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New Zealand: Two cement ship unloaders, a ship unloader and two conveyor belt systems purchased by Holcim are being shipped to New Zealand from the Netherlands on a heavy lift ship called the Happy Dragon.
One of the cement ship unloaders along with a ship unloader, which have a combined weight of 240t, will arrive in Timaru in early November 2015 and will be used by Holcim at its new dome at the Timaru Port. The other unloader and conveyor belts are bound for Holcim's Auckland dome.
Holcim's Capital Projects Manager Ken Cowie said that Holcim was excited to have the cargo in transit in the North Atlantic. "This signals the arrival on site of all the major equipment for the terminal and brings us closer to commissioning the operations later this year."
The cement ship unloaders were built by Van Aalst Bulk Handling in Hazerswoude. The largest of them is 33m long, 15.5m wide and 18m high. A logistics company brought the unloaders 20km east of Rotterdam, where they were placed on a pontoon by a floating crane and floated down to be loaded onto a ship.
Haver & Boecker launches Haver Service department 08 October 2015
Germany: Haver & Boecker has launched a new service division in September 2015. Its aim is to bundle competencies and to increase the efficiencies of support services.
The newly-founded department, Haver Service, is based on four sectors: Spare Parts, Commissioning, Support and Assistance. "Every one of our customers should feel well-served. Service cannot be an empty word," said Alfons-Lütke-Cosmann, Head of Haver Service.
The Commissioning sector will organise the commissioning and assembly of machine and plants as well as complex reconstruction and calibration. It aims to increase the efficiency of commissioning. The Spare Parts sector will sell spare parts and implement online sales. The Assistance sector will support the customer for unplanned machine failures and acute technical difficulties. It provides a free 24/7 hotline and a remote service and will organise, depending on requirements, current site service calls. The Support column includes audits, maintenance, standard conversions, customer training and planned service appearances.
Reliance Infrastructure to sell cement business to cut debt 08 October 2015
India: Reliance Infrastructure plans to sell its cement business as part of plans to cut debt through the sale of non-core assets.
As many as 10 global companies have been sounded for a 100% stake of Reliance Cement, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Reliance Infrastructure. These include CRH, Cemex, HeidelbergCement, GE, Blackstone, Carlyle and KKR. Local companies JK Cement and Prism Cement may also be interested. Reliance Group has appointed Morgan Stanley as banker to scout for buyers for Reliance Cement.
The sale of the cement business is aimed at reducing debt by selling non-core assets. Reliance Infra's debt stood at around US$3.86bn on 31 March 2015. Reliance believes that the sale will help reduce its debt by 20 – 25%. It is looking at a valuation of US$769 – 922m for Reliance Cement, which has a cement production capacity of 5.6Mt/yr.
Reliance Cement started operations in 2007 and has plants in Maihar in Madhya Pradesh (2.8Mt/yr), Kundanganj in Uttar Pradesh (2.2Mt/yr) and Butibori in Maharashtra (500,000t/yr). It is also developing a 5Mt/yr greenfield plant at Wani in Maharashtra.
Pakistan cement exports hit by South Africa’s import duty 08 October 2015
Pakistan: Cement exports from Pakistan fell by 36% year-on-year to 467,000t in September 2015, as the import duty by South Africa took a heavy toll on its exports.
"Around 45 – 50% of total cement exports were destined for South Africa before the duty was imposed," said Sheikh Adeel, Senior Manager of Sales and Marketing at Maple Leaf Cement. South Africa has imposed duty as high as 77% on Pakistan's cements. Adeel said that the drop in exports has adversely affected exporters in Punjab. The transportation cost from Punjab to Karachi Port also rose by US$20/t.
Another industry official said that the industry is not utilising its production capacity. "There is enough idle capacity. The government should step in to support the industry to export surplus volumes, otherwise cement exports will continue to decline in the coming months," said Shahzad Ahmed, a spokesman of the All Pakistan Cement Manufacturers Association (APCMA). "We expect the government to announce export incentives for the cement industry."
In September 2014, cement exports stood at 730,000t, according to APCMA data. Total cement dispatches were recorded at 2.95Mt in September 2015 compared to 3.15Mt in September 2014, showing a cut of 6.34%. The industry data showed that cement dispatches to domestic markets were 2.48Mt in September 2015 compared to 2.42Mt in September 2014, up by 2.6%.
The local industry has been demanding that the government curb cement imports from Iran, which they said is eating into local share. "The industry expects the government to take effective steps to stop the penetration of Iranian cement in Pakistani markets through massive under invoicing and/or mis-declaration," said Ahmed. He added that the mills in the south suffered more than those operating in northern part of the country.
In the south, domestic cement dispatches declined to 399,581t in September 2015 from 431,133t in September 2014. Domestic consumption in the north, however, rose to 2.08Mt in September 2015 from 1.99Mt in September 2014. Ahmed said that domestic dispatches in the north were nominally higher than the 2.02Mt of consumption in September 2015. "This shows that the pace of construction in the north has not been hit as badly as in the south," he said. The export decline was almost the same both in north and south. Cement exports from the north declined to 306,564t in September 2015 from 480,025t in September 2014. Exports from the south dipped to 160,698t in September 2015 from 249,906t in September 2014.
Votorantim Cimentos expands its cement plant in Turkey 08 October 2015
Brazil/Turkey: Votorantim Cimentos has announced investment plans of up to US$158m to expand its business in Turkey. As well as tripling the output of its cement plant in Sivas, Votorantim may set up or acquire a new plant to tap the growth potential of Turkey's construction sector, according to company officials.
"The investment in our Sivas plant will boost production capacity to 1.8Mt/yr, up from its current level of 600,000t/yr. Following the upgrade, the Sivas plant will account for 42% of Votorantim's cement production capacity in Turkey," said Sefik Tuzun, Votorantim Turkey's CEO. "Votorantim sees the potential of Turkey's construction sector and this investment shows our commitment to reinforcing our presence in Turkey. Sivas' expansion will bring a crucial dynamism and competitiveness to the company in the Turkish cement market."
The capacity upgrade will be completed by April 2017. The construction works for the extension will create employment for 700 people. Votorantim Turkey is active in cement production as well as concrete and aggregate businesses in the country, accounting for a share of about 29% of Votorantim Cimentos' total production capacity, excluding China.