Global Cement News

India: According to the Financial Express, Jaiprakash Associates is close to selling its 1Mt/yr capacity cement plant at Sikandarabad, Uttar Pradesh to HeidelbergCement for around US$78.6m.

If the deal materialises, it would be the fifth cement asset sale by Jaiprakash Associates in little over a year. The group is looking to sell assets, including cement and power plants, to reduce its large debt. The aggregate debt of the group at the end of the 2014 financial year, which ended on 31 March 2014, stood at around US$8.65bn. Though it has so far divested assets worth US$2.36bn, the impact of the asset sales is yet to reflect on the group's balance sheet. It aims to cut down debt further by around US$1.57bn by the end of the current 2016 fiscal year, which ends on 31 March 2016. So far, Jaiprakash Associates has divested around 13Mt/yr of its overall cement capacity and is left with around 23Mt/yr.

Unnamed sources have said that Jaiprakash Associates also plans to sell two more of its cement plants, in Baga and Bagheri in Himachal Pradesh and Balaji in Andhra Pradesh, but the matter is stuck due to valuation issues. Aditya Birla Group's UltraTech Cement and HeidelbergCement have reportedly been in talks regarding their acquisition.

Mozambique: According to Agence de Presse Africaine, two new cement plants are planned for Mozambique in the coming years.

Turkey's Limak Holding plans to invest US$150m in a 2Mt/yr capacity cement plant in the Maputo Port area of Mozambique. Limak chairperson Nihat Ozdemir said that his company would create least 500 jobs during the first phase of the plant." Limak is also interested in entering the Mozambican energy sector and later intends to assess the viability of investment in ports, railways and tourism," said Ozdemir. Mozambique's Industry and Trade minister Max Tonela pledged the Mozambican government's support for Limak.

Meanwhile, Portugal's Cimpor Cimentos group, via its subsidiary Cimentos de Moçambique, has announced plans to build a new integrated cement plant in Nacala, Nampula for an estimated investment of around U$250m. It already owns an integrated cement plant in Matola and also operates four grinding units.

Mexico: Cementos Moctezuma, a joint venture company of Cementos Molins, Buzzi Unicem and Grupo Carso, has ordered a Loesche vertical roller mill LM 53.3+3 C for its cement plant in Apazapan, Veracruz. The mill will produce 205t/hr CPC 30 cement at 4000 Blaine or 195t/hr CPC 40 cement at 3700 Blaine.

The order also includes a LDC classifier (Loesche Dynamic Classifier), as well as the COPE gearbox, including gearbox drive motors, developed in cooperation with RENK AG. The COPE gearbox features a redundancy of eight motors. With all eight motors in operation, an output totaling 4.6MW is achieved. The customer advantage lies in the fact that the COPE gearbox can reach up to 100% of the mill capacity performance even with a reduced number of motors. The COPE gearbox has the same external dimensions as a conventional planetary gear system and thus requires no extensive enlargement of the mill foundations.

Philippines: According to IHS Maritime 360, the UK's Nectar Group and Seasia Nectar Port Services Inc (SNPSI), which are in a joint venture project to build a US$185.5m dry bulk terminal in Bataan, expect the new facility to launch in early 2016.

"The current schedule is for phase one to be operational from the first quarter of 2016," said a Nectar Group official. "There are planned timeframes for the other two phases, but they are dependent on how well the first phase operates."

The new dry bulk terminal is designed to handle shipments of coal, clinker, silica sand, cement raw materials, steel, fertiliser and other dry bulk cargo. Construction of the terminal will be completed in three phases covering 114,000m2. The first phase covers the development of the port facility with a 247m quay and a 14m draft. Once completed, the terminal will have 3Mt/yr of cargo capacity.

In addition to quayside and open storage areas, SNPSI will also build facilities for warehousing, stevedoring, lightering and other services.

Algeria: According to All Africa, the Algerian minister of Industry and Mines Abdeslam Bouchouareb has said that the country is moving towards, "Self-sufficiency in cement and steel products thanks to the new facilities that will be operational in the short term."

Bouchouareb said that Algeria, which imports about 3Mt/yr of cement, "Will manage to cover its needs and even over produce by 2016." It will be the first time since independence from France in 1962 that the country will cease cement imports.

Two new cement plants in Biskra with a total production capacity of 4Mt/yr will, besides the national network of operating cement plants, meet the demand of the domestic cement market. Privately-owned La Biskrie des Ciments will be operational in December 2015 with an 1Mt/yr of cement production capacity.