Global Cement News

Germany/India: The exclusive Cooperation Agreement will enable MVW Lechtenberg & Partner (Germany) and Tridiagonal Solutions (India) to combine activities in the worldwide cement and lime industry to utilise Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) models to develop, design and troubleshoot combustion processes.

CFD is the computer-aided solution technique to describe and simulate flow-related physical phenomena such as fluid flow, heat transfer and combustion. CFD has proven itself as a powerful technique to solve flow-related problems across a range of industries. Various cement, lime and power plant applications that can be analysed using CFD include kilns and boilers, flue gas cleaning systems, bag filters, bypass systems, NO_x reduction systems, heat recovery steam generators and related equipment.

"With recent advances in the understanding of combustion, multi-phase, turbulent reacting flows and computational resources, it is now possible to develop and use computational models to simulate the performance of cement and lime plant equipment with our huge database on alternative fuels and raw materials and their influence on processes. With the outstanding experience of Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) modeling professionals from Tridiagonal Solutions we can now provide a reliable and cost effective process modeling solution to the industry," said Dirk Lechtenberg, managing director and founder of MVW Lechtenberg & Partner.

Besides CFD Modeling, the cooperation also offers a powerful framework for state-of-the-art technology services that include process engineering and consulting (including manufacturing of pilot plants), experimental fluid flow modeling, discrete element modeling (DEM), granular dynamics consulting (EDEM - CFD coupled simulations) and simulation software development.

"Tridiagonal has been delivering process performance enhancement and product development solutions to leading companies from chemicals and process, oil and gas, power generation, pharmaceuticals, and the automotive industry. We are excited to partner with MVW and bring our expertise to the cement and lime industry. The synergy between Tridiagonal and MVW's expertise will lead to new insights and innovative solutions in the cement and lime industry worldwide" said Sandeepak Natu, Head-India Europe Business Unit of Tridiagonal Solutions.

Both Dangote Cement and PPC have reminded the world about their development plans for sub-Saharan Africa. In the wake of PPC's yearly results on 19 November 2013 came a spotlight on the South Africa-based cement producer's international ambitions. Not to be outdone, Nigeria's Dangote Cement then put out a press release detailing all of its big development projects.

Dangote and PPC are set to go into direct competition when the Dangote subsidiary, Sephakhu Cement, opens its 3Mt/yr integrated cement plant at Aganang, North West province in early 2014. It will be the first time the Nigerian cement giant will be producing cement in the same country as its competitor in sub-Saharan Africa, PPC. The encounter will set the tone for the producers' next clash when they both open cement plants in Ethiopia in 2015.

Both the African cement producers are targeting a swathe of south to east sub-Saharan Africa from South African to Ethiopia. PPC, based in South Africa, has a presence in neighbouring Botswana, Zimbabwe and Mozambique. It has bought stakes in cement producers in Rwanda, Ethiopia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo and has new cement plants on the way in Ethiopia, Rwanda, Zimbabwe and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. In contrast to PPC's more 'organic' growth strategy from an established base, Dangote, with its existing presence in west Africa is about to enter this region. It has new projects planned in Kenya, Tanzania and Zambia, as well as in Ethiopia and South Africa.

To compare the financing behind each company's expansion, Dangote reported that it had committed US$884m for acquisitions in 2012. PPC intends to spend US$276m on capital expenditure in its 2014 financial year. If these figures from financial reports are correct, Dangote is spending three times as much as PPC on expansion. Dangote may have more money for expansion but PPC has long-standing presences in the region or has recently acquired them.

Dangote reported an 18% rise year-on-year in turnover to US$1.8bn in 2012. The same year its sales volumes increased to 10.4Mt from 8.66Mt in 2012. The company's installed cement production capacity was reported as 19.25Mt from three plants in Nigeria. In comparison, PPC reported a 13% rise in revenue to US$820m for its financial year to the end of September 2013. No exact cement productions figures were released but PPC said that cement sales increased by 7% in the period.

How Dangote and PPC spar in South Africa remains to be seen but one area where they may agree will be on imports. In its final results for 2013, PPC again highlighted the continuing threat of imports from Pakistan, mainly via Durban. Imports comprised 7.6% of national demand as of June 2013. In Nigeria in 2012 Dangote led successfully a campaign to cut foreign imports. Irrespective of increasing demand for cement, adding Dangote to the anti-cement import lobby in South Africa might well make space for a new producer.

India: Gangotri Cement has appointed Rajendra K Shah as an additional Independent Director with effect from 25 November 2013. Shah has also been appointed as a member of the Audit Committee and Shareholders' Grievances Committee of the Board of Directors of the Company. Gangotri Cement said that Ravi Kamra had resigned as a Director due to personal and professional commitments.

China: Guangdong Province plans to launch carbon emission trading in December 2013. It will be the world's biggest carbon trading scheme after the European Union.

Guangdong has started allotting 388Mt of carbon emission quotas to selected enterprises, according to the provincial development and reform commission. Initially 242 companies from cement, power, iron and steel and petrochemical industries have been included in the quota allocation. The scheme will cap CO₂ emissions at 350Mt for 2013.

Quotas equivalent to 29Mt of carbon emissions will be auctioned and the base price will be US$9.8/t. The rest of the quotas will be allotted to companies for free.

Shenzhen City started its carbon trading market in June 2013 and Shanghai launched its market on 26 November 2013. The National Development and Reform Commission has also approved pilot carbon emission trading schemes in Beijing, Tianjin, Chongqing and Hubei. China has pledged to reduce CO₂ emissions by 40 – 45% per unit of GDP by 2020.

Uganda: A slowdown in the construction sector and increased competition from imports has seen the price of cement fall by 13% in the third quarter of 2013 in Uganda, according to the Uganda Bureau of Statistics (UBOS) Construction Sector Indices report.

Cement production in the country has increased following the entry of new producers including Moroto Cement, whose production capacity is estimated at 3000t/day. Hima and Tororo Cement factories have also increased cement production capacities. Cement supply in the country is currently estimated at 137,000t, up from 115,000t in 2012. As cement production increases prices are also expected to continue trending downwards.