Displaying items by tag: Plant

Indonesia: Chinese producers are expected to increase their capacity in Indonesia to 65Mt/yr from 60.56Mt/yr, according to an Indonesian industry official.

"Production will increase by 7% because the capacity of the factories will be ramped up and there will be additional investment in the cement business as well," said Director General for Basic Manufacturing Industry, Panggah Susanto. The plans for investment have been approved by the Capital Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM).

Chinese producer Anhui Conch Cement Co Ltd has said that it will will build a 10Mt/yr plant in either South Kalimantan, East Kalimantan, West Kalimantan or West Papua.

China Trio Bit Engineering Co Ltd will build a 1.5Mt/yr plant in Subang, West Java. Another Chinese firm, State Development and Investment Corperation (SDIC), will build a 1.8Mt/yr plant in Papua. In addition, Siam Cement, the largest cement producer in Thailand, has also expressed interest in building a 1.8Mt.yr plant in West Java.

Kyrgyzstan: A rally against the Aravan Cement Plant had been held in the Aravan district of the Osh region in southern Kyrgyzstan.

Protestors demanded that cleaning filters be installed at the plant, funds be allocated to the local budget and local infrastructure be improved. In addition, they demanded that the plant owners sell cement to residents of the Aravan district at discounted prices.

The protesters have vowed to block the Aravan-Osh road if the plant's management ignores their demands. Additionally they have threatened to revoke the mandate of member of parliament Azamat Arapbaev, who is one of the plant's owners. The rally follows a residents meeting held on 12 September 2012 where similar demands were raised.

Critics of the protest have blamed professional agitators seeking money. In May 2012, a special commission conducted analysis of the air, water and soil at the plant and concluded that all the data met the required standards.

The Aravan Cement Plant started operation in September 2008 with a capacity of 200,000t/yr. About 380 people work at the site. The Aravan Cement Plant is a Kyrgyz-Chinese company.

Belarus: Belarusian President Alyaksandr Lukashenka has ordered the Homel Regional Executive Committee to cancel an investment agreement under which Iran's Azarab Industries Company was to build a cement plant in the Vetka district.

Under the agreement, signed in May 2010, the Iranian company was to invest at least US$200m dollars in the project and complete the plant within three years. The Belarusian authorities hoped that the plant would be put into operation within 24 months. The investor was also to be granted the right to develop two chalk deposits near Vetka for a period of 50 years and export up to 70% of the output of the 1Mt/yr plant.

Uladzimir Dvornik, head of the Homel Regional Executive Committee, said in March 2011 that although the first stage of the project was to be completed on 7 February 2011, Azarab Industries Company had not submitted an implementation report. Instead, in January 2011, the regional government received a draft lease agreement for land plots from the company, which contained provisions contravening Belarusian regulations. In March 2011 the Homel Regional Executive Committee sent a letter to the Iranian company to assure it of a favourable decision on its suggestions with regard to a fixed lease rate for 50 years.

"There has yet been neither reply nor action from the Iranian company, which does not contribute to the implementation of the investment project," said Dvornik. The regional government is now looking for new investors for the plant.

Venezuela: Managing Director of the Organization for Development and Renovation of Mines and Mining Industry, Majid Tooklani, has said that Iran is constructing a 1Mt/yr cement plant in Servasul, Venezuela.

"The first phase of the project is underway and the second phase will begin within four months," Tooklani said. He added that the project is a joint investment venture by Iran and Venezuela with 30 Iranian companies providing the host country with technical and engineering services.

New Zealand: Holcim has delayed the decision to build a new cement plant in Weston until 2013. It is now the fifth time since 2009 that the multinational producer has failed to confirm its plans for the US$400m project.

"In this very challenging environment the Weston project continues to have the support of Holcim and the team are refining project information and working on various elements to ensure that the project proposal remains in a state of readiness for future consideration," said Holcim New Zealand capital projects manager Ken Cowie. He blamed the 'uncertain' international financial situation for the delay but denied that the project had been scrapped. The replacement for the Westport plant will have a capacity of 0.86Mt/yr.

Bolivia: Soboce's planned cement plant in Yacuses, Santa Cruz will require 10Mm³ of natural gas supplies, Soboce's main shareholder Samuel Doria Medina has said. According to the project's viability study, the plant will also need a pipeline to be built and a gas supply guarantee from state-run oil and gas firm Yacimientos Petroliferos Fiscales Bolivianos (YPFB).

Soboce estimates that the plant will cost US$160m to build. The project will be able to generate energy for its own consumption using natural gas. Soboce and YPFB have already built a 19.6km pipeline to supply gas to another plant in Viacha.

India: Dalmia Cement Bharat, a subsidiary of Dalmia Bharat Enterprises, has signed an agreement to acquire Adhunik Cement for US$106m. The acquisition and consideration will be made in multiple tranches, subject to adjustments and various other terms and conditions.

Adhunik Cement is a joint venture between two Calcutta–based companies, Adhunik Group and MSP Group. Previously the company invested US$133m to set up a 1.5Mt/yr cement plant in the limestone-rich Jaintia Hills in Meghalaya. It also set up a 25MW coal-based captive power plant for the site.

Dalmia Bharat Enterprise is a cement manufacturer with plants in Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh with a capacity of 9Mt/yr. The company is engaged in the business of cement, thermal power and other businesses.

Russia: Eurocement has announced that it will build a US$480m cement plant in the Stavropol region of Russia with a production capacity of 1.3Mt/yr. Construction will take place in the Spasskoe village of Blagodarnenskiy District.

The new plant will cover an area of 40 hectares and will produce 3500t/day of clinker. Its power consumption will be 35MW, its electrical consumption will be 105kWh/t of cement, its gas consumption will be 103Mm3/yr and restrictions of dust emissions will be 20mg/Nm3. The plant will have a staff of 400 people, with the potential to create 1000 additional jobs. The project will be implemented under a public-private partnership and has been submitted to the prime minister of the Russian Federation Dmitry Medvedev. The plant is expected to be completed by 2015.

"The objective of Eurocement is to reduce the cost of cement production whilst maintaining compliance with the highest standards of product quality and conformity of production of the world's environmental requirements," said Eurocement president Mikhail Skorokhod.

Togo: HeidelbergCement has announced the construction of a new US$250m clinker plant with an annual capacity of 1.5Mt/yr in the town of Tabligbo, Togo. In addition, the company is building a new cement grinding facility with a capacity of 0.2Mt/yr in Dapaong.

"The construction of the new clinker plant and the cement grinding facility is part of our strategy to focus on expanding our clinker and cement capacities in growth markets. In addition to Asia and eastern Europe these include, in particular, the countries of sub-Saharan Africa," said Dr Bernd Scheifele, chairman of the managing board of HeidelbergCement.

"As west Africa possesses only relatively small limestone deposits, the clinker required in cement production often has to be imported at high cost. Our new clinker plant is of great strategic importance as it sources the limestone from its own deposits," added Scheifele.

The clinker will be processed to cement in HeidelbergCement's grinding mills in Togo as well as in the neighbouring countries of Benin, Ghana and Burkina Faso. This will replace clinker that has previously been imported from overseas and thereby strengthen HeidelbergCement's competitiveness in Africa. HeidelbergCement said that the project will stimulate improvement in local infrastructure and housing and is expected to create around 1300 jobs locally, of which more than 200 will be at the plants.

The project is being conducted within the framework of a partnership between HeidelbergCement and IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, and its finance partners. Commissioning of the two new plants is scheduled for 2015. The capacity expansion in Togo is already included in HeidelbergCement's capital expenditure plan.

Philippines: Cemex has announced that it is planning to expand the cement production capacity of its APO plant in the Philippines by 1.5 Mt/yr. Through an investment of approximately US$65m, the company will increase production and strengthen its distribution network to better serve high-demand areas throughout the country. The increase is expected to be operational by the first quarter of 2014.

With this new investment, Cemex says that it will keep pace with the Filipino market's rapid growth. The country registered a GDP growth of 6.1% in the first half of 2012, according to its National Statistical Coordination Board. The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority has begun multiple infrastructure projects as the country recovers from damage caused by extreme weather conditions.

"Infrastructure development has been one of the constant needs of the country and it has to be addressed with urgency," said Pedro Palomino, president of Cemex in the Philippines. "We are proud to be a part of the development of the Philippines and wish to be a long-term partner on its path to a prosperous, sustainable future."