Displaying items by tag: Nepal

Nepal: The German vertical roller mill (VRM) producer Loeshe GmbH has gained a new customer in Nepal. The cement division of Chaudhary Group, based in Kathmandu, has placed an order for a 25t/hr vertical roller mill for coal grinding for the 3900t/day (1.3Mt/yr) integrated cement plant that it is building in the Palpa region.

Loesche received the order though KHD, the lead bidder at the plant. The LM 26.3 D mill will be in operation during 2018 with a throughput of 50t/hr, 15% R on 90μm.

Nepal: Regular power cuts have reduced production at the Udayapur Cement plant since mid-September 2017 leading to a loss of US$190,000. The cement producer says that it was doing ‘good business’ so far in the current financial year, according to the Rastriya Samachar Samiti news agency. The company was established in 1987 and it operates a cement plant at Jaljale in Udayapur. It produces cement under the brand name 'Gaida Cement.'

Nepal: The Nepal Electricity Authority and the Independent Power Producers' Association Nepal say that the new hydroelectric projects are stalling due to a lack of imported cement. The shortage has been caused by new standards set by the Nepal Bureau of Standards and Metrology (NBSM) for imported cement, according to the Himalayan Times. The NBSM made Nepal Standard certification mandatory for imported cement in July 2017. Foreign producers supplying cement to Nepal, principally from India, have to follow quality, packaging and labelling criteria fixed by the NBSM.

Jaypee Cement and Star Cement have received approval from the NBSM to supply cement to the country following the new standard. Three more Indian cement producers have also submitted applications.

Nepal: Ghorahi Cement has ordered a vertical roller mill from Gebr. Pfeiffer for its Kapilvastu Cement Udhyog grinding plant at Sonparwa, Barkalpure in the Kapilvastu District. Ordinary Portland Cement will be ground on a type MVR 3070 C-4 mill with a capacity of 70t/hr. The mill will be equipped with a SLS 2650 BC classifier. The grinding plant can also be used for the grinding of mixed cements with granulated blast-furnace slag or fly ash.

The core components of the MVR mill and a 1250kW gearbox will be supplied by Gebr. Pfeiffer from Europe. The remaining components of the mill and classifier will be supplied by Gebr. Pfeiffer (India), which will also provide most of the components for plant such as handling equipment for feed and take-away, plant filter, plant fan, hot gas generator, motors, frequency converters, proportioning belt scales and so on. The Indian subsidiary will also be responsible for any plant engineering. The scope of supply of Gebr. Pfeiffer also includes monitoring and coordination of erection as well as commissioning of the grinding plant. No value for the order has been disclosed.

Nepal: The Investment Board of Nepal (IBN) has signed a project investment agreement worth US$359m with China’s Hongshi-Shivam Cement in connection with a cement plant being built at Nawalparasi. The agreement is the first of its kind signed by the IBN with a private sector company and it will last 15 years, according to the Kathmandu Post newspaper. The investment deal is the biggest made by a foreign company in the country’s manufacturing sector.

Hongshi-Shivam Cement is a joint venture between Nepal’s Shivam Holdings, which also produces Shivam brand of cement, and Hong Kong Red Lion Cement No 3, a subsidiary of China’s Hongshi Group. The Chinese company owns a 70% stake in the joint venture. Commercial production of cement is planned to start at the plant in 2018.

There is plenty to mull over on the Chinese cement market at the moment as the half-year reports for the major cement producers are being published. Anhui Conch revealed this week a glowing balance sheet with a 33% jump in its sales revenue to US$4.79bn. It attributed the boost to a ‘significant’ increase in prices and continued discipline with production and operation costs. Although CNBM is scheduled to release its results at the end of August 2017, Anhui Conch appear to be well ahead of its next largest rivals locally as can be seen in Graph 1.

Graph 1: Sales revenue of major selected Chinese cement producers. Sources: Company financial results.

Beyond the headline figures it is interesting to pinpoint the areas in China where Anhui Conch says it isn’t doing as well. Its South China region, comprising Guangdong and Guangxi provinces, suffered from competition in the form of new production capacity, which also in turn dented prices. Despite this ‘black spot’ in the company’s regional revenue still grew its sales in double-digits by 14%.

The other point to note is the growing number of overseas projects with the completion of a cement grinding plant in Indonesia, new plants being built in Indonesia, Cambodia and Laos, and projects being actively planned in Russia, Laos and Myanmar. The cement producer also opened seven grinding plants at home in China during the reporting period. It’s not there yet but it will mark a serious tipping point when the company starts to open more plants outside of China than within it. With the government still pushing for production capacity reduction it can only be a matter of time. On that last point China Resources Cement (CRC) reckoned in its half-year results that only four new clinker production lines, with a production capacity of 5.1Mt/yr, were opened in China in the first half of 2017.

After a testing year in 2016 CRC’s turnover has picked up so far in the first-half of 2017 as its sales revenue for the period rose by 17% to US$1.67bn. Despite its cement sales volumes falling by 9% to 33.6Mt, its price increased. Given that over two thirds of its cement sales arose from Guangdong and Guangxi it seems likely that CRC suffered from the same competition issues that Anhui Conch complained about.

Graph 2: Chinese cement production by half year, 2014 – 2017. Source: National Bureau of Statistics of China.

Graph 2 adds to the picture of a resurgent local cement industry suggesting that the Chinese government’s response to the overcapacity crisis may be starting to deliver growth again. After cement production hit a high in 2014 in fell in 2015 and started to revive in 2016. So far 2017 seems to be following this trend.

Returning to the foreign ambitions of China’s cement producers brings up another story from this week with news about the Nepalese government’s decision to delay signed an investment agreement with a Chinese joint venture that is currently building a cement plant in the country. With the prime minister visiting India the local press is painting it as a face-saving move by the Nepalese to avoid antagonising either of the country’s main infrastructure partners. This is relevant because the cement industries of both China and India are starting look abroad as they consolidate and rationalise. Once China’s cement producer start building more capacity overseas than at home, conflicts with Indian producers are likely to grow and present more awkward situations for states caught in the middle.

Nepal: The Investment Board Nepal has delayed signing a Project Investment Agreement (PIA) with China’s Hongshi-Shivam Cement due to ‘technical reasons.’ The joint venture is currently building a US$360m cement plant at Nawalparasi. The deal, which would have protected the interests of the foreign investor, has been deferred while Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba visits India in late August 2017, according to the Kathmandu Post newspaper. Sources quoted by the newspaper attribute the delay to tensions perceived by the Nepalese government regarding infrastructure projects backed by India and China. The agreement is expected to be signed on 3 September 2017.

Nepal: Hongshi-Shivam Cement plans to start cement production at its new plant in Nawalparasi from March 2018. Shiva Ratna Sharada, director of the joint venture company, told the Xinhua News Agency that construction at the site is underway. Once operational the plant will have a production capacity of 6000t/day, making it the largest site in the country. The company is planning to export cement to India, China and beyond with plans to expand the unit to 12,000t/day considered.

Nepal: FLSmidth has signed a contract to build a cement grinding line for Nepal Shalimar Cement. The agreement includes the engineering, procurement and supply of equipment for a 35t/hr ordinary Portland cement grinding unit (3200 Blaine) at the company’s existing plant at Simara, Bara District.

The contract comprises a range of equipment, including an FLSmidth OK 19-3 vertical mill, bag filters, weigh feeders, truck loading machine, OK mill gear reducer and plant control systems. Completion is scheduled for the second quarter of 2018.

"The project is an example that world class energy-efficient technology can be applied even for smaller capacity grinding units. Our technological competences and a strong local presence allow us to support many emerging markets, including Nepal," said Country Head of FLSmidth India, Carsten Riisberg Lund.

Nepal: Annapurna Cements has started test production at its new plant in the Sunsari-Morang Industrial Corridor. The US$5.8m plant has a production capacity of 12000bags/day of Portland Pozzolana Cement (PPC), according to the Kathmandu Post. Commercial production at the site is expected to start by the end of June 2017. The plant will import raw materials from India and it plans to sell its products initially in Provinces One, Two and Three.