September 2024
India Cements plans 3Mt/yr brownfield expansion 31 October 2012
India: India Cements has started gathering documentation for a 3Mt/yr expansion at two of its plants in Tamil Nadu. The company's next step is to secure clearance for these projects.
Brownfield expansions are being planned for Dalavoi, in Ariyalur district of Tamil Nadu, where the company plans to add a new line that will add over 2.55Mt/yr to the existing 2.16Mt/yr cement capacity. This will increase the total capacity at the plant to 4.71Mt/yr. A 40MW captive power plant will also be set up to supply electricity for the upgrade. At Sankaridurg the company plans to double the capacity of its 0.7Mt/yr plant.
If approved, the upgrades will increase India Cements' capacity to 15.5Mt/yr in its eight plants in Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Rajasthan.
Grupo Cementos de Chihuahua reports Q3 13.3% sales boost 31 October 2012
Mexico: Cement producer Grupo Cementos de Chihuahua has reported sales of US$197m for the third quarter of 2012, a rise of 13.3% year-on-year. Increased sales were driven by a growth in sales volumes in the US, higher aggregates and concrete block sales in Mexico and the effect of the Peso depreciation against the US dollar, according to the company's results report.
In Mexico sales were US$51m, a decrease year-on-year due to a reduction of consumption in the public infrastructure sector and the mining industry. Earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) were US$38.4m, an increase of 0.5% year-on-year. Net consolidated income for the third quarter of 2012 was US$11.7m, compared with a loss of US$3.36m in the same period in 2011.
Suhgd Cement launches 0.1Mt/yr plant in Tajikistan 31 October 2012
Tajikistan: New cement producer Suhgd Cement has opened a 100,000t/yr cement plant in northern Tajikistan. Tajik Energy and Industry Minister Gul Sherali attended the official opening ceremony on 20 October 2012.
The company intends its capacity to grow to 1Mt/yr, making it the biggest cement producer in the country. Equipment for the plant was sourced from Chinese suppliers at a cost of US$1.8m. More than 140 people work at the plant, which will rise to 300 when the capacity increases.
Tajikcement is currently the biggest cement producer in Tajikistan with a capacity of 1.1Mt/yr. However the country continues to import building materials to satisfy demand. In September 2011 the joint company Juaxin Gayur Cement JV, between Tajik Gayur and Chinese Juaxin Central Asia Investment, started construction of a 1Mt/yr plant in the Javan region costing US$100m. This plant is expected to be launched in autumn 2013.
Nesher Cement to benefit from refuse derived fuels 31 October 2012
Israel: The Israeli Interior Ministry has approved the construction of a waste recycling plant with a capacity of 1500t/day next to the former Hiriya rubbish dump, southeast of Tel Aviv.
The project is a joint venture between the regional Dan Municipal Sanitation Association and Nesher Cement. Nesher Cement plans to use refuse derived fuels at its Ramle plant, all other materials will be recycled. The Environment and Finance ministries have also announced tenders to build another similar facility in the area.
Holcim Australia to lay off 150 staff 29 October 2012
Australia: Holcim Australia, a subsidiary of Switzerland-based building materials company Holcim, plans to lay off 150 staff and mothball up to 30 facilities as part of a review of its Australian operations. The majority of the closures and lay offs will affect Holcim's Australia's concrete business.
The company expects to mothball or close about 10% of its sites when it completes an organisational review in the next week. Holcim Australia, previously know as Readymix, employs about 3200 staff and another 1800 contractors and casual workers.
"With softer activity and outlook in some of our key markets, we must also adjust our business to suit," said Holcim Australia chief executive Mark Campbell. He added that since the company had been exposed to both mining and non-mining sectors across Australia its had been able to ride the two-speed economy better than some of its competitors.
Holcim Australia's parent company launched a cost-cutting drive in May 2012 called the 'Holcim Leadership Journey' programme designed to save Euro1.25bn by 2014.
Lucky Cement: Profits up and progress abroad 26 October 2012
Pakistan: Lucky Cement Limited has declared a profit after tax of US$21.0m for the quarter ending 30 September 2012, 33.8% higher than the same quarter of 2011 when it made a net profit of US$15.7m.
Gross profit for Lucky Cement, which is Pakistan's largest cement manufacturer, increased by a similar margin. This rose by 32.9% year-on-year as its net sales revenue improved by 18.1% to US$92.4m. Higher sales volume in the domestic markets, in line with the company's strategy gave rise to the increased profit.
Lucky's local sales volume during the quarter grew by 5%, rising to 0.86Mt compared to 0.82Mt sold during the 2011 quarter. However, its export sales volume declined by 9% from 0.62Mt to 0.56Mt. This was mainly due to intentional focus on the domestic markets, which increased the overall profitability of the company. The company also managed to decrease its financing cost by 76% compared to 2011.
Lucky has also reported that it had successfully sourced uninterrupted electricity from Hesco since 1 July 2012, averaging a supply of over 20MW/hr during the quarter. It said that this new source of electricity had helped to reduce Pakistan's power generation problems.
The company also reported progress with respect to its joint venture investment in a new cement plant in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where plant and machinery has been negotiated and finalised with a renowned European supplier, and on its joint venture investment for a grinding facility in Iraq, where the teams for the project have been mobilised at the site.
Oman Cement to increase grinding capacity and pollution control 25 October 2012
Oman: Oman Cement is in the process of increasing its cement grinding capacity by installing an additional 15t/hr cement mill. The tender process has been initiated for building the plant, according to the company's chairman Dr Abdullah Abbas Ahmed.
Oman Cement is also planning to improve the pollution control equipment on its line 2 to control dust emission levels. It is in the process of identifying a consultant for this project.
Meanwhile, the company said that its net profit increased by 32.5% to US$30.4m for the first nine months of 2012, from US$25.2m for the same period of 2011. Its sales revenue also increased, to US$108.5m, compared to US$94.2m during the period.
The company has achieved sales of 1.69Mt for the first nine months of 2012 compared to 1.40Mt for the same period of 2011.
Italcementi bucks trend with Euro150m eco-investment 25 October 2012
Italy: Italcementi has announced that it will invest Euro150m in order to revamp its cement plant in Rezzato, which was built in 1964. Italcementi has stated that it wants to turn the plant into the most modern and ecological cement plant in Europe, with work set to start in November 2012. It said that the opening of the adapted plant would be scheduled for some time towards the end of 2014.
Italcementi's CEO Carlo Pesenti said that the restructuring would lead to an improvement in the environmental and economic sustainability of the plant, as well as cutting production costs by 23% and reducing specific consumption of raw materials by 8%.
Lafarge UK: sustainable to profitable? 24 October 2012
Lafarge UK's release of its 2011 Sustainability Report for its cement business this week presented some bold headline figures. Key statistics for the period covering 2009 - 2011 included a 17% reduction in CO2 emissions through the use of solid recovered fuels (SRF), a 17% reduction in the use of electricity and a 26% cut in emissions to air.
For a European producer this is some positive news in a time of gloom. Looking a little deeper into the report reveals the usual ambiguities that can arise with interpreting statistics. Lafarge UK's fossil fuel consumption actually rose by 9% from 285,000t in 2009 to 311,000t in 2011. CO2 emissions to air rose by 15% from 2.31Mt to 2.65Mt. In terms of emissions per tonne of Portland Cement Equivalent (tPCE), the figures are more encouraging with fossil fuel use decreasing from 87kg/tPCE to 82kg/tPCE (6%) and CO2 emissions remaining stable at 704kg/tPCE. These figures are good considering that Lafarge's production increased from 2009 to 2011 due to construction for the London 2012 Olympics.
As mentioned in Edwin A R Trout's article 'The British cement industry in 2011 and 2012' the move to refuse-derived fuels (RDF) has consistently made the news with projects at several Lafarge plants. RDF use at Lafarge UK plants rose by 48%, from 92,758t in 2009 to 137,143t in 2011. Each of the alternate fuels – tyres, waste-derived liquid fuel, processed sewage pellets (PSP), meat and bone meal, SRF – roughly increased its unit share per tonne of cement produced by 2%.
Lafarge UK is clearly reacting to uncertain input costs and preparing for any further future green taxes. It failed to meet its 2011 target rate for RDF substitution of 31% (it reached 29%) but it has raised the target to 35% for 2012. It is also continuing to secure permits for PSP use at its Dunbar plant and SRF use at its Hope plant, although by the time this is approved Hope may be someone else's facility. However, the key question is, how can Lafarge push alternate fuels? It will be interesting to see how much Lafarge UK's fuel mix can be reduced in cost over the next five years.
Bertrand takes the reigns at Sagar Cements 24 October 2012
India: Sagar Cements has announced its director, Wemer CR Poot, has resigned from the board with effect from 28 September 2012. John Eric Fernand Pascal Cesar Bertrand has been appointed as the new company director from 17 October 2012.