Displaying items by tag: Cuba

Cuba: Corporacion Cementos Cubanos’ Siguaney plant produced over 90,000t in 2020. Centrovision News has reported that the plant produced 87,000t of grey cement and 3000t of white. It had planned to produce 10,000t of white cement, but still exceeded its cement target overall. Cost per tonne of cement was also lower than planned.

The company said that grinding operations were disrupted when the Cienfuegos cement plant delivered less clinker than expected. As a result, the Siguaney plant’s kiln produced 18,000t of additional clinker. It achieved this through the use of refractory bricks from another kiln. Disruptions to imports also caused the company to hire Cuban Lubicrants Company (Cubalub) to provide lubricants for the plant’s compressors.

The producer said that it foresees no increase in cement production in 2021. It will launch two new pozzolanic cements, PP-35 and PZ-25.

General manager Gonzalo Reina said "PP-35 and PZ-25 have similar benefits to other cements, but their constitution saves clinker, a raw material that generates the greatest cost and constitutes the greatest difficulty in maintaining stable production.”

Cuba: The production of ‘low-carbon’ (LC3) cement consisting of clinker, calcined clay, limestone and gypsum has begun at Marta Abreu University’s 1460t/yr pilot integrated cement plant in Las Villas. The Granma newspaper has reported that the plant is currently producing 4t/day of cement, and plans to double this to 8t/day when fully operational.

Cuba/US: A court in Florida has accepted a request for damages worth US$270m from LafargeHolcim to over 20 parties from Cuba whose land was nationalised and subsequently had a cement plant built on it. The claim alleges that Switzerland-based Holderbank has held a stake in the partly-state owned Carlos Marx cement plant near Cienfuegos since 2001 via a deliberately “complex network of letterbox companies and transactions” in the Netherlands and Spain, according to the Tages Anzeiger newspaper. Holderbank later became Holcim and then LafargeHolcim.

The building materials producer’s alleged involvement may constitute a violation of the US embargo on trade with Cuba for companies active in the US. The claim has been aided by a clause in the US’s Cuban blockade law, activated by President Donald Trump, enabling Cubans to claim damages in US courts for expropriated property from private companies which profited from them.

Cuba: State-owned Cementos Cienfuegos has started to burn waste tyres in order to save on imported petcoke costs. Cuba is suffering a coal shortage due to reinforced economic sanctions led by the US.

The plant is using 130-150 tyres per day as part of a project that, in its initial phase, makes it possible to replace 5% of its petcoke requirements. Plant manager Ernesto Gálvez, explained the plant eventually aims to burn 400 tyres per day.

Cuba: Following 18 months of reduced operations in which time maintenance and repairs on its grey cement kilns were carried out, Corporacion Cementos Cubanos’ 0.7Mt/yr Siguaney plant is once more fully operational across its four wet lines. Esmerk has reported that the company hopes to re-open its white cement kiln at the nearest possible date.

Cuba: The Ministry of Finance and Prices has published a list of prices for a range of products, including cement, that are sold in state-run stores and agricultural markets. The ministry says that the initiative is intended to evaluate the local market at the municipal level in response to concerns about inflation following a government-mandated salary increases, according to 14ymedio. Shops that violate the regulated price lists may face sanctions.

Cuba: The University ‘Marta Abreu’ of Las Villas (UCLV) has started operating a 7t/day limestone calcined clay cement plant. The unit will be run by the Geominera del Centro Company, according to the Cuban News Agency. Building materials produced at the plant will be used locally.

Fernando Martirena Hernández, director of the Centre for Research and Development of Structures and Materials (CIDEM), said it was the first plant producing low carbon cement in the world. The project is a collaboration between the university and the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation as part of the LC3 project. Similar plants are planned for 18 countries including India, China, Indonesia, Thailand, Guatemala, Mexico, Ecuador, Colombia, Peru, Ivory Coast, Cameroon and Senegal.

Cuba: The Nuevitas cement plant expects to produce 0.12Mt of cement in 2018. Nearly 80% of this output will be used to build houses, according to the Adelante newspaper. The plant serves the Camagüey province as well as Las Tunas, Granma and Ciego de Ávila.

Cuba: A new railway cement terminal is being built at Ciego de Ávila. The unit will have five silos with a total storage capacity of 1600t, according to the Invasor newspaper. The terminal should be compelted by the end of 2018. The site is intended to support hotel construction, infrastructure projects and general housing in the region.

Cuba: The Nuevitas cement plant will test LC3 cement, according to the Adelante newspaper. LC3 is a blend of limestone and calcined clay that reduces the amount of clinker used. The plant is one of three units in the country earmarked for upgrades in 2018.