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Colombia: The Regional Autonomous Corporation of Antioquia has reissued Cemex’s environmental clearance for its 1Mt/yr integrated cement plant in Macao. The certification marks the conclusion of a dispute over mining right in the course of which Cemex fired multiple executives for payment of US$25m to a private third party. La Republica reports that Cemex is now in a position to advance several licensing processes and to begin construction of connecting roads for the plant.

Turkey: Fuchs Petrolub and Opet Petrolcülüks’ joint venture Opet Fuchs has completed construction of its 60,000t/yr plant for the production of assorted oil products, including lubricants for the cement industry. The facility was the result of Euro24m in investment.

UK: Cemex has installed Patol’s Firesense linear heat detection cable (LHDC) at its 1.8Mt/yr integrated cement plant in Rugby. The installation uses a digital interface to monitor a zonal length of LHDC which will detect any overheating in the plant’s lubrication systems.

Oman: Raysut Cement is planning the construction of a 1Mt/yr grinding plant in the port town of Duqm. The project has a cost of US$30m, with work set to begin on 19 September 2019. Oman Cement has been building a 1.8Mt/yr integrated cement production plant at Duqm since December 2018. The new grinding plant is Raysut Cement’s first development project since it received US$50.7m in funding from the Omani Bank Nizwa.

India: Ramco Cement is set to complete its expansion works, aimed at raising total production capacity to 20Mt/yr from 12.5Mt/yr, by the end of 2020.

Ramco’s capacity utilisation in the three months to 30 June 2019 was 90%, 23% above the national average of 67%. ProjectsToday reports that the company is investing US$467m in developments, including a US$347m grinding plant in Arunachal Pradesh.

The company reported net profits of US$26.7m in the quarter to 30 June 2019, up by 53.6% from US$17.3m in the same period of 2018, against a backdrop of a struggling domestic market, with national cement sales in July down by 2.8% to 3.6Mt from 3.5Mt a year ago.

Ivory Coast: LafargeHolcim has constructed a depot in Bouaké, the second city of Ivory Coast, for storage of cement produced at its facility in the capital of Abidjan.

In a press release sent to the Agence Ivoirienne de Presse, LafargeHolcim explained that the aim of the development is to bring consumers and its supply closer together. It hopes thereby to maximise the national presence of it 2Mt/yr cement plant.

Russia: Eurocement has invested US$2.26m in upgrades to its Pikalevsky cement plant in the Leningrad region.

Eurocement has reported that tests have proven a 27% decrease in the water separation rate and an increase in the rate of curing of Pikalevsky’s cement following the upgrade. Strength indicators showed a 20% improvement in performance to 25MPa after three days, and over 60MPa after 28 days. Setting start time also increased to 175 minutes. Eurocement’s solution for particle size distribution in clinker after grinding has caused a notable boost in durability indicators.

Representatives of KHD, Aumund and Siemens aided in the installation and instruction of plant employees in the use of the new grinding technologies.

Pakistan: Fauji Cement has installed a 12.5MW solar power plant at its Jhang Bahtar plant, near Islamabad. Business Recorder reports that Fauji’s is the world’s largest solar power station devoted to a cement plant, with 37,905 panels delivering an estimated annual total of 19,750MWh of energy.

Fauji has additionally installed two waste heat recovery plants of 12 and 9MW and two large reservoirs for water recycling and rainwater harvesting. Fauji is leading Pakistans’s Clean and Green initiative, having planted 25,000 trees and donated a further 40,000 plants to local government and nearby villages.

Panama: Argos Panama plans to install a line for the production and storage of clinker at its plant in Buena Vista, Colón Province. In an environmental impact study submitted to Panama’s Ministry of Environment, Argos estimated the total cost of the project, called the Balboa Project, at US$168m.

India: JK Lakshmi Cement’s revenue rose by 9% year-on-year to US$160m in its first quarter to 30 June 2019 from US$147m in the same period in 2018. Notably, its expenses fell by 2% to US$146m due to decreasing logistics costs. Its net profit grew significantly to US$7.58m from US$0.44m. The cement producer also said that it had commissioned a 20MW captive power plant at its Durg cement plant in Chhattisgarh.