Displaying items by tag: Sinoma

Vietnam: Loesche has signed a contract with Sinoma-NCDRI for three mills to be supplied for Thanh Thang Cement in Bong Lang, Ha Na. A type LM 60.6 Loesche mill with a performance of 520t/hour as a reliable unit has been ordered to grind cement to a fineness of 12% R DIN 0.09mm. The gearbox of this mill has a power output of 4600kW. Two separate type LM 53.3+3 CS Loesche mills with a performance of 200t/hour will be in use to grind clinker to 3400 Blaine. The gearboxes of these two mills each have a power of 4,600 kW.

The scope of delivery for this order also includes rotary feeders, water injection, metal detectors and sealing air fans. All three mills are to be put into operation by October 2016.

Egypt: South Valley Cement has signed a contract with Sinoma CDI to convert its plant to coal burning for US$14m. The contract is expected to be complete by April 2017. In August 2015 South Valley Cement signed a US$38m contract for Sinoma to build a grinding line for the plant.

Vietnam: The Song Lam cement plant has ordered four Loesche mills via Sinoma. The greenfield project is being organised by the Hoang Phat Vissai Group Company.

Two type LM 60.6 Loesche mills have been ordered to grind raw material to a fineness of 12% R90μ, with a capacity of 2 x 520t/hour and a gearbox power of 4600kW. Metal detectors and sealing air fans are also included in the scope of supply. The lead time for the main components of the mill and for the additional units included in the scope of supply is 10 months. The commissioning of the vertical roller mills is planned for the fourth quarter of 2016.

Two type LM 63.3+3 CS Loesche mills have been ordered to grind clinker. These mills are designed with a capacity of 300t/hour Ordinary Portland Cement in order to grind the material to a fineness of 4000 Blaine. The gearboxes of these mills each have a power of 7000 kW.

Indonesia: ABB, a power and automation technology group, has won an order from Tianjin Cement Industry Design & Research Institute Co. Ltd, a subsidiary of Sinoma Group, for a variable-speed drive solution for a dual pinion ball mill at the PT Semen Bosowa Maros cement plant in Indonesia.

The equipment will be delivered in March 2016 and commissioned in the third quarter of 2016. ABB was selected for that project because the end customer is satisfied with earlier deliveries for the first cement grinding line at the plant, including a gearless mill drive (GMD) and a vertical mill with ABB slip ring motors.

"ABB's solution was favoured for several reasons, not least because of the high level of efficiency offered by the permanent magnet motors used and the absence of a gearbox in the system, which maximises availability and reliability," said Rachid Hamdani, Project Director of PT Semen Bosowa Maros.

This will be the first drive system for a grinding application with permanent magnet motors in this power range. The solution has the highest efficiency among all variable-speed drive systems and will raise productivity at the plant, while minimising electricity consumption.

Nigeria: China National Materials Company's Shanghai-listed subsidiary Sinoma International Engineering Co Ltd has entered into an engineering, procurement and construction contract with Ibeto Cement Company Limited for a 6000t/day clinker line and 45MW self-generation power plant in Enugu, Nigeria. The contract is worth US$386m. It covers the whole process, from the exploitation of limestone mines and the crushing of raw materials, to the packing and delivery of cement and a captive power plant and includes engineering design, supply of equipment, steelwork and materials, civil construction, installation, debugging and staff training.

The Chinese stock market volatility this week has not been a surprise for the cement industry. The question for both the local cement industry and the wider economy is how the current economic jitters are being managed. Are we witnessing the long expected hard landing of the Chinese economy or will the state planners been able to dodge it?

Growth in the housing market and infrastructure spending has been falling. The country's cement producers have reduced their production growth as the industry consolidates. First half profits in 2015 have fallen for many Chinese cement producers including China Resources Cement and Asia Cement. Anhui Conch, one of the top three cement producers in the world, reported that its first quarter profits in 2015 fell by 31%.

Chinese cement production figures have always seemed incompatible with other data suggesting incomplete information. For example, the Global Cement Directory 2015 reported China's cement production capacity at 1.48Bnt/yr. At full capacity utilisation this would suggest a national cement consumption of 1057kg/capita, a figure that bears no resemblance to any other country on earth with the exception of petrochemical giants like Saudi Arabia and Qatar. Although, to be fair to China, it's recent economic growth has been unprecedented. Poor reporting, the country's unique state regulated capitalism, language difficulties and other factors may all have contributed to confusion among western analysts.

In mid-August 2015 China devalued the Yuan in its biggest drop in 20 years. It is likely it was a strategy to boost exports to rally markets against a sliding stock market since mid June. At the time of writing the Chinese authorities have now tried cutting interest rates with a similar aim and the markets have rallied.

The effect of a devalued Yuan is relevant due to China's overcapacity in several heavy industries such as a steel and cement. Already European and North American steel bodies have cried out against the threat of fresh Chinese exports undercutting their business. Clinker exports are likely to pose less of a risk given its relative low value and high transport costs. Even so, China exported less than 15Mt in 2013, a tiny portion of its production capacity. Altering the exchange rate might well help that export figure creep up. This would be bad news for local cement producers in coastal areas of East Africa for example. Here, Chinese imports might be harder to resist than, say, southern Asian ones, due to Chinese investment in the region. Recent spats over Chinese cement imports in Kenya and Zimbabwe underline this issue.

More worrying for the wider cement industry will be the risk of Chinese cement plant manufacturers and suppliers further undercutting western firms. Eurocement signed a deal with Sinoma in November 2014 for the Chinese equipment producer to supply three 3Mt/yr production lines for US$93.3m each or just over US$30m per 1Mt of production capacity. Compare this to FLSmidth's charge to a Qatari firm of US$190m in October 2014 to build a 2.24Mt/yr production line or just over US$80m per 1Mt of production capacity. This is not a completely fair comparison due to the plants being in completely different regions, but it gives some idea of the price pressures non-Chinese equipment manufacturers face. In their defence the usual argument is that their equipment is better made. However, cement producers being able to buy even cheaper Chinese kit will not help their plight. Today we report on Dangote Cement signing yet more contracts with Sinoma to build new cement plants in Africa.

The actions of the Chinese financial authorities show that they are trying careful tweaks one-by-one to fix the situation. The real problem though is that, as China transitions from a developing nation into a developed one, broader structural changes to the general economy may be required instead of tweaks. A massively over-producing cement industry is a symptom of this and how the country copes with it is instructive to how it will succeed overall. Bold attempts to consolidate the industry have shown willingness in recent years. Unfortunately the current crisis may artificially prop up an industry that should be reducing in size.

Egypt: South Valley Cement has signed a US$34.7m contract with China's Sinoma for a new cement line.

Brazil: Sinoma Group has announced plans to invest in the Brazilian State of Ceara after visiting the Pecem Port industrial complex on 31 July 2015. The group will not necessarily install a cement plant at the complex and could instead supply machinery and equipment to the cement sector. The group is likely to continue to evaluate the market and economic conditions of the state before determining the level of investment to be made.

India/China: China's Sinoma International Engineering Co Ltd is keen to invest in cement and wind energy projects in Andhra Pradesh. Song Shoushan, Sinoma's chairman, told the delegation that it sees India as a potential market for the cement industry and that Sinoma sees Andhra Pradesh as a potential state for their biggest manufacturing facility in India.

Saudi Arabia: Saudi cement producer City Cement Company has announced that it intends to invest US$6.7m in an alternative energy project. The Chinese engineering company Sinoma will carry out the project, anticipated to be completed by 30 June 2015. Without providing further details on the nature of the project, City Cement said that it will use its own funds and/or Murabaha financing to fund it.