Displaying items by tag: Plant

India: Zuari Cement plans to expand its cement production capacity with a 3Mt/yr cement in Gulberga. The Italcementi subsidiary has invested US$400m towards capacity development in spite of what it called 'tough' market conditions. Other projects include setting up a grinding plant in Solapur and a terminal at Kochi.

Nepal: Dangote Group has asked the government of Nepal to help it find land to build a cement plant with an investment of US$800m. The Nigerian-based cement producer announced that it has been looking at Dang, Makwanpur and Dhading districts as possible locations following a meeting between Dangote's CEO KR Rao and the Nepalese Finance Minister Shankar Prasad Koirala.

Dangote has asked the Nepalese government to provide 30MW of power for the project. It intends to generate another 30MW for the plant by using a captive power plant.

In late 2013 the Investment Board Nepal (IBN) gave clearance for Dangote to invest in a cement plant in Nepal. Dangote will spend US$550m the first phase of its investment plan in Nepal.

Kenya: ARM Cement is set to build Kenya's largest cement plant in Kitui County, setting it up for a fight with Nigeria's Dangote Cement, which also has plans to open a U$400m plant in the same region.

ARM says that it will raise up to US$300m to fund new plants including the planned unit in Kitui, which will produce 8000t/day (~2.5Mt/yr) of cement. This will make it the single largest cement factory in the country and places the unit ahead of the planned Dangote plant, which has a planned daily capacity of 5500t/day (~1.8Mt/yr). ARM's fund-raising will be done through a mixture of bank loans, corporate bonds and rights issues.

"We plan to start construction of the Kitui plant late in 2014. It is a major development for us," said Pradeep Paunrana, ARM's chief executive, to the Daily Press.

This announcement will re-open the fight for Kitui mines, which were the subject of a fierce court battle between ARM and Bamburi Cement in 2010. The 100km² area is rich with high-quality limestone. The East Africa Portland Cement Company (EAPCC) has also directed its management to strike a deal with Kitui County so that it can secure key raw materials and counter moves made by Dangote and local rivals.

Kenya produced 4.7Mt of cement in 2012, up from 2.8Mt in 2008, according to the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics. With double-digit cement market growth expected in the coming years, Kenya has caught the eye of Dangote Cement and new entrants National Cement and Mombasa Cement as well as the established players.

Indonesia: Minister of State-Owned Enterprises Dahlan Iskan has said that he expects that Semen Kupang, a local cement company in East Nusa Tenggara that went bankrupt in 2008, will re-open and build a third plant to meet demand for cement in the region.

In 2008 Semen Kupang formed a joint operation scheme with Sarana Agro Gemilang (SAG) to cope with its debts. Dahlan explained that all of Semen Kupang's debt has been paid and that the company 'must' expand its business by developing the national cement industry to meet national demand.

China: Shijiazhuang, Hebei province has started the demolition of its first batch of 18 cement plants on 17 December 2013 to fight air pollution. 74 cement plants in the suburbs of Shijiazhuang are targeted for deconstruction by March 2014 according to China Daily. The planned demolition is planned to include all the western areas of the city by 2017.

"The cement companies have been a major source of dust pollution, making them a priority for demolition," said Niu Yongzhi, the official from the Bureau of Industry and Information in Shijiazhuang who is in charge of the project.

Demolition of the first 18 cement plants will be completed in January 2014. Removal of these cement units is expected to significantly reduce dust and nitrogen oxides emissions. More than 3500 cement plant employees will lose their jobs in the demolition.

The government will pay compensation to the companies whose plants are being shut down. Seven plants in Pingshan county will receive an average of US$1.5m each and tax breaks will be given to the companies when they start other businesses. The other 11 cement plants in Luquan will receive similar compensation.

The 18 cement plants, scattered throughout the northwestern area of Shijiazhuang produce 9.4Mt/yr or about 21% of the city's annual output. By 2014 cement production capacity in Hebei will drop to 61Mt/yr, half of the province's cement production in 2012.

US: Buzzi Unicem USA has announced that it plans to modernise and expand its Maryneal cement plant in Texas. The updated plant will have a 1.2Mt/yr cement capacity, up from 0.55Mt/yr. State-of-the-art pollution control equipment will be installed that will significantly reduce NOx emissions. The major components that will be installed during the expansion will include a new raw mill, a preheater/precalciner kiln and cooler system, a 4500KW finish mill, a solid fuel grinding and feed system and continued use of a newly commissioned Fives FCB Horomill Finish Mill.

"As an industry leader in quality and service, Buzzi Unicem USA is committed to sustainable, environmentally-responsible manufacturing at all of its plants," said David Nepereny, CEO of Buzzi Unicem USA. "The Maryneal plant expansion will result in a world-class facility that has the latest pyroprocessing, environmental and safety equipment."

The expansion will create an additional 200 full-time jobs for the 2 - 3 years that construction project is expected to last.

Nigeria: Sinoma International Engineering has signed a US$536m deal with Dangote to build two 6000t/day clinker production lines and accessories in Sagamu. The contract includes engineering design, equipment procurement and supply, civil construction, electrical equipment installation, debugging, performance appraisal and accessory projects covering the production process from crushing to packaging and delivery by the bag and in bulk.

India: Ultratech Cement plans to spend US$810m to build two cement plants in the state of Uttarakhand. The Industrial Development Department has issued a letter of intent to the Indian cement producer asking it to set up its new plants at Tuni, Dehradun district and at Someshwar, Almora district. The plant at Tuni will have a cement production capacity of 3.5Mt/yr and the plant at Someshwar will have a capacity of 2Mt/yr.

Ethiopia: The Development Bank of Ethiopia (DBE) has signed a loan agreement with Habesha Cement for US$33m to build a 1.4Mt/yr cement plant at Holeta in Oromia State. Additional loan agreements were also signed in late November 2013 between Habesha, the DBE and the Preferential Trade Area (PTA) Bank, the financial arm of the Common Market for Eastern & Southern Africa (COMESA). The PTA Bank is co-financing the Habesha project by lending US$50m.

According to Addis Fortune, Habesha is now seeking a letter of credit to allow equipment for the cement plant to be imported. Chinese engineering firm Northern Heavy Machinery Industries have been hired to import and erect machinery for US$80m.

Previously the DBE approved a loan for US$83m to cover 70% of the project costs but it withdrew the offer in early 2013. The current DBE loan only covers 30% of the project costs. Other investors, including PPC and South Africa's Industrial Development Corporation (SAIDC) paid US$21m for nearly half of Habesha Cement in 2012. The plant was originally scheduled to start production by 2012.

East Timor: POSCO E&C Australia, an Australian subsidiary of POSCO Engineering & Construction, has won a US$350m contract to build a cement plant for BGC in Baucau, East Timor. POSCO E&C Australia will be responsible for the whole process from engineering, procurement and construction. The length of the project will be 34 months.