17 July 2017
India: The Cement Manufacturers Association (CMA) says that demand for cement is likely to grow in the second half of the Indian financial year due to the new Goods and Services Tax (GST) and increased infrastructure spending. The cement industry is also expected to benefit from a 30% reduction in logistic costs due to simplified state border checks, according to the Press Trust of India. The CMA’s forecast follows a fall in growth for the cement industry in the previous financial year.
India: The Cement Corporation of India (CCI) has signed a memorandum of understanding with Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited (RINL), the owner of the Visakhapatnam Steel Plant to build a 2Mt/yr slag and fly ash cement plant. RINL will provide the blast furnace slag and fly ash for the project. The plant is expected to cost US$23m and it will take 15 months once the deal is finalised.
Angola: Nova Cimangola has inaugurated a new 2.4Mt/yr cement plant at Cacuaco in Luanda. China’s Sinoma International Engineering built the US$400m plant in 21 months, according to the Jornal de Angola newspaper. Investment for the project came from Nova Cimangola and Ciminvest, its main shareholder.
The new unit is intended to repalace Nova Cimangola’s existing cement plant at Kikolo near Luanda, which has limited limestone reserves. The new plant occupies an area of 700 hectares with larger mineral reserves. Following the start-up of the plant Nova Cimangola’s production will rise to 3.6Mt/yr from 1.8Mt/yr. The new plant will also create 200 jobs, 85% of which are expected to go to local workers.
Ukraine: Pavel Kachur, the head of the Ukrainian cement producers association Ukrcement, has accused imports of cement from Belarus of not following the proper certification process. He said that imported cement had not been tested properly in an independent laboratory, according to Interfax-Ukraine. He also complained about energy subsidies for Belarusian cement that make it more competitive internationally and noted that Belarus is closed to exports of cement from the Ukraine.
Fire reported at Djebel El Ouest cement plant 17 July 2017
Tunisia: Fire fighters have controlled a fire that broke out at the Djebel El Ouest cement plant. The fire started on the ground floor of the plant, according to Tunis Afrique Presse. It then damaged electrical cabling and equipment. It is suspected to have been caused by a short circuit in an electrical machine caused by rising temperatures. No casualties have been reported.