Displaying items by tag: Plant
Birla Corporation targets cement capacity of 25Mt/yr
06 September 2023India: Birla Corporation plans to increase its cement production capacity to 25Mt/yr by the end of the 2026 financial year from 20Mt/yr at present. It intends to do this by upgrading its 3.9Mt/yr Mukutban plant in Maharashtra, installing a second grinding unit at Maihar in Madhya Pradesh as well as building new grinding plants, according to the Times of India newspaper.
Birla Corporation chair Harsh V Lodha said "With the commissioning of Mukutban, we have virtually ring-fenced our core market of Central India, which we can service seamlessly from our six plants, namely Maihar, Satna, Kundangunj, Raebareli, Chanderia and now, Mukutban. The strategic location of these plants and standardisation of product quality allows us to interchange source of supplies to maximise realisation and serviceability for our customers." He made the comments at the company’s annual general meeting.
Hoffmann Green Cement Technologies confirms deal with Shurfah Group
05 September 2023Saudi Arabia: Hoffmann Green Cement Technologies (HGCT) has signed a deal with Shurfah Group to build several Hoffman plants under a 22-year exclusive licensing agreement. A first ‘clinker-free’ cement plant will be built in 2024. It will be a copy of HGCT’s H2 plant in France, which uses a combination of activated clay, ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBFS) and gypsum to manufacture its products.
The engineering and production process will be carried out by Germany-based IBAU Hamburg. HGCT signed an exclusive partnership agreement with IBAU Hamburg in June 2022 to support the construction of Hoffmann units worldwide. In return for the industrial and technological transfer and this exclusivity, Hoffmann Green will receive an entry fee and fixed and variable annual royalties from Shurfah Group based on sales generated by the marketing of Hoffmann cements in Saudi Arabia.
Julien Blanchard and David Hoffman, the co-founders of HGCT, said "Just few weeks after signing a pre-agreement, we have given concrete expression to our commitment by signing this licensing contract with Shurfah, a major player in the Saudi Arabian construction industry. After Switzerland and the UK, we are continuing our international deployment with the aim of supporting, through this new contract, the kingdom's ambitious ‘Vision 2030’ project and participating in the decarbonisation of their construction industry through the construction of several of our units on their territory and the marketing of our 0% cement clinker."
Shurfah Group is a real estate investment conglomerate with interests in other sectors including petrochemicals, food and beverages.
Six dormant cement plants reportedly received Euro88m in European Union emissions allowances
05 September 2023Europe: Six cement plants were reportedly issued around Euro88m in free European Union emissions allowances (EUA) from 2019 to 2022 despite the clinker kilns at the units being idle or running at low levels. Research by the Oil Price Information Service (OPIS) has revealed that plants operated by Buzzi, Cementos Portland Valderrivas (CPV), Cemex, Holcim and Votorantim Cimentos all benefited from the scheme despite only emitting 36,370t of CO2. The companies would then have been able to use the subsidy to cover emissions costs at other plants or sell the permits. OPIS identified five plants in Spain and one in Germany.
India: A worker had been killed and two others seriously injured at a fire that broke out at Dalmia Cement’s Banjari cement plant on 1 September 2023. The staff were reportedly cleaning the kiln at the unit in Bihar when the incident took place, according to the Hindustan Times newspaper. The name of the dead worker has been confirmed as Sanjiv Kumar Singh.
Indonesia: Hongshi Indonesia Tonga Cement has commissioned the first phase of its new cement plant in East Kutai, East Kalimantan. At this phase of its development, the plant has a capacity of 4Mt/yr. It holds 1Bnt of limestone reserves and is equipped with a 50,000t marine terminal. The plant is situated over 250km away from the site of Indonesia’s upcoming new capital city, Nusantara, also in East Kalimantan. Hongshi Indonesia Tonga Cement plans to subsequently raise the plant’s capacity to 8Mt/yr.
Senomaly assesses feasibility of restarting mothballed Mahrouga cement plant in Libya
01 September 2023Libya: Representatives of China-based Senomaly carried out feasibility assessments to investigate the possibility of restarting the Mahrouga cement plant near Sebha in late August 2023. The Libya Herald newspaper has reported that National Mining Corporation hosted the delegation at the mothballed plant.
Chinese president Xi Jinping directly instructed Chinese businesses to return to Libya on 27 August 2023.
GCC orders pyroprocessing equipment from ThyssenKrupp Polysius for Odessa cement plant expansion
31 August 2023US: GCC has ordered pyroprocessing equipment from ThyssenKrupp Polysius for the expansion of its Odessa cement plant in Texas. The upgrade will more than double the plant’s capacity to 1.9Mt/yr, and reduce its CO2 emissions by 13%. Contractor H&M Construction says that the project will be the third on which it has collaborated on design and construction.
H&M Vice President Casey Rushing said “H&M is proud to have the opportunity to serve GCC as its design-builder on this great project. H&M has a very strong active presence in Texas and a very strong veteran self-perform team that has recently completed with Polysius a near identical pyroprocessing expansion in the Southeast US. We intend to improve on our successes from our previous pyroprocessing lines by executing this project for GCC with superior safety, quality and customer satisfaction.”
Maerz to supply lime kiln for UNACEM
30 August 2023Peru: Switzerland-based Maerz has received an order from UNACEM (Unión Andina de Cementos) to supply a 600t/day PFR lime kiln. The kiln will be built and operated jointly at Tarma by UNACEM and Mexico-based lime producer Calidra Group. UNACEM already runs its integrated Condorcocha cement plant in Tarma. The supplier says that the kiln will be ready to install future CO2 capture technologies due to airtight sealed charging and discharging systems. It will also save up to 20% of electrical energy compared to conventional rotary piston blowers by using high-pressure fans to provide the process air.
Planning is underway for the project and is expected to be completed by the end of 2023. Maerz’ scope of supply will include the petroleum coke firing system, skip winch, charging and discharging systems, high-pressure fans, hydraulic unit and control system. According to the schedule, commissioning should take place in the first half of 2025.
Heidelberg Materials’ Delta cement plant switches to full Portland limestone cement production
30 August 2023Canada: Heidelberg Materials says that its integrated Delta cement plant in British Columbia has switched to exclusively producing its EcoCem Portland limestone cement (PLC). EcoCem PLC is a Portland limestone cement that contains up to 15% limestone and generates approximately 10% less CO₂ compared to other Portland cements. It has equivalent performance to ASTM and CSA standards for Type I/II Portland cement in strength and durability, and can be used in any application where Portland cement Type I is normally used.
Prior to the full transition to PLC production, the plant had already taken steps to reduce its CO2 emissions by using alternative fuels. The Delta cement plant has been in operation since the 1970s.
US: Peru-based UNACEM has entered into a definitive agreement with Martin Marietta Materials to acquire its Tehachapi cement plant in California. North Carolina-based Martin Marietta Materials reported the value of the deal as US$317m. The companies expect to close the deal in mid-late 2023.
Taiheiyo Cement subsidiary CalPortland previously terminated its deal to buy the Tehachapi plant, along with two local cement terminals, in April 2023. Japan-based Taiheiyo Cement said that the parties had been unable to obtain necessary approvals from the US Federal Trade Commission within a suitable timeframe.