Displaying items by tag: Plant
Ministry of Industry and Information Technology to transfer six cement plant being built in Sichuan
04 February 2015China: The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) has released a plan to transfer the production capacity of six cement projects that are currently being built in Sichuan Province. These schemes, with a total cement production capacity of 6Mt/yr, will be publicised on the national production capacity replacement quota platform for future transfer.
Zimbabwe: Plans to build a cement plant in Zvishavane by Chinese investors have been challenged as it has emerged that the mining rights in the area belong to Shabanie Mashaba Mines (SMM). This may delay the project as SMM is still the subject of an ownership dispute between the government and South African-based businessman Mutumwa Mawere.
The project was intended to be built 30km from the Zvishavane along the Zvishavane-Mbalabala road, according to local press. It was part of the deals made with China after President Robert Mugabe's visit to China in 2014 as well as negotiations between the Joint Zimbabwe-China Permanent Commission.
Cemex condemns assassination of its head of security
04 February 2015Colombia: Cemex has condemned a recent attack that resulted in the death of Clavijo Rojas, head of Cemex security, near to a cement plant that it is building in Maceo, Magdalena Medio. Cemex executives want local authorities to investigate the incident so that the criminals can be apprehended. Clavijo Rojas, a 50 year old German citizen, was travelling in a car with another person when they were fired upon, possibly by a guerrilla group or by those linked to organised crime. Cemex said that it had not received any threats or demands in this area.
Lafarge Cement Zimbabwe plant upgrade on the table
03 February 2015Zimbabwe: Lafarge Cement Zimbabwe is going ahead with plans to upgrade its plant to increase capacity from 390,000t/yr to 450,000t/yr. The upgrade will cost US$15 – 20m, according to Lafarge Cement Zimbabwe CEO Amal Tantawi.
"Lafarge has a nominal capacity. We could produce up to 450,000t, but we do have some challenges that we are working on. Beyond that, we want to stabilise and be able to reach our maximum capacity, but that will not come before 2016," said Tantawi. "The challenges that we are facing are the cement mills that cannot reach this capacity, but we are looking at installing new mills by 2016. Once we do the upgrade, we will be able to operate at maximum capacity of 450,000t."
Lafarge Cement Zimbabwe is in a closed period and is due to release its financial results for 2014 by March 2015. Tantawi said that the year has not been a good one. Group revenue for the half year that ended in June 2014 declined by 12.5% to US$28.2m, while gross profit was US$9.4m, compared to US$14.1m in the same period of 2013.
"Traditionally, the second half of the year has always been better in terms of business growth and the trend is expected to continue in 2015. Going forward, the construction industry has positive growth prospects premised on the mounting housing backlog and the pressing need for overall infrastructural rehabilitation and development. The company is well positioned to take advantage of the expected growth in the construction sector," said Lafarge Cement Zimbabwe in a statement.
Charlevoix cement plant expansion cleared
02 February 2015US: The Charlevoix County Board of Commissioners has approved the proposal by St Marys Cement to expand its cement plant in Michigan State. St Marys Cement, part of Votorantim Group, is planning a US$130m upgrade to the Charlevoix plant, which would increase its production capacity from 1.3Mt/yr to nearly 2Mt/yr.
According to local press reports, in a 5:1 vote that followed the hearing, the county board approved the upgrade plan. Commissioner George Lasater provided the lone vote in opposition. He said that he simply wanted to do more research on the proposal. Other commissioners described their votes in support as important to sustaining the economy in Charlevoix County.
The proposal now moves to the state Department of Environmental Quality for final approval. If the Charlevoix plans were rejected, St Marys officials have said they will seek to reopen the Illinois plant.
Norm Sement reaches its designed capacity
27 January 2015Azerbaijan: The largest cement plant in the South Caucasus, Norm Sement, situated in Garadagh District of Baku City, has reached its design capacity, according to Norm Sement's CEO Hasan Yalcinkaya. The plant has 5000t/day of clinker production capacity and 2Mt/yr of cement production capacity. Yalcinkaya said that 2014 was successful for the company and Azerbaijan's cement industry as a whole.
"We managed to successfully complete our projects," said Yalcinkaya. "The cement plant was inaugurated by the president of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev on 21 July 2014. "Since that time, the plant has been working very efficiently and has started to produce its own clinker. We have reached our design capacity. So, I can say that 2014 has been successful. 510,000t of cement was produced, while clinker production was at the level of 471,000t in 2014. We were able to cover about 20% of the market for just six months since the beginning of clinker production. We plan to increase our market share with the production of high-quality cement and rendering high-quality services to our clients in the consumer market."
Yalcinkaya further noted that, in 2014, Azerbaijan's domestic demand for cement stood at around 4.3Mt and in 2015 year demand will be at least on the same level. "Currently, about 60% of the market is provided by local producers," said Yalcinkaya. "About 40% of cement is imported from neighbouring countries." He said that the local production plants are fully capable of meeting the market requirements. "Our goal is to reduce cement imports as much as possible," said the CEO.
"To date, we have invested US$326m in the new plant," said Yalcinkaya. "We have several projects on efficiency and production improvements, in particular the expansion of the product range. We will continue to improve our efficiency and reduce energy consumption. We also plan to invest in the production of cement for oil wells."
According to Yalcinkaya, oil well cement production will be developed in 2015. "This is exactly the product that we can easily export to oil producing countries, for instance, to Kazakhstan and Russia," said Yalcinkaya. "Once we develop this product, we will start to export it."
Qatari investors plan US$500m cement plant in Ethiopia
26 January 2015Ethiopia: A Qatari business group plans to invest US$500m in Ethiopia. The group met with Ethiopia's president to discuss their investment plans, which include a cement plant in Dire Dawa, as well as other industrial facilities. No specifics have been announced as to the capacity of the cement plant.
JK Lakshmi's US$276m Durg cement plant starts production
22 January 2015India: Built at a cost of more than US$276m, JK Lakshmi Cement's new Durg cement plant in Chhattisgarh has started production.
The plant has an installed capacity of nearly 2.7Mt/yr. Following commissioning, JK Lakshmi Cement's installed cement production capacity stands at 9.3Mt/yr. A part of the US$4bn JK Organisation, the Durg plant will produce various types of cement, including Ordinary Portland cement, Portland pozzolana cement and slag cement.
The Durg project had in 2013 attracted the wrath of the local inhabitants, who set fire to part of the under-construction plant. They were reportedly angered by the reluctance of JK Lakshmi Cement to give jobs to people affected by the project. This caused serious damages at the construction site.
India: Cement companies that operate in East Jaintia Hills District, Meghalaya State face a precarious situation due to a ban imposed by National Green Tribunal (NGT) on the extraction and transportation of coal. As coal is a major fuel used by the cement plants in the region, its non-availability threatens to close the plants.
"Coal demand from cement plants is huge and if there is no supply, all the cement companies will have no other option but to shut down their plants," said a representative at one of the cement plants affected by the ban. He lamented that the NGT court had lifted the ban on transportation of the assessed and extracted coal for transportation to Beltola District, Assam State, only. "However, the cement plants in East Jaintia Hills have not received any coal due to the non-availability of a weighbridge in the district," he said. "Approximately 2000 - 2500 trucks are seen transporting coal to Assam every day."
JSW to boost cement capacity to 30Mt/yr by 2025
19 January 2015India: JSW plans to expand its cement production capacity to 30Mt/yr from 5Mt/yr by setting up grinding units closer to its steel plants. As part of its diversification, it is also considering the production of aluminium, if the government allocates bauxite mines to it.
Seshagiri Rao, joint managing director of JSW Steel, said that the company's presence in the cement business is small compared with other companies with 60 – 70Mt/yr of production capacity. JSW's plan is to become a significant player in the sector, with 30Mt/yr of production capacity by 2025, he added.
For instance, a grinding unit installed closer to the Dolvi steel plant in Maharashtra State could source clinker from Gujarat State, mix it with slag available from the plant and tap the vibrant western market. "Alternatively, we could also set up grinding units closer to the cement market and take our slag there," said Rao. "We would source clinker from the closest available location so that we remain competitive."
The Tamil Nadu State Government recently notified a scheme whereby cement companies are asked to quote their factory gate price. Contractors were given the price list to source cement for their projects. JSW Cement has also placed its bids under the scheme. "I believe that other State Governments will also emulate the Tamil Nadu Government model to make cement available for their projects at a competitive price without any subsidy," said Rao.