Global Cement News

Russia: Maltsovsky Portlandcement, a Eurocement Group cement plant in the Bryansk region, has started operation of a new jet filter at the cooler of its rotary kiln no. 7. The project cost Euro0.55m with the equipment built by Czech firm Cipris Filtr Brno.

"The company pursues a transparent environmental policy and will continue to keep the public informed of all its planned measures on a regular basis," said Nikolay Karyakin, the Director General of Maltsovsky Portlandcement.

Part of a project to increase the cement plant's environmental standards, the plan was agreed upon with the Rostechnadzor (the Federal Service for Environmental, Technological and Nuclear Supervision) and Rospotrebnadzor (Federal Consumer Protection Agency) Departments for the Bryansk region and approved by the Bryansk region administration in 2010.

Since 2007 Maltsovsky Portlandcement has spent more than Euro14m on environmental upgrades. These have included: the installation of two new electric filters manufactured by Alstom Power Stavan (France - Sweden) at rotary kiln No. 7; replacement of jet filters at additive overturning units Nos. 5 and 6; modernisation of jet filters at bag machines Nos. 1 and 2; modernisation of the jet filter at cement mill No. 7; and the installation of modern jet filters manufactured by SIMATEK (Denmark) at the feed conveyors cement mills Nos. 11 - 16.

US: Two workers at the Staker Parson cement plant, Tucson, Arizona, were exposed to cement powder when a silo malfunctioned and dumped the material onto them on 28 October 2013. When crews from the fire department arrived, their first priority was to decontaminate the employees by washing the cement powder off them using hoses.

Both men had respiratory complaints and one man had eye irritation. Both were taken to hospital for further treatment. Two other employees worked for one hour to plug the silo to keep the cement powder from continuing to leak out. They wore protective clothing, but also had to be decontaminated and were also taken to hospital for further evaluation.

All of the men were released from the hospital shortly after the incident.

Lithuania: Akmenes Cementas, Lithuania's only cement manufacturer, is about to complete the modernisation of its Naujoji Akmene cement factory in northwestern Lithuania. It's claimed to be one of the biggest industrial projects implemented in the country since restoration of independence. A new clinker manufacturing line, which cost around Euro107m, should begin operation late in November or early in December 2013, barring delays. The line should operate for around 50 years and investments are expected to be covered within a decade. The company used it's own funds to finance the bulk of investments, while banks provided around one-third of the total funding.

"Representatives of equipment suppliers are visiting the facility now. They are checking, fine tuning, testing the equipment and adjusting the programmes. We keep our fingers crossed and hope that everything goes smoothly," said Arturas Zaremba, CEO of Akmenes Cementas.

Philippines: Thailand-based Siam Cement Group seeks to put up a manufacturing facility for fibre cement boards, smart boards and ceramic tiles, The Nation reports. These planned projects would cater to not only the domestic market but also SGC's markets across the Asean nations.

"If the products are marketable here, we plan to produce those products here. Investments would depend on market size. For example, for fibre cement board, we need (to be able to sell at least) 5Mm² to (justify the cost of putting up a facility). The current local demand is 30Mm²," said Surasak Kraiwitchai-charoen, international business director of SCG Building Materials Group in Thailand.

India: Shree Cement reported a 24.5% dip in net profit for the July - September quarter at US$28m. The company, which has 13.5Mt/yr cement production capacity and 560MW/yr power generation capacity, had produced US$37m net profit in the same quarter last fiscal year. Total income of the company during the quarter fell to US$203m from US$211m in 2012. Revenue from both cement and power businesses of the company dropped during the quarter.

Expenses during the period went up to US$181m from US$163m in the July - September quarter of 2012 due to higher freight and other expenses. Freight costs of the company went up to US$41m for the quarter from US$35m in the year-ago period. Other expenses during the period went up to US$40m from US$33m.