Displaying items by tag: Cemex
Cemex Colombia strikes deal to start Maceo cement plant
15 April 2019Colombia: Cemex Colombia has reached a deal with the Attorney General allowing it to operate its Maceo cement plant in Antioquia. Under the terms of the government-brokered agreement Cemex will lease the land from CI Calizas y Minerales for around US$15,000/yr, according to the El Espectador newspaper. The lease has a duration of 21 years and this can be extended by another 10 years.
In 2016 Cemex fired several senior staff members in relation to the Maceo project and its subsidiary’s chief executive resigned. This followed an internal audit and investigation into payments worth around US$20.5m made to a non-governmental third party in connection with the acquisition of the land, mining rights and benefits of the tax free zone for the project. The US Department of Justice is also investigating the project.
Mexico: Cemex Ventures has invested in Linkx, a company that offers software to optimise goods delivery. The company’s software solution allows control of deliveries and vehicles in real time, allowing for data-based decision-making and facilitating communication and information among all involved parties: shipper, carrier, and receiver.
“This investment is a clear example of our offer. Linkx came to us at a very early stage, and together, we worked on continuous improvements by reinforcing their minimum viable product and offering continuous feedback on our knowledge of industry and technology. After numerous optimisations, we have piloted this solution with several Cemex clients to achieve a very robust solution for the supply chain management challenge," said Gonzalo Galindo, chief executive officer (CEO) of Cemex Ventures.
Cemex Ventures is the corporate venture capital wing of Cemex that was launched in 2017. It invests in startups with potential in the construction industry and works with entrepreneurs, universities and other stakeholders.
US: The Portland Cement Association (PCA) has announced the winners of the 2019 Energy and Environment (E&E) Awards. The awards recognised environmental and community relations projects that were completed in 2018 and were presented at the 3rd Annual Cement and Concrete Fly-In.
The CalPortland Mojave cement plant in California won the Energy Efficiency award for the installation of a new classifier system for its vertical roller mill that increased energy efficiency by reducing fan power requirements. The plant also installed a control system for the finish mill that will maximise performance and help reduce wear on equipment. The classifier installation reduced the finish mill energy intensity by 1.5 to 2.0kWh/t, and the control system reduced energy intensity by 13%. In 2018 22% of the electricity consumed by the plant came from on-site renewable wind energy generation. CalPortland has implemented significant energy efficiency measures and its energy management program has been recognised by the Environmental Protection Agency Energy Star program as the Energy Star Partner of the Year for 15 years in a row.
Roanoke Cement Company and Titan America’s Troutville plant in Virginia won the Environmental Performance award for being the first cement manufacturing plant in the US to receive ISO 50001 certification for energy management of all aspects of energy procurement, design and use. The plant reduced its total electrical consumption by 10% and fossil fuels use by more than 12%. The plant has also implemented an alternative fuels program as part of its certification for the True Zero Waste Program, administered by Green Business Certification and has received silver status achieving a 96% rate of waste divergence from landfills.
Lehigh Hanson’s Permanente cement plant at Cupertino in California won the Innovation award for the installation of a water treatment system reducing concentrations of metals, including selenium, to meet permit limits. Lehigh Hanson developed a treatment system that combined ultrafiltration and reverse osmosis (UF/RO) technology in conjunction with biological treatment technology to remove metals, including selenium and dissolved solids. This ensured applicable effluent limits were met while optimising treatment capacity and efficiency. This treatment system is the first of its kind in the cement industry ensuring that effluent limits are met while, at the same time, limiting the quantity of waste needed to be managed.
Buzzi Unicem USA’s Greencastle cement plant in Indiana won the Land Stewardship award for opening a 4km smooth packed stone trail in conjunction with the not-for-profit People Pathways organisation as Phase 2 of the Putnam Nature Trail. Buzzi Unicem USA staff and People Pathways used heavy equipment for rough clearing and grading of the overgrown former railroad bed and improved and expanded the physical trail. These areas were then landscaped with trees, native prairie vegetation plugs, interpretive signage, benches, birdhouses and other features. Additional nature trail enhancements include placement of wildlife monitoring cameras along the trail, installation of nesting boxes and interpretive signage, and maintenance of the recently completed restoration of native flora installed in 2017 and 2018.
Cemex’s Lyons cement plant in Colorado won the Outreach award for volunteering work by its staff at the Rocky Mountain National Park in Boulder, Colorado, performing campground improvement activities at Glacier Basin Campground by moving rocks and fallen timber and clearing existing fire pits of ash deposits. The plant then introduced a new community outreach initiative by hosting a Manufacturing Day event, providing local students tours of the quarry and plant to increase youth interest in pursuing a vocation in skilled trades. Additionally, the plant teamed up with the Celestial Seasonings B Strong Ride for cancer care and research for an event aimed at increasing safety awareness while fundraising for two local organizations and their efforts to fight cancer.
US: Cemex USA’s Clinchfield Cement Plant in Georgia has been awarded the ISO 14001:2015 certification for its environmental management system (EMS). It is the first Cemex cement operation in the country to earn this certification. The EMS at the plant follows a continuous cycle of environmental policy: planning, support and operation, performance evaluation, then improvement.
The International Organization of Standardisation (ISO) developed ISO 14001:2015 as a standard of processes for organisations to use when setting up, improving or maintaining their environmental management systems to follow established environmental policies and requirements. The guidelines are designed to help organisations improve efficiency, reduce waste, improve overall environmental impact and manage environmental obligations.
The Clinchfield Cement Plant is also one of several Cemex sites to achieve certification from the Wildlife Habitat Council. The plant is also active in the Georgia Black Bear Project. Cemex is currently in the process of achieving ISO 14001:2015 Certification at its eight other active cement plants in the US.
UK: Construction work has started on a new flood embankment west of the Cemex’s South Ferriby cement plant in North Lincolnshire. New brick-clad walls will also be built around Ferriby Sluice. The project, led by the Environment Agency, has an investment of around Euro14m. The scheme is scheduled for completion by 2021.
“We are delighted to be contributing building materials to construct the new flood defences. In December 2013 floods damaged the plant putting it out of production for over 12 months and causing immense damage to local homes and businesses. It was estimated that over Euro55m worth of damage was caused,” said Piotr Klepak, Cemex Plant Director.
Cemex to spend US$850m on plant upgrades in 2019
29 March 2019Mexico: Rogelio Zambrano, president of the board of directors of Cemex, says that the group intends to spend US$850m towards expanding existing cement plants and promoting renewable energy projects in 2019. Around US$160m will be invested in Mexico, mainly in central and southeastern plants, according to the Expansión newspaper. Zambrano made the comments at an annual investors meeting. The group has also published its integrated report for 2018. It reported a 27.1% alternative fuels substitution rate for the business and a 26% rate of power consumption for cement production from renewable sources.
Cemex makes progress towards divestment target
22 March 2019Mexico: Cemex says it has made ‘significant’ progress towards its US$1.5 – 2bn asset disposal target by the end of 2020. Since the target was announced in mid-2018 the group has announced the divestment of assets in northern Europe, a terminal in Manaus in Brazil, aggregates and ready-mix concrete (RMX) assets in Germany, its white cement business including the Buñol cement plant in Spain and other assets. These sales will generate around US$750m or half of its lower target.
“We remain completely committed towards the goal of achieving an investment grade capital structure and will continue our disciplined deleveraging and improvement of our capital structure,” said Fernando A Gonzalez, the chief executive officer (CEO) of Cemex.
Poland: Germany’s Bilfinger is installing refractory linings at Cemex Polska’s Rudniki cement plant. It is also carrying out assembly work at various parts of the unit. The industrial services company is installing the refractory linings for parts of the plant, which entails using around 2000t of refractory material within a five-month period. It is part of the installation of a new cement clinker production line at the site.
The contract comes under Bilfinger’s Engineering & Maintenance Continental Europe division. Companies for which Bilfinger has worked on past contracts in Poland include cement producers CRH and Dyckerhoff.
Spain: Turkey’s Çimsa Çimento has purchased Cemex’s white cement business in Spain, including its Buñol plant, for around US$180m. Cemex expects to sign the final agreement in April 2019 and close this divestment during the second half of 2019. The proposed divestment does not include Cemex’s white cement business in Mexico, nor its interest in Lehigh Cement in the US.
“With the purchase of the Buñol white cement plant in Spain, we are upgrading our game in the white cement sector, the highest value-added business in the global cement market. With the integration of the Buñol white cement plant to our production and distribution networks, we will increase our white cement production capacity by 40%, translating into Çimsa becoming the world's largest white cement company,” said Tamer Saka, the president of Sabancı Holding Cement Group and chairman of Çimsa. He added that Çimsa is among Turkey’s leading exporters. In 2018 it generated over 50% of its operational profit from overseas operations.
Once a final agreement is reached the transaction is subject to standard regulatory approval.
Mexico/US: Cemex has entered into a global agreement with Petuum to implement its Industrial AI Autopilot software products for autonomous cement plant operations at its plants around the world. The products for cement plant operations are being deployed at select Cemex USA and Mexico plants and will continue to be rolled out in 2019.
"We expect our yield improvements and energy savings to be up to 7%, from the connected AI-based autopilots, which is game-changing for our industry,” said Rodrigo Quintero, Operations Digital Technologies Manager at Cemex.
Petuum says that its Industrial AI Autopilot suite of products can deliver real-time forecasts for key process variables, prescriptions for critical control variables and supervised autosteer aligned with business objectives for all cement plant operations including clinker cooler, preheater, rotary kiln, pyro-process, ball mill and vertical mill processes to achieve lowered energy consumption, optimised fuel mix and increased throughput while maintaining stable operation and product quality. The products are integrated with plant control systems and OSIsoft PI data infrastructure for scalable and standardised deployments across multiple lines and plants globally.
The joint Cemex and Petuum teams achieved a cruise-control-like supervised ‘autosteer mode,’ where the AI Autopilot could run operations with full engage-disengage control available to the operator.
To find out more about Pettum visit: https://petuum.com/