Displaying items by tag: Plant

Chile: On 20 May 2014 the environmental committee of Chile's Santiago Metropolitan region admitted for evaluation a 20MW solar power project from Chilean cement producer Cemento Polpaico.

Cemento Polpaico plans to invest US$42m in the Cerro Blanco photovoltaic park, which will be installed next to its cement plant in the Tiltil Municipality. The park will help to diversify Chile's energy mix and will supply renewable energy to the central power network (SIC), through the Punta Peuco substation, according to the environmental impact declaration. Construction is projected to commence in 2014.

Russia: Lafarge opened a Euro500m cement plant in Kaluga on 19 May 2014. The plant is the group's biggest project in Russia so far, according to Andre Martin, Lafarge's president in Russia.

The plant has a cement production capacity of 2Mt/yr. Raw material will be sourced from the adjacent Borschovskoye field, which Lafarge calculates has enough reserves to last 50 years. All of the cement will be supplied to the domestic market.

"This is a very modern enterprise. Russia produces a lot of cement and it needs more and more of it to modernise old enterprises," said first deputy prime minister Igor Shuvalov.

Lafarge is not planning to adjust its plans to develop business in Russia due to the Ukraine crisis, according to Martin. He said that Lafarge, which has been doing business in Russia since 1996, had long-term development plans for the Kaluga region.

Bulgaria: Bulgarian cement producer Devnya Cement plans to launch a new Euro160m production line with a cement production capacity of 1.5Mt/yr in September 2014. The plant, which is near the Black Sea port city of Varna, currently has a cement production capacity of 2.5Mt/yr. Devnya Cement was acquired by Italcementi in 1998.

South Africa: Investors have confirmed that construction has started on a new 1Mt/yr cement plant by Mamba Cement in Northam, Limpopo. Nedbank Capital and the Bank of China Johannesburg are providing US$107m of debt capital to fund Mamba, according to Business Day. Equity was provided by majority shareholder Jidong Development Group, the China-Africa Development Fund and by Women Investment Portfolio Holdings.

Nedbank Capital's infrastructure, energy and telecommunications head Mike Peo said that construction had already started and the project was expected to be completed by 2016.

"We obviously had a very hard look at the South African cement market. This plant is very close to Johannesburg, a primary market, so the transport costs and the actual cost point at which it can compete is going to be very attractive," said Peo. He added that the outlook for cement demand was 'extremely good' driven by government's infrastructure plans and the provision of housing.

Kenya: Karsan Ramji & Sons Ltd, a Kitengela-based quarry operator, has announced that it will begin construction of a 700t/day cement grinding plant by the end of 2014.

Karsan Ramji & Sons has revealed plans to build a US$4.91m mini cement plant in Athi River, adding competition pressures in an industry whose prices have remained flat for about a decade. It will be compete with established players such as Bamburi, East African Portland Cement Company (EAPCC) and ARM Cement, which together control 77% of Kenya's cement market.

"We are waiting for all of the approvals before we can kick off," said Kishon Varsani, managing director of Karsan Ramji & Sons. The cement plant will import clinker and source pozzolana and gypsum from its quarries in Kajiado and Kilifi.

Africa: Chief Executive Officer at Dangote Cement, Devakumar Edwin said that the company plans to start operations in Sierra Leone, Cameroon and Zambia in 2014. Dangote, which has a production capacity of 20.3Mt/yr in Nigeria, also intends to add 9Mt/yr to production in Nigeria by the end of 2014.

Edwin said that Dangote is currently reviewing its operations in Kenya in light of the discovery of limestone deposits in the country. Dangote plans to increase the capacity of its proposed plant in Kenya from 1.5Mt/yr to 3.0Mt/yr.

"In Ethiopia, work is well underway to build 2.5Mt/yr plant at Mugher, with commissioning expected late in 2014. In Tanzania, we have begun work on a 3Mt/yr plant at Mtwara that will be operational in 2015. In Zambia, work is underway on a 1.5Mt/yr plant at Ndola with cement production expected in the second half of 2014," said Edwin.

The bid to expand is part of the company's long-term expansion strategy across the continent. Dangote has three plants in Nigeria and plans to expand into 13 other African nations, bringing its total capacity to more than 60Mt/yr by 2016. Edwin added that the company is stalling its business plan in South Sudan 'because of military conflict in that nation.'

Dangote recorded a turnover of US$2.3bn in the 2013 financial year, up by 29.4% from US$1.8bn in 2012. Profit before tax was US$1.18bn, compared with US$836m in 2012, while profit after tax rose to US$1.24bn, a 38.73% increase when compared to US$899m recorded in the same period of 2012.

UK: Cemex is seeking approval to demolish several buildings at the South Ferriby cement plant in June 2014, which were damaged by the tidal surge in December 2013.

Among the buildings scheduled to be flattened are the canteen, the main laboratory and offices, the weigh-bridge, workshop and stores, the garage and toilet blocks. Cemex is also seeking approval to demolish the off-site social club. No cost details have yet been revealed.

India: ACC Cement plans to invest US$499m to modernise its Jamul facility in Chhattisgarh and to add a grinding unit of 1.5Mt/yr capacity in its Jharkhand-based unit, according to ACC sales director C Kurian. ACC aims to decommission the existing plant at Jamul and set up a new technology-based cement plant with a 4Mt/yr production capacity. Kurian added that the Holcim-owned company is likely to finish the work by the second quarter of 2015.

ACC currently has a production capacity of 6Mt/yr but plans to raise it to 10Mt/yr by 2016. It has six plants and holds a market share of 12% in India.

Nicaragua: According to Reuters, Cemex has begun construction on a new US$55m cement grinding plant in Nicaragua.

Cemex said that the new plant would boost cement production capacity by 0.44Mt/yr, which equates to 104% of the country's current production capacity. The plant is projected to increase housing and infrastructure development. The new plant in Ciudad Sandino, on the outskirts of the capital Managua, will eventually include two grinding mills and is expected to be complete by the end of 2017.

Nigeria: Dangote Cement has reported that its first quarter pre-tax profits fell by 1.25% year-on-year to US$331.7m. Gross earnings rose to US$652.5m compared with US$599.9m in the same period of 2013.

Dangote's chairman, Aliko Dangote, disclosed that its expansion drive would increase capacity and add an additional 9Mt/yr of production capacity by July 2014, expressing satisfaction that cement imports into Nigeria had continued to fall. An estimated 1.1Mt of cement was imported in 2013, down from 1.9Mt in 2012.

Dangote vowed that the company would stop at nothing to expand, as most of Nigeria's neighbours are currently importing cement from the Far East. "We are confident that Nigeria's cement will prove more attractive than the imports, particularly within the 15 member Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS)," he added.

To stabilise the price of cement and free the consumers from 'profiteering middlemen,' Dangote said that his company would intensify its direct-to-consumer deliveries.