Displaying items by tag: Plant

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.

Kazakhstan: Italcementi Group has invested US$80m in the modernisation of its Shymkentcement JSC plant in southern Kazakhstan. The new dry-process cement line will have a cement capacity of 1.2Mt/yr and is expected to be commissioned in 20 months.

"The new cement line is expected to produce clinker in mid-2015. After the launch of the new line, the old furnace will be shut down," said the general director of the Shymkentcement plant.

Zambia: Lafarge Zambia plc has commissioned a US$5m 600,000t/yr aggregate plant with the Zambian Government that is expected to create 70 new direct jobs.

Minister of Commerce, Trade and Industry, Emmanuel Chenda, said that national roads infrastructure programmes such as the Link Zambia 8,000 and Pave Zambia 2000 require readily available cement and aggregate and the plant will ensure there is adequate supply for the project to be implemented effectively.

"The huge demand for cement and aggregates that the construction industry provides cannot be overstated. The market is ready and all you need is tap into it by way of increasing commercial circulation of the products at competitive market rates," said Chenda. He disclosed that Government has formulated mid-term policies and strategies to address constraints in the manufacturing sector such as high cost of production, limited access to long-term finance and weak linkages. The policies will be implemented over the next five years in line with the revised Sixth National Development Plan.

Lafarge Zambia chief executive officer Emmanuel Rigaux said that the aggregate plant can also be adjusted in terms of capacity, which will enable the company to supply more of the product as required.

Denmark: An ICC (International Chamber of Commerce) arbitration has been concluded in a case between MT Højgaard A/S and FLSmidth A/S dating back to 2004.

Much to the surprise of FLSmidth and contrary to expectations, the ICC arbitration award renders FLSmidth liable to pay significantly higher compensation than expected. The compensation is due for some of the costs resulting from delays at the Buxton cement plant in the UK in 2004.

According to the arbitration award, FLSmidth is to pay partial compensation plus interest, plus part of the costs of the proceedings to MT Højgaard.

The impact on FLSmidth's financial statements amounts to a net loss of Euro21.5m on EBITA and Euro16.1m on profit after tax, which will be booked in the fourth quarter of 2013. Consequently, the EBITA margin for 2013 is expected to be 3.5-4.5% rather than the previously forecast 4-5%.

India: A fire broke out at the government run Jammu & Kashmir Cement plant in the Pulwama district of south Kashmir on 3 December 2013. No one was hurt and damage was caused to "a few machines like motors, diesel oil tank, hot air generator and coal mill," said a police spokesman. Fire and emergency services responded swiftly and put out the fire in an hour. The cause of the fire remains unknown.

Ethiopia: Mohammed al-Amoudi, the biggest private investor in Ethiopia, plans to build two cement plants in the country due to an 'improving investment environment'. Al-Amoudi said that the new plants would join the US$351m Derba Midroc cement plant that opened in December 2011. Al-Amoudi announced in March 2012 that he intends to invest US$3.4bn in Ethiopia in 2014 – 2016.

Colombia: Mexican cement maker Cemex has opened its fifth plant in Clemencia, Colombia. The US$50m plant in northern Colombia has a cement production capacity of 0.45Mt/yr.

Cemex plans to begin building its sixth plant in Colombia at the start of 2014 with a US$125m investment. The construction is expected to last 24 months and have a cement production capacity of 0.50Mt/yr.

Cemex foresees strong growth in the Colombian market, specifically in infrastructure, as President Juan Manuel Santos has been investing heavily in roads, ports, railways and airports, with some US$25bn invested in the past four years.