India: Dalmia Bharat’s income rose by 7% year-on-year to US$1.36bn in the year to 31 March 2019 from US$1.26bn in the same period in 2018. Its cement sales volumes grew by 10% to 18.7Mt from 17Mt. However, its earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) fell by 5% to US$278m from US$292m. The cement producer blamed mounting slag and petcoke costs for the growing production costs although it noted that the prices had started to ‘soften’ in the most recent quarter.
CalPortland officially opens new bulk cement loading unit at Oro Grande cement plant
US: CalPortland has held the official opening of a rapid fill bulk cement loading station at the Oro Grande, California cement plant. The loading station is the final part of an upgrade project that originally started in 2008 when Riverside Cement owned the plant. This included two new cement loadout facilities, two distribution silos and a cement grinding mill. The upgrade cost US$58.5m.
“Our engineering staff and the Oro Grande operations team have developed a truck loadout system that is one of the fastest in the industry. The added rapid fill bulk loading stations will prevent long wait times for our customers by reducing the total number of trucks on each loading station, thereby further contributing to reduction of greenhouse gas emissions,” said Allen Hamblen, president and chief executive officer (CEO) of CalPortland.
Cement Manufacturers Association of Ghana lobbies government on imports
Ghana: The Cement Manufacturers Association of Ghana (CMAG) and representatives of other industries including steel and food have petitioned the Ghana International Trade Commission to protect them from ‘unfair’ trade practices. They have asked the government to follow World Trade Organisation (WTO) rules and match export rebates with additional tariffs, according to the Ghanaian Times newspaper. CMAG secretary said that the local cement industry had a production capacity of 11.6Mt/yr and that this was enough to meet local demand.
LEILAC holds ribbon-cutting for pilot plant at Lixhe
Belgium: The Low Emissions Intensity Lime And Cement (LEILAC) consortium partners and its external advisory board have held a ribbon-cutting ceremony at its pilot Direct Separation Calciner unit at the HeidelbergCement cement plant in Lixhe. The project started commissioning the unit in March 2019. Testing is now set to start to validate the performance of the pilot.
