Displaying items by tag: Rail
Cemex USA launches terminal in Denver
10 November 2017US: Cemex USA has officially launched a new railway terminal at Commerce City near Denver, Colorado. The site started operations in late September 2017. It is served by an existing rail line from the Lyons Cement Plant and has a silo capacity of 5000t. It will be used to store Type II ordinary Portland Cement. The unit is intended to supply cement to the Denver Metropolitan area as well as the wider state market.
Cemex’s US assets include 11 cement plants, 43 distribution terminals, 57 aggregate quarries and more than 270 ready-mix concrete plants.
Dangote Cement strikes deal with Zambia Railways
10 October 2017Zambia: Dangote Cement Zambia has contracted Zambia Railways to transport 2000t/month of cement and 500t/month of coal. Zambia Railways is transporting cement from Ndola to Lusaka and coal from Batoka to Ndola on behalf of Dangote Cement, according to the Times of Zambia newspaper. The cement producer operates a 1.5Mt/yr integrated plant in the country with 1200 employees and a fleet of over 500 trucks. It also runs a 30MW coal power plant.
Driver shortage may affect Polish cement sales
14 September 2017Poland: A shortage of truck drivers may negatively affect cement sales. Vacancies for drivers have grown to the extent that even migrant workers from the Ukraine are unable to meet demand, according to the Polish News Bulletin newspaper. The exodus of drivers from the Ukraine has also reportedly impacted upon that country’s cement market. Industry sources say that railway transport is unlikely to help the situation due to a lack of loading facilities. Cement production rose by 7% year-on-year to 9.4Mt in 2017. Cement sales are expected to reach 16.5Mt in 2017 and 17.5Mt in 2018.
Hanson Cement to reuse vertical roller mill from Spain
23 August 2017UK: Hanson Cement intends to reuse a 0.65Mt/yr vertical roller mill from a site in Bilbao, Spain for an upgrade to its Padeswood cement plant in north Wales. More information on the Euro22m project to demolish existing cement storage and loading facilities, erect a new mill and make changes to its railway facilities have emerged in planning documents. The cement producer intends to mothball three older mills at the site, continue to use a third (Mill 3) and install the mill from Bilbao. New cement rail loading facilities and silos will also be built to allow 4000 – 5000t/week of material to be transported from the site. In addition the railway line at the site will be modified and extended.
The subsidiary of HeidelbergCement says that the proposed development is intended to stop it transporting excess clinker by road from Padeswood to its Ketton plant for grinding into cement. It is also being implemented to meet increasing demand in the UK. Subject to planning approval by the local council the upgrade is planned for completion by the end of 2019.
Croatia: Zeljeznice, the Bosnia & Herzegovina railway federation, has signed a partnership with Croatia’s PPD Transport to transport gypsum to Nasicecement. The deal is to transport 20,000t of raw gypsum by the end of 2017 from supplier Rudnici Gipsa based in Donji Vakuf in Bosnia & Herzegovina, according to Klix media. Shipments were scheduled to start from the beginning of July 2017. No value for the contract has been disclosed.
India: The India Ratings and Research has blamed demonetisation and elections for a poor fourth quarter for cement producers in the 2017 Indian financial year. Cement production volumes fell by 15.8% year-on-year in February 2017 and by 5% on a month-on-month basis. India Ratings also attributed the decline to a strong equivalent quarter in the 2016 financial year.
It reported that volumes for the major cement producers contracted by 5% year-on-year in the third quarter. On a regional basis it fell by 3% and 6% for producers in central and northern regions. However, volumes rose sharply, by 21%, in the south. Growth in the southern region has been supported by increases in government spending in the states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.
The agency also reported that changes announced by the Ministry of Railways, which requires long-term agreements and contracts for industries like cement, steel and fertilisers, could potentially drive demand for cement. The new policy will provide conditional discounts that could increase the transport of cement through the rail network and cement manufacturers will be able to control freight costs more effectively. However, the availability of wagons during peak periods might also constrain the policy.
McInnis Cement to use Gaspesian Rail for distribution of cement
03 January 2017Canada: McInnis Cement has signed an agreement with the Gaspé railway corporation (SCFG) to distribute cement from New Richmond, Quebec to various Canadian and US markets. The agreement covers the transportation of 140,000t of cement over a five-year period.
“The use of rail combined with the efficiency of maritime transport provides McInnis the flexibility and competitiveness needed for the distribution of cement that will be produced by the company commencing in the Spring of 2017,” said McInnis Cement chief executive officer, Hervé Mallet. He added that the company might increase its volumes when conditions permit.
The cement will be loaded onto trucks at the plant site in Port-Daniel–Gascons, transported to New Richmond, and then trans-shipped onto tenders through a weight bin to be installed by SCFG. The first shipments are expected to start a few weeks after the plant becomes operational.
Tarmac opens rail facility at Aberthaw Cement Plant
30 November 2016UK: Tarmac’s Aberthaw Cement Plant has opened a rail facility to despatch bulk cement. The rail depot will mean that trains will be used to transport cement in Wales for the first time in over 20 years. The yard is expected to replace 2500 annual truck movements on the local roads. Jane Hutt, the Welsh Assembly Member for Vale of Glamorgan, officially opened the facility.
“Reducing our road movements by 25% is a significant achievement and it puts us in an even better position to supply materials to our customers across Wales and the south west of England in a more sustainable way. The plant has been in operation for over 100 years and we employ 109 people, the majority of whom live within 10 miles of the site, so this development demonstrates our commitment to the Vale of Glamorgan,” said Aberthaw Cement Plant manager, Chris Bradbury.
Zambia: Lafarge Zambia and Zambia Railways have signed a transport agreement to improve the delivery of production inputs for cement production and to distribute clinker and cement products locally and to neighbouring countries. The deal is intended to complement other modes of transport, reduce reliance on roads and promote sustainability. The agreement will run for three years and is subject to renewal.
“We continue to have a high fleet of trucks on our roads responsible for both inbound and outbound logistics, in excess of 500 trucks. The pressure exerted on the roads continues to be high as a result of this activity. Therefore, this partnership will relieve some pressure off our roads as it complements other modes of transportation currently in use today and we also anticipate to reduce the safety risk on the road,” said Chrissie Moloseni, Chief Financial Officer of Lafarge Zambia at the signing ceremony on 8 July 2016.
Christopher Musonda, the Chief Executive Officer of Zambia Railways, added that the company has devised a new transport model to improve efficiency. The Wagon Monitoring and Control System (WAMCO) is designed in a way that will enable customers to have dedicated wagons for all movements, thereby improving efficiency levels.
Holcim Lanka inaugurates transport model
11 May 2016Sri Lanka: Holcim Lanka has inaugurated a transport model for the transportation of its raw materials. In a public-private partnership between Holcim Lanka and the government, the state railway will transport raw materials by rail from the port of Trincomalee to the Mahawa railway station. The company's dedicated trucks will then transport the materials to the Puttalam cement plant. The inauguration took place at the China Bay station in Trincomalee, according to the Daily news newspaper.
“The successful launch of this phase would not have been possible without the support received from the Ministry of Transport," said Holcim Lanka Procurement and Logistics Director Charith Wijendra.
Environmental and efficiency improvements of the new model include using Supramax bulk carriers instead of smaller ships, using dedicated containerised trucks to reduce spillages and cut journeys and a reduction in the use of the railway network.