September 2024
India: Larsen & Toubro (L&T) has been awarded an order to build a cement plant in Kurnool, Andhra Pradesh. The end client was not named but UltraTech Cement said in mid-June 2019 that it had received approval from the environment ministry to build a 6Mt/yr integrated cement plant in the same location. The plant will have a 60MW captive power plant and a 15MW waste heat recovery-based power unit. No value for the order has been disclosed.
Bolivia: Empresa Publica Productiva Cementos de Bolivia’s (ECEBOL) at Caracollo in Oruro will start commercial operation in August 2019. The US$306m plant will have a production capacity of 1.3Mt/yr, according to Radio FM Bolivia. A consortium of Sacyr, Imasa and Polysius have worked on the project.
Loma Negra to close Barker cement plant 12 June 2019
Argentina: Loma Negra says it has started to close its Barker cement plant because it has been unable to reach an agreement with the union over staff redundancies. The company alleges that the union would not accept its plans to convert the unit into a grinding and bagging plant, according to El Cronista newspaper. The plant will now move to a single shift of operation with 24 employees whilst plans for its final closure are implemented.
US: A fire broke out in the preheater tower at Buzzi Unicem’s Stockertown cement plant in Pennsylvania on 7 June 2019. No staff injuries were reported at the plant, although a fireman required medical treatment, according to the Express-Times newspaper. Fire crews were on the site for around two hours.
KSM takes legal action against Guyana Revenue Authority over valuation of cement imports 12 June 2019
Guyana: Concrete manufacturer KSM is taking legal action against the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) for over valuing the cost of cement imports. It alleges that the GRA charged it US$16.6m too much for five shipments between January and March 2019, according to the Stabroek News newspaper.
It grew its imports from 2015 to 2018 and it imported 24,480t of cement from Domicem in the Dominican Republic in 2018. However, KSM says that the GRA increased the declared value of cement by over 40% in the second half of 2018 without offering any ‘reasonable or justifiable grounds’ for so doing. KSM says it imported its shipments in 2019 at the lower rate and this was approved by customs. The GRA then demanded the shortfall from KSM in May 2019.
Dal Machinery & Design wins kiln shell order from LafargeHolcim Algeria’s Oggaz cement plant 12 June 2019
Algeria/Iraq: Dal Machinery & Design (DMD), part of Turkey’s Dal Engineering Group, has been awarded a contract to supply a kiln shell to LafargeHolcim Algeria’s Oggaz cement plant. The shell has an internal diameter of 5mm. The shell will be manufactured from a single part, with one single welding in the axial direction. It is expected to be delivered by September 2019. No value for the order has been disclosed.
Other recent orders for DMD include the supply of two kiln shells for LafargeHolcim’s Bazian cement plant at Sulaimani in the Kurdistan region of Iraq. The kiln shells were manufactured with a diameter of 5.2m. Delivery was made at the beginning of March 2019. DMD’s other kiln shell clients in Iraq included the Gasin cement plant in 2018. It also supplied a mill tunnion to LafargeHolcim’s Kerbala cement plant.
Mexican sales slide in first quarter 11 June 2019
Mexico: According to figures from INEGI, Mexico’s national institute of statistics, sales of cement were worth US$1.21bn during the first quarter of 2019. This figure was 7% lower than during the first quarter of 2018. In volume terms sales fell from 11.89Mt to 10.91Mt, a fall of 8.1% year-on-year.
Market leader Cemex reported a sales fall of 15% in the analysed period despite a price increase of 4%. Cementos Fortaleza, owned by Elementia, posted a sales growth of 1% in terms of value, thanks to rising prices.
Swiss firm LafargeHolcim, through its subsidiary Holcim Apasco, saw total sales shrink by 7.4% in Latin America, with sales of cement falling by 2.6% as a consequence of the demand drop in Mexico and Argentina. Only Cementos Chihuahua registered significant growth, with sales increasing by 8% in during the quarter due to the construction of new industrial buildings and mining projects in the north of the country.
UltraTech to build 6Mt/yr plant in Andhra Pradesh 11 June 2019
India: UltraTech Cement has received approval from the environment ministry for a US$360m project in Andhra Pradesh, in which it will set up a 6Mt/yr integrated cement plant at Petnikote village in Kurnool district. The plant will have a 60MW captive power plant and a 15MW waste heat recovery-based power unit.
The company has already acquired 432 hectares of land for the project, which UltraTech says will generate employment for 900 people. The company still has to get 'consent to establish and operate' from the Andhra Pradesh Pollution Control Board.
New packing plant for Argos in Dominica 11 June 2019
Dominica: Argos, Grupo Argos’ subsidiary in Dominica, has opened a new packing plant to allow a more reliable and timely supply of cement. The plant's packer has three nozzles and a capacity of more than 1000bags/hr. The scope of the project includes structural and ergonomic improvements and the replacement of the system's dust collector, which will allow for cleaner and more environmentally-friendly processes.
Sales fall in Puerto Rico 11 June 2019
Puerto Rico: Total cement sales in Puerto Rico fell by 11.1% year-on-year in May 2019, to stand at 1.21 million 42.5kg bags (51,425t). Cement sales have been contracting since February 2019, after 13 consecutive increases. Meanwhile, domestic cement production plunged by 33.1% year-on-year, to stand at 1 million bags, representing the fourth consecutive fall.