Global Cement News

Philippines: Gebr. Pfeiffer has received an order for a modular four-roller ready2grind 2500 vertical grinding unit to Big Boss Cement’s Porac, Pampanga plant. It says that the mill will have a production capacity of 70t/hr of cement, ground to a fineness of 4000cm2/g. The company will additionally supply a packing plant module for bag and bulk loading.

Gebr. Pfeiffer said that in spite of delays to the unit’s commissioning due to coronavirus lockdown, it “has experienced specialists on site and is therefore able to support the customer in this phase.”

Morocco: HeidelbergCement subsidiary Ciments du Maroc made sales of US$88.4m in the first quarter of 2020, down by 9.8% year-on-year from US$100m in the corresponding quarter of 2019. Cement volumes fell by 9.9%. Ciments du Maroc said that it increased its capital expenditure by 43% to US$1.51m from US$824,000.

Russia: Eurocement subsidiary Lipetskcement has announced that its CEM-II sulphate-resistant cement has been found to conform to the new Russian standard for its class of products. This enables its use in special types of construction, including hydraulic engineering, land reclamation, transport infrastructure and oil and gas wells.

Russia: Eurocement subsidiary Kavkazcement has announced its acquisition of a Hitachi excavator for use at its clay quarry. The reasons behind the choice of excavator were its high productivity and low operating costs.

Kavkazcement director general Oleg Lopatin said, “The hydraulic excavator will develop clay reserves in areas complicated by large slopes, increasing the economic efficiency of raw material extraction and ensuring the stability of the final product. Kavkazcement systematically modernises all stages of production, which allows us to guarantee high quality and reliability of product deliveries to key construction sites in the south of Russia.”

Spain: Following a partial easing of Spain’s coronavirus lockdown on 25 May 2020, LafargeHolcim España employees returning to the company’s Villaluenga de la Sagra cement plant in Toledo, Castile-La Mancha were surprised to discover that an Iberian lynx had moved in during the 2.4Mt/yr integrated plant’s 10-week suspension due to the coronavirus lockdown. Staff contacted the Castile-La Mancha Environmental Agency, which determined that the site was ‘not an ideal habitat’ for lynx due to the risk presented by vehicles inside and outside of the cement plant when operations resume. The Castile-La Mancha Environmental Agency has tweeted that it has released the one-year-old female cat at a secret location in the Montes de Toledo region, following a medical check-up and tagging.