Displaying items by tag: GCW109

Uzbekistan: The Almalyk Mining and Metallurgical Plant (AMMP) plans to build a US$250m cement plant in the Surkhandarya region in southern Uzbekistan. The Government of Uzbekistan has instructed AMMP to start negotiations with Turkey's Dal Teknik Makina on the project's implementation. The plant will have a cement production capacity of 1.5Mt/yr and should be completed by 2017.

The project will be financed by AMMP with loans from the Fund for Reconstruction and Development of Uzbekistan and Uzbek banks. Previously the plant was to be built by the national oil and gas company Uzbekneftegaz but it failed to attract foreign partners to the project.

AMMP and Dal Teknik Makina are also collaborating on a cement plant in the Jizakh region of Uzbekistan. The plant is due to be built by the end of 2014.

China: China's cement output has increased by 9.7% year-on-year to 1.1Bt for the first half of 2013, according to the data released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS). In June 2013 cement output increased by 8.8% year-on-year to 228Mt.

Indonesia: Indonesian cement sales growth has fallen to 7.5% at 27.8Mt for the first six months of 2013 from 25.9Mt in the same period in 2012, according to the Indonesian Cement Association (ASI). Year-on-year sales grew by 15% for the January to June period between 2011 and 2012. The deceleration in cement sales is expected to continue in the second half of 2013 due to a reduction in infrastructure development.

Reasons for slower national growth in the first half of 2013 include fewer infrastructure projects, falling commodity prices that have affected development in resource-rich provinces and more frequent rain, according to ASI chairman Widodo Santoso. Sales in Java, the main driver of growth in the first months of 2013, rose by 9.2% to 15.5Mt. Meanwhile, sales outside Java rose by 5.38% to 12.4Mt.

State-owned cement producer PT Semen Indonesia said that the 7.5% growth in nationwide cement sales was still higher than sales growth before 2011. Figures from the ASI showed domestic cement sales rose 14.5% in 2012, 17.7% in 2011, 6% in 2010 and only 0.9% in 2009.

Brazil: Portuguese cement producer Cimpor, which has been controlled by the Brazilian diversified holding group Camargo Corrêa since June 2012, has started its first exports to northern Brazil.

The first shipment of 28,000t/yr of cement reached the port of Manaus, northwestern Brazil in July 2013, according to local press. Cimpor's main rivals in this region will be Brazilian sector players Votorantim Cimentos and Joao Santos.

Camargo Corrêa's subsidiary InterCement, which owns directly Cimpor, projects to import some 70,000t/yr of Portuguese cement to Brazil in 2013. Cimpor is also targeting exports to Bolivia amid the continuing severe economic downturn in Portugal.

India: Madras Cements is to set up limestone beneficiation plants to help it improve its cement raw material resources and extend the lifespan of its limestone mines. Once the beneficiation plant is in place, low-grade limestone will be processed to 12.5% SiO2 content. The cement plant will then use equal quantities of beneficiated and high grade limestone.

Madras will install the first of such plant at a cost of US$5m at Alathiyur in Tamil Nadu, where it has a 3Mt/yr cement plant. Once the 400t/hr beneficiation unit is stabilised, the company will establish similar facilities at other plants, according to A V Dharmakrishnan, Mardas' CEO. He said that, following the installation of the plants, the company will be able to avoid wasting huge quantities of its limestone supplies, extending the life of its limestone quarries.

Currently Madras' limestone can have up to 30% SiO2 content can be as high as 30%. It is either rejected or blended with high-quality limestone (8% SiO2) purchased from an outside source.

India: Birla Corporation has announced that it will increase cement production capacity by 4.5Mt/yr with an investment of around US$416m over a period of three years. Of the proposed 4.5Mt/yr, the company plans to set up two 1.5Mt/yr facilities at Chanderia, Rajasthan and a 1.5Mt/yr plant at Satna, Madhya Pradesh.

The total cement production capacity of the company at present is 9.3Mt/yr. The proposed expansion therefore represents around half of its current installed capacity.

Guatemala: Local press has indicated that Guatemalan residents are protesting against local cement manufacturer Cementos Progreso's plans to build a cement factory in San Juan Sacatepéquez, 30km north west of Guatemala City. Members of 12 local communities claim that they were not consulted prior to works commencing and they say that the cement plant will contaminate the local environment.

The cement factory will be built in the area to serve construction of a 24km highway known as the 'Anillo Regional' that will connect the departments of Guatemala, Quiché, Baja Verapaz and Chimaltenango. The highway is expected to cost US$19.2m and works are being carried out under a public-private partnership, in which Cementos Progreso is participating.

The Guatemalan president Otto Pérez inaugurated the start of construction works in May 2013 and defended the project, saying that it would bring development to the area, according to a presidential statement. "I want to ask the local population, which will benefit from the project, to help us and collaborate," said Pérez. The president also characterised claims that the highway will damage the environment, affect local farming and reduce water resources in the area as 'lies.'