September 2024
South Africa: The Congress of South African Trade Unions, a federation of unions, has publicly complained about government permission granted to China’s CBMI Construction to bring workers into the country. CBMI Construction was awarded a tender for a US$90m upgrade project at PPC’s Slurry plant in 2015 and the union says it was allowed to import 242 Chinese workers to work on it. It is alleged that these workers have been working in the country since October 2015 and will continue to do so until 2018. The federation has asked the Department of Labour to look into the issue.
Pakistan: Lucky Cement’s sales have risen by 13% year-on-year to US$514m for the six months to 31 December 2016 from US$454m in the same period in 2015. Its profit after tax rose by 14% to US$83m from US$73m. It attributed the increase in revenue on rising sales volumes and its cost of sales fell due to lower fuel costs.
Its cement sales volumes rose by 5.4% to 3.5Mt from 3.3Mt, although exports fell by 16.3% to 0.75Mt from 0.9Mt. Overall the cement producer reported that its market share in Pakistan grew slightly to 18.8% due to an increase in its share of domestic sales.
The cement producer reported that construction at its Punjab cement plant project is awaiting governmental approvals and that it is expected to start in June 2017. A waste heat recovery unit at its Pezu plant is planned to finish commissioning and start operation by the end of January 2017. A joint-venture 1.18Mt/yr plant in the Democratic Republic of the Congo started commercial operation in December 2016 and a 0.87Mt/yr cement grinding plant in Iraq is expected to come online in August 2017.
Nigeria/South Africa: Bolloré Logistics has detailed its work on two cement plant projects in Nigeria and South Africa working with China’s CBMI Construction. Teams from the logistics and transport firm in China and Africa have managed both projects.
Supplying equipment to the United Cement Company of Nigeria (Unicem) plant near Calabar involved transporting 500 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU) and 150,000 freight tons of project cargo with the shipment of 12 break bulk vessels to the Calabar Port. This was completed by more than 5000 round trips from the port to the construction site by truck. This project also included transporting cement mills, ‘out of gauge’ items of cargo that weigh 125t each. Two multi-axle hydraulic trailers were used to transport these 14 pieces of cargo in one shipment. A preliminary road survey and subsequent adjustments to the road infrastructure quality were required for successful delivery.
Work on a 3000t/day PPC plant in Lichtenburg started in August 2015 and is expected to be completed in the autumn of 2017. Bolloré Logistics secured the break bulk sea transportation and inland transport of the construction material and cement plant equipment cargo. To date, 200 TEUs have been moved to the site and 45,000t of freight cargo have been transported from Jingtang and Tianjin port in China to the plant site in South Africa.
Gebr Pfeiffer receives order from Cemminerals for grinding plant 26 January 2017
Belgium: Gebr Pfeiffer has received an order from Cemminerals to supply a grinding plant for slag and cement. The plant, in Flanders, will use a MVR 5300 C-6 type mill. The order was taken in December 2016 and the mill is scheduled for commissioning in early 2018.
The Pfeiffer MVR 5300 C-6 slag and cement mill will be used to grind five different cement qualities as well as pure slag to three different fineness degrees. The mill is guaranteed to achieve capacities of 132t/hour pure slag, ground to 5000cm²/g acc. to Blaine, and of up to 200t/hour CEM II, ground to a fineness of 3500cm²/g acc. to Blaine. The mill main drive is designed for an installed power of 4600kW, and the SLS 4750 BC high-efficiency classifier, mounted on top of the MVR mill, enables high material fineness degrees of up to 5000cm²/g acc. to Blaine.
In addition to the MVR mill the contract includes handling equipment, two in-feed devices to enable moist slag and dry clinker to be fed to the mill separately, the plant filter, the plant fan, the magnetic drum separator and all ductwork including chutes, expansion joints and the stack. The scope of supply also includes a hot gas generator for the heating of the mill, as well as all electrical drives, starters, frequency converters and the electrical switchgear.
Yamama Cement shuts down production lines 26 January 2017
Saudi Arabia: Yamama Cement has temporarily shut down five of its production lines. The lines have a joint clinker production capacity of 5600t/day. The decision was made due to poor market conditions, low demand for cement and high inventory.
Mombasa Cement to build 36MW wind farm at Vipingo plant 26 January 2017
Kenya: Mombasa Cement is preparing to build a 36MW wind farm by its plant in Vipingo. Power from the unit will be used for the company’s cement plant and sold to Kenya Power, according to the Daily Nation newspaper. The project will consist of 12 3MW turbines and it is estimated to cost US$2.5m. The cement plant is also planning upgrades at a cost of US$72m.
Kokshe Cement to launch cement plant later in 2017 26 January 2017
Kazakhstan: Commissioning of the Kokshe Cement plant in the Akmola region is expected to be completed later in 2017. Construction and installation work at the site has been completed, according to the Kazakhstan government. The plant will have a cement production capacity of 2Mt/yr and it has cost US$187m to build.
Local government votes against Colacem plant project in Ontario 26 January 2017
Canada: The Champlain Township council in Ontario has voted against planning changes to allow Colacem to build a cement plant in nearby L’Orignal. However, the United Counties of Prescott and Russell have voted in favour of the project, according to the Review newspaper. The cement producer requires approval from both bodies in order to proceed with the project. It wants to build a 3000t/day cement plant at the site next to a limestone quarry it already operates.
UAE: The Environment Protection and Development Authority (EPDA) of Ras Al Khaimah is investigating unexpected emissions from a cement plant in Khor Khuweir. Resident had reported high levels of dust from the site, according to the Khaleej Times. An initial inspection by the EPDA has blamed the emissions on a blocked filter. It has also ordered the company that runs the plant to conduct an internal investigation and submit a detailed report on the incidents.
Previously the Ministry of Climate Change and Environment had ordered the one-month closure of a cement plant in the same area for breaking emissions rules. The EPDA has since installed surveillance cameras at 20 quarries and six cement units in the emirate.
Cemex proceeds with sale of stake in Grupo Cementos de Chihuahua 26 January 2017
Mexico: Cemex has said that it will start selling its 23% minority stake in Grupo Cementos de Chihuahua. The cement producer previously announced its intent to sell its stake but it sought permissions from the regulators first. It intends to sell its shares via a public offering authorised by the Comisión Nacional Bancaria y de Valores and conducted through the Mexican Stock Exchange. It will also run a private placement to eligible investors outside of Mexico.