Displaying items by tag: Upgrade

US: CTP Sinto America, the North American business unit of Chemisch Thermische Prozesstechnik GmbH (CTP), has entered into a contract with Holcim (US) to supply emissions reductions equipment for one of the cement kilns at Holcim's Midlothian plant in Texas. In the project, exhaust gases from the main baghouse and coal mill baghouse are combined and sent to the new system and then directed to the existing wet scrubber.

The project scope includes supply and installation of a CTP Model AutoTherm6-4200 designed to handle 420,000 Nm3/hr of gas and duct modifications required to route the gas to the regenerative thermal oxidiser (RTO) and return it to the exhaust. CTP Sinto America will provide engineering, manufacturing, project management, field operations, installation and commissioning. Controls will be integrated into Holcim's existing plant-wide DCS. The system will be ready for operation in 2016. The RTO will be manufactured at subsidiary SandMold Systems in Newaygo, Michigan with some specialty parts manufactured at CTP facilities in Austria.

Spain: Lafarge has invested a total of Euro20m in its Spanish plant of Montcada i Reixac, Catalonia in the last 10 years. Lafarge has most recently invested Euro200,000 to upgrade two of its crusher filters, which capture the dust produced during the processing of raw materials.

Russia: Russia's cement consumption may fall by 5 - 10% in 2015, according to Eurocement Group forecasts. The cement market contracted by 9% in January - April 2015. The decline slowed to 4 - 5% in May 2015, according to preliminary data.

The situation on the construction market is currently unfavourable for cement production as borrowing is too expensive, which slows new construction and gives developers an incentive to monetise projects at the implementation stage. "Developers are currently trying to complete projects that are already underway, so consumption of finished products has increased and companies are reluctant to begin new construction projects, which takes a toll on cement consumption," said Eurocement president Mikhail Skorokhod.

Eurocement has continued to upgrade its cement plants and all of its plants will switch to the dry-process for cement production by 2020. The programme will boost Eurocement's production capacity to 60Mt/yr from 50Mt/yr. Capital investment in the upgrades will total an estimated Euro1.62bn.

At the start of July 2015, a 1.3Mt/yr capacity plant will be commissioned in Ulyanovsk region's Sengileevsky district, according to Skorokhod. The plant will have the option of shipping product on the Volga river, reducing some of Eurocement's logistical costs.

Philippines: Eagle Cement plans to build its production capacity with an investment of US$1.2bn. Owner Ramon S Ang revealed to local media that he intends to build two new 2Mt/yr cement plants at Cebu and Davao in 2015. In addition the company is also adding one more line with a 2Mt/yr production capacity to its existing cement facility in San Ildefonso, Bulacan.

"We are now finishing the second line and preparing to put up a third line. With the third Eagle line, it will be even bigger than the asset being sold by Lafarge," said Ang. Upon completion of the third line, the Bulacan plant will have a production capacity of 6Mt/yr. According to Ang, each cement line with a 2Mt/yr capacity costs US$400m.

Eagle Cement produces and distributes cement under the brands Eagle Cement Advance and Eagle Cement Strongcem.

San Miguel Corp, the Manilla based multinational for which Ang serves as president, formally entered the cement business in 2013 when it paid US$78.6m for a 35% stake in Northern Cement. The cement company with a production facility in Pangasinan has a capacity of 2Mt/yr.

Brazil: CSN Cimentos plans to invest US$608m towards building two new cement plants in Arcos and Romaria in Minas Gerais. The next step is for a letter of intention to be signed by state and municipal authorities, according to local media. Additionally, CSN's existing cement plant in Volta Redonda will be upgraded with a new clinker kiln and three mills. The plants cement production capacity will be increased by 2.4Mt/yr to 5.4Mt/yr.

Zimbabwe: Sino Zimbabwe Cement Company is now operating at 60% capacity utilisation following a US$4m investment in a three-phase plant upgrade.

Phase one upgrades were undertaken on the cement mill and rotary kiln in order to boost cement output. The completion of the kiln upgrade has seen Sino Zimbabwe Cement improve its energy consumption and reduce its carbon footprint, while the new high-temperature bag filter system will significantly reduce dust emissions. The second phase of upgrades will target the warehousing and storage facilities and are expected to be completed in 2015. The third phase will be completed in 2016.

"The completion of the first phase boosted clinker production at the Gweru plant. Now we can produce 700,000t/yr," said Industrial Development Corporation of Zimbabwe (IDCZ) public relations advisor Dereck Sibanda. "The amount invested went towards refurbishments of the cement mill, the rotary kiln as well as renewing and automating ancillary equipment."

Sibanda said that cement demand is at its peak and that Sino Zimbabwe Cement will continue its upgrades to improve viability. "The second phase is expected to be complete sometime this year and we are quite confident of our prospects considering the richness of our limestone deposits," said Sibanda.

Sino-Zim is a joint venture company between IDCZ and China Buildings Materials Corporation, which started operating in 2001. The US$4m investment by the Chinese shareholder was to boost output and reduce pollution. Sibanda said that the new technology would help Sino Zimbabwe Cement to reduce its emissions. In 2013, it was fined by the Environmental Management Agency for air pollution.

Zimbabwe: PPC Zimbabwe intends to invest US$75m in 2015 on its Harare cement mill to develop its export market. The mill will be commissioned in the first quarter of 2016 according to PPC Zimbabwe managing director Njombo Lekula. The cement producer is also spending US$6.4m on production upgrades at its Bulawayo and Colleen Bawn cement plants.

Lekula told local press that PPC Zimbabwe's export market had been cut by 40% due to the strengthening of the US dollar. However, he expected the export market to improve in the remainder of 2015.

Ecuador: Holcim Ecuador has inaugurated the second phase of its modernisation project at the 4500t/day clinker capacity Guayaquil plant. The expanded production capacity replaces the need for imports. Approximately US$400m has been invested in the modernisation work in the last five years. The project has included a particular focus on limiting the plant's environmental impact. Around 20% of investment has been spent on environmental control equipment. The new clinker line will help Holcim Ecuador to reduce its CO2 emissions by 700,000t/yr.

Egypt: Italcementi plans to upgrade two of its cement plants in 2015 via its Suez Cement subsidiary, following the two plants that it upgraded in 2014, according to Italcementi managing director Bruno Carrè.

"We will invest US$52.4m/yr for four years," said Carrè. "We finished converting two plants two plants in the first year. Now we have another two plants to complete." Italcementi will not disclose any expectations about their investments in 2015, although it expects the market to grow. In January 2015, Carrè said that its 2014 revenues will exceed US$721m, some 20% higher than in 2013, with 2015 revenues projected to grow by 10 - 15%.

Carrè said that the expansion plans are targeting renewable energy in Egpt and the Gulf. He highlighted that 2015 will see the continuation of investments to convert the energy mix and to improve Italcementi's environmental impact to international standards.

UK: Hope Construction Materials is investing Euro17.8m to boost production at its Hope Works cement plant. The upgrades include a completed 20,000t clinker store, a system to increase the plant's capacity to use waste-derived fuels and an internal upgrade of the plant's chimney, improvements to the way the raw materials are fed into the twin kilns and maintenance and refurbishment of a large section of one of the kilns.

"The installation of the new kiln shell section is a spectacular piece of engineering involving several teams and very careful planning. We are delighted with the way that this individual project has evolved and look forward to seeing the others progress to schedule... We are very excited to be involved in the largest investment programme on site for many years," said Hope Works Operations Manager Ed Cavanagh.

The announcement comes on Hope Construction Materials' second birthday. Hope has owned and operated the 85 year old cement plant since January 2013.