Displaying items by tag: Project

Qatar: Qatar National Cement Company (QNCC) plans to open its fifth cement plant in the first half of 2018. The move will increase its cement production capacity of 5500t/day, according to the Qatar Tribune newspaper. However, its sales of cement fell slightly to 3.4Mt in 2017 from 3.7Mt in 2016.

The cement producer’s sales revenue fell by 9.6% year-on-year to US$283m in 2017 from US$313m in 2016. Its net profit decreased by 31% to US$90m from US$130m. The company blamed the falling profit on a poor local economy causing poor demand and a reduced selling price since April 2017.

Paraguay: Industria Nacional del Cemento (INC) expects to begin March 2018 with a 30% production rise, following the opening of a new mill, according to its president Jorge Mendez. Production will increase to 1.4 million bags per month, from 1.1 million bags per month at present. Its market share will increase to 70%-75%, from 51% at present. This is anticipated to add an extra US$50m to the company’s turnover. The new mill is currently 90% complete and has cost the company US$11.5m.

India: The proposed UltraTech Cement plant at Khamarnuagaon in Cuttack District's Athagarh Block has witnessed protests by locals after it obtained the required 90 acres from the government to start building the plant.

Addressing a press conference, villagers of Gurudijhatia and Khamarnuagaon alleged that they would lose almost all grazing fields for cattle when the land is given to the plant. They also alleged that elephants from the Kapilash and Chandaka jungles would be forced into the villages and destroy crops after a fence is erected around the plant. UltraTech told the media that the plant would be ‘people-friendly.’

Kazakhstan: Gezhouba Shieli Cement Company LLC is now inviting international banks and financial institutions to support the construction of its planned cement production plant in Kyzylorda region, Kazakhstan, according to Li Jinqing, the company's general manager. Gezhouba Shieli is a thee-party joint venture (JV) between China Gezhouba Group Corporation Limited (CGGC) (50%), China Gezhouba Group Overseas Investment Co., Ltd (20%), a subsidiary of CGGC, and a local cement company (30%).

The cement production line will require a total investment of around US$200m, of which 70% will be funded through bank loans. At present, CGGC is actively in communication with some Chinese banks and financial institutions, including Export-Import Bank of China (EIBC) and China Development Bank Corporation (CDB). The plant is designed to have a production capacity of 2500t/day. It is expected to be operational by the end of 2018.

China Triumph International Engineering Co Ltd (CTIEC) won the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract in April 2017, while its subsidiary Beijing Triumph International Engineering Co., Ltd will take responsibility for design work, according to Qian Yingchun, the project leader at CTIEC. More equipment will be required as construction progresses.

Ghana: President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has laid the foundation stone for a new cement plant in the Tema Free Zones near Accra. The US$55m grinding plant, to be operated by CBI Ghana, will take a year to complete. It will produce and supply premium cement under the brand name Supacem. The company is expected to employ some 400 staff when it commences operations.

In remarks before the ground-breaking ceremony, the President said that his government would continue to provide regulatory support and ensure a business-friendly environment that would engender competitiveness to enable the cement industry to thrive. He said the growing competition in the sector was leading to healthy competition that was benefiting consumers.

With CBI only the latest entrant to the cement sector, President Akufo-Addo was optimistic that the company would diversify the sector, promote healthy competition and further improve product standards. He added that the government was considering the use of concrete for constructing durable roads, envisaging a huge demand for cement in the near future.

Vietnam: Thailand’s Siam City Cement Group wants to expand investment in the production and supply of construction materials and waste treatment in Vietnam’s southern Dong Nai Province, according to its local CEO Philippe Richart.

At a working session with the provincial People’s Committee in Dong Nai on 8 August 2017, Richart noted that the group has invested in the former Holcim cement plant in Nhon Trach district and will expand the plant in the future. He added that the company will also invest in an industrial dry mortar plant and a transit station for construction materials in Dong Nai. It is also focusing on waste treatment, he said, adding that the group is using the latest technologies in this field.

Vice Chairman of the provincial People’s Committee Nguyen Quoc Hung cited a number of key projects being carried out in the locality such as major expressway projects and the Long Thanh airport, which will be launched in 2019. It is expected that cement demand will increase significantly in the local area due to these and smaller developments.

India: Ramco Cements is planning to make an investment of about US$172m in various projects, on the back of anticipated higher demand for cement in the near future. The company will invest in a range of projects, including expansion of its satellite grinding unit capacity. This move will enable the company to increase its presence in Odisha, Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal and will raise its total capacity to 7.1Mt/yr from 4.0Mt/yr at present. Expansions will be undertaken at its Visakhapatnam and Kolaghat plants, as well as at a new new grinding unit in Odisha. The projects will be commissioned within 18 months.

Philippines: DMCI Holdings has once again hinted that it is looking to enter the cement sector, with a potential US$340m investment to make use of low-grade coal and vast limestone reserves in Antique's Semirara Island. DMCI chair and president Isidro Consunji said that the island, where DMCI’s Semirara Mining and Power Corporation already mines coal, has around 1Bnt of limestone. He hinted at a capacity of around 5000t/day, saying, “You only need two 2Mt/yr, so the limestone can last for 500 years if we don't expand.” Consunji added that the cement plant would be capable of using lower grade coal that DMCI cannot use or sell for other purposes. 

The company previously made a similar announcement of intent in December 2016.

Philippines: Holcim Philippines has said its production capacity is expected to reach 10Mt/yr by the end of the first half of 2017, with company COO Sapna Sood stating that this would be achieved by ‘debottlenecking’ existing facilities following a US$40m project that started in 2015.

“We have a project where we are looking at safety and debottlenecking that is near completion,” said Sood. “When we look at the country, the infrastructure that is coming in and the commitment that we are making to infrastructure, it is pretty exciting for the country and the industry.”Sood added that, while the company had no immediate plans to build a new cement plant, Holcim Philippines planned to offer various solutions to help in the implementation of various infrastructure projects.

The total demand for cement in the Philippines reached 26.0Mt in 2016, up from 24.4Mt in 2015, although the final quarter of 2016 and first quarter of 2017 have been subdued.

Holcim Philippines operates four cement plants in La Union, Bulacan, Misamis Oriental and Davao.

US: China's Sinoma TCDRI and Amec Foster Wheeler are forming a joint venture to sell turnkey installations for the cement industry in the US. The two engineering companies revealed their relationship in the sector at the 2017 IEEE-PCA Cement Conference taking place in Calgary, Canada. The companies are negotiating their first US tenders and hope to make an announcement later in 2017. Sinoma is one of the largest suppliers of equipment for cement plants in the world but it has yet to build a plant in the United States.