Displaying items by tag: GCW124

Eurocement recently trumpeted the production of two new types of cement at its Podgorensky plant in Voronezh Region. A focus on standards follows a self-declared offensive being taken by the leading Russian cement producer against foreign imports since August 2013.

When the 3Mt/yr Podgorensky plant reached its full production capacity in July 2013, Eurocement president Mikhail Skorokhod gave a press conference to promote his products over the imports from Iran and Turkey. Some of the more humorous comments Skorokhod made to the press included suggesting that Iranian cement might be radioactive and the revelation that the title of Eurocement's in-house magazine, 'All Shades of Grey', might be inspired by an erotic novel with a similar name ('50 Shades of Grey').

More seriously, Russia's southern regions between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea are vulnerable to foreign imports. Both Turkey and Iran have high cement production capacities and they have access to the country via these two seas. In addition to rising housing construction in Russia since 2010, cement demand is expected to further take a boost from building associated with the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics and the 2018 FIFA World Cup.

As stated by Skorokhod, the Podgorensky cement plant was created to fight foreign imports. Hence the focus on standards and government approval. The cement types in question - TSEM I 52.5N and TSEM II/ A-Sh 42.5N - were certified by NIIMosstroy (the Moscow Construction Research Institute) with additional testing conducted by the Voronezh Regional Center for Hygiene and Epidemiology. The move was similar to attempts made in recent years by local producers in southern and eastern Africa to focus consumers' minds on quality versus the potential risks of low-cost imports.

Eurocement clearly wants to fight imports head on given that, according to CMPRO data, total cement imports to Russia nearly doubled from 2.8Mt in 2011 to 5.1Mt in 2012. Turkey, Belarus and Iran were the main importers in 2012. In 2012 cement imports as a percentage of consumption hit their highest level since 2008. At the same time Russian consumption of cement rose by 13% to 65Mt in 2012 from 58Mt in 2012.

Back in August 2013, Skorokhod said that the Podgorensky plant had cut imports to the southern ports. With no figures available yet for imports in 2013 we can only wait and see.

Romaina: Holcim Romania has announced the addition of three members to its management team. Anca Alexandru is the new Ready-mixed Concrete and Aggregates Director of Holcim Romania, Mădălina Craciunescu has been appointed as Human Resources Director and Ioana Borangic is the new Communication Manager.

"We take pride in the fact that Holcim Romania, a company from the building materials industry, where most employees are men, now has an executive team formed of 50% ladies", said Daniel Bach, General Director of Holcim Romania.

Alexandru, aged 46, joined Holcim in 2002 and has held various managerial positions in the RMX segment. She succeeds Bogdan Dobre who has become the Marketing and Sales Director for Holcim Romania. She has been in post since 1 September 2013.

Craciunescu, aged 32, has held various positions with Holcim Romania since January 2005. She replaces Nicoleta Sălăjan, who has become the HR Director of Holcim Group for the Africa and Middle East Region

Borangic, aged 30, joined Holcim in 2010 as Internal Communication Specialist. Before joining Holcim Ioana gained over 10 years of experience in corporate communications in several multinational companies. Borangic succeeds Andreea Nicolae who have become the Marketing Manager for Holcim Romania.

Holcim Romania runs two cement plants, one grinding plant, 13 eco-friendly concrete stations, three aggregates stations, two special binders stations and one cement terminal.

India: The Numaligarh Refinery Limited (NRL) has signed an agreement with the Cement Corporation of India (CCI) to share the power from a 75MW power plant to be built at Bokajan in Karbi Anglong district in Assam. Fuel grade raw petroleum coke generated at the NRL after a capacity expansion will be used to generate power for the units with the surplus provided to the national grid.

"The proximity of the Bokajan (CCI) unit to the location of NRL's refinery provides the advantage of cheap rail transportation cost for both entities. This possible synergy will be economically favourable to both of the companies and will benefit the region as a whole," said NRL officials.

India: Konark Cement, a subsidiary of OCL India, is building a 1.35Mt/yr grinding plant at Salboni in West Bengal. The cement producer is also intending to use laminated polypropylene (LPP) bags at the unit to minimise wastage.

At present Konark Cement produces seven varieties of cement; OPC 53 grade, OPC 53-S grade, OPC 43 Grade, PSC, PPC (Flyash based), SRPC and masonry Cement, according to OCL India deputy executive director Indrajit Chatterji. OCL India has two cement plants at Kapilash and Rajgangpur in Orissa with a combined production capacity of 5.35Mt/yr.

Kenya: The East African Portland Cement Company (EAPCC) has reported a net profit of US$28m for its financial year that ended on 30 June 2013. In the previous year the company reported a loss of US$11m. Revenue grew by 8% year-on-year to US$108bn. The improvement was attributed to improved sales and cost cutting.

"The results were lifted partly by a tax credit of US$4.2m and a US$8.4m net gain from revaluation of free hold property," said EAPCC Managing Director Kephar Tande. He added that turnover grew while the cost of sales fell due to cost management and a rationalisation of operational activities. Speaking generally, Tande said that the EAPCC is relying on increased infrastructure projects in Kenya to lift demand and it has appealed to the government to remove duty exemption on imported cement meant for government projects.

In the current financial year to 30 June 2014 the EAPCC plans to invest US$5.9m on plant and equipment upgrades. Overall the cement producer intends to spend up to US$32m until 2015 on building a new packing line, acquisition of new clinker and grinding capacity and the creation of a new line of pre-cast concrete products.

Indonesia: Semen Padang is preparing to build a new cement packing plant costing US$0.92m near Pulau Baai port in Bengkulu, said marketing director Benny Wendry.

"We have already earmarked US$0.92m to build a packing factory for Semen Padang near the Pualu Baai port in Bengkulu in 2014," said Wendry. However the project is still awaiting approval from the board of directors. Wendry added that the state-owned cement producer intends to start in early 2014 with completion scheduled for 2015. Once operational the plant will produce 300,000 sacks of cement per year.

Semen Padang is also building a 3Mt/yr cement plant in West Sumatra that is scheduled for operation by 2016. The new plant will increase the company's cement production capacity to 10Mt/yr.

Saudi Arabia: Hail Cement Company has announced that a scheduled shutdown for its production line for kiln and raw mill maintenance will run from 26 October 2013 to 11 November 2013. The cement mills and packing plant will remain operational throughout this period. The financial impact this shutdown will be reflected in the income statement for the fourth quarter of 2013. The company's commitments to its customers are not expected to be effected.

Vietnam: Viettel Group, the leading telecom company in Vietnam operated by the Ministry of Defence, has signed an agreement with Vietnam Construction and Import-Export Joint Stock Corporation (Vinaconex), to buy a 70% stake in Cam Pha Cement. Viettel also purchased Cam Pha Cement's debts guaranteed by VCG in a deal with a total value of US$127m. Viettel currently holds a 21.3% stake in Vinaconex.

With the share sale, Vinaconex will cut its holding in the loss-making cement plant to 30% and avoid further losses from the unit. Vinaconex has paid US$114m worth of debts owed by Cam Pha Cement. Following the deal Cam Pha will sell its cement to military-run construction companies.

Cam Pha Cement made an accumulated loss of US$75m in 2012. The cement plant based in Quang Ninh Province has a production capacity of 2.3Mt/yr.

Mexico: Cemex has reported that its net sales rose by 3% year-on-year to US$4bn during the third quarter of 2013. Operating earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) rose by 2% year-on-year to US$747. The Mexico-based multinational cement producer attributed the increase to increased prices and higher sales volumes in most regions.

"We continue to be focused on our company-wide efforts to improve our operating efficiencies and the value we generate from our asset base while delivering better value to our customers," said Fernando A González, Executive Vice President of Finance and Administration.

By region, Cemex noted that net sales fell in Mexico by 11% year-on-year to US$776m from US$875m. This was blamed on low government infrastructure spending and bad weather. Sales growth was seen in all other regions, and most notably in the group's Northern Europe and Mediterranean regions that recorded 6% (up to US$1.17bn) and 9% (up to US$375m) growth respectively.

Turkey: Batısöke Söke Çimento Sanayi T.A.Ş., part of the Bati Anadolu Group, has awarded KHD Humboldt Wedag a contract for engineering and delivery of equipment to increase its cement grinding capacity at its cement plant in western Turkey. The contract to install a new COMFLEX^® grinding system will increase the capacity of cement grinding unit no 5, from 59t/hr to 195t/hr at 3300 Blaine and save more than 12kWh/t energy.

KHD´s scope includes the engineering and delivery of mechanical and electrical equipment, as well as advisory services during erection and commissioning for the new COMFLEX SC16-3250. This will be KHD's third COMFLEX grinding unit in Turkey after Denizli and Kahramanmaras Cimento.

The core equipment to be designed and delivered by KHD include: a clinker grinding system (COMFLEX^® SC16-3250); a roller press RPS 16-170/180 with ROLCOX^® system for control and monitoring; a V-separator, type VS 524, as static classifier; a high efficiency separator SEPMASTER, type SKS-VC 3250 as dynamic classifier; and a system fan HKF 200/265.

The commissioning of the new COMFLEX^® system, in combination with the existing ball mill system, is planned for the end of 2014.