12 July 2023

Vietnam: The People’s Committee of Hoa Binh Province authorised Xuan Khiem Group to begin building its Xuan Son cement plant earlier in July 2023. Việt Nam News has reported that the upcoming plant will commence operations in late 2024, and will have a capacity of 2.3Mt/yr.

Kazakhstan: Steppe Cement sold 749,000t of cement during the first half of 2023, down by 11% year-on-year from 837,000t in the first half of 2022. The value of sales fell by 13% to US$38.5m from US$44.4m.

Australia: Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power has concluded a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Hallett Group and renewable energy consultancy Elecseed. Business Korea Daily News has reported that the signatories will collaborate on Hallett Group’s Green Cement Transformation project. The project aims to reduce CO₂ emissions by 300,000t/yr, and eventually by 1Mt/yr, by producing reduced-CO₂ cement from three industrial waste streams. It will also use green hydrogen. The US$83.6m project has US$13m-worth of funding from the government.

Additionally, the partners say that they will seek to foster a ‘globally competitive hydrogen export industry.’

Ghana: The Bureau of National Investigations (BNI) and the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) have arrested managers of Wan Heng Ghana. The Business and Financial Times newspaper has reported that the cement producer is suspected of neglecting to pay US$43.1m in tax. An investigation showed that the company received sufficient imported clinker to produce US$120m-worth of cement between 2018 and 2021, yet declared only US$19.6m-worth of sales. Management then reportedly refused to cooperate with further investigations, leading to the arrests. Wan Heng Ghana produces Sol brand cement.

The Chamber of Cement Manufacturers Ghana (COCMAG) affirmed its commitment to ensuring fair competition and ethical practices within the cement industry. It represents cement producers in the country, including Wan Heng Ghana.

Vietnam: Tan Quang Cement says that it fell short of its first-half 2023 cement production target by 80,000t at it 800,000t/yr Trang Da cement plant in Tuyen Quang. The plant will ‘presently’ enter a shutdown period for maintenance. Việt Nam News has reported that the producer attributed the shortfall in production to low demand, amid general national overcapacity.

Portugal: Cimpor Portugal has signed a contract with Germany-based KHD Humboldt Wedag (KHD) for an upgrade to production line 7 at its Alhandra cement plant. The project is intended to increase the production capacity at the plant to 3600t/day from 3000t/day and increase the line’s alternative fuels thermal substitution rate to over 80%. It will also be the first installation of KHD’s Pyrorotor alternative fuel combustion reactor in the country.

The scope of the engineering and supply contract comprises:

• New HKSK 224/335 preheater ID fan
• New downcomer duct
• New preheater with 8064/5-type HEM cyclones
• Pyroclon R calciner with Pyrotop mixing chamber. The Pyroclon R will utilize fine refuse-derived fuel (RDF) and natural gas
• 4m x 10m Pyrorotor alternative fuel combustion reactor
• Pyrobox coal firing system for process start-up and operation balancing
• Shortening of the existing kiln and installation of new kiln inlet chamber with bypass extraction
• New kiln drive station 2 (the existing girth gear and two pinions will be reused)
• New kiln hood and take-off of tertiary air from the cooler roof
• New main kiln burner designed to use more than 50% alternative fuels (but will also be capable of burning natural gas, as well as liquid fossil and alternative fuels)
• New Pyrofloor PFC²829AW cooler with a Pyrocrusher PRC 420-3ES clinker crusher.

KHD will also be supplying its KHD ProMax software product as part of the project.

Matthias Mersmann, chief technology officer at KHD, said “The decision by Cimpor Portugal to opt for KHD pyroprocessing equipment - and especially the Pyrorotor - underlines the leading market position of KHD, as well as the outstanding capability of KHD’s unique alternative fuel-processing solution.”

Project execution will be led by KHD Germany, with support from Humboldt Wedag India and the Turkish branch office of Humboldt Wedag. Commissioning of the upgraded production line is scheduled for 2025.

Norway: Capsol Technologies has been awarded a feasibility study for the CapsolEoP (end-of-pipe) carbon capture product at an unnamed cement plant in Northern Europe. The study is for a plant aiming to capture more than 1Mt/yr of CO₂. The award is Capsol Technologies’ first paid engineering study on a cement plant. The company says it is seeing an increasing amount of request and sales engineering work in the cement sector and it expects more engineering studies to be awarded going forward.

Jan Kielland, the chief executive officer of Capsol Technologies, said “The fact that the CapsolEoP carbon capture technology is easy to integrate without disrupting the operations of the host plant is an attractive value proposition to these types of facilities. In addition, the emission from a cement plant has a high concentration of CO₂ making it especially beneficial for the CapsolEoP technology relative to competing technologies, bringing down the cost per unit CO₂ captured.”

Norway-based Capsol Technologies is promoting a solvent/scrubbing-based approach to carbon capture using hot potassium carbonate (HPC). It was awarded a technology licensing agreement for the Stockholm Exergi BEECS (Bioenergy Carbon Capture and Storage) project in July 2022. It has also received orders for its CapsolGo carbon capture demonstration unit in Sweden and Germany.

France: Heidelberg Materials has announced plans for its CIRCO₂BETON concrete recycling project. It intends to build an industrial-scale selective separation unit at its Achères quarry near Paris. Here it will recycle demolished concrete by crushing it and separating it into its components: sand, aggregates, and recycled concrete paste (RCP). The recycled sand and aggregates will be reincorporated into new concrete.

The RCP will be transported to the Ranville cement plant in the Normandy region. There, a reactor for enforced carbonation will be installed to carbonate the RCP by exposing it to CO₂-containing exhaust gases from the kiln. The carbonated RCP acts as a carbon sink and will replace clinker in new low-carbon cement types. The project has the potential to reduce the CO₂ emissions of the Ranville cement plant by 20%.

CIRCO₂BETON is supported by the ‘Investment for the Future’ Program coordinated by the Ecological Transition Agency (ADEME). In addition, the Île-de-France region supports the selective separation plant at Achères through its zero-waste and circular economy plan. Subject to the funding, construction of both industrial pilots is scheduled to start in 2024 with production of RCP starting in 2025. The carbonation reactor is planned to be operational by 2026.

Nicola Kimm, the chief sustainability officer at Heidelberg Materials, said ”We are investing in a pioneering large-scale project based on innovative process technologies. Selective separation and CO₂ mineralisation are important levers to reduce the carbon footprint of our products. By closing the materials loop, we prove that concrete has the potential to be the most sustainable building product over its entire life cycle from production to recycling.”

Read more about RCP in the Decemeber 2022 issue of Global Cement Magazine

Germany: Lubrication supplier Fuchs has embarked on a global marketing campaign to grow its brand awareness. The ‘Moving Your World’ initiative is using out-of-home advertising at 12 international airports in five continents to increase visibility for the company. Earlier in the year the company changed its name from Fuchs Petrolub to Fuchs as part of the same process. The company is also targeting new products and services at electric vehicles, digitalisation and sustainability as parts of its Fuchs2025 future business strategy.

Tina Vogel, Vice President Corporate Marketing and Communications at Fuchs, commented "We're on the road to establishing a strong global brand. On this journey, we're placing great emphasis on establishing long-term partnerships and a brand that also reflects the trust people are placing in us. The emotional statement Moving Your World also describes our purpose and helps us stand out from the crowd, highlighting what we stand for and why we do what we do: keeping the world of our customers moving and advancing it ever forward." Fuchs worked with Hamburg-based strategy and technology consultancy Clue One on the campaign.