06 February 2017
Greenbank supplies feeder system to Hanson Cement’s Padeswood plant 06 February 2017
UK: Greenbank has supplied a GWF feeder system to Hanson Cement’s Padeswood plant in Flintshire. The system is designed to feed raw materials into the processing plant at a predetermined rate. The upgrade is part of a recent series of expansions.
“The constant and reliable feed rate of the GWF feeder is achieved by having a shear gate to set a constant material bed depth for the given particle size combined with an inverter drive to control the feeder belt speed,” said Rod Molyneux, Product Sales Engineer at Greenbank.
Greenbank Group has previously supplied the plant with wear-resistant pipework and a pipe system for a new shredded refuse fuel line into a processing kiln.
Corporacion Socialista del Cemento expects 6Mt output in 2017 06 February 2017
Venezuela: The Corporacion Socialista del Cemento expects to produce 6Mt of cement in 2017 to meet national demand. Marco Tulio Diaz, president of the construction federation Federación Bolivariana de la Construcción, said that distribution channels are to be reinforced, according to the El Universal newspaper. He added the country expects to export 0.3Mt of cement in 2017. In 2016 about 55% of cement production despatched to the popular housing program Gran Misión Vivienda Venezuela and 45% was reserved for the private sector.
Headwaters shareholders approve acquisition by Boral 06 February 2017
US: The shareholders of Headwaters have approved the acquisition of the company by Australia’s Boral. Over 98% of the votes cast were in favour of the deal. Boral will now continue to seek regulatory approval for the purchase and it plans to complete the deal by mid-2017. Headwaters’ Construction Materials division is one of the largest marketers of fly ash in the US.
Vietnam cement exports drop to 14.7Mt in 2016 06 February 2017
Vietnam: Data from the General Department of Vietnam Customs has shown that exports of cement fell by 7.1% year-on-year to 14.7Mt in 2016 and by 16% year-on-year to US$561m in value. Bangladesh and the Philippines remained the major importers of cement and clinker from Vietnam in 2016, according to the Vietnam News newspaper. The Philippines imported 3.8Mt of cement and clinker worth US$185m from Vietnam in 2016 and Bangladesh imported 4.7Mt worth US$141m, accounting for 33% and 25.1% respectively of the country’s total clinker and cement exports in 2016. Increased competition in export markets has been blamed on rival products from Thailand and China.
Pakistan: The UK’s Asian Precious Minerals has announced plans to build a US$400m cement plant in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province. Asian Precious Minerals’ chief executive officer (CEO) Nadim Khan, Executive Director Peter Frost, Country Manager Irshad Ali Khokhar and Jason Mumtaz of the British High Commission met with provincial Chief Minister Pervez Khattak to discuss the plans, according to the Express Tribunal newspaper. The project hopes to take advantage of infrastructure demand being driven by the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor.
ACC sales drop in 2016 06 February 2017
India: ACC’s net sales have fallen by 4% year-on-year to US$1.63bn in 2016 from US$1.70bn in 2015. Sales volumes of cement fell by 2.7% to 23.0Mt from 23.6Mt and operating earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) fell by 7.5% to US$211m from US$229m. However, profit after tax rose by 2.7% to US$90m from US$87.5m. The company described the market conditions in 2016 as ‘challenging.’ It added that the economic slowdown following demonetisation was easing.
“The highlight of the year was strong cost saving measures, especially on fuel flexibility and raw materials. Focusing on our high quality, high performance product portfolio played an important role in the overall performance for the year. We are encouraged by the government's plans to invest in infrastructure," said Neeraj Akhoury, Managing Director and chief executive officer of ACC.
The cement producer’s 1.35Mt/yr grinding plant at Sindri, Jharkhand was commissioned at the end October 2016, joining a 2.79Mt/yr integrated plant at Jamul, Chhattisgarh which was commissioned earlier in 2016. The new plants are expected to strengthen ACC’s market presence in the east of the country.