Global Cement News

Saudi Arabia: Finland’s Wärtsilä has provided an update on a three-year asset management deal for Northern Region Cement’s (NRC) power plant at its Turaif plant signed in October 2017. Wärtsilä will continue to be responsible for the operation and maintenance of the power plant and to ensure the reliability and availability of its operations. This agreement is an extension of Wärtsilä’s previous service agreements for NRC’s power plant. The first service agreement with NRC was signed in 2008.

“We are proud to be able to continue our 10-year cooperation with NRC. By having full responsibility for the operation and maintenance of NRC’s power plant, we have been able to ensure reliable operations, optimised fuel consumption and reduced maintenance costs for NRC,” said Haidar al Hertani, managing director, Wärtsilä Saudi Arabia.

The agreement covers all aspects of operating and maintaining NRC’s power plant, including the day-to-day operation of the power plant as well as preventive and predictive maintenance. Wärtsilä’s Customer Centre in Dubai remotely monitors the power plant’s condition. Wärtsilä has also carried out electrical and automation services to improve the performance and extend the lifespan of NRC’s power plant.

The 62MW power plant is equipped with nine Wärtsilä 32 engines and provides energy for NRC’s Turaif cement plant. The cement plant has two production lines, producing nearly 10,000t/day of cement.

Iran: Cement production fell by 4.8% year-on-year to 37.7Mt in the eight-month period to 21 November 2017. The decline has been blamed on a recession in the construction industry, poor natural gas supplies and falling export rates, according to the Trend News Agency. The country produced 54.1Mt of cement in its last financial year. Cement production capacity has risen significantly locally from 29.5Mt/yr in 2001 to 83Mt/yr in 2017. The number of cement plants has grown from 30 to 72.

Pakistan: Mega Conglomerate says it plans to buy an 87.5% stake in Dewan Cement. The buyer operates in the dairy and real estate sectors. Dewan Cement operates two cement plants. Bestway Cement and Fecto Cement have previously made bids for Dewan Cement.

Mozambique: The African Elephant cement grinding plant is operating at a third of its production capacity due to low demand. The Chinese-owned plant near Pemba, Cabo Delgado in the north of the country is producing around 300t/day despite the plant’s production capacity of 1000t/day, according to sources quoted by the Mozambique News Agency. The plant’s manager expects demand to pickup once investment in the gas industry increase. The company has suffered from imports from Tanzania.

Colombia: Cement production fell by 1.5% year-on-year to 12.3Mt in 2017 from 12.5Mt in 2016. Sales fell by 1% to 12Mt from 12.1Mt, according to data from the National Administrative Department of Statistics (DANE). Sales in Antioquia, Caldas and Nariño rose by 5.7%, 16% and 17.1%, respectively. However, sales in Casanare, Cordoba and Santander dropped by 29.5%, 15.9% and 7.4%, respectively.