September 2024
Starlinger supplies production equipment for Ad Star sacks to Russian packaging producer KZSU 01 July 2016
Russia: Kazanskiy Zavod Sovremennoy Upakovki (KZSU) officially inaugurated its new production plant in Kazan for Ad Star block bottom sacks in late May 2016. Austrian bagging machine manufacturer Starlinger supplied the equipment for the plant. KZSU will produce Ad Star block bottom sacks for use in the cement, gypsum, chemical, fertilizer, animal feed and other dry bulk goods sectors. Tatar President Rustam Minnikhanov attended the opening of the plant.
The plant will produce 44 million sacks per year for local and foreign markets. The investment includes extrusion, weaving, coating and printing lines, as well as two Ad StarKON sack conversion lines and a Recostar universal recycling line for treating the production waste from Starlinger. The sacks will be supplied to Russian and foreign companies including JSC Chemical Plant Karpov, Asia Cement, Poliplast, Knauf Gypsum, Servolux (Belarus) and the LLC Cement Plant Samadov in Tajikistan.
Starlinger has installed 10 Ad Star production plants in other former Soviet states. This is the first complete Ad Star production plant that has been set up in Russia.
Brazil: The Sempertrans division of the Semperit Group and the Agudio brand of Leitner have started operation of their ‘flyingbelt’ conveying system, a combination of ropeway and conveyor belt, at the LafargeHolcim cement plant in Barroso, Minas Gerais. The conveying belt is suspended on ropes connecting a limestone quarry to the plant. It can convey 1500t/hr of limestone at a height of up to 36m. The 7km belt is the longest of its kind in the world.
"With the Agudio ‘flyingbelt’ we have installed a very innovative bulk materials transportation system. The Sempertrans conveyor belt not only overcomes - at great height - terrain that can only be accessed with difficulty, it also transports material efficiently and in an environmentally-friendly way. More than 40 truck journeys are saved every hour," said Thomas Fahnemann, CEO of Semperit Group.
The order was produced in the Sempertrans plant in France and shipped to Brazil. The electricity consumption of the new conveyor equipment is only around one third of that of conventional ropeway systems and, instead of the previous maximum of 400t/hr, 1500t/hr of limestone can now be transported.
Saudi Arabia: Wärtsilä has signed a contract to supply a 161MW Flexicycle (combined cycle) power plant to Yamama Cement. Wärtsilä will deliver a full engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) project. In addition to the EPC contract, a five-year operation and maintenance management agreement and a 10-year spare parts supply agreement have also been signed. The value of the order is approximately Euro115m.
The power plant includes 10 18-cylinder Wärtsilä 50 dual-fuel engines and a steam turbine. The contract was included in Wärtsilä's order book in the first quarter of 2016. The contract announcement was delayed until June 2016 due to the finalisation of technical-commercial details and the operation and maintenance management agreement. The power plant will be delivered in four phases. The first part is estimated to be delivered by the end of 2017 and the complete plant is scheduled to be handed over during the second quarter of 2019. The delivery is aligned with the construction schedule of a new Yamama cement plant.
This is a dual-fuel power plant operating primarily on natural gas with light fuel oil and crude oil as back up fuels. This will be Wärtsilä's first gas fired Flexicycle power plant in Saudi Arabia. The plant will provide power to run the Yamama facility, which has a production capacity of 20,000t/day of cement. Due to the plants' remote locations, most of the cement industry in Saudi Arabia is powered by captive power plants such as this one.
"Wärtsilä has a reputable track record in Saudi Arabia and they have offered an efficient and reliable solution for a harsh operating environment. We consider this relationship a strategic partnership and hopefully it will be rewarding for both parties," said Jehad Abdul Aziz Al Rasheed, General Manager, Yamama Cement Company.
Indian cement workers kidnapped in Nigeria 01 July 2016
Nigeria: Two Indian cement workers for Dangote Cement have been reportedly kidnapped in Gboko, Benue State. Civil engineer Sai Srinivas and his colleague Anish Sharma were abducted while travelling in a convoy of cars to the local Dangote cement plant on 29 June 2016, according to The Hindu newspaper. Srinivas has worked for Dangote Cement for three years. Previously he worked for Aditya Birla group in Raipur, India.
Prism Cement secures coal contract from Coal India 01 July 2016
India: Prism Cement has purchased 120,000t/yr of coal from South Eastern Coalfields, a subsidiary of Coal India. The cement producer successfully bid for the fuel in a recently held auction of coal linkages for the cement industry. The company said that it has secured part of its fuel requirement for the next five years and the allocation by Coal India has been made at the floor price.
Canada The Quebec government has said that it has no plans to invest further into the McInnis Cement plant on the Gaspé Peninsula. Dominique Anglade, the province's Economy Minister, said on 29 July 2016 that she was confident that the US$854m project would be profitable and there will be no further investment on the part of the government, according to the Globe and Mail newspaper. Key investors, including the Bombardier-Beaudoin family and the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, are facing additional costs of up to US$350m, according to sources cited by the newspaper.
The provincial government says it has taken action since learning of the cost overrun, including securing guarantees regarding the financial package needed in the short term to ensure completion of the project. Other unspecified ‘additional conditions’ have also been attached to the government's financial contribution. Quebec is a major equity partner in the project, with a US$78m investment. It also provided a US$194m loan on commercial terms.
The cement plant has a planned launch of operations set for spring 2017.
Mongolia: The second-stage clinker line of a 1Mt/yr project being delivered by China Triumph International Engineering was successfully ignited in early June 2016. The cement plant will now start regular production. The project is part of the Belt and Road initiative and ‘Going Global’ strategy of China’s building materials industry.
India: Malabar Cements will restart operations at its Cherthala cement grinding plant following approval from the Kerala High Court. The cement producer says its has been granted permission to produce Portland Pozzolana Cement (PPC) using clinker, gypsum and fly ash at the plant. Previously the Bureau of Indian Standards objected to the cement producer manufacturing PPC.
India: Sagar Cements has received approval to buy a cement grinding plant in Bayyavaram, Andhra Pradesh owned by Toshali Cements for US$8.9m. The sale is expected to be completed by 30 September 2016 subject to obtaining due diligence and other approvals.
Following the acquisition, Sagar Cements intends to increase the grinding plant’s production capacity to 3Mt/yr with an investment of up to US$0.89m. The new unit will enable Sagar Cements to reduce its logistical costs and introduce slag cement to markets in Visakhapatnam, Vizianagaram, Srikakulam and parts of Orissa.
Kazakhstan: Chinese investors have proposed to build a 075Mt/yr cement plant in the Kyzylorda region of Kazakhstan. The proposal was revealed as part of 13 memoranda of cooperation worth US$451m signed between the Governor’s Office of Kyzylorda region and the People's Government of Jiangxi Province, China.