Following the collation of the Global Cement Directory 2016, Global Cement has once again analysed the world's top 100 cement producers and looks at apparent consumption in different markets. The report is split into two parts: Part A summarises the content of the Global Cement Directory 2016 (available separately) and ranks each of the top 100 cement producers in the world by installed capacity. Part B is an analysis of global cement production capacity trends as a function of population size. Here is presented a preview of Part A, including the top 10 cement producers in 2015 and global production data.
Azerbaijan is home to three integrated cement plants located on the western coast of the Caspian Sea. Although it is a relatively small country with a land span of 86,600km2, Azerbaijan has vast reserves of natural resources like limestone, clay, gypsum, oil and gas, which make it an ideal location for self-sufficient cement production. Global Cement Magazine visited Norm Sement in Garadagh, Baku, Azerbaijan. Chief Operations Officer Osman Nemli described the operations at Norm Sement and outlined the country's current and future cement industry.
The Verband Deutscher Maschinen- und Anlagenbau (VDMA) represents over 3100 mostly medium-sized companies in the German capital goods industry. Its Large Industrial Plant Manufacturers' Group, known by its German acronym AGAB, comprises producers of large industrial installations, including power generation facilities, chemical plants and cement plants. Its members include subsidiaries of the major global cement industry suppliers ABB, Alstom, Caterpillar, Claudius Peters, FLSmidth, KHD Humboldt Wedag, Linde, Siemens, ThyssenKrupp and Voith. Here AGAB presents a summary of its activities in 2014, which proved to be another challenging year.
Akmenes Cementas has been making cement at the same site in Naujoji Akmené in Lithuania since 1952. During the Soviet era, the plant was run as a wet process facility, with up to eight kilns that supplied cement to all over the USSR. After Lithuania regained its independence in 1990, the plant underwent a period of rationalisation to adjust to market demands and was progressively upgraded to modern standards. Since 2014 a new 4500t/day dry process line from Germany's KHD Humboldt Wedag has been in operation. Global Cement's Peter Edwards recently visited the plant and spoke with Production Manager Edmundas Montvila.
Many cement plants utilise a spray tower for temperature control and the removal of acid gases such as SO2 and HCl. Mississippi Lime has developed a high reactivity hydrated lime that allows cement plants to inject the hydrate as a dry sorbent (dry sorbent injection - DSI) into the flue gas instead of making a hydrate slurry and feeding to the spray tower as a liquid. Avoiding the slurry make-down minimises plugging and erosion of the spray nozzles while simplifying operation of the feed system in freezing environments.
