Global Cement News

USA: Titan America's Roanoke Cement has earned the US Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA's) Energy Star certification for the tenth consecutive year and Titan's Pennsuco plant celebrates nine years of certification. To qualify for Energy Star, Titan's plants must perform in the top 25 percent of cement plants in the US for total energy efficiency (thermal and electrical) and meet strict environmental performance levels set by the EPA.

To further its efforts, Titan America has implemented a series of processes that enable Titan employees to maintain and improve energy performance across the entire enterprise. The Titan Energy Management System (EnMS), operating at Titan's three largest facilities (the Roanoke Cement plant in Virginia and both the cement plant and aggregate plant located in Medley, Florida) enables employees to systematically manage total consumption of all energy sources. This program, which addresses the energy performance standard ISO 50001, also ensures that the company's business operations are as efficient as possible, increases plant reliability and supports Titan's operational goals.

"At Titan America we are passionate about continuously developing efficient, sustainable operating practices," said Bill Zarkalis, Titan America's CEO. "Titan's EnMS program is an excellent example of innovation and of our commitment to make our business operations more efficient, while contributing as much as we can to make the locations in which we operate better places to live and work. We are very proud of this recognition, but we do not take it for granted. We are poised to continue our efforts."

"We are extremely proud of the Energy Star certifications we have earned over the past decade," commented George Pantazopoulos, Senior Vice President of Titan America Cement Operations and Corporate Engineering. "We also consider this milestone to be a catalyst for reinvigorating our teams and increasing our efforts. We have no doubt that we can gain further efficiencies in our manufacturing processes using the EnMS program."

Roanoke Cement has applied electricity management best practices during the previous 18 months and has delivered an 11% reduction in electricity consumed per tonne of cement produced. Additionally, the company has partnered with electrical utilities to reduce their contribution to peaks on the power grid due to demand management and demand response. These efforts ensure that inefficient peak generators owned by the utilities can remain offline during times when homeowners and businesses place a large demand on the electrical grid.

"The EnMS program is scheduled to be fully operational by 3Q 2017," reported Chris Bayne, Titan America's Corporate Energy Manager and director of the EnMS program. "We organised teams to oversee the program at our three main facilities. Roberto Duran will lead the Pennsuco Aggregates Plant team, Sonny Cruz will lead the Roanoke Cement Plant team and Diwakar Mishra will lead the team at Pennsuco Cement." Bayne also noted that the implementation teams would routinely incorporate energy management practices into the daily operations of Titan's manufacturing facilities. Titan is targeting a reduction in total energy consumption of 3%, year-over-year.

Energy Star was introduced by EPA in 1992 as a voluntary, market-based partnership to reduce greenhouse gas emissions through energy efficiency. Today, the Energy Star label can be found on more than 60 different kinds of products as well as new homes and commercial and industrial buildings that meet strict energy-efficiency specifications set by the EPA. Over the past twenty years, American families and businesses have saved a total of nearly $230 billion on utility bills and prevented more than 1.7 billion metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions with help from Energy Star.

Zimbabwe: Chinese cement producer Mortal Investments Manufacturing Company is constructing a US$10 million plant in Redcliff with capacity to employ about 400 employees, while producing 1Mt/yr. Its arrival in Zimbabwe is expected to intensify competition in the market dominated by Lafarge Cement and Pretoria Portland Cement (PPC). It will be the second cement producer to invest in the Midlands Province, after Sino Zimbabwe Cement, which is located just outside Gweru.

For a town battling high unemployment levels following the closure of its major source of jobs - the Zimbabwe Iron and Steel Company (ZISCO) - the new project will add life to the town. Redcliff is strategically located for cement producers given its proximity to significant quantities of slag from ZISCO. Redcliff mayor, Freddy Kapuya, said the investment has brought hope to the town. "This will have a positive impact on the lives of the people in Redcliff. The Chinese company bought about 100,000m2 of land from us for about US$600,000 and they have since started constructing a cement plant after investing about US$10 million," he said.

Gift Mpofu, the past president of the Construction Industry Federation of Zimbabwe, welcomed the development, adding that the industry was looking forward to a better product. "As long as they don't produce a dubious or shoddy product, we will support them. This also means that cement manufacturing players will now compete in terms of prices," Mpofu said.

Mortal's interest in Zimbabwe comes a year after Nigerian billionaire; Aliko Dangote announced that Dangote Cement would set up a US$400 million plant in the country, as part of its Pan African expansion strategy. Dangote has already established an operation in Zambia, and his entry into Zimbabwe demonstrates that despite depressed demand, foreign investors are seeing a bright future in the country.

The entry of Mortal and Dangote in the cement industry has resulted in existing players taking steps to cement their dominance in their niche markets. PPC, the largest cement manufacturing company in Zimbabwe, has been working on expansion programmes, with a new plant expected in Harare to serve markets that include Mozambique.

The Zimbabwe unit of LafargeHolcim, is also increasing capacity. Lafarge, the second largest cement producer in the country, says it would continue to make innovations and introduce new products that meet customer needs. Lafarge has introduced a range of new packaging brands for its products.

Sino Zimbabwe has also invested US$2m to boost production at its plant near Gweru.

Japan: Japan's Sumitomo Osaka Cement consumed 1.41Mt of coal in financial year 2015 to March 31, 2016, down 2.7% year on year. Petroleum coke consumption in FY2015 was 0.10Mt, up 19%.

Poland/Egypt: Royal Cement EU, the European arm of the Egyptian white cement producer Royal El Minya Cement, is planning to expand in the Gdansk-Kowale IV logistics centre in Poland, belonging to 7R Logistic. Querco Property acted as Royal Cement's advisor in finding and negotiating the deal.

Iraq: Lafarge Iraq has signed an agreement with Iraq's General Company for Land Transportation (GCLT) for the transportation of cement. The contract is the largest in the history of the GCLT, which is owned by Iraq's Ministry for Transport. The deal will run for one year, and may be further extended for five years. Lafarge Iraq operates three cement plants: Bazian and Tasluja cement plants located in Sulaimania, in the Iraqi Federal Region of Kurdistan, and the Karbala Cement Plant located close to Karbala province.