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US: Titan America has cancelled the construction of a cement plant in Castle Hayne, North Carolina. It said it made the decision on economic reasons. Supply and demand balances in the specific regional markets did not support the cost of building a plant.
“Our decision to suspend construction on the cement plant in Castle Hayne is driven by basic project economics,” said Bill Zarkalis, Titan America’s CEO. “The pace of demand growth in the specific markets does not seem adequate to justify the addition of substantial new production capacity - more so because the costs to construct a new cement plant in the United States have risen substantially in the past few years. Finally, the overall risk profile of the project has worsened as new coastal capacity in North Carolina could be vulnerable to cement imports, considering the strong US Dollar, the global cement supply situation and low ocean freight costs.” He added that Titan is committed to long-term growth in the US and that the group is investing over US$250m between 2014 and 2016.
Titan America serves its North Carolina market from its Roanoke cement plant in Virginia, with an integrated logistics network of cement distribution terminals, warehouses and more than twenty ready-mix concrete plants. No jobs in any of Titan America’s existing operations are expected to be affected by the decision to cancel the Castle Hayne cement plant.
Philippines: Cemex Philippines has started proceedings to sell a minority stake in its assets. The subsidiary of Cemex has filed a registration statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) of the Philippines and the Philippine Stock Exchange. Subject to obtaining approvals from both bodies it will then sell a minority interest in the company’s cement manufacturing assets in the Philippines, the company said in a statement.
Cemex runs two integrated cement plants in the country, the Solid Cement Plant in Rizal and the APO Cement Plant in Cebu. The decision to sell shares of assets in the Philippines is part of Cemex’s wider asset divesture plant.
Loesche delivers first mobile grinding plant 10 March 2016
Germany: Clariant Germany has purchased the first mobile Loesche grinding plant to grind bentonite at its Balikesir facility in Turkey. Clariant required a mobile plant because the site is due to be relocated. The mill is integrated into seven ISO containers, all the electrical connections between the containers are pluggable and no foundations are required for its erection on solid ground. The mill is expected to be commissioned in May 2016.
The vertical roller mill uses a type LM 9.2 D mill, it is designed for grinding industrial minerals and it has a capacity of 1.8t/hour. The Balikesir facility grinds bentonite, which is ground to a fineness of 30% R 0.063. The grinding plant has a power transmission capacity of 45kW. All grinding plant components from the open loop control to the feed bin, the crusher, the mill with classifier, the hot gas generator, the filter, the fan and the pneumatic product transport are placed in containers.
Clariant is a global leader in specialty chemicals. Its headquarters are in Muttenz near Basel in Switzerland.
Batıçim orders burning system from FCT Combustion 10 March 2016
Turkey: Batıçim Batı Anadolu Çimento Sanayii A.Ş. has ordered a burning system firing petcoke, fuel oil and alternative solid fuels from FCT Combustion. The order follows a long relationship with the Turkish market by FCT. The specialist industrial combustion and process engineering company first worked with a certified manufacturing partner in Istanbul in 1999.
Quang Ninh to stop cement shipments via Ha Long Bay 10 March 2016
Vietnam: The People’s Committee of the northern coastal province of Quang Ninh have decided to stop the loading and discharge activities and transport of clinker, cement and wood chips on Ha Long Bay due to pollution fears at the tourist site.
Under the decision No. 617/QD-UBND, transportation of bulk cargo, such as clinker, cement and wood chips will be terminated from 1 July 2016. Transportation of these goods will be moved to Hon Net port on Bai Tu Long bay instead. The provincial People Committee has also previously proposed that the government stop upgrades at two cement plants, Thang Long 2 and Ha Long, due to similar concerns.
Ha Long Bay, which spans 1553km2 and houses 1969 islands of various sizes, was recognised as a United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organizatio (UNESCO) World Heritage Site in 1994 and 2000. It is a major tourist attraction in the country with more than 500 tourist boats in service.