Displaying items by tag: Upgrade

Italy: Cementir Holding recorded revenues from sales and services of Euro1.22bn in 2020, up by 1% year-on-year from Euro1.21bn in 2019. Cement and clinker volumes rose by 13% to 10.7Mt from 9.49Mt. Volumes registered the sharpest increase in Turkey, of 39%. Ready-mixed concrete (RMX) volumes grew by 7.8% to 4.4Mm³ from 4.1Mm³. The company maintained its 2019 earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) levels of Euro264m. It said that an improvement in performance in Turkey, Denmark, Egypt, China and Sweden balanced out negative effects on earnings in Belgium, US and Malaysia.

Chair and chief executive officer Francesco Caltagirone said, “In 2020, despite the serious pandemic, the group showed significant resilience with a 13% increase in cement volumes sold and revenue reaching the historical record. On a recurring basis, EBITDA increased by 2%, EBIT was up by 4% and yearly cash generation was Euro119m."

Under Plan 2021 – 2023 Industrial Plan, the company says that it envisages sales growth of 20% to Euro1.47bn and EBITDA growth of 29% to Euro340bn in 2023 compared to 2020 figures. It said that digitalisation investments begun in 2019 will contribute an expected Euro15m to EBITDA in 2023. As part of its sustainability commitments it has set a CO₂ emissions reduction target of around 30% by 2030, with emissions below 500kg/t of grey cement. However, it said that under the future European Taxonomy criteria white cement emissions are not included.

The group is planning to invest around Euro107m from 2021 to 2023 on sustainability and digitalisation. This includes a the construction of a new calcination plant in Denmark for the production of its Futurecem product and, the installation of wind turbines with an installed capacity of 8.4MW. It is also planning to increase the alternative fuels substitution rate at its integrated Gaurain plant in Belgian to 80% from 40% and invest in the use of natural gas and biogas in some of its plants.

Latvia: Schwenk Building Materials Group subsidiary Schwenk Latvija plans to invest Euro34m in installing a new 170t/day grinding mill and 12,500t silo at its Broceni cement plant. The Baltic Business Daily newspaper has reported that the company aims to reduce energy consumption with the new mill.

The group acquired Schwenk Latvija from Cemex in February 2019 as part of a Euro340m expansion into the Baltic and Nordic markets. The company’s 2019 profit was Euro36.4m.

India: Ramco Cements’ nine-month profit for the period ending on 31 December 2020 was US$77.9m, up by 23% year-on-year from US$63.3m in the corresponding period of the 2020 financial year. Cement sales volumes dropped by 18% to 67.6Mt from 82.7Mt. Its revenue from sale of products fell by 9% to US$488m from US$535m.

The company reported that it has redeposited US$3.54m for its appeal against cartelisation charges that carrya penalty of US$35.4m. It said, “The company, backed by legal opinion, believes that it has a good case and hence no provision is made.”

The cement producer plans to commission a 1.5Mt/yr clinker line and a 9MW waste heat recovery (WHR) system at Jayanthipuram, Andhra Pradesh and a 2.25Mt/yr clinker line at Kurnool, Andhra Pradesh in the first quarter of its 2021 – 2022 financial year. A 1Mt/yr grinding unit, a 12MW WHR unit and a thermal power plan are expected to be commissioned later in the year.

Turkey: Denmark-based FLSmidth has won a contract to provide a grey-to-white cement line conversion at Çimko Çimento’s cement plant in Adiyaman. The company will supply equipment suited to the production of white cement including its DuoFlex burner, rotary cooler and OK raw mill. It said that it will begin work in 2021 and the producer will commission the renovated line in early 2022.

The supplier said, “Once completed, the upgraded line will offer Çimko Çimento new opportunities to expand its product range and enter new markets. White cement is especially sought-after in countries with relatively hot climates, as it tends to keep buildings cooler with its reflective characteristics. In addition, as a high-quality, value-added product, white cement is often used in the construction of innovative buildings and important landmarks. FLSmidth brings significant experience and know-how to the project, having conducted several similar grey-to-white conversions in recent years, including projects with Turkey-based Adana Cement and Eskisehir Cement, as well as Alsafwa Cement Company and Riyadh Cement Company in Saudi Arabia.”

Oman: Switzerland-based ABB has completed a digital systems overhaul at Oman Cement Company’s (OCC) Muscat cement plant. The supplier says that by integrating the plant’s three production lines with its ABB Ability System 800xA product it will optimise performance across the lines, boosting operational efficiency, increasing availability, lowering costs and driving sustainability. It says that it has also replaced older controllers in their final lifecycle phase with AC800M models. Teams from OCC and ABB collaborated to complete the engineering, supply, installation and commissioning of the ABB systems.

OCC head of instrumentation and control Bashar Al Farsi said, “Cement production is a core industry for Oman, serving and enabling a self-sufficient construction industry. With the long-term support of ABB we have added to this strength and look forward to continued success, now with the latest digital control system across our three process lines. We have already identified time and cost savings, and will drive towards greater efficiencies and sustainability targets as we aim to be the number one cement manufacturing company in the Sultanate.”

OCC has been a customer of ABB since 1978.

Brazil: Companhia Siderurgica Nacional (CSN) subsidiary CSN Cimentos began operating as an independent company on 1 February 2021. The Valor Economico newspaper has reported that the move is a preliminary to a likely future initial public offering (IPO) in the near-term although no date has been set yet. Under the same strategy, sister company CSN Mineracao is due to launch its IPO of US$1bn on 18 February 2021.

The 4.7Mt/yr-cement capacity producer operates two integrated plants and it is planning an 8.6Mt/yr expansion consisting of an upgrade to its Arcos plant and three new cement plants at Para, Parana and Sergipe respectively.

France: LafargeHolcim subsidiary Lafarge France has completed the renovation of its 70m³/hr Larrieu concrete plant in Toulouse, Haute-Garonne Department. The renovated facility is equipped with six cement silos, two of which are dedicated to low-carbon cements for the production of ECOPact low-carbon concrete. It also has eight aggregate hoppers, including one dedicated to recycled concrete aggregates, and two mixer loading stations with forward truck access for safety. The total cost of the upgrade was Euro3m.

Haute-Garonne sector head Vincent Pelloquin praised the project’s speed and ability to rebuild the concrete plant in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic.

Lafarge France is presently engaged in a systematic modernisation of its concrete plants.

Pakistan: Lucky Cement plans to further upgrade its integrated Pezu plant following strong results in the first half of its financial year. It intends to increase the production capacity at the unit by 3.15Mt/yr. The cost of the project will be announced following the conclusion of negotiations with suppliers. Work is expected to start in 2021 and be completed in 2023.

The cement producer recorded sales of US$188m in the first half of its 2021 financial year (1 July 2020 – 30 June 2021), up by 42% year-on-year from US$132m in the first half of its 2020 financial year. Cement and clinker sales volumes grew by 36% to 5Mt from 3.7Mt. Its profit after tax more than doubled to US$28.3m from US$12.1m. It attributed this to higher production capacity at its Pezu plant as well as higher demand in the market generally.

Lucky Cement also reported that its new 1.2Mt/yr integrated plant at Samawah in Iraq started its kiln in the first week of January 2021 and trial production started in mid-January 2021. Commercial production is scheduled to start in February 2021.

Japan/Indonesia: Taiheiyo Cement says that its board has approved and concluded its deal with Semen Indonesia to buy a 15% stake in its subsidiary Solusi Bangun Indonesia (SBI) for around US$220m. As part of the agreement, SBI’s Tuban plant will increase its export capacity by building a new jetty and silos. It will then export 0.5Mt/yr of cement to Taiheiyo Cement’s subsidiary in the US. The Japanese cement producer said that is focusing on markets in South-East Asia as part of its sustainable business development strategy in response to projected long term declining cement demand in Japan.

India: Prism Johnson is considering investing US$19m in a 0.9Mt/yr expansion of its 6.1Mt/yr Prism cement plant in Satna, Madhya Pradesh. Reuters News has reported that the proposal remains in the first round of discussions.

The group revenue for its cement division fell by 8.3% year-on-year to US$241m for the nine months to the end of December 2020 from US$263m in the same period in 2019. Its cement and clinker sales volumes fell by 5% to 3.93Mt from 4.13Mt.