September 2024
Tasek Corp suffers third quarter earnings drop 07 November 2014
Malaysia: Tasek Corp reported a 7.1% drop in earnings to US$6.4m in the third quarter of 2014 amid stiff competition. Earnings declined despite a 3.3% rise in revenue to US$44.4m during the three month period. Tasek said that it suffered lower margins from the cement segment due to intense price competition on the market. For the nine months to the end of September 2014, earning were 16.3% higher at US$23.2m, with revenue climbing by 14.5% to US$144m. Tasek said that the outlook for the fourth quarter of 2014 was expected to remain positive.
Bua Group spends US$500m on 3Mt/yr greenfield cement plant 07 November 2014
Nigeria: Bua Group International has invested US$500m in a 3Mt/yr capacity greenfield cement plant in Okpella, Edo State. The Obu Cement Plant will take Bua's cement capacity to 5.3Mt/yr when it is commissioned in February 2015.
Bua Group already operates a 0.5Mt/yr capacity cement plant in Sokoto State via its subsidiary, Sokoto Cement. The plant currently operates at 100% capacity. Bua Group is also constructing a new 1.5Mt/yr capacity in the same state. In Edo State, Bua Group currently owns the 0.3Mt/yr capacity Edo Cement Plant.
The Obu plant is planned for conclusion and commissioning within the first quarter of 2015, and is predicted to hire over 1000 direct labour and thousands of indirect labour, according to Yusuf Binji, executive director, project and technical, Bua Group, Okpella, Edo State.
Haver & Boecker launches Roto-Packer Adams Mini system, G600 palletising series and Feige PalletFill Type 16 06 November 2014
Germany: Haver & Boecker has recently launched its new Roto-Packer Adams Mini packing system, the new G600 palletiser series and the Feige PalletFill Type 16.
The Roto-Packer, based on Adams technology, fills powder-type bulk materials into compact polyethylene bags at speeds of up to 600bags/hr and over a steplessly adjustable weight range of 1 – 10kg. Haver Innovation Management are working to increase the packing speed to 1200bags/hr.
The new G600 palletiser series from Newtec Bag Palletizing, a Haver & Boecker subsidiary, has also been launched. To increase capacity, the G600 series palletisers work using two lifts to convey the bags. Control of the palletisers is done via a human-machine-interface, which allows the user to operate the machine. The operator can perform a product changeover or switch to a maintenance mode with only a few adjustments. A VPN connection for remote maintenance ensures ongoing support by specialists of Newtec Bag Palletizing and allows a reduction in maintenance time.
'Plug & Fill' and 'ATEX compliance' are the key functions of the Feige PalletFill Type 16, a swivel-type pallet filling station. Feige, a Haver and Boecker company launched the product. The pallet-filling station is used for the automatic and calibrated filling of drums and pails on pallets. The mobile design allows filling directly at the tank without first having to pump the product from the tank system to a fixed filling system. 255 dosing-parameter settings for a variety of products can be entered. The control and operating systems are placed directly at the filling station.
PPC board reveals alleged resignation 'reasons' 06 November 2014
South Africa: The board of PCC has accused former CEO Ketso Gordhan of defamation and published the circumstances behind his resignation, according to local media.
Initially the board of PPC stated that Gordhan had resigned due to 'a difference of opinion' regarding board procedures. However, Gordhan later said that he had lost confidence in the board for not dismissing an executive who was 'undermining company strategy.' PPC had only two executives at the time, Gordhan and CFO Tryphosa Ramano.
PPC said the reasons Gordhan had given for wanting to fire CFO Ramano included that she 'had a bigger office than him' and had requested a reserved parking spot. Ramano had also refused to participate in a voluntary salary sacrifice scheme aimed at raising the wages of lower-level workers and was 'interrogating a loan agreement' which Gordhan had verbally agreed to with a potential funder. The board said that Ramano had ill-treated an employee whom Gordhan had employed.
The board was of the view that the reasons advanced by Gordhan were not substantive and did not warrant the termination of the CFO. Additionally, PPC said that Gordhan had resigned twice in his 20-month stint as CEO.
According to Gordhan PPC's statement is, "Making a complete mockery of the substantial reasons I presented to the board and shows the board's inability to actually deal with the relevant matters impacting the business and shareholder value."
Italcementi offices visited in insider trading probe 06 November 2014
Italy: Officers from Italy's market regulator Consob and the tax police visited the headquarters of Italcementi on 5 November 2014 as part of an investigation into alleged insider trading, sources close to the matter said, according to Reuters.
According to local media, the inspections, which were also carried out at the offices of Italcementi's main shareholder Italmobiliare, concerned a series of measures taken by the Italcementi group in March 2013 in a bid it made for its French unit Ciments Francais.
A spokesman for Italcementi said that the group hoped that the Consob inspections would not reveal deliberate intention to do wrong. "In the opposite case, the group's management will take firm initiatives to safeguard the interests of the company, which would be the injured party."
Terra Cement partners with Ore Mines International 06 November 2014
Australia: Terra Cement, a sustainable cement technology company, has signed a joint venture agreement with Ore Mines International (OMI) in South Australia to form a new company, called Terra Cement Australia (TCA). TCA will engage in the marketing of Terra's proprietary process (patent pending) for producing sustainable cement using ash in Australia, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea.
"As collaborators with a global reach and local market knowledge, industry leaders such as OMI play a significant role driving innovation to market," said Henry Val, CEO at Terra. "OMI's expertise enables rapid commercialisation by freeing us to focus on the development of our core technology. Likewise, our technology gives OMI access to a large, new market that would not exist without Terra."
TCA will convert existing cement plants and mixing facilities to produce hydrogel made from fly ash in Australia. When organic proprietary liquids are added, sustainable cement is produced, which is stronger, more durable and cures faster than Ordinary Portland Cement. No thermal energy is used and no carbon dioxide emissions are produced during the manufacturing process.
OMI has conducted preliminary testing of the ash available in Australia and has determined it to be suitable for the production of its cement. OMI has ordered the design for the conversion process for its existing facilities and will complete the process in the near future. TCA, as a joint venture, will begin its operations by the end of 2014.
Colombia: Wärtsilä, a supplier of power plant and ship power solutions and services, has renewed its asset management agreement with Cemex Colombia. The agreement was signed during summer 2014 and it is valid for five years. It is a continuation of an earlier asset management agreement that was signed in 1998.
With this new agreement, Wärtsilä continues to operate and maintain the power plant at Cemex Colombia's cement plant. The agreement covers day-to-day operation of the power plant and the natural gas station (city gate), preventive and predictive maintenance services, management of parts logistics and technical support services. This agreement is a long-term operational partnership with a common goal to ensure maximised lifetime, guaranteed performance and predictable life cycle costs for the power plant.
"We have worked with Wärtsilä for 15 years," said Jairo Guerrero, energy director from Cemex Colombia. "During these years, Wärtsilä has showed excellent performance in ensuring the reliability and availability of our cement factory in Ibagué. Wärtsilä has also introduced innovative upgrades that will further improve the performance and reliability of our power plant. We are happy to continue our long-term partnership with them."
Cemex Colombia's cement plant is powered by five Wärtsilä 34SG engines, with a total capacity of 25MW. The plant is located near Ibagué, a municipality in the Department of Tolima.
Colombia: Cementos Argos plans to use more than 26,000t/yr of used tyres generated in the Valle de Aburra region as fuel for its cement plant. Tyres could be incorporated in Cementos Argos processes by the end of 2014 or the beginning of 2015. Executives have commented that one of the main obstacles is the collection of used tyres.
National Cement plans US$19m coal fired power plant 05 November 2014
Kenya: National Cement is set to build a 15MW coal-fired power plant in Kajiado at a cost of US$19m as part of its expansion plan. The plant will feed its upcoming limestone mining and clinker manufacturing operation in the same location.
National Cement will transport the clinker to its plant in Lukenya, which is being expanded to 1.7Mt/yr capacity from the current 600,000t/yr. National Cement, which produces the Simba cement brand, said that it decided to generate its own electricity because of delays in connecting to the national grid, where power is also more expensive. "The cost of procuring electricity from Kenya Power is twice as much when compared with the cost of generating power using coal," said National Cement.
Electricity supplied from the national grid currently costs an average of US$0.18/kWh. Based on current international coal prices, power generated from coal costs US$0.15/kWh. Coal prices have dropped by 18% since the start of 2014 and a further fall could make energy derived from coal even cheaper. However, the Kenyan government has said that the cost of power form the national grid could halve in the medium term on expansion of the country's generation capacity to 5000MW from the current 1300MW.
Besides seeking lower costs, National Cement has said that it has been forced to construct the coal plant due to Kenya Power's delays in connecting its Kajiado operations. "Kenya Power is also unable to provide power to National Cement within the required time frame (within two years) and only install the electricity in three years' time, while electricity is needed for the clinker manufacture in 24 months' time."
National Cement states that it will import coal from countries like South Africa, but Kenya's move to start mining its own coal could see the firm source the commodity locally in the future. The coal consumption for the proposed power plant is estimated at 63,360t/yr. Saving on energy costs is expected to boost the firm's margins, underlining the importance of lower operational costs in an industry hit by vicious price wars.
Wikov Gear sends 120t gearbox to Spassk-Cement in Russia 05 November 2014
Russia: Engineering company Wikov Gear will transport a 120t gearbox to a cement plant near Vladivostok, Russia, via road and ship by February 2015. It is the heaviest gearbox Wikov Gear has produced in over 100 years of existence, according to CEO Tomas Zrostlik. Lorries with the gearbox will leave Plzen, western Bohemia, in the middle of November 2014.
The biggest gearbox made by Wikov Gear thus far weighed 102t. It was made for Siemens, which was building a cement roller mill in South Korea. "Before that, we were producing special gearboxes which weighed 60 – 70t, in particular for roller mills' heavy operations," Zrostlik said. Some 80% of the company's portfolio is equipment weighing 20 – 25t.
The gearbox that is destined for Russia is 8m long, 5m high and 2.5m wide. It has been designed for 15 years of operation. The recipient is Spassk-Cement, of the private group Vostok Cement, which has three cement plants and supplies 95% of its output to Russia.
"We will load the equipment within three weeks. It will travel to Hamburg and then by ship via Shanghai. We expect it to arrive in 45 - 50 days," Zrostlik said. The gearbox will be in 25 boxes, the heaviest one weighing 45t. The assembly will start in March 2015 and the launch of its operation is planned for around 15 April 2015. Wikov Gear is also responsible for the assembly and online implemtnation.
Supplies for cement plants have made up 15% of Wikov Gear's turnover thus far, but the share is to rise up to 25% in 2015. The company also won an order from Lafarge in Germany in November 2014.