Displaying items by tag: Upgrade

Germany: Italcementi has awarded KHD a contract to upgrade and redevelop its Brescia Rezzato plant in Italy. The upgraded plant, situated in the environmentally sensitive Lake Garda region, will have to adhere to strict environmental requirements.

Italcementi has selected KHD's Clean Technology for the upgrade. It includes a KHD COMFLEX^® SC 18 – 3250 system for raw material grinding, a Two-Pier PYRORAPID^® Kiln 3000t/day 4.4m x 52m, a PFC PYRFLOOR^® clinker cooler 635 AW and a Low NO_X 5 stage Preheater 7950 PR.

KHD will also supply additional environmental equipment including selective catalytic reduction systems, a gas conditioning tower, selective non catalytic reduction systems, as well as special filter systems to reduce SO_X. KHD will install much of the equipment whilst the existing kiln continues to operate.

The Rezzato plant, built in 1964, was designed by former Italcementi chairman Giampiero Pesenti, father of current Italcementi CEO Carlo Pesenti, during his tenure as an engineer. The project is scheduled to be finished in 2014, in time for Italcementi's 150th anniversary.

India: India Cements has started gathering documentation for a 3Mt/yr expansion at two of its plants in Tamil Nadu. The company's next step is to secure clearance for these projects.

Brownfield expansions are being planned for Dalavoi, in Ariyalur district of Tamil Nadu, where the company plans to add a new line that will add over 2.55Mt/yr to the existing 2.16Mt/yr cement capacity. This will increase the total capacity at the plant to 4.71Mt/yr. A 40MW captive power plant will also be set up to supply electricity for the upgrade. At Sankaridurg the company plans to double the capacity of its 0.7Mt/yr plant.

If approved, the upgrades will increase India Cements' capacity to 15.5Mt/yr in its eight plants in Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Rajasthan.

Oman: Oman Cement is in the process of increasing its cement grinding capacity by installing an additional 15t/hr cement mill. The tender process has been initiated for building the plant, according to the company's chairman Dr Abdullah Abbas Ahmed.

Oman Cement is also planning to improve the pollution control equipment on its line 2 to control dust emission levels. It is in the process of identifying a consultant for this project.

Meanwhile, the company said that its net profit increased by 32.5% to US$30.4m for the first nine months of 2012, from US$25.2m for the same period of 2011. Its sales revenue also increased, to US$108.5m, compared to US$94.2m during the period.

The company has achieved sales of 1.69Mt for the first nine months of 2012 compared to 1.40Mt for the same period of 2011.

Russia: Holcim Russia has decided to invest Euro350m towards upgrading its Volskcement plant in the Saratov region. The modernisation project will include the installation of a new 'semi-wet' production line with a capacity of 2500t/day. Currently the plant uses a wet process. Construction will take two years and is expected to start in the second quarter 2013. The new line will be commissioned in the third quarter of 2016.

Ethiopia: Mugher Cement Enterprise is considering proposals from two Chinese suppliers for a turnkey project to convert its current heavy furnace oil (HFO) clinker burning system to a coal-fired system. Mekonnen Zergaw, CEO of the state-owned Mugher, declining to disclose the names of the companies. He said that five companies had participated in the bid, of which one has been disqualified at the beginning while two companies did not pass the technical evaluation.

This is the second time Mugher has accepted tenders for the upgrade. Originally Mugher awarded a US$28m contract to Chinese firm Hefei Cement Research Design Institute (HCRDI) that built the same project for the EFFORT Messobo plant. "The company increased the bid by around US$11m after we had already awarded it," said Zergaw.

Mugher plans to complete the coal-fired furnace by the 2013-2014 fiscal year and its demand for coal is estimated to be 693Mt/yr. However, Mugher is still waiting for the approval of a US$33.2m loan request from the Commercial Bank of Ethiopia. The Ethiopian government instructed cement factories in 2010 to shift from HFO to other alternative sources of energy in order to reduce foreign currency spending.

Ethiopia: National Cement SC plans to complete upgrades worth US$99.7m by the start of 2013 according to the company's chief executive, Busa Assefa.

"We will start clinker trial production in October 2012 and cement trial production in November 2012," said Busa. He added that the trial production phase at the compnay's new plant near Bajatu, Kebele, will begin at a 60% clinker and a 70% cement production rate, to become fully operational by the start of 2013.

National Cement SC was formed from a merger between Ethiopia's first cement plant, Dire Dawa, and the National Cement plant that is currently under construction. Dire Dawa has a capacity of 60,000t/yr with further upgrades scheduled. The new National Cement plant will have a capacity of up to 4500t/day. It is being built on a 40ha location in Bajatu, Kebele, within 3km of Dire Dawa.

National Cement SC's upgrades will increase Ethiopia's national capacity, from 18 operational plants, by 1.3Mt to 12.46Mt/yr. The company expects to rely on the eastern Ethiopian market and exports to Djibouti and Somalia. In addition, the city of Dire Dawa has licensed four cement factories with a combined capital of US$277m, of which three are under construction.

Indonesia: PT Semen Gresik, Indonesia's largest cement producer, plans to spend US$400m-US$500m to expand its operation into Vietnam and Myanmar by the end of 2012, according to its general director Dwi Soetjipto.

Semen Gresik intends to finance 20% of the expansion with internal cash and the remainder with external sources, possibly from a global bonds issue. In case any negotiations conclude by the end of 2012, Semen Gresik would likely issue bonds in 2013, Dwi added.

The company has been assessing potential local partners for a joint venture for a plant in Myanmar to produce around 600,000t/yr, in which Semen Gresik will contribute US$150m. However, Dwi Soetjipto declined to discuss Vietnamese expansion plans in detail, hinting at an acquisition.

Semen Gresik reported total assets of US$2.25bn at the end of March 2012. The firm's revenues in the first quarter of 2012, rose by 20% year-on-year to US$458m. Its cement sales fell at 4.94Mt in Jan-Mar period, making up 39.3% of Indonesia's market share. Semen Gresik predicts that its cement sales will reach 22.5Mt/yr in 2012, up from 19.72Mt/yr in 2011. Revenues are expected to rise 15% year-on-year to US$1.93bn.

Saudi Arabia: Southern Province Cement (SPC), the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia's biggest cement firm by market value, and Chinese engineering company Sinoma have signed a US$188m contract for the installation of a third production line at SPC's plant in Tahama.

The turnkey contract will be executed over a period of 24 months. Once completed, the third production line will have a clinker capacity of 5000t/day. SPC said that it will use its own funds to finance the project. In early March 2012, the Saudi company announced that the second production line at the Tahama plant started commercial production, bringing SPC's total capacity to 23,000t/day.

SPC, one of the nine listed cement companies operating in the Kingdom, is based in Abha, southwestern Saudi Arabia. It operates factories in Jazan, Bisha and Tahama.

Algeria: ASEC Cement has completed an upgrade at its Zahana plant, in western Algeria.

"Zahana Cement Company, our key Algerian subsidiary, has just concluded the largest overhaul in the plant's long history," said ASEC Cement CEO Giorgio Bodo. The upgrade is expected to bring a 20% year-on-year increase in production of both clinker and cement. In addition the deployment of new bag filters has decreased the plant's dust emissions. Following the upgrade Zahana's clinker capacity is 0.90Mt/yr.

ASEC Cement has now begun work on a US$30m project to construct a new raw mill at Zahana that will be fully operational by 2014, raising Zahana's clinker capacity to 1.2Mt/yr. In addition the plant has started work on a new kiln line, for completion by 2015, which will increase clinker capacity to 2.7Mt/yr and cement capacity to 3.0Mt/yr.

Zahana, located 40km from Wahran, had a cement capacity of just 0.65Mt/yr in 2008 when ASEC Cement took over management of the company. ASEC Cement has a 35% equity stake at Zahana in partnership with the Government of Algeria.

Malaysia: CMS Cement Sdn Bhd, a subsidiary of Cahya Mata Sarawak Bhd (CMS) is embarking on an expansion programme with an initial investment of US$47m in an effort to meet the growing demand for cement.

"We are still doing the actual costing but when the programme is done we are optimistic of coping with the increasing demand from the state and particularly from construction activities in its regional development corridor, the Sarawak Corridor of Renewable Energy," said CMS Group Managing Director Datuk Richard Curtis. "The state's annual need is 1.66Mt/yr and in the last five years, it has registered increases of 10-15%."

Speaking at the opening of the company's new 6000t US$7m Sibu bulk cement terminal, Curtis said, "We will expand our Kuching and Bintulu plants to be able to produce 2Mt/yr of both Portland and Cemplast Masonry cement by either late 2013 or early 2014. For our Kuching clinker plant, a new production line will be added to boost raw material production from 0.65Mt to 0.8Mt by middle of the year," he said.

The Kuching plant, set up in 1978, has an annual capacity of 1Mt/yr and caters to the Kuching, Samarahan, Sri Aman and Sibu markets. On the other hand, its Bintulu plant in Kidurong, produces 0.75Mt/yr and caters to the rapidly growing north-east region. Curtis said that the plan was to increase the Kuching plant output by another 0.4-0.5Mt/yr and increase that of Bintulu by 10%. He said it was much cheaper for the state to be able to produce its own cement rather than relying on imports from elsewhere in Malaysia.

Regarding the Sibu facility Curtis said that it represented a significant investment in upgrading the company's cement distribution capabilities statewide. "The distribution of fresh cement to the Sibu, Kapit, Mukah and Sarikei areas is made more reliable. Bulk cement manufactured in the Kuching plant is now being transported, using a fully-enclosed dust-free pneumatic pipeline on to one of the two dedicated purpose built 7000 DWT barges and barged to Sibu," he said.

Curtis added the all weather barges were built and operated for CMS by Shin Yang Shipping Sdn Bhd, one of the state's top shipbuilders. "Each of them is equipped with Sweddish-made fully enclosed dust-free pneumatic self-loading/unloading system and has a fully-enclosed cargo hold fitted with aeration panels and a fluidised cement transfer system.

Curtis used the opportunity to reassure customers in the region that although it is the only cement supplier in Malaysian Borneo, CMS would do its utmost to cope with the demand and to deliver as scheduled. "We will be constantly upgrading our facilities and delivery systems in order to give the best service. In the last five years, we have invested more than US$160m to do so," he said.

CMS had earlier said that it was looking to 'dominate' the cement market in Malaysian Borneo, a region that is significantly less developed than the western Peninsular region.