
Displaying items by tag: Mothball
Dalian Onoda Cement to suspend operations at Dalian cement plant
25 October 2022China: Dalian Onoda Cement, a subsidiary of Japan-based Taiheiyo Cement, says that it plans to suspend cement production at its Dalian cement plant in Liaoning. The producer said that it will shut the plant when its land lease expires in December 2022.
Cement Corporation of India begins equipment tendering process for Adilabad cement plant shutdown
18 May 2022India: Cement Corporation of India has called for e-tenders for its mothballed Adilabad cement plant's equipment for a sale of the plant's assets prior to its permanent closure and decommissioning. The state-owned company will receive offers until 23 May 2022 and will open bids after 120 days. The New Indian Express newspaper has reported that a planned airport will take up some of the land currently occupied by the plant in Telangana.
The US$7.73m Adilabad cement plant was operational between 1982 and 1998. It reportedly has sufficient limestone reserves to continue cement production until 2122.
Cement Corporation of India fails in bid to reopen Adilabad cement plant
28 September 2021India: The Telangana government says that it has failed to persuade the Indian government to reopen the mothballed Cement Corporation of India Adilabad cement plant. The Press Trust of India newspaper has reported that this is despite an offer by the state’s government to contribute to costs.
IT and Industries Minister Ramon Rao said that the Telangana government aims to create 50,000 new jobs and claimed that the state is the fourth largest contributor to India’s economy.
South Africa: PPC is operating at 75 - 80% of its active production capacity despite rising demand for cement. Njombo Lekula, the managing director of Southern Africa - PPC, told the Cape Times newspaper the company’s latest strategy and adaptation to the coronavirus pandemic had improved its operational flexibility. He said that it can ‘switch on’ plants to respond to demand, that its ‘Three Mega Plant’ strategy allows it to cope for periods when supply outstrips demand and that the company has mothballed plants at present. He added that PPC is not using 35% of its own capacity at the moment. Lekula also estimated that the local sector as a whole it not using 40% of its production capacity.
Thailand: Profits have risen at Siam City Cement due to cost cutting initiatives and lower energy prices despite disruption caused by government-related coronavirus responses. It also mothballed a kiln at its Saraburi plant in May 2020 to, “optimise resources and capacities corresponding to demand contraction across the region.” The group’s net sales fell by 10.9% year-on-year to US$679m in the first half of 2020 from US$792m in the same period in 2019. Its net profit rose by 6.2% to US$59.2m from US$55.8m.
UK: Mexico-based Cemex has confirmed its decision to mothball the 0.8Mt/yr integrated South Ferriby, Lincolnshire cement plant following a consultation period with employee and union representatives. The company estimates that the majority of redundancies of the plant’s 110 staff will happen in July 2020.
It said, “Cemex customers will be supplied from the company’s existing cement network. Cemex’s supply chain plan and commercial management will ensure that customer service will be maintained at all times. Cemex remains committed to the UK and will continue to have a strong national presence.”
UK: Cemex has announced the proposed mothballing of the 0.8Mt/yr South Ferriby integrated plant in Lincolnshire. It says that the move would lead to the redundancy of all staff employed at the plant except cement delivery drivers in the third quarter of 2020. A review of the optimal haulage provision will follow. Cemex says that the proposal is the outcome of ‘an analysis of the company’s European cement supply chain.’ Its final decision will follow ‘a process of collective consultation with affected employees.’ It says that the decision was unaffected by the coronavirus outbreak.
The group said that, “Cemex remains committed to the UK and its European business.” It added that the mothballing of the South Ferriby plant will ‘optimise the network it has available across the region.’ Cemex will continue to supply customers from its existing cement network, maintaining customer service and ‘high-quality products in line with customer expectations.’ Its strategic growth will focus on ‘larger metropolitan markets where demand and profitability will be strongest.’
Germany: HeidelbergCement’s profit was Euro1.24bn in 2019, down by 3.4% from Euro1.23bn in 2018. Its revenue grew by 4.3% to Euro18.9bn from Euro18.1bn. HeidelbergCement says that it reduced its specific net CO2 emissions by 1.5% year-on-year to 590kg/t from 599kg/t in 2018 and ‘intensified its research and development (R&D) efforts on carbon capture and utilisation/storage (CCU/S)’ in every operating region globally.
The group announced a year-on-year increase in volumes in the first two months of 2020, with all but three of its plants (HeidelbergCement subsidiary Italcementi’s 2.8Mt/yr Calusco plant, 2.5Mt/yr Rezzato plant and 0.6Mt/yr Tavernola plant in Lombardy region, Italy) still operating through the coronavirus pandemic, though it noted that construction is slowing in the US, Australia and Western Europe due to the outbreak.
HeidelbergCement cancelled its 7 May 2020 annual general meeting (AGM) ‘due to the spread of the coronavirus.’
St. Marys Cement plant in Dixon looking to reopen
27 November 2014US: The mayor of Dixon, Illinois says that he is 'optimistic' that the mothballed St. Marys cement plant in the city will reopen. Mayor Jim Burke told local press that representatives from St. Marys Cement approached him in mid-2014 to discuss the possibility of restarting operations at the plant. The mayor says that the city government is working with the company to see if there are incentives 'to make it all work.'
The plant has been idle since December 2008. When it closed about 90 people lost their jobs. At the same time the Environment Protection Agency fined the company and a co-owner for violations of the Clean Air Act. St. Marys Cement is owned by Brazilian-based cement producer Votorantim.
Kazakhstan: Yug Cement Stroi LLP has emerged as a new investor to help finish the previously mothballed 0.5Mt/yr Khantau cement plant in Zhambyl Region. The company, acting as a strategic partner, has borrowed US$29m for seven years from Bank RBK to finance the completion of the plant's construction. It is intended that the plant will reach full cement production capacity in the autumn of 2014.
The Khantau cement plant has a design capacity of 0.36Mt/yr of clinker and 0.5Mt/yr of Portland cement with grades M400 and M500. The Hengyuan International Engineering Group has supplied technology for the plant. Its raw materials are extracted from the Khantau limestone deposit, Khantau sand and gravel deposit and the Ulkensai clay deposit located near the plant.
In 2007, ACIG borrowed US$30m from the Development Bank of Kazakhstan for the construction of this cement plant. At the time the plant was 85% complete and mothballed due to the shortage of funds. In 2013, the project was transferred from the Development Bank to the Investment Fund of Kazakhstan.