Displaying items by tag: Plant
US: Gebr. Pfeiffer Inc., the US subsidiary of Germany's Gebr. Pfeiffer SE, has been contracted to supply a new raw material vertical roller mill for the Holcim (US) Hagerstown plant as part of a wider renovation project. The order was placed through KHD Humboldt Wedag, which is the engineering and equipment supplier for the Hagerstown plant modernisation. KHD has been contracted to modify the existing production line to increase the plant's potential production rate to approximately 2400t/day and to comply with the new NESHAP environmental regulations.
KHD's scope of supply begins with modifying the raw material feed system and continues through to the clinker handling system and storage hall. As part of the solution, a new raw material grinding mill, the MPS 3750 B, along with all related engineering services will be supplied by Gebr. Pfeiffer, Inc. The raw material grinding mill includes a rotary air lock with drive, MPS 3750 B mill, an SLS 3150 B high efficiency classifier and includes Gebr. Pfeiffer's patented 'Lift and Swing' technology.
Commissioning for this project is planned for mid-2016.
Savannah Cement to invest US$200m in clinker production
22 April 2014Kenya: Savannah Cement plans to invest US$200m to develop a clinker plant. Currently, most of the major cement companies in Kenya rely on imported clinker.
Savannah Cement board chairman Benson Ndeta announced that the company, which currently has a production capacity of more than 1.5Mt/yr of cement, will develop the clinker plant to boost its market share. Ndeta said that the firm hopes to be a major competitor in the regional market in the supply of cement to Rwanda, Burundi, Tanzania, Uganda, the Democratic Republic of Congo and South Sudan after satisfying its local market with cement.
Spain: French cement multinational Lafarge has reportedly withdrawn from talks that it was having regarding the acquisition of a Catalonian cement plant from the Spanish sector player Cementos Portland Valderrivas (CPV). The decision was attributed to Lafarge's merger project with Swiss cement maker Holcim, which will most probably lead to the sale of assets in European countries, including Spain.
Lafarge had been negotiating the acquisition of the Vallcarca plant for several months. The plant has a cement capacity of 1.3Mt/yr. Lafarge previously placed a Euro20m offer for the facility, which was rejected by CPV.
Tajikistan: Tajik President Emomali Rahmon was expected to give the green light for the construction of 0.5Mt/yr cement plant in Vahdat on Wednesday 16 April 2014. The Ministry of Industry and New technologies of Tajikistan (MoINT) says that an estimated budget for construction of the plant is US$81.5m. It will be built by China-based Beijing Uni-Construction Group, which will deliver the plant to Tajik firm Vahdat Cement on a turnkey basis.
Ambuja Cements to set up three new plants
15 April 2014India: Ambuja Cements will invest US$133m in 2014 from internal funds in order to partially finance its on-going capacity expansion projects.
"2014 will see capital expenditure worth US$133m, over and above the US$120m investment made in 2013. The entire proposed expenditure will be financed by internal funds," Ambuja Cements said in its annual report.
At present, Ambuja Cements has a cement production capacity of 27.25Mt/yr. It is setting up three 1.5Mt/yr capacity greenfield cement plants in Rajsthan, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh. Ambuja Cements is investing US$581m for setting up the three new plants. The company is also adding 0.8Mt/yr of clinker capacity in West Bengal and Rajasthan.
Shree Cement on expansion drive
15 April 2014India: Shree Cement plans to increase its cement production capacity to 20Mt/yr by 2015, up from 13.5Mt/yr in 2013.
Shree Cements will construct an integrated cement plant in Chhattisgarh for US$282m, a grinding plant in Bihar for US$82.9m and is increasing the cement production capacity at its plant in Rajasthan.
"The Chhattisgarh plant could be commissioned by April 2015, while the Bihar unit could be in operation as soon as May 2014. We are also on the verge of completing the expansion at Rajasthan," said H M Bangur, managing director of Shree Cement.
Vietnam: The Vietnamese government will no longer provide guarantees to foreign loans for cement projects, as domestic supply has surpassed real demand, according to Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung.
Local cement producers have been facing huge difficulties, including huge losses and high inventory due to the low domestic demand. While domestic demand has remained modest, the annual cement output continues to increase, reaching 70Mt in 2013. Cement sales remained low at 61Mt. Domestic cement production capacity is forecast to rise to 77Mt/yr due to the commissioning of five new cement plants with a combined production capacity of 7Mt/yr.
The Vietnamese government earlier guaranteed foreign loans worth US$1.36bn for 16 state-owned cement companies, including Dong Banh, Thai Nguyen, Tam Diep and Hoang Mai companies. According to an audit report in 2012 from the Ministry of Finance on cement projects using loans with the government acting as underwriter, 10 cement projects resulted in losses and some of them could not repay their loans.
Ravena cement plant rebuild to launch amidst merger
10 April 2014US: The rebuilding of Lafarge's Ravena cement plant will move ahead days after the announcement of the Lafarge-Holcim merger. Construction will begin on 11 April 2014.
"We are moving forward with our current plans on the Ravena plant modernisation," said Lafarge US communications director Joelle Lipski-Rockwood. The rebuilding is part of a December 2010 settlement with state and federal officials to dramatically reduce emissions of NOx and SO2 at Lafarge's plants in the state of New York.
Two kilns that date from the 1950s will be replaced by a modern kiln with advanced pollution controls. Pollution at the Ravena plant, which sits across from the local high school, has concerned many local residents for many years. The new plant, which is expected to be running by mid-2017, will emit no more than 26.8kg/yr of mercury. In 2012 the plant emitted 63.5kg of mercury and in 2011 it emitted 64.9kg.
The project was initially due to be completed by the end of 2015, but in 2013 Lafarge received an extension from the state Department of Environmental Conservation in exchange for greater pollution cuts. As part of the emissions agreement, Lafarge also would have spent US$2m to retrain workers if plans to rebuild the plant were shelved and the plant was closed.
Pakistan: DG Khan Cement is planning to start building a new cement plant at Hub, Balochistan in 2015, according to a company official. The plant will have a production capacity of 2 – 2.5Mt/yr and the project will cost US$250m. The plant will become operation by the end of 2017.
"At present, we are in the phase of finalising vendors for the construction site. In the next phase, we will open letter of credit," the official said.
DG Khan Cement is forecasting development in Balochistan and Sindh and it also hopes to increase movement of its products between provinces in Pakistan. Dispatching cement from the proposed Hub plant will incur lower freight charges compared to transporting cement from DG Khan's existing plants in Punjab.
Construction starts on two cement plants in Tajikistan
09 April 2014Tajikistan: Construction work on two cement plants with a total installed production capacity of 1.8Mt/yr has started in northern Tajikistan. President Emomali Rahmon attended the opening ceremonies of both plants.
The first plant, Ghayur-Sughd Cement - with a production capacity of 1.2Mt/yr - will be built in Ghafur district on a 48 hectare site. The plant will be built by the Tajik Ghayur company together with a Chinese partner, Huaksin Central Asia Investment. The cost of the project is over US$100m. After the plant is commissioned it will employ 1000 people. The first unit of the plant is scheduled for launch in 2015 and the second in 2016. Previously Tajik Ghayur and Huaksin built the 1Mt/yr Yuvon cement plant, which opened in 2013.
President Rahmon also attended the opening ceremony of the construction of Chjuntsay-Taboshar Cement plant. This 0.6Mt/yr plant is scheduled for completion in 2015 and it will employ nearly 500 people.