France: LafargeHolcim France has started the second phase of a Euro100m upgrade project its Martres-Tolosane cement plant. It is starting the construction phase of a new production line following the completion of site preparation and civil engineering. French company Boccard is coordinating the work. Commissioning of the upgrade is scheduled for mid-2020.

Russia: Eurocement is close to completing a Euro2.5m upgrade to a cement grinding mill at its Katavsky cement plant. The project was intended to improve the quality of its cement products and to replace the mill’s filter sleeves. The unit uses which Christian Pfeiffer separators, Aumund elevators, Siemens automation systems and mill grinders and Vega grinding media. Pre-commissioning is currently being completed and cement from the mill is being tested at a laboratory.

The cement producer’s Kavkaztsement plant is building a captive power plant scheduled for commissioning in August 2019. It has completed the construction of the building that will house the gas piston power station as well as other connecting structures. Employees from the plant are being trained by Wärtsilä in preparation for the start up. The project has an investment of around Euro15m.

US: A fire has damanged Dragon Products’ Thomaston cement plant in Maine. The incident took place on evening of 26 March 2019 following a spill of fuel oil, according to the Portland Press Herald newspaper. The blaze was stopped by firefighters as it started to enter a laboratory and control rooms. No employees were injured.

Plant manager Martin Turecky said that no customers would be affected by the fire and that it was continuing to distribute cement. He added that the cement grinding plant had not been affected. An investigation into how the fire started is underway.

Argentina: Loma Negra has secured two loans to upgrade its L'Amalí cement plant. The loans are worth US$40.9m and US$12.5m respectively, according to the Bae Negocios newspaper. The cement producer will use the funds to import equipment to the plant as part of a project to build a new US$350m production line at the unit.

Sri Lanka: Tokyo Cement has agreed to amalgamate its subsidiary Tokyo Super Cement into the main company. The amalgamation of its wholly-owned subsidiary will take place around the end of May 2019.

Germany: Siemens is extending its Simogear portfolio with a new synchronous-reluctance drive system consisting of Simogear standard gear unit, Simotics reluctance motor and a Sinamics frequency converter for controlling speed. The product has an output range of 0.55 – 4kW and is available for Sinamics G110M, G120D, G120 and S120 converters.

The engineering company says that its efficiency class is comparable to IE4 and it is offers advantages in comparison to asynchronous motors when operating under partial load due to its greater efficiency and lower losses. In addition, the drive system is characterised by high dynamics due to the low moment of inertia and optimised control. An external fan is not required due to the constant torque/speed curve up to the nominal speed and the drive system is certificated to CE, UL/CSA and CCC is in preparation. It also says that commissioning is easy as the motor code can be entered into the convertor.

Siemens sells a portfolio of frequency converters, motors, couplings and gearboxes for many industries and applications, including the cement and mineral sectors.

Cement price rises by the major Chinese cement producers boosted sales revenue and profits in 2018. This is quite a trick, given that overall cement sales in the country have fallen by 11% year-on-year to 2.17Bnt in 2018 from a high of 2.45Bnt in 2014.

Graph 1: Cement sales in China, 2009 – 2018. Source: National Bureau of Statistics China.

On the corporate side most of the major Chinese producers issued positive profit alerts towards the end of 2018 and this has been followed up by (mostly) glowing financial reports. Data from the National Development and Reform Commission in February 2019 showed that the profits of local cement companies more than doubled to US$64bn in 2018 compared to 2017. As mentioned above, this has been fueled by price rises. In December 2018 the average price of cement was 10.6% higher than in December 2017.

This has translated into a 19% year-on-year rise in sales revenue at China National Building Material Company (CNBM) to US$32.6bn in 2018 from US$27.4bn in 2017 and its profit grew by 44% to US$2.09bn from US$1.46bn. Anhui Conch’s performance was even better. Its revenue grew by 70.5% to US$19.1bn from US$11.2bn. However, differences emerge between the two companies in terms of cement sales volumes. CNBM’s sales volumes fell by 2.4% to 323Mt. However, Anhui Conch’s sales volumes increased by 25% to 368Mt. This may not be in line with the government’s plans to scale down production but it does fit the industry consolidation model, as the company acquired Guangdong Qingyuan Cement in 2018. The results from other producers such as China Shanshui Cement, West China Cement, Tianrui Cement and China Resources Cement all tell similar tales.

If the figures from the National Bureau of Statistics China (NBS) above are accurate then this is a drop of over 300Mt of cement sales over four years. This is more than the cement sales of every other country except India. Indeed, it’s more cement than some continents make! It marks the deceleration of the Chinese industry since 2014 and represents a major achievement. However, whether it is enough remains to be seen. After all, sales of over 1500kg/capita are still way above the consumption curve for developed Western-style economies. Yet, imports of cement to China from Vietnam rose in 2018, suggesting that the price rises are being driven by shortages of cement!

China is undoubtedly an exceptional case, as its economic star has blossomed in the last few decades and it has literally built itself into history. Yet one might expect its consumption to be around 1Bnt/yr, a per-capita level more similar to Spain and Italy prior to the financial crash. In other words, even if the recently observed 5% year-on-year contraction is maintained, the Chinese industry would only reach this (still very high) level by the mid 2030s. However, continued national development, mega-infrastructure projects, a shift to more exports and China’s unique market could hold the consumption per capita figure higher.

Meanwhile, Chinese producers are commissioning more and more projects outside of China. Notably, CNBM saw its cement sales everywhere except for the Middle East and China. Success abroad is not guaranteed. The story in the years to come will be the balance between projects at home and those abroad.

Australia: Raymond Barro will be appointed as the next chairman of Adelaide Brighton at the company’s annual general meeting (AGM) in May 2019. He succeeds Zlatko Todorcevski, who will become Lead Independent Director and deputy chairman. Todorcevski has spent less than a year in the role. The Barro family owns a 43% stake in Adelaide Brighton. Rhonda Barro was nominated as a director of Adelaide Brighton earlier in March 2019.

UK: John King Chains has appointed Julie Precious as Chain Division Key Account Manager. The role is a newly created one and part of the group’s UK Sales team. Precious holds Key Account Management experience having worked for various blue chip clients. She also holds 16 years’ worth of knowledge from working for a materials handling and chain conveyor business.

US: CalPortland has commissioned a new cement grinding mill and distribution system at its Oro Grande cement plant in California. The US$58.5m project includes the construction of the finish ball mill and two new cement shipping lanes with two new distribution silos. It completes a partial plant modernisation program that was originally completed in 2008, prior to the acquisition of the facility by CalPortland. The Oro Grande cement plant was purchased from Martin Marietta Materials in mid-2015.

“The addition of this modern finish mill and efficient distribution system allows the plant to operate to the best in class standards as originally designed. It will help provide the industry with the additional supply required for necessary rehabilitation and rapidly developing infrastructure in California and Nevada,” said Steve Regis, Senior Vice President Corporate Services, CalPortland.

The project began in January 2018 and was constructed by general contractor ThyssenKrupp and sub-contractor TIC (The Industrial Company), in collaboration with CalPortland’s Engineering Services team.

The mill is a Polysius two compartment mill with production capability of around 180t/hr. It is equipped with motor, mill and separator technology as well as cement cooler design technology. The system also employs mechanical conveyance (bucket elevator) to convey finished product to the new silos, reducing its energy requirements. These additional systems are being added to the Oro Grande plant.