September 2024
State Committee on Ecology and Environmental Protection suspends cement production at SingLida plant 26 February 2020
Uzbekistan: The State Committee on Ecology and Environmental Protection (SCEEP) has suspended operations at SingLida’s 0.1Mt/yr integrated Ahtachi plant in Andijan region. Trend News has reported that, following an audit of clinker production between 12 February 2019 and 21 February 2019, the cyclones had failed to meet lawful standards of dust collection. Rates varied between 53% and 61% dust collection, compared to a design capacity of 100%. The government body said that it had given ‘instructions for prompt elimination of deficiencies and reduction of pollutant emissions into the air,’ and has suspended operations of the clinker line and mill until such a time as the problem is resolved.
Alexandria Portland Cement’s losses narrow 26 February 2020
Egypt: Alexandria Portland Cement has reduced its margin of loss by 40% year-on-year to US$15.2m in 2019 from US$25.3m in 2018.
Greece-based Titan Cement is the 89% owner of Alexandria Portland Cement via its subsidiary Alexandria Development Ltd.
EAPCC’s losses grow 26 February 2020
Kenya: East African Portland Cement Company (EAPCC) has recorded losses of US$16.2m in 2019, up by 0.6% from US$16.1m in 2018, in spite of sales growth over the period of 8.0% year-on-year to US$14.7 from US$13.6m. Reuters has reported that the company will not be paying its shareholders.
Residential construction rises by 24% year-on-year in Tajikistan 26 February 2020
Tajikistan: Builders completed the construction of 1.36Mm2 of multi-storey housing in Tajikistan in 2019, up by 24% from 1.10Mm2 in 2018. Tajikistan Newsline has reported that all residential construction concrete comes from domestically produced cement. Tajikistan produced 4.2Mt of cement in 2019 - up by 11% from 1.8Mt in 2018 - exporting 1.5Mt. It imported 20,000t, primarily of white cement.
Flender signs solutions partnership agreement with Currax 26 February 2020
Germany: Siemens subsidiary Flender, which supplies couplings and gearboxes to the cement industry, has signed a partnership agreement for technological solutions with digital drive specialist Currax. The partnership aims to bring a comprehensive increase in efficiency to Flender’s business and a high level of flexibility for customers. Currax executive director Daniel Aßman said, “From customer acquisition to sales, from implementation to support, Currax is the contact for all matters relating to the Flender portfolio.”
Manyara Cement plans 0.2Mt/yr integrated plant 25 February 2020
Tanzania: Manyara Cement has shared plans for a 0.2Mt/yr integrated cement plant in Hanang district, for which it has already acquired limestone and pumice extraction licences for sites around Mount Hanang. The plant will use a vertical shaft kiln.
The plant will sell cement on the northern Tanzanian and southern Kenyan markets.
Cementos Argos enjoys sales and EBITDA boom in 2019 25 February 2020
Colombia: In 2019 Grupo Argos subsidiary Cementos Argos’ sales rose by 11% year-on-year to US$2.8bn from US$2.5bn in 2018 and its earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) rose by 14% year-on-year to US$0.5bn from US$0.4bn in 2018. Cement dispatches rose by 0.6% to 16Mt. In the US, its main market, the company sold 6.3Mt of cement, up by 9.5% from 5.8Mt in 2018.
Argos CEO Juan Estaban Calle praised the company’s successes in 2019, such as the completion of its Thermally Activated Clays (TAC) project at its 1.4Mt/yr integrated Cementos Rioclaro plant in Colombia. “This allows for production and distribution of green cement with a greatly reduced clinker factor, 38% lower CO2 emissions and 30% of the energy consumption of ordinary Portland cement (OPC) production,” he said.
Huaxin Cement helps dispose of coronavirus waste 25 February 2020
China: Huaxin Cement says that it has disposed of 55t of medical waste from coronavirus-infected hospitals in Wuhan province at its 3.4Mt/yr Yangxin cement plant in Hubei province. Xinhuanet News has reported that the plant’s precalciner and rotary kiln have safely processed the batch, from its delivery in sealed trucks, through the combustion of the waste and its packaging, into cement.
Ghori Cement achieves 0.2Mt/yr capacity 25 February 2020
Afghanistan: Ghori Cement says that it has produced 18,600t of cement in January 2020, up by 400% from 3720t in January 2019. This would give the plant an annual production rate of 0.22Mt/yr, following ‘operational reforms and modernisation of spare parts.’ Arab News has reported that plans for the replacement of Ghori Cement’s Ghori, Pul-e-Khumri, cement plant with a new 0.4Mt/yr plant were interrupted by on-going civil strife in the region, north of the Afghan capital Kabul. Ghori cement plant general manager Riazudin Sharifi said, “Efforts are underway to further improve the capacity of the plant.”
Report shines light on causes of Queensland quarry fatalities 25 February 2020
Australia: A report commissioned by the Queensland Ministry of Mines has investigated the causes of all 47 deaths in mines and quarries in the state between 2000 and 2019, concluding that systemic, organisational, supervision or training failures caused the deaths in almost all cases. The report proposed that the state government should require quarry operators to use the Serious Accident Frequency Rate (SAFR) as their metric for health and safety monitoring, calling the Lost Time Injury Frequency Rate (LTIFR) unreliable because it is prone to manipulation, being “a measure of how the industry manages injuries after they have occurred. It is possible, therefore, to reduce the LTIFR without making the industry safer,” said the report’s author Sean Brady.
In the Australian 2019 financial year, ending 31 July 2019, six people died in Queensland’s quarries and mine.