Displaying items by tag: Opening

Russia: Filaret Galchev, the chairman of Eurocement, and Vladimir Sushkov, the chairman of the government of the Republic of Mordovia, has officially opened a Euro65m grinding unit at the Mordovcement plant. The new grinding unit includes two ball mills with a production capacity of 2.6Mt/yr, a 50,000t clinker warehouse and rail and truck despatch silos. Eurocement used equipment from Christian Pfeiffer, Claudius Peters, Aumund and KHD for the upgrade project at its subsidiary.

Uganda: Hima Cement’s new US$40m grinding plant at Nyakesi in Tororo District is expected to start production in early May 2018. Originally the 0.8Mt/yr plant was scheduled to open in June 2018, according to the East African Business Week newspaper. Opening early is dependent on the subsidiary of LafargeHolcim receiving a government mining licence.

Namibia: Ohorongo Cement has opened a US$0.3m terminal at Ondangwa in the north of the country. Clemens H Kashuupulwa, the governor of Oshana Region, officiated at the event. The depot is intended to target the four northern regions in Namibia as well as export cement to southern Angola. The site follows a Private Public Partnership agreement with TransNamib to lease land at Ondangwa railway station, and is part of the Northern Railway Extension project that extends from Tsumeb to Oshikango. It will distribute various cement types, including CEM II 42.5 N, CEM I 42.5 R, CEM II 32.5 N B-LL for the local market. It will also ship CEM II 42.5 N with Portuguese labelling for Angola.

Indonesia: Semen Indonesia plans to start commercial operation of its Rembang cement plant in the first half of 2017. Rizkan Chandra, the chief executive, of the state-owned cement producer revealed the company’s plans, despite protests on environmental grounds by local residents, after a meeting with presidential staff in Jakarta, according to the Antara news agency. However the plant is waiting for environmental clearance that is expected to be released in April 2017. Previously a government minister said that the President Joko Widodo was expected to inaugurate the plant in mid-2017. However, in October 2016 the Supreme Court ruled in favour of the protesters and ordered Semen Indonesia to cease its activities.

UK: Fuchs chairman and chief executive officer Stefan Fuchs has officially opened Fuchs Lubricants UK’s new office in Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent. Ralph Rheinboldt and Dagmar Steinert of the Fuchs executive board were also in attendance with UK managing director Richard Halhead. Hanley is the site of the UK manufacturing plant for the Fuchs Group and the Fuchs Global Centre of Excellence for specialist sectors including machining, mining, glass and Silkolene motorcycle oils.

The new offices incorporate a number of energy-efficiency features such as LED lighting, climate control systems and insulation properties. Previous investment has seen solar panels installed within the manufacturing plant capable of 525kWp generating 14% of electricity demand. An open working environment also means that the chief executive officer’s office doubles as an additional meeting space.

Fuchs has also enhanced the Research and Development Technical Centre, which is attached to the new office block. This will create additional capacity for the analytical work carried out in the Service and Quality laboratories. The new test centre will see additional machine tools being installed to enhance the CNC (Computer Numerical Controlled) capabilities already in place.

Bolivia: President Evo Morales has inaugurated the Itacamba Cement plant in Yacuses in the department of Santa Cruz. The plant had an investment of US$220m and has a production capacity of 0.95Mt/yr, according to Via Empressa. Itacamba Cement is a joint venture between Spain’s Cementos Molins, Brazil’s Votorantim Cement and Camba Cement. The cement producer also operates a grinding plant in Puerto Quijarro and its hopes to produce up to 1.2Mt/yr of cement from both sites. The plant is also expected to create up to 540 direct and indirect jobs.

Cameroon: Medcem Cameroon, a subsidiary of Turkey’s Eren Holdings, is set to inaugurate its cement grinding plant in Douala in mid-December 2016. The plant originally started selling cement in October 2015 before it left the market, according to the African Press Agency. It has since resumed selling its cement. The plant has an investment of US$21m it has a production capacity of 0.6Mt/yr. It is the fourth cement plant in the country bringing the national production capacity to 43Mt/yr.

Mozambique: President Filipe Nyusi has inaugurated a new US$24m cement grinding plant in Metuge, Cabo Delgado. The plant has a production capacity of 0.25Mt/yr. Cement produced at the site will be sold under the ‘African Elephant’ brand, according to the Mozambique News Agency. Once construction is complete the plant will employ 67 local workers alongside Chinese technical staff.

Germany: Möllers Group has opened a new training academy at its headquarters in Beckum. The 1250m² facility cost Euro3m and it took nine months to build. It will start training operations in June 2016. The official opening of the site took place on 31 May 2016.

New Zealand: Holcim Zealand has officially opened its 30,000t cement terminal at Timaru port. Economic Development Minister Steven Joyce and Rangitata MP Jo Goodhew attended the opening. The US$34m project is intended to serve South Island and lower North Island, according to local press.

The terminal has unloaded two ships since December 2015. The cement producer aim’s for 18 inbound ships a year to Timaru, with the Holcim-owned Milburn Carrier II shipping outbound orders from its berth at the reconstructed No 2 wharf. Another cement terminal is being built in Auckland and is planned for opening in mid-2016.