Displaying items by tag: GCW68
China GETS ready for carbon trading
26 September 2012Today's report that cement producers from Taiwan are preparing for new Chinese NOx regulations is yet another reaction to several 'seismic' shifts of government-led change rocking the industry in China. These have included the closure of old, inefficient capacity and significant implementation of waste-heat recovery (WHR) systems. Last week's launch of the Guangdong Emissions Trading Scheme (GETS) is one more.
As reported by Reuters Point Carbon, GETS involves four cement plants from the start and it is the largest of seven such provincial schemes. It is as big and bold as the manufacturing hub that it covers. It includes over 800 manufacturing sites and will regulate the emissions from 42% of all power consumed in Guangdong and 63% of all its industrial emissions. It will be the fifth biggest ETS in the world after those in the EU, Australia, California and South Korea.
While GETS is large, the rate that it will be implemented will be more restrained. There will be three years of testing (2012-2015), an 'improvement period' (2016- 2020) and a proper market from 2020. The scheme's progress will be watched closely - its success or failure could determine the shape of emissions trading schemes (ETS) across China and the rest of Asia.
While the aims of ETS are laudable, they have met with 'mixed' reviews in other parts of the world. In Australia in 2011, there were dire warnings of the potential for job-losses and carbon-leakage, with China itself identified as a probable destination for both.
In Europe there is now a strong claim that the EU-ETS has been ineffective, with carbon prices slumping to under Euro10/credit (~US$13/credit), less than a quarter of projected levels for 2012. In the midst of the downturn Ireland's CRH 'earned' millions of Euros in unused credits. Security has also been a problem for the EU-ETS.
Even GETS, less than a month old, has drawn criticism. Unnamed commentators have suggested that the higher-than-expected prices, US$9.50/credit, (only slightly lower than in Europe), already look like the result of collusion in the market.
With all of these concerns, the immediate demand from the cement producers, China Resources Cement, Sinoma, Taipai and Yangchun Hailuo, looks a little strange. However, local media reports that there are advantages to be gained by buying early. All of the four producers have to buy credits for cement plant projects they are currently working on. They are gambling on the fact that carbon prices can only rise - something that is not expected by analysts.
In addition the producers can gain valuable experience of the scheme before it has to be used 'in anger,' which may give them an operational advantage over others. They also know that, unlike in other parts of the world, the government will not backtrack on its decision. Recent NOx regulations, closure of older capacity and implementation of WHR have all been imposed (or are being imposed) from above. They know that it is better to jump into the deep end than to be pushed.
EAPCC appoints new production and personnel managers
26 September 2012Kenya: The East African Portland Cement Company (EAPCC) has appointed two managers to head up its production and human resources departments. Charles Charo has will become the new head of production operations and John Ole Kimanjoi will become the head of human resources and administration.
Charo holds 25 years of experience in cement manufacturing and has previously worked for Bamburi Cement and Athi River Mining. Kimanjoi holds 25 years experience in human resources, specialising in labour relations. He has worked for KPTC, Telkom Kenya, Mumias Sugar and NSSF. Other appointments include a new Production Manager Joseph Kombo, who was promoted from process manager and James Mutisya, who becomes the new Maintenance and Projects Manager.
EAPCC managing director Kephar Tande said that the changes have been made to enable the company to execute a new strategy and align functions to grow the business.
TCC to upgrade plants for tougher NOx regulations in China
26 September 2012China/Taiwan: Two cement producers from Taiwan have reacted to potential new Chinese environmental regulations. Taiwan Cement (TCC) has announced plans to invest US$23.3m on upgrading equipment for denitrogenation and desulphurisation at its Chinese plants. Asia Cement is reportedly also evaluating similar upgrades.
Industry reports suggest that the Chinese government will likely set nitrogen oxide emissions to 300mg/m3, a level below the international standard of 400mg/m3. Upgraded equipment to meet such tougher standard costs about US$3.33m per set, which may create losses for many cement producers in China.
Only four producers out of 3000 in China currently have denitrogenation and desulphurisation processing equipment, with two based in Xiangtan, Hunan Province and another two based in Chengdu, Sichuan Province. About one third of cement makers will be unable to afford the upgrades required to meet the new regulations.
A representative of TCC said that its subsidiary Taiwan Cement International Holdings has started installing new equipment in its plant in Chongqing, aiming to decrease 60% of nitrogen oxide emissions, with similar upgrades in progress at plants in Guizhou and elsewhere.
UK/Lativa: Recycling and resource management company, SITA UK, has signed a three-year contract to supply 180,000t of solid recovered fuel (SRF) to Cemex in Latvia. The fuel will be produced by processing residual commercial waste in a purpose-built facility at Ridham Docks in Kent. Once processed, the SRF material will be used as a fossil-fuel replacement at a Cemex plant in Broceni, southern Latvia.
"We have invested over Euro7.53m developing a new processing facility to produce and bale SRF at Ridham. This brand new, purpose-built facility was commissioned in August 2012 and we are sending our first shipment to Latvia in September 2012," said Andy Hill, head of organics and alternative fuels, at SITA UK.
SITA UK uses residual commercial waste, which has a higher calorific value and lower moisture content than municipal waste. Its facility in Ridham can process up to 50t/hr. The company has a one year trans-frontier shipment permit to export the SRF to Cemex in Latvia.
Earlier in April 2012, SITA UK and Cemex announced their intention to develop two waste recycling plants to produce alternative fuel for Cemex's Rugby plant in Warwickshire. SITA UK, a subsidiary of Suez Environment, is a recycling and resource management company employing over 6000 staff with a turnover in excess of Euro879m/yr.
Ambuja, Grassim and Lafarge face coal block cancellations
26 September 2012India: An inter-ministerial panel has recommended the de-allocation of two coal blocks held by five companies, including Gujarat Ambuja Cement, Grasim Industries and Lafarge India, bringing the total number of such blocks to 13. The Inter-ministerial Group (IMG) has completed the review of 29 coal blocks held by private companies and recommended cancellation of licences for blocks holding an estimated 2.6Bnt of coal, affecting 28 private companies.
The affected blocks include the Bhaskarapara block in Chhattisgarh and Dahegaon Makardhokra IV in Maharashtra. The Dahegaon Makardhokra IV coal block, with 132Mt of reserves was allocated to IST Steel & Power, Gujarat Ambuja Cement and Lafarge India in 2009. The Bhaskarapara block with 48Mt of reserves was allotted to Electrotherm (India) Ltd and Grasim Industries Ltd in 2008. The coal ministry has not decided yet how it will re-allocate the 13 blocks.
A senior coal ministry official said the coal blocks would be auctioned to private firms or given to government companies at the reserve price if the ministry does not want to allocate them to Coal India. The ministry has already identified 54 coal blocks for three types of allotments: to government companies, to power companies and to private firms through auction.
"If we decide that Coal India has enough blocks, we may give it to other companies through the auction route. Whatever the route is, no block will be given free of cost and even Coal India will pay a reserve price," the official said.
The de-allocation recommendation follows a probe into the so-called 'coalgate' scam, concerning the allocation of coal mines to private firms since 1993. The practice of granting captive coal blocks to private power, steel and cement companies began in 1993, following an amendment to the Coal Mines (Nationalisation) Act. India's main opposition, the Bharatiya Janata Party, has accused the government of using the probe for alleged vested political interests.
Italian workers occupy cathedral bell tower to protest layoffs
26 September 2012Italy: Two Italcementi workers have protested against company layoffs by occupying the bell tower of the Cathedral of St. Nicholas in Sassari, Sardinia. The workers climbed up on 19 September 2012 in what they described as a 'sit-in prayer'. Union representative Simone Testoni said that workers to be laid off in November 2012 still haven't been told what the company's next move will be.
Italcementi reached a deal in 2008 with the regional government in which it pledged that while consolidating all its operations on the island, it would transfer existing employees rather than lay them off. Yet in May 2010 the factory closed. Italcementi blamed the economic crisis.
Qassim Cement profit hits US$82m in H1 2012
26 September 2012Saudi Arabia: Saudi cement producer Qassim Cement has posted a net profit of US$82m for the first half of 2012, a rise of 5.4% from US$77.8m in the same period in 2011. The company attributed the increase to a rise in sales but did not provide any exact sales figures. It reported an operating profit of US$84.1m for the first six months of 2012, a rise of 6.1% from US$79.3m in 2011.
Ohorongo cries foul over foreign imports
25 September 2012Namibia: Hans-Wilhelm Schutte, the managing director of Ohorongo Cement, has warned that the Namibian cement industry faces a serious challenge from foreign imports if existing import tariffs are lifted. Schutte made the statement in an affidavit filed with the High Court in Windhoek in the latest stage of a case in which a Chinese-owned cement importer wants to have the cement import duty declared invalid.
"The absence of infant industry protection will jeopardise (Ohorongo Cement's) entire operations in Namibia and may result in the need to retrench employees and down-scale (or totally halt) operations," Schutte has claimed.
Ohorongo Cement has filed an application with the High Court in which it is asking to be allowed to join the case in which a cement importer, Jack's Trading CC, has sued the Minister of Finance and the Commissioner of Customs and Excise in connection with the tariffs which have been levied on cement imports into Namibia since 27 July 2012.
According to Schutte, infant industry protection, which is allowed under the 2002 Southern African Customs Union agreement, was a precondition for the decision to establish Ohorongo Cement's plant in Namibia. Yet in his latest affidavit filed with the court, the majority member of Jack's Trading CC Yuequan Jack Huang, stated that he had signed a four-year contract to import 180,000t/yr of cement into Namibia.
Ohorongo Cement has set up a cement plant between Otavi and Tsumeb and invested about US$275m in the country. Ohorongo Cement has produced cement since February 2011. It has a capacity of capacity of 0.7Mt/yr and employs 316 people.
Finance Minister, Saara Kuugongelwa-Amadhila, imposed an import duty of 60% on cement with effect from 27 July 2012. Currently the 60% rate will remain in force until 2014 whereupon it will decrease annually to 12% in 2018. Namibia's domestic demand for cement is currently estimated to be about 0.5Mt/yr.
Eurocement announce US$480m plant in Stavropol
24 September 2012Russia: Eurocement has announced that it will build a US$480m cement plant in the Stavropol region of Russia with a production capacity of 1.3Mt/yr. Construction will take place in the Spasskoe village of Blagodarnenskiy District.
The new plant will cover an area of 40 hectares and will produce 3500t/day of clinker. Its power consumption will be 35MW, its electrical consumption will be 105kWh/t of cement, its gas consumption will be 103Mm3/yr and restrictions of dust emissions will be 20mg/Nm3. The plant will have a staff of 400 people, with the potential to create 1000 additional jobs. The project will be implemented under a public-private partnership and has been submitted to the prime minister of the Russian Federation Dmitry Medvedev. The plant is expected to be completed by 2015.
"The objective of Eurocement is to reduce the cost of cement production whilst maintaining compliance with the highest standards of product quality and conformity of production of the world's environmental requirements," said Eurocement president Mikhail Skorokhod.
Clinker plant and cement grinding facility for HeidelbergCement in Togo
21 September 2012Togo: HeidelbergCement has announced the construction of a new US$250m clinker plant with an annual capacity of 1.5Mt/yr in the town of Tabligbo, Togo. In addition, the company is building a new cement grinding facility with a capacity of 0.2Mt/yr in Dapaong.
"The construction of the new clinker plant and the cement grinding facility is part of our strategy to focus on expanding our clinker and cement capacities in growth markets. In addition to Asia and eastern Europe these include, in particular, the countries of sub-Saharan Africa," said Dr Bernd Scheifele, chairman of the managing board of HeidelbergCement.
"As west Africa possesses only relatively small limestone deposits, the clinker required in cement production often has to be imported at high cost. Our new clinker plant is of great strategic importance as it sources the limestone from its own deposits," added Scheifele.
The clinker will be processed to cement in HeidelbergCement's grinding mills in Togo as well as in the neighbouring countries of Benin, Ghana and Burkina Faso. This will replace clinker that has previously been imported from overseas and thereby strengthen HeidelbergCement's competitiveness in Africa. HeidelbergCement said that the project will stimulate improvement in local infrastructure and housing and is expected to create around 1300 jobs locally, of which more than 200 will be at the plants.
The project is being conducted within the framework of a partnership between HeidelbergCement and IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, and its finance partners. Commissioning of the two new plants is scheduled for 2015. The capacity expansion in Togo is already included in HeidelbergCement's capital expenditure plan.