12 July 2017
Brazil: SNIC, the Brazilian National Union of Cement Industry, reports that total cement sales have fallen by 9% year-on-year to 26Mt in the first half of 2017 from 28.6Mt in the first half of 2016. SNIC president Paulo Camillo Penna said that the figures were in line with the organisation’s forecasts and that they show a deceleration in the decline of cement consumption. Consumption is expected to pick up in the second half of the year and SNIC predicts that it will fall by 5 – 9% for the year as a whole.
Bangladesh: FLSmidth has confirmed that is to supply a cement grinding production line for Meghna Cement Mills. The Danish equipment manufacturer has signed a contract with Meghna Cement Mills for engineering, procurement and supply of equipment for a 415t/hr Portland composite cement at 3800 Blaine grinding unit at it plant in Mongla in the Bagerhat District. No value for the deal has been disclosed.
The scope of the order includes an FLSmidth OKTM 54-6 mill, planetary gear unit from FLSmidth MAAG Gear, fabric filters from FLSmidth Airtech, weigh feeders from FLSmidth Pfister and a plant control system from FLSmidth Automation. The project is scheduled for completion by the end of 2018.
Holcim Romania opens cement terminal at Roman 12 July 2017
Romania: Holcim Romania has opened a Euro0.5m cement terminal in the town of Roman in Neamț County. The new unit will mainly supply cement to customers in the Moldovan region of the country. The 13,120m2 terminal has a railway connection and loading equipment for both bulk and bagged cement.
Bolivia: Fábrica Nacional de Cemento (Fancesa) is undergoing a tendering process to upgrade its packing unit at its cement plant in Cal Orcko. Haver & Boecker, FLSmidth Ventomatic, Claudius Peters and Beumer Latin America all submitted bids, according to the Correo del Sur newspaper. The project includes a new cement silo, new bagging machinery and a mechanised loading system.
FLSmidth to buy part of Sandvik Mining Systems 12 July 2017
Sweden: FLSmidth has signed an agreement to acquire a part of Sandvik Mining Systems. This includes continuous surface mining and minerals handling technologies and competences that are intended to strengthen the group's core minerals business. The acquisition will increase FLSmidth’s coverage of the full mining value chain, from the primary crushing point in the mining pit and the transport from mine to plant all the way through the minerals processing plant to the handling of tailings.
FLSmidth will provide project management and aftermarket services to Sandvik on the majority of on-going projects to be delivered during 2017 - 2019. The agreement is subject to certain conditions, including regulatory authority clearance, and closing is expected by the end of 2017.
Brazilian regulator clears Magnesita and RHI merger 12 July 2017
Brazil: The Brazilian competition authority CADE has cleared the proposed merger between Brazil’s Magnesita and Austria’s RHI Group without restriction. This is the last major regulatory approval the merger process has required. RHI and Magnesita announced in October 2016 that were to merge to create a new refractory company called RHI Magnesita in 2017.
Vietnam: Bim Son Cement has ordered a vertical roller mill to grind clinker and slag from Loesche for its 4Mt/yr plant in Thanh Hóa province. The new mill will have a throughput of 250t/hr and be able to grind input materials into Ordinary Portland Cement PCB 40. The order also includes a silo, blower, filter and a packing plant. The new mill is scheduled for commissioning in August 2017. No value for the order has been disclosed.
The subsidiary of Vietnam National Cement Corporation (VICEM) previously commissioned a mill from Loesche in 2000. This was followed by a raw mill and a coal mill in 2006.
Oman: Tanfeedh, the National Programme for Enhancing Economic Diversification, is calling for captive coal power stations to be used to support new cement plants that are being planned for the Duqm special economic zone. The programme wants two Ordinary Portland Cement plants and a white cement plant to be built in the zone to reduce imports, according to the Oman Daily Observer newspaper. It also wants investors to build one cement grinding plants in Duqm and one in Suhar. Tanfeedh says that the country used 9Mt of cement in 2015 but that only 44% came from local producers.
Southeast Asia: LafargeHolcim has signed an agreement on biodiversity conservation with Fauna & Flora International (FFI). Under the agreement, FFI will perform an independent external review of the group’s existing biodiversity management plans (BMP) at sites in Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines; contribute to the development of a group-wide strategy on karst management; identify opportunities for enhancing biodiversity in quarry rehabilitation; and organise a stakeholder dialogue bringing together an external expert group, local government, local non government organisations and LafargeHolcim staff to consult on BMP recommendations. The agreement is intended to help LafargeHolcim meet the biodiversity aspects of its 2030 sustainability plan.
“Biodiversity loss is a major global challenge. We aim to be good stewards of the land where we operate and demonstrate that proper management of quarries can reduce and reverse our impacts and even generate positive change for biodiversity. The new engagement work with FFI will play a key role in achieving our commitment,” said Caroline Hempstead, Group Head of Communications, Public Affairs & Sustainable Development at LafargeHolcim.