Displaying items by tag: Dominican Republic

Dominican Republic: The Dominican Association of Portland Cement Producers (ADOCEM) has declared 2023 a year of strength in the cement industry, as it celebrates the 75-year anniversary of the start of cement production in the country. CNIN News has reported that the Dominican Republic's cement industry contributed US$764m/yr to the national economy, 0.8% of gross domestic product (GDP).

ADOCEM president Félix González said “The cement industry has contributed decisively to our national stability, not only through quality jobs and contributions to the treasury, but also by successfully meeting local demand and contributing to international exports, despite cost-related challenges."

Mexico: Cemex Mexico plans to install hydrogen injection systems at four cement plants across Mexico. The producer will use the technology to increase alternative fuel (AF) substitution at the plants by 8 - 10%. A 40% reduction in Scope 3 purchased fuel emissions forms part of Cemex's 2020 - 2030 CO₂ emissions reduction strategy. Through the decarbonisation and circular economy pillars of its Future in Action plan, the group aims to become carbon neutral by 2050.

Cemex Mexico president Ricardo Naya said "Hydrogen is a key technology to accelerate the implementation of our climate action roadmap."

The El Financiero newspaper has reported that Cemex set a new group record AF substitution rate of 34% in September 2022. It uses hydrogen at all of its European cement plants and at one plant in the Dominican Republic.

Dominican Republic: Cemex Dominicana has announced the signing of a new sustainability agreement with food producer Nestlé Dominicana. Under the agreement, Cemex Dominicana will co-process Nestlé Dominicana's non-recyclable high-calorific solid industrial waste as alternative fuel (AF) in its cement plant.

Cemex's Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico and Haiti regional director José Antonio Cabrera said "This agreement with Nestlé allows us to continue promoting our Future in Action strategy by operating our cement plant with AF." He concluded "We are committed to becoming a net-zero CO₂ company."

Colombia: Cementos Argos has reported record sales and earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) in the first nine months of 2022. Sales for the period reached US$1.73bn, with EBITDA reaching US$306m. In terms of shipments, Cementos Argos delivered 12.3Mt of cement, 2% less than in the first nine months of 2021. It delivered 5.8Mm³/yr of concrete, a year-on-year rise of 9%.

Juan Esteban Calle, president of the company, said "We are excited to deliver positive results to our shareholders that show that the strategies we are implementing, in terms of deleveraging, efficiency, network integration logistics and price recovery, are bearing fruit. Amid strong inflationary pressures in all markets, we were able to expand profitability and margins versus last year."

During the third quarter of 2022 the company saw revenues of US$414m in the US market, an increase of 23% compared to the third quarter of 2021. Its EBITDA in the US for the quarter increased by 26% to US$77m. It said that 'solid' demand helped it to increase cement sales volumes by 6% to 1.6Mt, while concrete sales rose by 4% to 1.1Mm³.

In its native Colombia, revenues reached US$143m, a year-on-year increase of 11%, with EBITDA at US$32.1m. During the three-month period, cement shipments remained stable, while the concrete business has continued its sustained recovery, supported by infrastructure and formal housing projects. The company highlighted that exports from Cartagena grew by 37% to reach 319,000t, the highest quarterly figure in the company's history.

In the Caribbean and Central America revenues rose by 8% year-on-year in the third quarter of 2022 to reach US$136m, with EBITDA stable year-on-year at US£31m. However, cement shipments decreased by 13% to 1.0Mt. Cementos Argos said that this was partly due to serious social disruption in Haiti, as well as a change of government in Honduras and scheduled maintenance in the Dominican Republic. However, the company saw a 59% increase in concrete shipments to 77,000m³.

Argos Honduras revealed this week that it has been testing the injection of hydrogen into the kiln of its integrated Piedras Azules cement plant. It has completed a pilot with Portugal-based company UTIS. As part of the process it has been trialling, it has split water by electrolysis and then injected the hydrogen and oxygen directly into the kiln via the main burner. The pilot has reportedly increased clinker production and reduced petcoke consumption at the plant.

Argos is far from alone in using hydrogen in this way. At the end of August 2022 Cemex said that it was also starting to use hydrogen at its San Pedro de Macorís cement plant in the Dominican Republic. CRH UK-subsidiary Tarmac completed a trial in July 2022 using hydrogen as an alternative to natural gas at its Tunstead lime plant. HeidelbergCement UK-subsidiary Hanson also ran a successful trial using hydrogen as part of the fuel mix at its Ribblesdale cement plant in 2021. The government-funded trial used a combination of hydrogen (39%), meat and bone meal (12%) and glycerine (49%) to reach a 100% alternative fuels substitution rate. In 2021 Hanson reported that fuel switching to hydrogen could help it reduce its 2050 CO₂ emissions by about 3%, or by -35kg CO₂/t of cement product.

Cemex appears to be a leader in using hydrogen in this way. The Mexico-based company started injecting hydrogen in 2019 and retrofitted all of its European cement plants with the technology to do so in 2020. It then said it wanted to roll this out to the rest of its operations. The project in the Dominican Republic is an example of this. In February 2022 it announced an investment in HiiROC, a UK-based company that has developed a method using thermal plasma electrolysis to convert biomethane, flare gas, or natural gas into hydrogen. The stated aim of this investment was to increase Cemex's hydrogen injection capacity in its cement kilns and to increase its alternative fuel substitution rate. Back in 2020 Cemex said that it planned to use hydrogen injection to contribute 5% of its progress towards its 2030 CO₂ emissions reduction target along with other measures such as increasing its thermal substitution rate and reducing its clinker factor.

As can be seen above there are a number of examples of hydrogen injection being used in cement plants in Europe and the Americas. However, there is very little actual data available publicly at this stage on how much hydrogen that the plants are actually using. For example, Cemex may have hydrogen injection equipment installed at all of its plants in Europe but it is unclear how many plants are actually using it. This is understandable though, given how commercially sensitive the fuel mix of a cement plant is and in Cemex’s case if it wishes to maintain a leader’s advantage in using a new technology.

It is interesting to see, in what has been released so far, the focus on doing deals with companies that supply electrolysis technology such as HiiROC and UTIS. A feasibility study ahead of the Hanson trial at Ribblesdale by the MPA, Cinar and the VDZ suggested that upgrading a kiln burner and adding all the necessary hydrogen storage and pipework could cost at least Euro400,000. However, this study also pointed out that the cost of hydrogen made a big difference to the cost of the CO₂ saving from using it as an alternative fuel. Hence the focus on the technology partners. It will be interesting to see how many more hydrogen injection projects are announced in the coming months and years and, crucially, who is providing the technology to supply the hydrogen.

For more information on the use of hydrogen in cement production see the proceedings from the 15th Global CemFuels Conference & Exhibition where presentations on the topic were given by Cemex and the VDZ

Dominican Republic: The President of the Dominican Republic, Luis Abinader, has inaugurated the kiln of a restarted production line at the San Pedro de Macorís cement plant. The US$34m upgrade project was started in 2021. The line has a clinker production capacity of 0.5Mt/yr and it has been restarted to support the local market. The announcement follows the start of a project to use hydrogen at the unit that began in late August 2022. The plant also plans to increase its use of alternative fuels, move to using more CO₂-free materials and increase its use of additives over the next five years.

Dominican Republic: Cemex says it is planning to start using hydrogen technology at its integrated San Pedro De Macoris cement plant. It inaugurated the project during a visit by chief executive officer Fernando A Gonzalez. It is part of the company's Future in Action program that seeks to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050.

The group currently uses the technology by injecting hydrogen into cement plant kilns to optimise the combustion process and to increase the use of alternative fuels. It ran a trial at its Alicante cement plant in Spain using hydrogen in 2019 and says it rolled the process out to all of its European cement plants in 2021. Other hydrogen-based projects the cement producer is working on include a partnership with Hiiroc, a gas-to-hydrogen plant producer, and the creation of a renewable hydrogen industrial plant in Spain in collaboration with Acciona and Enagas.

Algeria: Groupe des Ciments d'Algérie (GICA) has obtained a certificate of conformity with European standards (CE) for three types of cement. The certification should allow the company to export more products to Europe, according to the Expression newspaper. It applies to its Gica Moudhad and Gica Béton products. The move follows similar certification of products with the Association Française de Normalisation (AFNOR) from the company’s Aïn El Kebira plant in July 2021. At the same time the Minister of Industry said it was helping the group with its export strategy.

In 2021 GICA exported 2.25Mt of cement to countries including the Ivory Coast, Gambia, Ghana, Mauritania, Senegal , Cameroon, Benin,  Guinea, Brazil, Peru, the Dominican Republic, Haiti and a number of European countries.

Dominican Republic: First-quarter domestic cement consumption in the Dominican Republic rose by 2.9% year-on-year in 2022. The Dominican Association of Portland Cement Producers (ADOCEM) said that producers’ costs rose year-on-year, particularly in the area of fuels, which accounts for 60% of costs. Electricity prices also rose during the quarter.

Association president Felix Gonzalez said "Without a doubt, energy management is a key point in the economic sphere of a cement plant since it makes this industry very susceptible to deficiencies and high tariffs in the electricity sector, as well as to the continuously increasing costs of oil and its derivatives.”

In 2021, ADOCEM members produced 6.5Mt of cement, up by 27% year-on-year from 5.1Mt in 2020. Full-year consumption was 5.5Mt.

Dominican Republic: Colacem Group subsidiary Domicem has awarded the contract to upgrade the limestone reclaiming system at its integrated Sabana Grande de Palenque cement plant in San Cristóbal province to Italy-based Bedeschi. The original stacking and reclaiming equipment, installed by Bedeschi in 2004, allows clay and limestone handling at the plant. The upgraded machine will improve the limestone reclaiming system, increasing its capacity from 200t/hr to 360t/hr, the capacity needed in order to feed a new production line that is being installed at the plant.