
Displaying items by tag: GCW302
Thailand: Siam City Cement has deployed pervasive network infrastructure and plant-wide wireless connectivity at its Plant 3 in Saraburi as part of its ‘Digital Connected Plant’ plan. Cisco supplied the hardware and Fujitsu helped with the system integration, according to the Nation newspaper. The upgrade is part of the cement producer’s Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) strategy where it intends to track employees, contractors and assets in real time to raise productivity and safety.
JK Cement upgrades plants in Rajasthan
16 May 2017India: JK Cement has increased its clinker production capacity at its plants in Rajasthan by 3.3Mt/yr following upgrades in cooler modification, de-bottlenecking and other upgrades. The investment cost US$7.8m. Following the upgrade the cement producer had a production capacity of 5.4Mt/yr in the state.
US: The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has fined the Nevada Cement Company US$0.5m for violating the Clean Air Act. According to a legal complaint the cement producer made ‘major’ modifications to its plant in Fernley, Nevada that led to significant increased emissions of NOx, without first obtaining a permit required by the Clean Air Act and without installing necessary pollution control equipment. Nevada Cement has agreed to install new air pollution control technology replace a heavy-duty diesel truck and a diesel railcar mover at the facility with clean emissions vehicles.
Sandvik hit by WannaCry computer virus
16 May 2017Sweden: Sandvik has been affected by the WannaCry computer virus. The engineering company said that the ransonware worm had hit its office and production environment on 12 May 2017. The company has focused on mapping the impact and executing recovery measures. It expects to deliver on customer commitments as planned and no major financial impact is currently expected.
Pakistan: The National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) has ruled out the option of using waste heat from cement plants as surplus energy for the national grid. The body had started investigating using waste energy from cement plants but decided that high-energy consumption at the plants minimised the possibility of any excess power.
Fuchs opens US$26m grease plant near Chicago
16 May 2017US: Fuchs Petrolub has opened a US$26m grease manufacturing plant, research laboratory and warehouse near Chicago. The 3150m2 unit in Harvey, Illinois will supply lubricants to the automotive, heavy-duty truck, construction, rail, and off-road markets in North America.
The expansion of the Chicago-area site is part of a US$330m investment by the company in 2016 to 2018 in its manufacturing and research and development facilities. The company also expanded its facilities in Mannheim and Kaiserslautern, Germany, and is opening new plants in Wujiang, China, Australia and Sweden. The Harvey facility is Fuchs' second grease plant in the US with the other in Kansas City, Missouri.
Rising sales for Buzzi Unicem
15 May 2017Italy: Buzzi Unicem’s first quarter sales rose by 8.9% year-on-year during the first quarter of 2017 to Euro588.5m. Cement sales volumes rose by 4.5%. Favourable currency impacts lifted Buzzi Unicem's top line by Euro16.8m, while like-for-like sales were up by 5.8%.
Sales were up in all geographical areas the group is present in, with the exception of Russia, in which sales were down by 1.3% in local currency terms. Buzzi Unicem said that its net debt rose to Euro979.9m at the end of the first quarter from Euro941.6m at the end of 2016.
Colombia: Cementos Argos reported net losses of US$15.6m in the first quarter of 2017, in contrast with a US$340m profit in the first quarter of 2016. The losses were influenced by the company's operations in Colombia, currency exchange losses and non-recurring expenses associated with implementing an efficiency plan, along with a depreciation of its assets in the United States.
The company's operating revenues also fell by 6% year-on-year to US$719m by the end of March 2017, while its earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) fell by 35% to US$93.8m.
India: UltraTech Cement has commissioned 0.3Mt/yr slag cement grinding mill at its grinding plant at Patliputra in Bihar. The new capacity is intended to meet demand for slag cement in eastern India. With the expansion of the plant the cement producer has a production capacity of 70.6Mt/yr.
Kazakhstan: Karaganda cement plant has secured a US$3m loan from VTB Bank Kazakhstan to finance production growth at the unit. The Bank and Karcement JSC, which owns the cement plant, signed a corresponding agreement within the state program aimed at the development of domestic producers, according to the Trend News Agency. The plant has a production capacity of 3.6Mt/yr and it had been in operation since 1953.