Displaying items by tag: Grinding

Australia: Boral will receive US$15.4m in government funding for a kiln feed optimisation project at its Berrima Cement Works, with CO₂ emissions expected to reduce by up to 100,000t/yr, based on predicted production rates. The Powering the Regions grant will support the producer’s installation of a new specialised grinding circuit and supporting infrastructure, which will raise the use of alternative raw materials in kiln feed to 23% from 9%, lowering the amount of limestone used.

Boral will use steel manufacturing by-products and industrial waste, including granulated blast furnace slag, steel slag, cement fibre board, fly ash and recycled fine concrete aggregates. The project will be operational in 2028.

The head of innovation and sustainability at Boral, Ali Nezhad, said “In terms of the resulting emissions intensity of the manufactured clinker, the project will result in up to 11% reduction in clinker emission intensity, 9% attributable to a reduction in calcination emissions and 2% attributable to thermal efficiency gains.”

India: UltraTech Cement has commissioned a 3.35Mt/yr brownfield clinker line and one of two 2.7Mt/yr cement mills at its Maihar unit in Madhya Pradesh. The second grinding mill will be commissioned in the first quarter of the 2026 financial year. The producer also commissioned brownfield expansions at its Dhule grinding unit in Maharashtra (1.2Mt/yr) and Durgapur grinding unit in West Bengal (0.6Mt/yr), and launched its first bulk terminal in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, with a handling capacity of 1.8Mt/yr.

“Consequent to the above, the company’s total domestic grey cement manufacturing capacity stands at 183.36Mt/yr. Along with its overseas capacity of 5.4Mt/yr, the company’s global capacity stands at 188.76Mt/yr,” UltraTech Cement said.

Gabon: The Gabonese government and Ciments d'Afrique (Cimaf Gabon) have signed an investment agreement for the construction of a third cement production line. The US$41.1m project will increase Cimaf Gabon's cement production capacity by 1Mt/yr to 1.85Mt/yr.

Cimaf Gabon also holds a permit to exploit a major limestone deposit around Ntoum and will build a clinker production unit in the area, requiring more than US$148m in investment.

Cimaf Gabon’s general director Janah Idrissi El Mehdi said “This plant, located a stone's throw from Ntoum in the Estuaire province, will bring significant benefits to the entire region, particularly in terms of job creation (1400 in the project phase and 500 in the operational phase). It will contribute to improving the living conditions of the surrounding populations.”

India: UltraTech Cement has increased its production capacity by 1.2Mt/yr through debottlenecking efforts. The producer said that it had identified multiple efficiency enhancement opportunities across various locations as part of its capacity expansion programmes. The additional capacity includes 0.8Mt/yr at the integrated Hirmi plant in Chhattisgarh and 0.4Mt/yr at the Roorkee grinding unit in Uttarakhand. Ultratech’s domestic cement capacity now reportedly stands at 179Mt/yr.

India: Dalmia Bharat has commenced commercial production at its expanded cement grinding facility in Lanka, Hojai district, Assam. The expansion by subsidiary Dalmia Cement (North East) has added 2.4Mt/yr to the company’s total production capacity, which has now reached 49Mt/yr. Capacity utilisation stands at 60% on a pro-rata basis. The expansion cost US$80.4m, funded through equity, debt and internal accruals. The additional output is expected to meet rising cement demand in the northeastern region.

France: Heidelberg Materials has ordered an MVR 5000 C-4 vertical roller mill from Gebr. Pfeiffer for its Airvault plant to grind ultra-fine Portland cement. The mill will be equipped with an SLS 4500 VC classifier to produce 145t/hr of Portland cement at a fineness of 4500cm²/g. The design allows for high-efficiency grinding and lower CO₂ emissions by reducing clinker content in blended cements. The contract is managed by China-based contractor CBMI. Commissioning is expected in the first half of 2026.

Sierra Leone: MACCEM will build a 0.56Mt/yr cement grinding plant in Hastings, Freetown, on a 4.4-hectare site near the Hastings Airstrip and the Jui-Masiaka Highway, according to the International Finance Corporation (IFC). The site already houses the producer’s cement bagging plant, with civil works for the grinding plant underway. Site clearing and levelling were completed in July 2024. The remaining construction is expected to take 12-15 months.

Clinker for the plant will be imported and transported by road from the Queen Elizabeth II Quay at the Port of Freetown. The IFC is considering a debt financing package of up to US$24m.

India: Dalmia Bharat, through its subsidiaries, has announced a US$400m investment to expand its cement capacity in Maharashtra and Karnataka. The company will build a 3.6Mt/yr clinker unit and a 3Mt/yr grinding unit at its Belgaum plant in Karnataka, alongside a new 3Mt/yr greenfield grinding plant in Pune, Maharashtra. The expansion will be funded through debt and internal accruals. It is expected to increase Dalmia Bharat's total installed capacity to 55.5Mt/yr, including an ongoing 2.9Mt expansion in Assam and Bihar. The new units are scheduled for commissioning by the fourth quarter of the 2027 financial year.

CEO Puneet Dalmia said "This investment is a significant step in our Phase II expansion strategy, bringing us closer to strengthening our position as a pan-India player and reaching our goal of 75Mt/yr capacity by the 2028 financial year. The increase in our production capacity is primarily to meet the growing infrastructure demand in western India."

India: Dalmia Cement (Bharat) plans to expand its cement plant in Mylavaram, Andhra Pradesh. The producer will invest US$321m to to more than double the plant’s clinker capacity from 4.6Mt/yr to 12.6Mt/yr, its cement grinding capacity from 2.6Mt/yr to 7.6Mt/yr and its waste heat recovery capacity from 12MW to 28MW.

The Andhra Pradesh Pollution Control Board will hold a public hearing on 27 March 2025 over the plans, the New Indian Express newspaper has reported. Local residents have raised allegedly ‘unaddressed’ issues, including disruptions to watercourses, increased dust pollution and possible structural damage from increased blasting.

India: UltraTech Cement has commissioned 0.6Mt/yr of new cement grinding capacity at its Karur grinding plant in Tamil Nadu. The expansion follows the commissioning of a 2.7Mt/yr greenfield grinding unit at the site in April 2024. The plant's total capacity is now 3.3Mt/yr. The additional capacity will reportedly help UltraTech to meet the rising demand for composite cement in South India and improve its blended cement ratio.

The producer's domestic grey cement capacity now stands at 167Mt/yr and its global capacity at 172Mt/yr.