September 2024
Hungary: Lafarge Cement Magyarország has opened a storage facility for waste that will be used to help fuel its plant in Királyegyháza, southwestern Hungary. The project, involving an investment of EUro2.2m, will be used to store plastic, rubber and industrial and farm by-products.
US/UK: HeidelbergCement has announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement with an American affiliate of Lone Star Funds to sell its North American and UK building products business for an aggregate purchase price of US$1.4bn. HeidelbergCement said that up to US$100m will be payable in 2016, depending on the performance of the business in 2015. The deal excludes HeidelbergCement's Western Canada business. HeidelbergCement expects the transaction to close in the first quarter of 2015.
The sale of Hanson Building Products is consistent with HeidelbergCement's strategy of focusing on processing and refining raw materials for its core products of cement and aggregates and further downstream activities, according to a HeidelbergCement spokesperson. HeidelbergCement will retain its Hanson units in the cement, crushed stone, sand and asphalt businesses in the UK.
FLSmidth wins Cemex contract to supply 2800t/day cement line 23 December 2014
Colombia: FLSmidth, a provider of equipment and services to the cement and minerals industries, has received a contract from Cemex for the supply of a 2800t/day cement production line to be installed at its new Cementera del Magdalena Medio S.A.S. cement plant. The order will be booked by the Cement Division and contribute beneficially to FLSmidth's earnings until late 2017.
The plant is located in the department of Antioquia, approximately 135km from the capital of Antioquia, Medellin. The company noted that the line would use the latest production technologies and achieve high environmental and quality standards. The department of Antioquia is a region in Colombia that is expected to see an increase in cement demand resulting from continued economic growth as well as planned investments in infrastructure.
In addition to engineering services, project management and commissioning, all major processing machines are included. The pyro-processing line consists of an FRM mill for raw grinding, an ATOX coal mill, five-stage ILC preheater with a Low-NOx calciner, an FLSmidth cross-bar cooler and a two-pier kiln. Pfister weighing and dosing systems, MAAG gear reducers, gas analysers and all Airtech process filters are also included.
"Colombia has experienced strong economic growth and is expected to see an increase in cement demand," said president of the Cement Division, Per Mejnert Kristensen. "FLSmidth has a strong local presence in the country, including a regional office and a local service unit, so we are ready to serve the market."
Swiss CemIn West buys 96.6% of Ivano-Frankivskcement 23 December 2014
Ukraine: Switzerland-based CemIn West SA has bought a 96.6% stake in Ukrainian building materials producer Ivano-Frankivskcement. The majority holding was bought from Cyprus-based companies Permixo Ltd, Basmaren Enterprises Ltd and Prenters Engineering Ltd, which sold their respective stakes of 36.98%, 20.76% and 13.3% in the Yamnitsa-based entity. Ivano-Frankivskcement manufactures cement, slate, asbestos cement pipes and concrete products. The plant made a net profit of Euro6.7m in 2013.
Turkmenistan to build 1Mt/yr cement plant in Koytendag 22 December 2014
Turkmenistan: Turkmenistan plans to build a new 1Mt/yr cement plant in the Koytendag region of the Lebap Province, the industry ministry has said. Railway infrastructure has already been established in the region that will support the project. The new plant is part of the country's 'Programme for Development of Construction and Industrial Sectors in 2012 - 2016,' which is designed to modernise the country's building materials industries.
Ethiopian ministry releases strategy to increases cement consumption to 20Mt/yr by 2025 22 December 2014
Ethiopia: The Ministry of Industry has released a draft Cement Industry Development Strategy that intends to increase domestic cement consumption to 20Mt/yr by 2025. Around US$30m will be required to realise the strategy plan that will include providing support to cement plants and overcoming the general shortage of cement in the country. The draft strategy was prepared by the Adama Science and Technology University and has been discussed by stakeholders. At present Ethiopia consumes 6Mt/yr of cement.
Wärtsilä supplies 11 power plants to Eurocement 22 December 2014
Russia: Wärtsilä has been contracted to supply power plants for 11 Eurocement cement plants. The project is part of a modernisation program focusing on energy-efficiency and environmental upgrades. The contract was signed in November 2014.
"Wärtsilä's solutions will allow us to create a high technology cement industry in Russia and provide national infrastructure and housing projects with high quality cement," said Eurocement president Mikhail Skorokhod.
The full equipment delivery order consists of 36 natural gas-fired Wärtsilä 34SG engines. The size of the industrial power plants varies from two to five engines, or from 19MW to 48MW. The combined capacity of the power plants will be 314MW. The plants will produce electricity for each cement plant and work in parallel with the electricity grid. All projects are scheduled to be fast-track-delivered during 2015.
"This multi-plant project is nicely in line with our strategy to grow in the industrial sector. Cement manufacturers and other industrial customers recognise the value of reliability of our solutions," said Regional Director Alf Doktar, Wärtsilä Power Plants. Wärtsilä's total installed power generation capacity in Russia is approximately 1000MW.
EPA sets national coal ash regulations for US 22 December 2014
US: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has announced the first national regulations to provide for the safe disposal of coal ash from coal-fired power plants. The ruling establishes safeguards to protect communities from coal ash impoundment failures and establishes safeguards to prevent groundwater contamination and air emissions from coal ash disposal.
"The EPA is taking action to protect our communities from the risk of mismanaged coal ash disposal units and putting in place safeguards to help prevent the next catastrophic coal ash impoundment failure, which can cost millions for local businesses, communities and States," said EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy.
The new federal regulations include:
- The closure of surface impoundments and landfills that fail to meet engineering and structural standards and will no longer receive coal ash;
- Reducing the risk of catastrophic failure by requiring regular inspections of the structural safety of surface impoundments;
- Restrictions on the location of new surface impoundments and landfills so that they cannot be built in sensitive areas such as wetlands and earthquake zones;
- Protecting groundwater by requiring monitoring, immediate clean up of contamination and closure of unlined surface impoundments that are polluting groundwater;
- Protecting communities using fugitive dust controls to reduce windblown coal ash dust;
- Requiring liner barriers for new units and proper closure of surface impoundments and landfills that will no longer receive coal combustion residues.
In response to feedback on the proposal, the ruling clarifies the technical requirements for coal ash landfills and surface impoundments under Subtitle D of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), the country's primary law for regulating solid waste. Implementation of the technical requirements will be reported through disclosure to States, and communities. Examples of this include power plants providing information to the public and States and new transparency requirements, including recordkeeping and reporting requirements, as well as the requirement for each facility to post specific information to a publicly-accessible website. This final rule also supports the responsible recycling of coal ash by distinguishing safe, beneficial use from disposal.
Workers on Russian Holcim project strike over pay 19 December 2014
Russia: The workers of the Granit company, which is involved in construction of a new line at the Holcim cement plant in Saratov, Volga Federal District, conducted a one-day strike on 18 December 2014. Their actions were due to a disagreement caused by overdue salaries.
Cemex continues Central American building spree 19 December 2014
Costa Rica: Cemex, has announced that its subsidiary, Cemex Latam Holdings, will invest US$35m over the next three years to increase the capacity of its plant in Colorado, Costa Rica. The news comes only a few days after the firm announced the resumption of a capacity upgrade at its Tepeaca plant in Mexico.
The project in Costa Rica will increase cement production capacity at the Colorado plant by about 25% and also includes construction of a new grinding mill. By 2017, the plant will have the capacity to produce 1.1Mt/yr of cement.
"We are confident that infrastructure projects will continue driving demand for building materials over the medium-term," said Alejandro Ramirez, director of Cemex Latam Holdings in Costa Rica.