have been prevented from investing in their plants by high debt and poor local demand for cement.

Nguyen Quang Cung, chairman of the Vietnam Cement Association admitted to the delayed investment in the WHR systems. "However, there won't be an extension. The cement makers will be forced to implement this on time," said Quang Cung.

Nguyen Cong Minh Bao, director of Sustainable Development of Holcim Vietnam, which invested US$18m in a WHR system in 2012, said that Vietnam should not extend the deadline. According to Bao 60% of Chinese firms apply the system in China and WHR is an intrinsic component of any new project.

Holcim Vietnam's WHR system has an output capacity of 44MkWh/yr. It will be enough to serve the firm's Hon Chong Cement Factory for 88 days of operation, meaning Holcim Vietnam will save 9000t of coal and reduce 25,300t of CO₂ per year.

Vietnam's cement sector is considered as one of the country's most energy-intensive industries. Under the third draft of the retail pricing scheme conducted by the state-run Electricity of Vietnam in 2013, steel and cement producers using power voltages of 110kV or higher during peak hour would pay 10% than the asking price for their normal power. Overall, the draft would dish out a power tariff hike of 2 - 16% to steel and cement producers.

China: China Tianrui Group Cement Company has reported that its revenue rose by 14% to US$1.40bn in 2013 from US$1.22bn in 2012. Its gross profit remaining static at US$305m in 2013 and its earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation rose slightly to US$356m. The Chinese cement producer attributed the rise in revenue to increasing sales volumes of cement in response to a 'proactive' pricing strategy and a general increase in demand driven by rural development and the demand from certain large-scale infrastructure projects, such as the South-North Water Transfer Project.

Sales of cement rose by 19% year-on-year to US$1.30bn in 2013. Sales of clinker fell by 23% to US$107m. By region, the company saw its revenue in its Central China region rise by 13% to US$1.01bn. In Northeastern China its revenue rose by 16% to US$385m. By volume, the company sold 36.9Mt/yr in 2013, a rise of 41.4% from 2012.

In 2013 Tianrui acquired one 1.2Mt/yr clinker production line and six cement production lines with a combined production capacity of 5.3Mt/yr in Liaoning and Henan provinces, at a cost of US$109m.

Ukraine: Podilskiy Cement has preliminary reported a loss of US$7.4m in 2013. The CRH subsidiary reported a US$6.5m loss in 2012 despite increasing its revenue. The wet process cement plant has six production lines with a total cement production capacity of 3.7Mt/yr.

Qatar: Qatar National Cement Company (QNCC) has signed a letter of intent with Fives FCB to build a fifth cement plant line with a clinker production capacity of 5000t/day. Fives FCB and TPF Basse Sambre will work together to finalise the contract documents by the end of April 2014.

The turkey contract has been valued at US$261m. Construction will start after handing over the site on a phased manner, starting with two cement mills which will be delivered after 17 months and 19 months. The overall project will be completed in 27 months.

Fives FCB was also the contractor for the construction of plant lines two, three and four. QNCC's production capacity is expected to rise to 17,000t/day of clinker and its grinding capacity will rise to 20,000t/day.

Uzbekistan: The Almalyk Mining and Metallurgical Combine (AMMC) is planning to build a 1.5Mt/yr cement plant in the Surkhandarya region of southern Uzbekistan in 2015. The contract is being negotiated with Turkey's Dal Teknik Makina with a completion date set for 2015, according to Russian news agency RIA Novosti. The US$250m project will be financed by equity funds of the AMMC, credits from the Fund for Reconstruction and Development of Uzbekistan and local Uzbek banks.

In late March 2014 the AMMC completed construction of a cement plant in Jizzakh region with a value of US$114m. The plant has a production capacity of 0.75Mt/yr of grey OPC and 0.35Mt/yr of white cement. The general contractor of the project was also Dal Teknik Makina.

India: Sanghi Industries Ltd (SIL) will invest US$41.8m in the next 18 months to increase its cement production capacity by 30%, to acquire ships and construct sea terminals.

Of the US$41.8m, SIL will use US$25.1m to acquire new ships and to construct new sea terminals and the remaining US$16.7m will be used to raise cement production capacity from 2.6Mt/yr to 3.5Mt/yr by the end of 2015.

"Currently, clinker production is higher than cement production at our plant. To correct the mismatch, we are investing US$16.7m to increase the grinding capacity. This will take 14 months before commissioning," said Alok Sanghi, SIL director. The debottlenecking will increase the grinding capacity by 30% of the Abdasa plant in Kutch.

SIL will acquire six vessels in the next five years for the transportation of its products into newer markets to reduce fuel costs and increase distribution capabilities. "We currently charter ships from market for distribution. We will acquire two vessels immediately and then two vessels every 18 months," added Sanghi.

SIL is also in the process of setting up terminals at Navlakhi port in Gujarat and at Mumbai port in Maharashtra. SIL exports 20% of its total production, mainly clinker to the Middle East, Africa, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.

SIL has invested over US$334m on the Abdasa plant that began production in 2003."We will have debts of US$75.1m by the end of the current financial year," added Sanghi.

UK: Saxlund International Ltd, a subsidiary of Opcon AB, is preparing to commence construction on the materials handling contract won late in 2013 for Hope Construction Materials' Hope Valley cement plant in Derbyshire, UK.

As part of Hope's move to replace fossil fuels with more sustainable solutions, Saxlund will provide an alternative fuel system for the use of Solid Waste Fuel (SWF). Saxlund's scope includes supplying the design, manufacture and delivery of a push floor storage system, reclaim conveyor, process tower with drum magnet, star screen and feed into the weighing and pneumatic injection system to the main burner on both kilns.

"We've worked hard to expand our portfolio in this sector and to provide clients with some of the best solutions in the market," said Rob Leighton, business development manager for Alternative Fuel Systems at Saxlund. "It's good to work with clients like Hope, who are doing as much as they can to run their businesses as efficiently and sustainably as possible. With increasing costs of fossil fuels and the increasing range of waste-derived fuels available, Hope is keen to use more and more alternative fuels in order to reduce their energy costs and improve environmental performance where possible."