Displaying items by tag: Plant

Egypt: Redecam says it has successfully started up a project one line two at Lafarge Egypt’s Ain Al-Sokhna cement plant. The upgrade consisted of: converting the main kiln’s electrostatic precipitator (ESP) into a bag filter; enhanced the cooling system for the clinker cooler, including a partial ESP retrofit; and revamping the bypass the gas conditioning tower and dust transport system. The Italy-based engineering company previously carried out a similar project on line three at the plant in 2020.

Philippines: China-based Sinoma Construction will renovate Holcim Philippines’ La Union cement plant in Bacnotan, North Luzon. Seetao News has reported that the company signed a contract with the subsidiary of Switzerland-based Holcim in July 2021. The work involves a capacity expansion, renovation and de-bottlenecking. The aims of the projects are to promote the modular grinding station market and expand Holcim’s Philippines business and deepen its localisation.

Spain: Tudela Veguín says that an upgrade to a conveyor belt connecting its Aboño cement plant in Asturias to a terminal at the Port of El Musel will allow it to dispatch 5% more cement. The increase represents more than 100,000t/yr-worth of additional cement shipments, according to the La Nueva España newspaper. Ship loading time has also been reduced by nearly half. The Euro532,000 conveyor was completed in 2020. The El Musel terminal has shipped cement for export to several new countries, including most recently the US.

Mexico: Cemex has closed the sale of its white cement business outside of Mexico and the US for US$155m to Turkey-based Çimsa Çimento. The assets sold include the company’s Buñol white cement plant in Valencia, Spain. The group said that the proceeds from the sale would be used to fund its bolt-on investment growth strategy in its core businesses and geographies, and contribute to debt reduction.

Greece: Eurocert has awarded Platinum Zero Waste to Landfill certificates to all three of Titan Group’s cement plants in Greece. The producer said that the certification ‘reaffirms the excellent environmental performance’ of its Kamari, Patra and Thessaloniki cement plants. It says that the plants achieved the highest waste management certificate through effective waste prevention and proper management to avoid landfill.

Greece general manager Angelos Kalogerakos said “Titan is clearly committed to contributing substantively, through its operation and products, to the zero-waste goal. The Platinum Zero Waste to Landfill certification endorses and rewards the good practices that we have systematically applied for many years and that we have adopted in order to minimise our footprint and ensure a sustainable future for coming generations. We want to make all of our partners part of this commitment, aiming for a reliable and sustainable supply chain.”

China: China National Building Materials (CNBM) subsidiary China Building Materials Academy (CBMA) has signed a knowledge sharing agreement with the Canada-based International CCS Knowledge Centre to collaborate on carbon capture technology. Their first initiative will pilot a CBMA model and front end engineering design (FEED) to a test platform with a capture capacity of around 155kg CO₂/day on an active cement plant kiln. If successful, the study may see CNBM roll out CCS across its entire cement operations.

US: Colombia-based Cementos Argos subsidiary Argos USA’s Newberry, Florida cement plant produced 140,000t of cement in June 2021. The plant shipped 129,000t of cement. The company says that the production figure beats its previous production record of 128,000t in June 2019 by 9%. The figure for shipments beats the previous shipment record, also from June 2019, of 121,000t by 7%.

Plant production manager Daniel Ball said, “Everyone at the Newberry Plant is excited and proud to see these records being set. With the current sales climate, we are able to show the untapped potential Newberry has. This sustained sales commitment would not be possible if it wasn’t for all the hard work and dedication of everyone at the plant as well as from Argos plant support staff and Argos Corporate. But with the new record set, we strive to set new records going forward.”

India: The Telangana State Pollution Control Board has ordered Cement Corporation of India and Penna Cements to pay pollution fines for breaches of particulate matter restrictions at their respective cement plants at Tandur in Vikarabad district. The Times of India newspaper has reported that both companies exceeded legal limits eight times between November 2019 and July 2021. The board fined Cement Corporation of India US$3210 and Penna Cements US$4410.

Bolivia: Empresa Publica Productiva Cementos de Bolivia’s (ECEBOL) integrated Oruro plant is operating at 80% capacity following its reopening in mid-June 2021. The unit is selling cement to La Paz, Oruro and Cochabamba, according to the La Razón newspaper. Restarting the plant cost around US$8m.

Sweden: Cementa says that the decision by the Supreme Land and Environmental Court to reject its renewal application to continue mining limestone at its quarries in Gotland will create a ‘crisis’ for consumers in the autumn of 2021. The quarries supply its integrated Slite cement plant. The producer said that the ‘majority’ of Swedish cement production could cease in November 2021 following the expiry of the current licence in October 2021.

“We are seriously concerned but also surprised by the court's ruling today,” said Magnus Ohlsson, the chief executive officer of Cementa. “Limestone has been mined in Slite for over 100 years, which has built up a huge knowledge bank about how the business affects the surrounding environment. Our application is solid and clearly shows that it is possible to conduct a continued sustainable limestone mining in the area. We must go through the decision carefully and then set up the strategy for how we will handle the situation,” He added, “For Sweden, our customers and for us and our employees, it is important that political decision-makers and authorities quickly draw up new guidelines for how the supply of critical building materials such as cement and concrete should work.”

The subsidiary of Germany-based HeidebergCement originally received clearance in 2020 to renew its mining operations at the site until 2041. However, this was subsequently challenged. The current decision by the Supreme Land and Environmental Court was reached as they said they had insufficient evidence to assess the environmental impact of the application.