Global Cement News

Saudi Arabia: GE has struck a deal with Saudi Cement to upgrade three GE 6B gas turbines at Saudi Cement’s Hofuf plant with its Advanced Gas Path (AGP) product. The AGP upgrade is intended to increase the combined output of the three turbines by 16.9%. The upgrade should help Saudi Cement increase power output and efficiency while reducing the need to draw power from the local power grid. No value for the deal has been disclosed.

Barbados: Trinidad Cement and its Barbadian subsidiary Arawak Cement have taken legal action against the Government of Barbados over allegedly breaking the Caribbean Community Single Market and Economy. The complaint relates to accusations that the country broke import duties on cement, according to Barbados Today. The government has been accused of reducing import tariffs to 5% from 60%.

Arawak Cement and competitor Rock Hard Cement have battled for the local market since the entry of the latter company in the market in 2015. Trinidad Cement has also taken action against Turkish cement importers previously.

Ivory Coast: Morocco’s Ciments de l'Afrique (CIMAF) has started work on a 0.3Mt/yr cement plant at Bouake. The company has acquired land for the project and is currently preparing the necessary permits to begin construction, according to the African Press Agency.

CIMAF built its first 0.5Mt grinding plant in Abidjan in 2013. The production capacity at this unit was then increased to 1Mt/yr in 2016. In late 2017 the cement producer started building a second 1Mt/yr plant at San Pedro. The latest project at Bouake will be its third plant in the country.

Ghana/Portugal: Cimpor and ETE Group have collaborated to export 55,900t of clinker from Portugal to Ghana. The clinker was transferred via barges from the river terminal of Cimpor’s Alhandra cement plant before being loaded into a bulk carrier at the Port of Lisbon, according to CE NoticiasFinancieras.

Bangladesh: LafargeHolcim Bangladesh has replaced the belt of a 17km conveyor that transports limestone from a quarry in Meghalaya in India to its Surma cement plant in Bangladesh. The upgrade project was carried out in two phases with the latest finished in mid-April 2018, according to the Daily Star newspaper. The belt was replaced to reduce noise from the system. It was first built in 2004.