Displaying items by tag: GCW573

Cameroon: The Minister of Trade, Luc-Magloire Mbarga Atangana, has announced cuts to the price cement. He attributed this to a substantial increase in the production capacity of Mira SA’s plant to 1.5Mt/yr from 0.5Mt/yr, according to the Cameroon Tribune newspaper. Prices of some products have reportedly fallen by up to 12%.

China: Tangshan Jidong Cement’s operating income rose by 3% year-on-year to US$2.44bn in the first half of 2022 from US$2.36bn in the same period in 2021. However, its net profit fell by 7% to US$165m from US$178m. Its sales volumes of cement and clinker dropped by 20% to 38.4Mt from 48Mt. It has a reported clinker and cement production capacity of 110Mt/yr and 176Mt/yr respectively. The cement producer said that demand for cement was weak, especially in April and May 2022, with no seasonal rebound. It blamed its falling profits on geopolitics, coronavirus and a downturn in the real estate sector.

China: Dongwu Cement recorded consolidated sales of US$25.9m in the first half of 2022, down by 26% year-on-year from US$34.8m in the first half of 2021. The company’s loss was US$2.54m, compared to a US$3.76m profit in the previous period. At 30 June 2022, Dongwu Cement’s cement segment’s borrowings were US$14.8m, down by 4.5% from US$15.5m at the beginning of the year.

Morocco: LafargeHolcim Maroc’s sales were US$377m in the first half of 2022, consistent with its first-half 2021 sales, according to the L’Economiste newspaper. In the second quarter of 2022, the producer’s sales fell by 7% year-on-year to US$181m. It attributed this to a drop in its cement sales volumes, amid a national decline in demand of 10% year-on-year during the quarter. During the first half of 2022, Moroccan cement demand declined by 4.5% year-on-year. LafargeHolcim Maroc said that this was the result of global economic factors.

The producer’s net debt was US$590m on 30 June 2022, up by 5% year-on-year.

US: The Boulder County Planning Commission has recommended that county commissioners should reject Cemex USA’s application to extend its licence to mine limestone at its Dowe Flats quarry until 2037. Local press has reported that Cemex USA previously agreed to shut down its Lyons cement plant at the expiry of its extended licence in 2037. The company says that it will be able to continue operating the plant without use of the mine.

Cemex USA executive vice president Trpimir Renic said "We do always try and consume the raw materials that are available to us at the existing site where we are currently operating. We think that operating that quarry for the next 15 years - supplying Lyons cement plant - is the most responsible resource management operation that we can undertake."

Europe: RHI Magnesita is heading a European Union Horizon project called ReSoURCE. The project seeks to develop a sensor-based refractory waste sorting and powder handling system. It involves academic partners in Austria, Germany, Ireland, Norway and the UK. The European Health and Digital Executive Agency (HADEA) supplied Euro6m in funding for the study, while the UK government supplied Euro1m. Global refractory waste generation is currently 28Mt/yr.

RHI Magnesita chief executive officer Stefan Borgas said “On average, 60% of all spent refractories generated by refractory-consuming industries go to landfill, while only 30% are recycled. With the ReSoURCE project, we aim to increase it up to 75%. This means we can achieve significant savings of CO₂ emissions per annum. With this research project, we have the chance to make a difference in the world.”

US: Royal White Cement has leased a site on the Houston Ship Channel in Houston, Texas. Local press has reported that the company plans to build its second cement terminal in the city there. Houston Peninsula Terminals will operate unloading systems for the storage of cement across three facilities at the site. It is also equipped with multiple railway tracks and heavy truck loading facilities. Royal White Cement owner Marcel Fadi said that the move would help the producer to expand its footprint in Houston and beyond.

Fadi said "We have long operated in the Houston market, but this direct access to storage and bulk unloading along the channel will provide greater efficiencies and flexibility, allowing Royal White Cement to handle and store approximately 100,000t of multiple cementitious products such as slag, grey cement, and white cement."

Mexico: Cemex has successfully closed its sale of its Costa Rica and El Salvador subsidiaries to Cementos Progreso for US$329m. Cemex plans to use the proceeds from the divestments to fund its bolt-on investment growth strategy, reduce its debt and for other general corporate purposes.

US: Lehigh Hanson has secured US$3.7m-worth of funding from the US department of energy for its planned front-end engineering design (FEED) installation of a carbon capture system at its Mitchell cement plant in Indiana. The funding was part of a total US$31m pot awarded to 10 different carbon capture projects across multiple industries. All of the projects have the capacity to capture over 95% of emissions from their respective plants.

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries America is supplying its carbon capture system for use at the Mitchell cement plant, at a total project cost of US$4.8m.

Canada: Lehigh Cement has initiated the administrative process to begin the use of alternative fuels (AF) in cement production at its Picton cement plant in Ontario. Under the company’s plans, the plant will substitute 200t/day of AF for coal and petcoke at the plant. Possible AF sources include excess seed from farm feed production in Ontario. The Picton cement plant previously reduced its CO₂ emissions per tonne of cement by 20% through assorted sustainability initiatives.

Picton plant manager Carsten Schraeder said that the move will support Canada’s 2030 emission reduction plan, and also take pressure off landfill sites.