September 2024
Saudi cement demand drops 17 December 2014
Saudi Arabia: Demand for cement has dropped by 5% as production surpluses reached 22Mt, an amount that can cover cement consumption for five months. Jihad Al-Rashid, head of the National Committee of Cement Producers, said that total production of the national companies reached 57Mt/yr, according to local media. The committee is working with the Ministry of Commerce to allow companies to export cement as a solution. Al-Rashid attributed the existence of big surpluses of cement to a delay by the Ministry of Housing and a subsequent decline in the construction pace.
The fall in demand has occurred when cement producers predicted that demand would rise by 5%. Cement prices cannot be reduced as prices are fixed by the Ministry of Commerce. As a temporary solution some of the producers may extend maintenance periods. Abdulrahman Al-Qarni deputy president of Abawain Holding Company said that cement demand normally drops towards the end of each year, when the majority of construction companies have finalised their projects and begun to explore orders for the new year.
Suez Cement to convert two cement plants to run on coal 17 December 2014
Egypt: Suez Cement plans to spend US$84m in 2015 to convert its Helwan and Tora 2 cement plants to use coal. The move is a response to Egypt's on-going energy crisis.
The company reported a 40.5% rise year-on-year in third-quarter profit in November 2014 after it managed to pass on higher production costs to consumers. However, its nine month profit fell by 14.6% year-on-year due to severe energy shortages that forced the company to cut output by 40% so far in 2014. Suez Cement was one of the companies affected when the government cut natural gas supplies to factories in January 2014 and has had to import clinker at higher cost.
Samuel Doria Medina sells stake in Soboce 17 December 2014
Bolivia: Samuel Doria Medina, leader of the Unidad Nacional party, has sold his controlling shares of Soboce (Sociedad Boliviana de Cemento). Medina made the announcement after meeting with shareholders and officially listing the sale on the Bolivian stock exchange. Soboce was acquired by the Peru-based Holding Cementero, which has interests in the dairy, food distribution and service sectors. Prior to the full acquisition, Holding Cementero had an existing 49% stake in Soboce.
"I sold Soboce to completely devote myself to the people of Bolivia. In light of the October election results, which made my party the leading opposition force, I felt this was necessary," said Medina. He intends to donate some of the proceeds of the sale to charity.
Soboce was founded in 1925 in Viacha, La Paz. Medina took control of the firm in 1987, building the company from 200 employees to over 10,000.
Singareni Collieries to cut supply to cement producers 17 December 2014
India: Singareni Collieries Company Limited (SCCL) has decided to cut coal supplies to the cement industry as it prioritises thermal power plants in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. Power companies in the two states use 66% of coal produced by SCCL. However, the plants have been unable to work to their full capacity in the second half of 2014 due to a shortage of coal, according to SCCL General Manager S Chandrasekhar.
The decease in coal supplies to the cement producers is expected to make prices rise. Local media reports that the coal from SCCL is more suitable for cement production than power generation as it has a high ash content of 35 – 40%. SCCL is also reported to have encountered several instances of 'misuse' of allocated coal by cement companies. 160,000t/day or 16% of the total coal production is currently allocated to the cement industry and another 6.6% is allocated to captive power plants run by cement companies.
UK: Production has restarted at the Cemex UK South Ferriby cement plant following flooding in December 2013. One of the two cement kilns has been commissioned and is producing clinker.
"Rebuilding the plant in 12 months has been no mean feat and I am immensely proud of what we have achieved. The refurbished plant will allow us to continue our heritage of producing quality cement, sustainably, safely and efficiently, now and for many years to come," said Philip Baynes-Clarke, plant director. "South Ferriby plant had grown organically through the site for the last 80 years, the flood gave us the opportunity to rebuild it in a logical way to today's standards with tomorrow's production in mind."
The flood cut off the 11,000 volt electric supply and destroyed 30 switch rooms and two substations. Today over 6.4km of high voltage cable has been laid to create a new infrastructure of cables to supply the various operations throughout the site. These cables lead to one electrical substation, which houses modern electrical switchgear. In addition 30 switchrooms have been rebuilt along with the vast majority of the site's electrical systems. Other efficiencies such as LED lighting have been built in to the systems to provide savings in electricity.
With the failure of the electric supply when the flood hit, one of the kilns stopped in mid-production with hot material still in it. This caused the kiln shell to bend due to the high thermal load. Subsequently a 22m section of the 65m long kiln was replaced. All elements of the cement production process are now controlled from a centralised computer. This new control system replaces five control rooms, which are all marked for demolition in the coming months.
Frederico Contente joins Masias Recycling 17 December 2014
Spain: Waste treatment multinational Masias Recycling has hired Frederico Contente as its Key Account Manager for the cement sector. His main tasks will be to focus the company's sales on the international market of the cement industry. An industrial engineer with a Master's degree in international business, Contente has worked for several years with sector leaders in Finland.
Masias Recycling predicts that the use of alternative fuels by cement firms will grow 'significantly' over the next few years, as energy represents 30% of cement companies' operational costs. In 2012, it was estimated that the percentage of traditional fuels replaced by alternative fuels ranged from 5 and 10%, a figure predicted to reach 37% by the year 2050.
Spain: Loesche Latinoamericana, part of the Loesche Group, has appointed Vicente Fernández to take up the position of Sales Director (Spain), with effect from 1 December 2014.
Fernández, aged 39 years, has been working with Loesche Latinoamericana since 2006. Prior to his new appointment as Sales Director, Fernández has been actively involved in various functions within the Sales and Procurement departments. Previously he worked at the Procurement Department at Loesche GmbH in Düsseldorf, Germany. He holds a bachelor's degree in Industrial and Mechanical Engineering and an Executive MBA, backed by his extensive management and organisational skills.
Fernández will take over responsibility for all long-term clients, development of ongoing and future projects within Loesche Latinoamericana and the acquisition of new potential within the market. He will focus on serving the different industries in cooperation with sales forces within the group, in addition to strengthening Loesche Latinoamericana's customer service.
Ash Grove announces new Chanute plant manager 17 December 2014
US: Ash Grove Cement Company has announced Alan C Finch as the new plant manager of its Chanute works in Kansas, USA, effective immediately.
"We are pleased that Alan will assume the leadership role of our Chanute plant," said Mike Hrizuk, senior vice president of manufacturing. "This plant opened in 1908 and is the longest running plant in our fleet of eight plants in the USA. We are eager to introduce Alan to the employees and community."
Finch has a 17-year career in the cement industry and comes to Chanute from Ash Grove's Durkee plant in Oregon, where he has been production manager for the past nine years. He previously held the production superintendent position at the same plant for three years.
Najran Cement managing director resigns 17 December 2014
Saudi Arabia: Mohammed Aba al-Ala has resigned from Najran Cement effective of 31 December 2014. Without disclosing the reasons for the resignation, Najran Cement explained that Aba al-Ala will remain with the company as board chairman. Badr Jawhar has been appointed CEO as of 1 January 2015.
LSR to sell Slantsy cement plant to Eurocement 16 December 2014
Russia: LSR Group is selling its Slantsy plant in the Leningrad region of Russia to Eurocement Group. The parties have signed a preliminary sales agreement, with Eurocement having obtained approval from Federal Antimonopoly Service of the Russian Federation (FAS).
Control of plant operations is expected to be transferred later in December 2014. LSR said that the deal is part of its strategy to 'focus on projects with the highest returns on invested capital and fast growing real estate development business, thus maximising value for shareholders.' LSR will use most of the proceeds to reduce its debt and make it 100% Ruble-based by the end of 2014.