Displaying items by tag: Clinker

Peru: Cement production in the 12 months ending on 30 June 2021 was 12.2Mt, up by 43% year-on-year from 8.54Mt in the previous 12 months. Data from the Association of Cement Producers (ASOCEM) shows that local dispatches totalled 11.9Mt, up by 42% from 8.41Mt.

Cement exports recorded a drop, down by 7% to 0.16Mt from 0.17Mt, while clinker exports rose by 44% to 0.52Mt from 0.36Mt. High demand led to an increase in imports to 0.94Mt of cement, up by 59% from 0.59Mt, and 1.41Mt of clinker, almost triple the previous year’s volume of 0.48Mt.

India: Shree Cement is on track to commission its 3.0Mt/yr cement grinding plant at Patas in Pune, Maharashtra in September 2021. The plant was originally scheduled for commissioning in late 2020 but this was delayed due to Covid-19 led-disruption. The unit has had an investment of around US$80m and it will source clinker from a group site in Karnataka. The plant is Shree Cement’s first in western India.

Mexico: Holcim subsidiary Holcim Mexico has inaugurated its new 650,000t/yr cement grinding plant at Umán in Yucatán. The cost of the project was US$40m. The plant will receive clinker from its integrated plants at Macuspana in Tabasco, and Orizaba in Veracruz. The producer says that the plant will optimise delivery times for cement customers in the area. It says that it will create 400 local jobs.

General director Jaime Hill Tinoco said, “At Holcim we are very proud to continue growing with the community, as well as to continue promoting well-being in the region through the creation of direct jobs, infrastructure and investment with this new grinding plant that, as I pointed out on the day that the first stone was laid, will strengthen national and foreign investments in benefit of the growth of the region.”

Italy: HeidelbergCement subsidiary Italcementi has announced a planned investment of Euro5.0m to restart clinker production at its Trentino cement plant in Sarche di Madruzzo. The plant will have an integrated production capacity of 0.25Mt/yr when it resumes full operation from January 2022. The company aims to establish a ‘reference plant for the Northeast’ at the facility. It will begin hiring 30 new staff in late 2021. The unit has been operating as a grinding plant since 2015.

Technical director Agostino Rizzo said, “The cement plant is equipped with the technologies necessary to guarantee high level environmental performance. To this will be added a landscape integration. The relationship with the region and local communities is of great importance for us.”

Armenia: The Armenian parliament has agreed to establish a customs duty of Euro22/t for cement and Euro3/t for clinker on imports from Iran and other countries. The government had initially hoped to imposed Euro39/t and Euro14/t on cement and clinker respectively but this was declined by the legislative body, according to the ArmInfo News Agency. Imported cement will also be recognised as licensed. The new bill will come into effect in July 2021.

A previous customs duty of Euro22/t imports of Iranian cement was set up in mid-2019. However, Iranian cement imports were then banned at the start of 2021. Production by local producers grew in 2020 and imports fell.

Bangladesh: Cement producers are warning of price rises due to a ‘significant’ rise in international freight rates. The Bangladesh Cement Manufacturers Association (BCMA) has expressed concern about the situation, according to the New Nation newspaper. Freight rates to transport clinker from Indonesia, Vietnam or the Middle-East have increased by up to 30% in the last few months. The BCMA has called on the government to cut import duties to keep consumer prices low.

Ghana: CBI Ghana has said that its costs have increased because it has had to import clinker during an on-going local shortage. The Ghana News Agency newspaper has reported that the Supacem cement producer attributes a rise in its cement prices to the cost increase.

Commercial manager Kobby Adams said, “The rising cost of cements is due to the unavailability of some products and these materials are imported in large quantities at exorbitant charges coupled with the unstable and high import charges.” He warned customers against accepting counterfeit products to circumvent the rising prices. “CBI Ghana pledges to continue with the expansion to be able to reach and serve more customers,” he added.

India: Star Cement has announced the completion of its US$61m grinding plant project in Jalpaiguri, West Bengal. The Press Trust of India has reported that the 2Mt/yr grinding plant is set to enter production shortly. This will bring the company’s installed capacity to 6.3Mt/yr. The company intends to source clinker from its integrated cement plant in Meghalaya that has mines nearby. Fly ash will be procured from West Bengal or Bihar.

Star Cement plans to discontinue its lease of another grinding plant in Siliguri, West Bengal, at the end of January 2021.

Algeria: Groupe des Ciments d'Algérie (GICA) has completed the export of 41,000t of clinker to Haiti and the Dominican Republic. Algeria Press Service has reported that the company exported the clinker, produced at the Hadjar Soud (SCHS) cement plant, from the port of Annaba.

Chief executive officer (CEO) Youcef Merabet said, “Hadjar Soud cement plant, which operates two production lines totalling 0.9Mt/yr of cement production capacity, will promote its exports in 2021 especially as the demand for clinker will exceed 200,000t.”

US: CRH subsidiary Ash Grove Cement says that it is undertaking an upgrade of its Port Manatee, Florida deep water cement terminal to install a high capacity FLSmidth Kovako unloader and modernise existing material transfer and electrical systems, as well as establishing self-loading capabilities. The aim of the upgrade is “to improve Ash Grove’s capacity to import cement clinker, slag and fly ash to meet the existing and future needs of customers in the Florida and South Georgia markets.

Regional president Monica Manolas said, “The underlying fundamentals in the Florida market are positive with good population and employment growth. The upgrade of the Port Manatee import terminal will expand our capabilities and strengthen our ability to meet growing demand in the region.”

The company says that construction will begin in early 2021 and the upgraded terminal will open in late 2021.