16 May 2017
Fuchs opens US$26m grease plant near Chicago 16 May 2017
US: Fuchs Petrolub has opened a US$26m grease manufacturing plant, research laboratory and warehouse near Chicago. The 3150m2 unit in Harvey, Illinois will supply lubricants to the automotive, heavy-duty truck, construction, rail, and off-road markets in North America.
The expansion of the Chicago-area site is part of a US$330m investment by the company in 2016 to 2018 in its manufacturing and research and development facilities. The company also expanded its facilities in Mannheim and Kaiserslautern, Germany, and is opening new plants in Wujiang, China, Australia and Sweden. The Harvey facility is Fuchs' second grease plant in the US with the other in Kansas City, Missouri.
Pakistan: The National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) has ruled out the option of using waste heat from cement plants as surplus energy for the national grid. The body had started investigating using waste energy from cement plants but decided that high-energy consumption at the plants minimised the possibility of any excess power.
Sandvik hit by WannaCry computer virus 16 May 2017
Sweden: Sandvik has been affected by the WannaCry computer virus. The engineering company said that the ransonware worm had hit its office and production environment on 12 May 2017. The company has focused on mapping the impact and executing recovery measures. It expects to deliver on customer commitments as planned and no major financial impact is currently expected.
US: The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has fined the Nevada Cement Company US$0.5m for violating the Clean Air Act. According to a legal complaint the cement producer made ‘major’ modifications to its plant in Fernley, Nevada that led to significant increased emissions of NOx, without first obtaining a permit required by the Clean Air Act and without installing necessary pollution control equipment. Nevada Cement has agreed to install new air pollution control technology replace a heavy-duty diesel truck and a diesel railcar mover at the facility with clean emissions vehicles.
JK Cement upgrades plants in Rajasthan 16 May 2017
India: JK Cement has increased its clinker production capacity at its plants in Rajasthan by 3.3Mt/yr following upgrades in cooler modification, de-bottlenecking and other upgrades. The investment cost US$7.8m. Following the upgrade the cement producer had a production capacity of 5.4Mt/yr in the state.
Thailand: Siam City Cement has deployed pervasive network infrastructure and plant-wide wireless connectivity at its Plant 3 in Saraburi as part of its ‘Digital Connected Plant’ plan. Cisco supplied the hardware and Fujitsu helped with the system integration, according to the Nation newspaper. The upgrade is part of the cement producer’s Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) strategy where it intends to track employees, contractors and assets in real time to raise productivity and safety.
Philippines: Two cement importers have asked the Regional Trial Court of Makati to issue a temporary restraining order against a Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) order restricting imports of cement. Fortem Cement and Cohaco Merchandising and Development allege that the Administrative Order 17-02 prevents imports of cement into the country, with the exception of importers operating integrated cement plants, according to the Manilla Bulletin newspaper. The importers say that the legislation will destroy their business. They also allege that the new rules violate anti-competition rules.
The DTI has defended its legislation, although it recognises the freedom of the importers to challenge it through the legal process. The government department says it issued the revised order to help safeguard the safety of consumers by requiring the strict conduct of standards compliance tests on cement imports. The order requires the application of the Philippine Standards licenses on foreign producers of cement imports, Import Commodity Clearance on cement imports and a minimum capitalisation level for importers to prevent smaller importers.
Philippines: Republic Cement & Building Materials has approved a five-year capital expenditure programme to increase its clinker and cement production capacity to meet local demand. One of the cement producer’s owners, Aboitiz Group, announced that it was making the investment to take advantage of infrastructure development plants by the Duterte administration, according to the Philippines Star newspaper. The upgrade is expected to increase the company’s production capacity by 1Mt/yr from its current level of 7Mt/yr. The investment will be spent on both production efficiency improvements at existing plants and by building a new kiln.