Displaying items by tag: Transport

US: Calucem, part of Cementos Molins, plans to establish a new calcium aluminate cement plant in New Orleans, Louisiana. The company will invest US$35m in the project and expects to commission the plant in mid-late 2023. It expects to create 70 new direct jobs and a total of 228 new jobs locally.

Calucem president and chief executive officer Yuri Bouwhuis said “Calucem is taking on a new investment that will support our growth and diversification in the US and ensure that we continue to offer high-value products to our global customers. Our choice of Louisiana for our first all-new manufacturing project in the US is due to the availability of strategic raw materials such as limestone and natural gas, access to waterways and skilled labour and the long history of using speciality cement products in the US.”

Italy: Cementir Holding’s sales rose by 22% year-on-year to Euro811m in the first half of 2022 from Euro665m in the first half of 2021. Its earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) grew by 7.7% to Euro144m from Euro134m. Its net profit grew by 39% to Euro66.6m from Euro47.9m. During the half year the group sold 5.41Mt of cement and clinker, down by 0.8% from 5.46Mt. The group attributed this to local sales declines in China, Denmark and Turkey.

Chair and chief executive officer Francesco Caltagirone said, “The first-half 2022 results are aligned with our forecasts. Despite the severe geopolitical tensions and the significant increase in raw materials, energy and logistic costs, the group is showing great resilience thanks to an increased geographical and product diversification and a focused cost management.”

Canada: The provincial government of Alberta has signed a contribution agreement for US$3.87m in funding towards Lafarge Canada’s planned carbon capture installation at its Exshaw cement plant. The cost of the system is US$20.9m. Offshore Energy News has reported that it is one of 11 carbon capture projects in the province which Alberta Minister of Energy Sonya Savage said will be operational by 2030. Ultimately, project partners plan to establish a CO₂ sequestration hub and transport network connecting the capture sites of various industry partners.

Tanzania: Dangote Cement says that the use of gas generators in its Mtwara cement plant’s equipment and lorries has reduced fuel costs by 45% over the 15-month period since its transition in March 2021. The Citizen newspaper has reported that company recorded total savings over the period up to 30 June 2022. The producer plans to establish a compressed natural gas (CNG) filling station in Dar es Salaam. Its operations remain 70% reliant on rental vehicles that run on oil.

France: Holcim France has announced its successful industrial-scale production of the world's first 100% recycled clinker. The La Tribune newspaper has reported that the company's Altkirch, Alsace, cement plant produced the clinker. Holcim France chief executive officer Francois Petry said that the plant's team collaborated with researchers at the Holcim Innovation Center to develop a recipe that incorporated multiple waste streams, including mineral wastes and wood ash. The producer says that most of the waste materials were locally sourced.

Pakistan: DG Khan Cement has despatched a shipment of 50,000t of cement for Houston, US, from Karachi. The Balochistan Times newspaper has reported that the shipment is the first of 12 consignments of the same size under an order for 600,000t of low-alkali cement. If successful, the order may double to 1.2Mt. The producer is using jumbo bags to transport the product on its 42-day journey overseas.

Marketing director Fareed Afzal said that Pakistani businesses need to diversify their export markets and strengthen foreign currency reserves. He added that DG Khan Cement continues to reduce its products' carbon footprints by using renewable energy, waste heat recovery (WHR) and alternate fuels (AF).

Belgium/France: Ciments Calcia plans to transition 60% of its truck transport of cement in Belgium and France to rail. The company says that the shift will eliminate 5% of its CO₂ emissions. 400 rail cars currently distribute cement from Ciments Calcia’s 10 production sites. The producer said that the planned increase became possible due to logistics solutions developer Everysens’ transport digitisation software.

South Korea: Korea Cement Association (KCA) members’ cement shipments fell by 90% over two days to 13,000t on 8 June 2022 from 180,000t/day prior to a truck driver strike which began on 7 June 2022. The association claimed that producers lost US$23m-worth of sales in the first two days of the strike, which also affects other industries. 17 ready-mix concrete batching plants in the Seoul area have suspended operations. The Korea Herald newspaper has reported that the association representing the construction industry has also voiced concerns about the supply situation.

South Korea: A total of 8200 truck drivers have gone on strike to request higher wages and an extension of the government’s freight charge system. The Korea JoongAng Daily newspaper has reported that 50% of the country’s 2700 cement truck drivers are unionised. Under the freight charge system, drivers receive minimum monthly payments in order to tackle the problem of overloading.

India: Shree Cement recorded standalone sales of US$1.84bn in its 2022 financial year, corresponding to a rise of 13% year-on-year from US$1.63bn in the 2021 financial year. Profit after tax for the year was US$306m, up by 2.8% from 298m.

In the fourth quarter of the 2022 financial year, Shree Cement’s energy costs rose by 10% year-on-year and equalled 26% of its sales, while transport costs fell by 1.1% to 23% of sales. Raw materials costs equalled 6.6% of the quarter’s sales.