Displaying items by tag: GCW268
US: An on-going mechanical failure is to shut down the Lehigh Cement Redding plant in California for an estimated 14 weeks. The problem with a gearbox has reportedly been occurring since January 2016 and has persisted despite equipment replacements. The cement producer is currently waiting for further replacement parts, according to the Redding Record Searchlight newspaper.
39 workers will also be laid off at the plant. Lehigh previously laid off 40 employees workers at the plant in 2009 due to a fall in construction activity in the market.
Spanish regulator issues Euro29.2m fine to cement companies
13 September 2016Spain: The National Commission for Markets and Competition (CNMC) has issued total fines of Euro29.2m to 23 cement companies for involvement in a cartel between 1999 and 2014. Among the companies are Cementos Portland Valderrivas, with a Euro10.2m fine, Cemex Spain with a Euro5.8m fine and Holcim Spain, with a Euro4.4m fine, according to the Cinco Días newspaper.
The CNMC’s investigations have shown that the companies coordinated the exchange of commercial information, market sharing and price fixing between 1999 and 2014 in three distinct geographical areas in the north, centre and south of the country. Notably, the southern region examined the companies used email and WhatsApp mobile phone application to share sensitive information.
Nigeria: Alhaji Abdulsamad Rabiu, the chairman of the Cement Company of Northern Nigeria (CCNN), has warned that the price of cement may rise if the Naira continues to devalue. He made the comments at the company’s Annual General Meeting according to the Nation newspaper. Imported inputs such as fuel, machinery, spare parts and gypsum would all be affected by local currency depreciation. The cement producer was forced to shut down its Sokoto cement plant for intermittent periods in late 2015 due to poor supplies of low pour fuel oil (LFPO) from the Kaduna refinery.
The subsidiary of BUA Group reported that its turnover fell by 14% year-on-year to US$41.4m in 2015 from US$48m in 2014. Its profit after tax fell by 37% to US$3.81m from US$6.09m.
China exports US$19.8m worth of cement to Kenya in first half of 2016
12 September 2016Kenya: China exported cement worth US$19.8m to Kenya in the first half of 2016 compared to US$1.99m in the same period of 2015, according to data from the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS). Despite this large increase in imports of cement, Chinese contractors working in the country, such as the China Road and Bridges Corporation which are currently building the Mombasa-Nairobi railway, have denied bringing the material into Kenya. They say they have only imported machinery and equipment for the large-scale infrastructure projects that they are working on, according to Business Daily.
Colombia/Thailand: Cementos Argos has held its position in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index (DJSI) for the fourth consecutive year. Cementos Argos was featured as the most sustainable cement company in the world after obtaining the best score in the construction materials sector. The Colombia-based materials producer was listed along with Thailand’s Siam Cement.
"The permanence in this index confirms our business model, in which we start with sustainability and innovation as pillars of the strategy to create value for our customers, shareholders, communities, employees, and other stakeholders,” said Juan Esteban Calle, CEO of Cementos Argos.
Argos obtained the best score among the following variables: Biodiversity, Operational Eco efficiency, Water related risks, Social Reporting, Labour Practice Indicators and Human Rights, Tax Strategy, Corporate Citizenship and Philanthropy, Human Talent Development and Talent Attraction and retention. In addition to being included in the Global Index, Cementos Argos was recognised in Emerging Markets for the fourth consecutive year.
Each year about 2500 global companies, listed on the stock exchange, belonging to about 59 economic sectors, are invited to participate in the DJSI.
Sino Zimbabwe Cement may cut shifts in response to poor demand
09 September 2016Zimbabwe: Sino Zimbabwe Cement Company may cut shifts in response to poor local demand for cement. Managing director Wang Yong told the Business Chronicle that local demand for cement has fallen by 25% due to a poor construction market. The cement producer is considering reducing its current pattern of three shifts to just one day shift.
Despite market concerns, the company has spent US$1m towards building storage space for raw materials and transport infrastructure improvements. In 2015 it completed a US$5m upgrade to double its production capacity to 0.4Mt/yr.
Cement mill shipped to Djibouti
09 September 2016Djibouti: Gulf Agency Services has shipped a cement ball mill and its components to Djibouti, according to Breakbulk. The mill was shipped from Jebel Ali, UAE to the Port of Djibouti. Gulf Agency Services is an associate company of Maritime Transport International that is base in Djibouti.
McInnis Cement starts building Sainte-Catherine Terminal
08 September 2016Canada: McInnis Cement has started construction work at its Sainte-Catherine Terminal. The unit will be built along the Boulevard Hébert over an area of two acres and will host two silos erected near the existing wharf. Approximately 25 ships per year should make stops at the terminal. Construction will continue until early 2017 at the site and the Sainte-Catherine Terminal is scheduled to be fully operational by spring 2017.
“While the cement plant is a few months away from being fully operational, we are taking the final steps for this important project to take shape and become the expected commercial success,” said the Director of Canadian Sales at McInnis Cement, Francis Forlini.
The cement transiting in Sainte-Catherine is intended to serve markets in New England, in addition to replacing imports in Quebec and Ontario. To feed its other markets, McInnis plans to build other terminals on the east coast of North America, including recent construction work in Providence, Rhode Island.
KHD to install 3-string preheater at Shree Cement
08 September 2016India: Shree Cement has awarded KHD with new projects for three more kiln lines, each with a capacity of 6000t/day.
The first project is for line two at Shree’s Raipur plant. The second new line will be built in Karnataka using a three-string preheater with the following equipment from KHD: three-string, six-stage preheater, PRZ 9575; three-pier rotary kiln Ø 5.4/5.0m x 75m long; and a Pyrojet burner; Pyrostep clinker cooler, PSC 3-154.16T. The project commencement date was 2 September 2016. The third project, at a location to be announced, will also be built using the equipment mentioned above.
Shree Cement has implemented 11 KHD high-efficiency kiln lines and many grinding stations, including 10 KHD roller presses.
Lebanon: Intercem is building a hot gas system for a coal mill at the LafargeHolcim Chekka plant. The engineering company won the contract for the job in 2015. It is the second such contract for Intercem to build a hot gas system following a previous project at a plant in Jordan in 2013.
The new hot gas system in the coal mill plant in Chekka connects the preheater with the coal mill and comprises a hot gas duct with a length of 360m and a diameter of 900mm. The process data of the hot gas outlet of the heat exchanger are of 18,500Nm3/hour at 400°C.
The turnkey scope of supply and services for the project includes:
- Project management
- As-built-survey of the existing plant using 3D-Laser scanning
- Review of the statics of the existing steel structure and concrete construction
- Process- and detail engineering
- Supply of the mechanical equipment including steel structure
- Coordination of the locally produced components
- Supply of the electrical equipment including clarification of connections and integration into the existing control systems
- Execution of the complete foundation works
- Transport management
- Electrical and mechanical assembly of the plant
- Commissioning of the hot gas system
- Training of the operating team
In addition ducts, a cyclone, a process fan and several control dampers, compensators, the complete instrumentation and automation as well as a new recirculation duct with two control dampers at the existing vertical coal mill have been supplied.
Handover to the customer is planned for fourth quarter of 2016.