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UAE's Arkan opens US$354m cement plant 24 November 2014
UAE: Arkan Building Material Company has opened a US$354m cement plant outside Al Ain, with 4Mt/yr of clinker and 5.7Mt/yr of cement of production capacity. The company said that the cement plant will source its raw materials from its own queries in Al Ain and Oman. Arkan plans to sell 90% of its production on the domestic market and 10% will be exported to GCC countries.
Cement plant in Surigao extends suspension of operations 24 November 2014
Philippines: Cash-strapped Pacific Cement Company (PACEMCO) has decided to extend the suspension of its cement plant operations for three months to complete ongoing negotiations regarding a possible investment of funds needed to re-open the plant.
"During this period of work suspension, management has committed to respect the benefits of the employees which are clearly spelled in the minutes of the conciliation conference held at the office of the Department of Labour and Employment (DOLE) Secretary on 14 November 2014," said Inocencio R Cortes, executive vice president of PACEMCO. "As a result of this extended work-suspension, all employees are hereby advised not to report to the main plant site or the port site as the case may be, as well as to those in the head office in Makati City, effective 17 November 2014 and until further notice," he added.
PACEMCO's cement plant halted operations on 5 May 2014 after the Surigao del Norte Electric Cooperative cut its power supply for unsettled obligations worth at least US$555,432. Edwin Batac, union president of Pacemco Mamumuong Nagkahiusa, said that the company has 343 employees who were on forced leave after the company stopped its operations. Batac added that the company is financially drained.
Competition Commission of India to take more time to decide on LafargeHolcim merger 24 November 2014
India: The Competition Commission of India (CCI) has said that the LafargeHolcim merger is likely to have an adverse effect on the competition in the cement industry. The anti-trust regulator has asked the two companies to publish details of the deal on their websites as well as publish them in four leading daily newspapers. It has also sought comments or objections from the public within 15 days of the merger details being published. CCI chairman Ashok Chawla has said that the CCI would take around two months to decide on the deal.
Loesche supplies the first two vertical roller mills for cement grinding to El Arish Cement 24 November 2014
Egypt: El Arish Cement is extending the clinker production capacity of its existing cement plant and will add two new lines with a clinker production capacity of 5500t/day.
El Arish Cement already operates two Loesche vertical roller mills, type LM 56.4, for cement raw material grinding within its existing two lines. The new type LM 56.4 mills will have 450t/hr of grinding capacity and a product fineness of 12% R90μm. As the new mills are of the same type as the existing ones, common spare parts can be used, keeping the spare parts demand to a minimum.
For cement grinding, El Arish Cement has also selected Loesche vertical roller mills of type LM 63.3+3. The table diameter of the mills is 6.3m and will be driven by a drive system with a rated capacity of 6800kW. The mills will grind various cement types, with capacities of up to 305t/hr.
Indian cement demand unlikely to improve in the 2015 financial year 21 November 2014
India: According to J P Morgan, Indian cement demand is likely to remain sluggish until the end of the 2015 financial year as government spending remains weak. However demand should pick up from the 2016 financial year onwards. "We would wait for clarity on the recently completed Ministry of Highways' tender for cement procurement, as roads can be a big driver and it has relatively fewer issues," said J P Morgan.