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St. Marys Cement plant in Dixon looking to reopen 27 November 2014
US: The mayor of Dixon, Illinois says that he is 'optimistic' that the mothballed St. Marys cement plant in the city will reopen. Mayor Jim Burke told local press that representatives from St. Marys Cement approached him in mid-2014 to discuss the possibility of restarting operations at the plant. The mayor says that the city government is working with the company to see if there are incentives 'to make it all work.'
The plant has been idle since December 2008. When it closed about 90 people lost their jobs. At the same time the Environment Protection Agency fined the company and a co-owner for violations of the Clean Air Act. St. Marys Cement is owned by Brazilian-based cement producer Votorantim.
Cherat Cement plans to build new line 26 November 2014
Pakistan: Cherat Cement has reportedly decided to install a new 1.3Mt/yr capacity production line, according to local media.
Abid A Vazir, executive director of Cherat Cement, said that the expansion is being undertaken to meet expected increases in domestic demand. The increase is expected to be fuelled by government spending on major infrastructure projects, with a special focus on the construction of highways and hydropower as well as housing projects. Expected improvements in the political situation in neighbouring Afghanistan, Pakistan's largest export market, may also give a boost to reconstruction activities.
Tianjin Cement Industry Design and Research Institute has reportedly been contracted to build the plant. Cherat Cement currently operates a 1.1Mt/yr capacity cement plant near Nowshera, in the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Province of Pakistan.
India: The Competition Commission of India (CCI) has closed a case of alleged cartel activity among 11 cement companies due to a lack of evidence. The companies were named as Penna Cements, India Cements, Bharathi Cements, Dalmia (Bharat) Cements, Bhavya Cements, Zuari Cements, Ultratech Cements, Jaypee Cements, Ramco Cements, KCP Cements and My Home Cements.
JCB inaugurates two new plants in India 26 November 2014
India: JCB India has inaugurated two plants in Jaipur facility costing US$80m. The 115 acre site consists of a fabrication and a manufacturing plant. Once fully operational it will employ around 1000 people.
"We decided on this majestic state because it holds strategic importance for future growth under the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial corridor, of which a considerable part passes through the state," said Joesph Bamford, group chairman of JCB. JCB has invested nearly US$400m in India since its entry in 1979 with the Ballabgarh facility in Haryana. The fully-owned subsidiary of JCB also runs two factories in Pune.
Kerneos aims to commission new specialty cement plant by end of 2016 26 November 2014
India: Kerneos Aluminate Technologies, a leader in specialty cements, hopes to commission a proposed US$19m plant in India by December 2016. The company has finalised plans to set up a greenfield unit near Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh.
"We chose Visakhapatnam as the site for our own factory since it is ideally placed close to our customers in the eastern region. Being a port-based site, it offers the advantage of raw materials imports while serving as a base for exports in the near future," said president and CEO of Kerneos Jean-Marc Bianchi. The new plant will produce calcium alumina cement. It will have an initial capacity of 30,000t/yr. Kerneos plans to add a similar capacity at a later stage depending on the rate of product uptake in India. The Visakhapatnam unit will be Kerneos' seventh manufacturing facility worldwide.