Ethiopia is a large landlocked country in central east Africa. Synonymous with poverty since the mid-1980s famine that ravaged the country, Ethiopia has since experienced a step-change in economic performance, with an increase in cement production also seen. The country is becoming increasingly developed and has huge potential for high cement consumption.
A turbulent political history has stunted the growth of Iraq, a country with vast natural oil reserves. Now that the US-led occupation has given way to self-governance, the country has turned up the wick on its (re)-development. Recent speculation surrounding the possible doubling of its known oil reserves has put Iraq in a strong position to become an economic and political leader in the Middle East. The cement industry will have an important role to play in this development and is seeing major investment in production capacity.
To coincide with the release of the Global Cement Directory 2013, Global Cement Magazine has taken a closer look at cement companies around the world, comparing capacities to analyse the development of the global cement market. Through this analysis we have determined the Top 20 global cement companies - and those close behind. We comment on their place in the cement industry in different world regions.
The global cement industry is a good indicator of the growth and progress of a country as cement consumption is closely linked to per-capita income. It implicates future changes in the development of a region or country and depends on several factors like demand, raw material reserves, market access and economic conditions.
The cement industry has changed significantly in recent years through trans-national consolidations and co-operations. Much of the potential is in emerging markets, especially China and India. Emerging markets represent approximately 90% of the worldwide market today while western Europe and North America account for most of the remainder. This has opened many markets to competition, consolidation and technical progress.
To determine a ranking for the top global cement companies, listed by their capacities in 2011, Global Cement Magazine considered the plethora of cement companies from around the world. You can see the results in Table 1. The top three companies all reached an annual capacity of over 200Mt in 2011.
Saudi Arabia is the largest country on the Arabian Peninsula, covering an area of 2.15 million km2. It has land borders with Yemen, Oman, Qatar, Iraq, Kuwait, Jordan and the UAE. It also has an artificial land border with Bahrain via the King Fahd Causeway. The country is the world's number one oil producer and exporter, with 20% of proven world oil reserves. It has a large cement industry and expanding infrastructure projects that require a lot of cement.
The land that constitutes modern day Saudi Arabia was the historical cradle of Islam, which traces its history to the seventh century teachings of the prophet Muhammad. The territory was traditionally occupied by nomadic herders, except for those in major settlements like Medina and Mecca.1
The modern-day Kingdom of Saudi Arabia traces its history back to 1932, after a 30 year campaign by Abd Al-Aziz bin Abd al-Rahman Al Saud to unify different factions on the Arabian Peninsula. He set up an Islamic state governed predominantly by Sharia Law and his male decendents have since taken to the throne as Kings of Saudi Arabia.
The current ruler is King Abdullah, who has been on the throne since 2005. His rule has seen the implementation of gradual moderate reforms in this conservative Islamic state, with accession to the World Trade Organisation in 2005, political and social reforms and the implementation of an unemployment benefits system in 2011.1
Ashes derive from the combustion of solid or liquid fuels in power plants that produce heat and/or electricity. They consist predominantly of inorganic material and small portions of organics due to incomplete combustion. The composition of ash is strongly dependent on the fuel from which it is derived, the combustion technique and the combustion process control. Hence, ash compositions vary over a wide range. Here, Dirk Lechtenbergy from MVW Lechtenberg presents an excerpt from the company's Alternative Fuels and Raw Materials Handbook.
Ashes or coal combustion products (CCP) are categorised in groups, each based on physical and chemical forms derived from coal combustion methods and emission controls.
Fly ash (FA) is a fine powder, which is mainly composed of spherical glassy particles. It is produced by electrostatic or mechanical precipitation of dust-like particles from the flue gases of furnaces fired with coal or lignite at ~1100-1400°C. There, siliceous and calcereous fly ashes with pozzolanic and/or latent hydraulic properties are produced, which depend upon the type of boiler and the type of coal.E-1 Fly ashes from coal-fired power plants can be categorised into European Waste Code (EWC) 10 01 02.
