Paraguay: Industria Nacional del Cemento (INC) says that its despatches of cement grew by 2% year-on-year to 12.7 million bags in 2018 from 12.6 million bags in 2017. The company described how it overcame a ‘difficult moment’ in late 2018 by normalising the cement despatch process and supplying overdue orders. Local media reported a shortage of cement and technical issues at INCs Villeta plant in late 2018.

Ivory Coast: China’s Tianjin Cement Industry Design & Research Institute says that it received the provisional acceptance certificate (PAC) from an unnamed customer for a grinding plant project in late November 2018. Commissioning, first cement production and project sign-off was received for the two lines. Cimasso, a subsidiary of Cim Metal Group, reported first cement production at its new 2.6Mt/yr grinding plant Bobo Dioulasso in November 2018.

Algeria: Germany’s Aumund has received two clinker conveying equipment orders for cement plants at Zahana and Bechar. The two orders comprise 26 belt and chain bucket elevators, two bucket apron conveyors, ten pan conveyors and ten drag chain conveyors. No value for the deals has been disclosed.

The first order is for the 4500t/day Société des Ciments de Zahana (SCIZ) plant near Oran. Here three chain bucket elevators with centre distances ranging from 22.5 - 34.9m and capacities from 50 - 220t/hr will be used to convey cement and clinker. 11 belt bucket elevators (22.5 -116.1m) will convey raw meal, cement and clinker with capacities between 190 - 680t/hr. The Aumund bucket apron conveyor, with a centre distance of 61.1m and a capacity of 360t/hr, will join the five Aumund pan conveyors (18.3 - 106.8m, capacity 300 - 360t/hr) in conveying clinker. The ten Aumund drag chain conveyors with centre distances between 6.1 - 33.8m will be used in clinker dust extraction and are designed for conveying capacities from 15 - 80t/hr.

The second order is for the 3200t/day Bechar cement plant. This order was placed by China’s CBMI to Aumund Beijing with support from Aumund France. This plant will operate 15 Aumund belt and chain bucket elevators, five Aumund pan conveyors and an Aumund bucket apron conveyor for its bulk materials handling. The bucket elevators, with centre distances ranging from 11 - 102.9m, will convey raw meal, cement and clinker with capacities from 70 – 480t/hr. The five pan conveyors, with centre distances from 22.2 - 89.8m, will convey their loads at up to 480t/hr. The Aumund bucket apron conveyor in Bechar (centre distance 88.5m, capacity 200t/hr) will also convey clinker.

China: West China Cement says that it is expecting its net profit to record a ‘substantial’ increase year-on-year in 2018. It has attributed this to a rise in average cement prices. Subsequently, its sales revenue rose by 28% year-on-year for the first eleven months of 2018 compared to the same period in 2017.