Australia: Boral Cement’s proposed 1.3Mt/yr grinding plant at Geelong in Melbourne is expected to be operational by 2020. Construction work on the US$94m unit is planed to start soon, according to the Geelong Advertiser newspaper. The plant will be connected to Lascelles Wharf at the Port of Geelong via a conveyor system.

The cement producer and the port have signed a 25-year agreement supporting the facility. Boral has operated at the port for the last seven years. The new grinding plant is intended to allow Boral to reduce the cost and time of transporting its products from its Waurn Ponds plant. It will also support an anticipated growth in infrastructure demand in Victoria.

Tanzania: Energy minister Medard Kalemani has inaugurated a new natural gas connection project to Dangote Cement’s plant at Mtwara. The project is being implemented to two phases with a new power plant planned that will generate up to 45MW, according to the Tanzanian Guardian newspaper. The upgrade will cost around US$875,000. Phase two of the project will see the construction of a 2.7km pipeline to the cement plant as well as supporting infrastructure. This is expected to be completed by the end of October 2018. Using natural gas is expected to significantly reduce the running costs of making the cement, which has been using diesel generators.

Yemen: Saudi Arabia’s Al Jouf Cement says it has completed its first export to Yemen. It transported 9000t of cement. The financial impact of the shipment will be recorded in its financial report for the third quarter of 2018.

Denmark: Engineering company FLSmidth is working with insulation manufacturer Rockwool and the Technical University of Denmark (DTU) on a research project to develop sustainable process technologies that will increase the use of renewable fuels and raw materials and reduce CO₂ emissions. The project has received a Euro2.7m grant from Innovation Fund Denmark.

The project plans to investigate and optimise high-temperature processes throughout the entire production chain in both companies. The DTU holds experience in this field from the CHEC research centre at DTU Chemical Engineering, which has focused on combustion research and emission abatement in recent years. FLSmidth plans to explore using alternative cement formulas and production methods to enable the company to launch more efficient technologies for using renewable fuels and reducing emissions. Rockwool intends to lower CO₂ emissions and reduce its fuel consumption to make its production become more sustainable.