September 2024
Worker electrocuted at Ambuja plant 24 August 2015
India: A worker has died after being electrocuted at the Ghanauli cement plant in Uttar Pradesh. Prem Pal, was working on a piece of equipment at the plant owned by Ambuja Cements, according to local police. Following the incident, other workers at the plant staged an immediate strike. They also demanded that US$37,500 be paid to Pal's family by way of compensation and stated their dissatisfaction with company vice president Rajesh Sondhi, who they claim has presided over a period of poor health and safety management at the plant.
In response, company civil engineer Ajay Vashisht said the machine on which Prem Pal had been working was 'not faulty.' He added that it had been sent for examination. It is not clear whether the company has acted or will act on the demands of the strikers.
Siam Cement to invest US$200 - 300m in Cambodia to 2020 24 August 2015
Cambodia: Siam Cement Group (SCG) expects to invest US$200-300m of additional investment into Cambodia over the next five years, according to Aree Chavalitcheewingul, vice president for regional business of SCG Cement-Building Materials.
The five-year investment plan includes adding a third production line to its cement plant in Kampot, southern Cambodia, where SCG commenced the second production line in mid 2015. SCG also plans to double its network of ready-mix concrete plants in the country.
The group expects sales from its Cambodian operations to approach US$140m in 2015. Including its exports to Cambodia, which are expected to reach US$200, SCG's Cambodian revenues are targeted to total US$40m for the year. About 80 - 90% of SCG's Cambodian sales are derived from its cement sector.
"The growth is at a satisfactory rate of 5 - 10%," Aree said. "We have seen a lot of opportunities, especially this year, as cement demand has increased remarkably. There are many new residential and commercial projects coming up in Phnom Penh." Cambodia's GDP has expanded by about 7%/yr in the past few years.
SCG employs 31 international staff and 461 SCG staff in Cambodia. It is expanding rapidly in the ASEAN markets, with its first cement plant in Indonesia opening in the third quarter of 2015. It will start its first cement plant in Myanmar in 2016 and SCG will start a plant in Laos in 2017.
Lucky Cement signs SAP contract with Siemens 24 August 2015
Pakistan: Lucky Cement has signed a contract with Siemens Pakistan to implement an SAP Enterprise System across its operations. The move will integrate all the departments, including finance, production and supply chain. Lucky Cement is the first Pakistani cement plant to implement the system.
"We have always focused on innovation and excellence as the building pillars of our continuous growth," said Executive Director, Noman Hasan. "Through SAP, we aim to drive progress through greater integration of our various locations, agility and enhanced efficiency of our operations and further efficiencies in our processes."
LafargeHolcim launches second line at Tuban plant 24 August 2015
Indonesia: LafargeHolcim has completed its Tuban project in Indonesia with the official opening of the second kiln line at the cement plant. The new plant, part of LafargeHolcim's subsidiary Holcim Indonesia, will allow the group to tap into key developing markets in Indonesia's East Java Province. LafargeHolcim says that the plant's coastal location and jetty provides it with the flexibility to ship products to other important inter-island markets including Sumatra, Kalimantan and Sulawesi.
With the completion of the project, the construction of which was launched in 2011, LafargeHolcim says that it will be able to 'leverage its new footprint and asset base in Indonesia and in future thrive in a low investment environment.'
LafargeHolcim states that the Tuban facility is a state-of-the-art plant, which allows for the highly-efficient production of cement and better distribution. The plant has an annual cement capacity of 3.4Mt/yr and is located in Eastern Java around 200km from the city of Surabaya. The cement mill of the first line was put into commercial operation in December 2013 and the kiln followed in September 2014.
US: FLSmidth has secured an order for the engineering, supply and installation of a new CataMax catalytic solution for a US cement producer. The order includes a new filter installation with catalytic elements, ID fan, flue gas ducts and dust transport equipment.
The CataMax catalytic solution uses ceramic elements with an embedded catalyst. The porous elements not only remove dust particles from the flue gases, but the catalyst embedded also removes total hydrocarbons (THCs) and organic hazardous air pollutants (O-HAPs) in the flue gas. The CataMax catalytic solution is a patent-pending technology from FLSmidth that will help US cement producers to achieve compliance with stricter environmental regulations.
"We are already seeing an increased interest in this technology from other customers in the US as well as from customers in Europe and Asia, where similar legislative restrictions are also expected in the future," said Jacob Sondergaard, vice president of FLSmidth Airtech, part of FLSmidth's product companies division.
Arabian Cement’s net profit grows to US$15.9m 21 August 2015
Egypt: Arabian Cement Company's net profits grew to US$15.9m in the first half of 2015, up from US$13.8m in the same period of 2014.
YTL Corporation’s net profit down by 15.6% 21 August 2015
Malaysia: YTL Corporation saw a 15.6% year-on-year decline in net profit to US$71.8m for the quarter that ended on 30 June 2015. Its revenue fell by 10.6% to US$987m. YTL Corporation attributed the decline to lower contributions from cement manufacturing and trading, information technology and e-commerce-related business, property investment and development, hotels and utilities.
For the full year that ended on 30 June 2015, YTL Corp's net profit fell from 31% to US$257m, due to lower contributions from cement manufacturing and trading, property investment and development and utilities. During the year, revenue fell by 12.7% to US$3.85bn.
PT Semen Tonasa keeps operating after fire 21 August 2015
Indonesia: PT Semen Tonasa's Unit IV cement plant in Biring Ere, Bungoro, Pangkejene Islands, South Sulawesi remains in normal operation despite the damage done by a fire on 19 August 2015. The fire lasted for two hours.
One employee was killed and 10 others were injured in the fire that broke out at the coal mill transport belt. The fire was believed to have been sparked in the coal by friction. Most of the injured suffered burns and wounds after leaping from a height. They are currently getting treatment at hospitals in Makassar and Pangkep. The deceased, identified only as Akbar, 25, of Pangkep, was buried on 20 September 2015.
PT Semen Tonasa managing director Unggul Attas confirmed that the fire did not affect operations at the plant. "The plant remains operating like usual and production is stable," said Unggul.
Australia: Adelaide Brighton will pay a special dividend of US$0.04/share on top of an interim dividend worth US$0.08/share to shareholders as Australia's housing boom continues to drive demand for its cement and other building-material products.
It follows a record net profit of US$82.6m in the six months through June, up by 61% on the corresponding period of 2014. The company said that it expects is underlying earnings of US$200 - 215m for the full fiscal year. That estimate includes a US$32m profit on property sales.
"We are very pleased to deliver another record half year result which reflects improving construction activity across our business, an increase in lime sales, our 2014 acquisitions and several property transactions," said chief executive Martin Brydon. "Housing activity is at healthy levels on both the east and west coast of the country and this is augmenting the demand for our products from major infrastructure and resources projects."
Loesche sells coal grinding mill to PT Bhumiadya Indonesia 20 August 2015
Indonesia: PT Bhumiadya Indonesia, part of the Sibleco Group and a manufacturer of industrial minerals with 228 sites worldwide, has ordered a coal mill from Loesche for its new limestone plant in Bandung, Indonesia. The LM 17.20 D vertical roller mill grind 10t/hr of coal to a fineness of 10% R 90μm. The scope of supply also includes filters, blowers, a Loesche hot gas generator and inertisation flaps. The delivery of the mill key parts is scheduled to take place at the end of 2015.