29 November 2017
PPC plans Western Cape ‘mega-plant’ 29 November 2017
South Africa: PPC is planning a ‘mega-plant’ in the Western Cape Province. Johan Claassen, PPC’s interim chief executive, stated that it was looking to replace its Reibeeck plant with a ‘semi-brownfield’ facility that used around 25% of the current plant’s equipment. The company has long planned to expand its Western Cape capacity but domestic demand has not yet been high enough to justify the investment. There has been overcapacity in the market as well as imports from other regions, both of which have depressed cement prices.
Claassen said that the plant would cost around US$200/t of installed capacity, without mentioning the intended capacity. He said that financing was already in place. He added that PPC had been able to increase its selling prices by 2% in the six months to 30 September 2017 and that, even with slow growth, South Africa would need the additional capacity supplied by the new plant by 2020.
Claassen said that a formal announcement would be likely in early 2018.
Loesche wins Chaudhary Group mill contract 29 November 2017
Nepal: The German vertical roller mill (VRM) producer Loeshe GmbH has gained a new customer in Nepal. The cement division of Chaudhary Group, based in Kathmandu, has placed an order for a 25t/hr vertical roller mill for coal grinding for the 3900t/day (1.3Mt/yr) integrated cement plant that it is building in the Palpa region.
Loesche received the order though KHD, the lead bidder at the plant. The LM 26.3 D mill will be in operation during 2018 with a throughput of 50t/hr, 15% R on 90μm.
Lafarge Canada invests in monitoring systems to help fuels bid 29 November 2017
Canada: As it awaits industrial approval from the Province to burn tyres at its Nova Scotia cement plant, Lafarge Canada says it has spent US$830,000 to install emissions monitoring systems. The company says its new equipment measures plant emissions such as sulphur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, oxygen, and total hydrocarbons every 10 seconds.
Rob Cumming, Lafarge's environment director, says the company's proposed one year pilot project at its Brookfield plant will allow it to gather the scientific evidence needed to assure the public that it is safe to use scrap tyres as a replacement for coal.
In October 2017, the Environment Department said it was reviewing the company's application and would make a decision on the project within 60 days. The project has drawn criticism from residents near the plant, environmental groups and Nova Scotia's NDP, which has called on the Liberal government to ban tyre burning.