Displaying items by tag: GCW271
West China Cement reports loss for first half of 2016
03 October 2016China: West China Cement Limited has reported that its made a loss of US$17m in the first half of 2016 down from a profit of US$0.36m in the same period in 2015. Its revenue fell by 4% to US$244m from US$253m. Its gross profit fell by 29% to US$22.9m from US$32.3m.
Vietnamese ministries ordered to revise cement industry strategy
30 September 2016Vietnam: Deputy Prime Minister Trinh Dinh Dung has asked the ministries of industry and construction to revise the zoning plan for mineral mining for cement production and the cement industry development strategy to meet actual demand. The Ministry of Construction has said that the zoning plan to 2020, which was originally approved in 2010, needs changing following recent geological surveys, according to the Vietnam News Agency. The ministry is also compiling a cement industry development strategy for the 2017 - 2035 period with a vision towards 2025.
The construction ministry will collaborate with provinces and cities to look into the investment and exploitation of minerals for cement production, supply and demand for clinker and cement as well as using heat at cement plants for electricity generation. The country has 70 operational cement production lines with a production capacity of 82Mt/yr but consumption is 72Mt/yr. The government has approved shutting down 14 cement plants with a daily capacity of less than 2500t of clinker each, equivalent to 910,000t/yr, from the strategy since 2011.
Tabuk Cement delays opening of second clinker line to 2017
30 September 2016Saudi Arabia: Tabuk Cement says that its second clinker production line is expected to be commercially operational in the second quarter of 2017. The revised opening date is a delay from the original announced date of the third quarter of 2016. The cement producer has blamed the delay on ‘irregular non-compliance with the required capacity and specification’ of the second line. It added that the company will not incur additional costs due to the hold-up.
US: St. Marys Cement’s has received inducement resolution approval from the Michigan Strategic Fund (MSF) for up to US$150m in private activity bonds to expand its Charlevoix plant in Michigan. The cement producer will now submit a more detailed plan to the MSF.
“This is great news for St Marys, its employees and customers,” said Senator Wayne Schmidt. “Not only will this project help the company to grow its Charlevoix plant and expand its capabilities to better serve customers, but it will also create new jobs in the community.”
According to MSF, the plant upgrade will expand the plant’s infrastructure to increase productivity. The project is expected to qualify for bond financing as a solid waste disposal and recycling facility. The company currently employs 232 people, and the expansion project is expected to add up to 200 jobs during construction and up to 10 permanent jobs upon completion.
Private activity bonds are a source of financial assistance to economic development projects in the state. They provide profitable firms with capital cost savings stemming from the difference between taxable and tax-exempt interest rates. A bond inducement is the first step in a bond transaction.
Lafarge Canada to test burning tyres at its Brookfield plant
30 September 2016Canada: Lafarge Canada has started a partnership with Dalhousie University researcher Mark Gibson to test tyre-derived fuel on an industrial scale at the Brookfield cement plant in Nova Scotia. Working under a Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) Discovery Grant, this initiative will research the adoption of low carbon fuels in the cement industry. The research will continue the partnership between Lafarge Canada and Dalhousie's Faculty of Engineering.
"My students and I are very pleased to see this work enter the real world. Based on our research, we expect to see significant reductions in greenhouse gas emissions from the Brookfield cement plant and thereby help Nova Scotia move one step closer to a low carbon economy," said Gibson. He added that the use of tires will also reduce NOx emissions. In 2015, Gibson and his team published a report entitled ‘Use of scrap tyres as an alternative fuel source at the Lafarge cement kiln, Brookfield, Nova Scotia.’
Due to different initiatives including previous work with Dalhousie's Faculty of Engineering, the Brookfield plant has substituted alternative fuels for conventional ones by using front-end burner injection in its kiln. The plant is expected to reach a substitution rate of up to 30% by the end of 2016. Following the test using tyres the cement producer expects to use 15% of its fuel requirements from 450,000 tyres per year, or just under half the amount of tyres generated in Nova Scotia. The project proposal will be explained in further detail at a Public Meeting planned for 20 October 2016 in Brookfield.
HeidelbergCement starts upgrade at Kaspi Plant
29 September 2016Georgia: HeidelbergCement has started work to upgrade its Kaspi plant with a new dry-process production line. The project officially started on 27 September 2016 with Prime Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili laying a foundation stone at the site.
“We welcome that today HeidelbergCement is starting an US$100m investment project on the Kaspi plant for full modernisation of the plant and constructing a dry line for clinker production. This project will make the production process more efficient,” said Kvirikashvili.
European Bank for Reconstruction and Development helps to reduce carbon emissions from the Egyptian cement industry
29 September 2016Egypt: The Egyptian cement industry could reduce its CO2 emissions by 2030 by following new recommendations in a report from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD). These recommendations have been published in the EBRD’s report, ‘Policy roadmap for a Low-Carbon Egyptian Cement Industry,’ which highlights the need for decisive and collaborative action by the industry’s stakeholders in order to achieve a reduction in CO2 emissions.
“Improving environmental standards in the cement industry and offering commercial incentives is realistic and vital for the profitability of the sector,” said Philip ter Woort, the EBRD Director for Egypt.
The roadmap outlines recommendations for policy actions from the Egyptian government that may provide effective incentives for the cement industry to improve its energy efficiency and to reduce CO2 emissions. The report points out that the potential for improvement is high despite that 50% of the Egyptian cement industry’s production capacity was built after 2000, and is using up-to-date equipment and clinker kilns that use best available technology (BAT).
Until 2014, the Egyptian cement industry, one of the most energy intensive industries in the country, had primarily used state-subsidised natural gas and heavy fuel oil to fire its cement kilns. However, following a gradual phasing out of the energy subsidies, Egyptian cement companies have switched to using high CO2 intensive fuels such as coal and petcoke.
The roadmap suggests that in order to reduce CO2 emissions, the industry should reduce the clinker content in cement, increase the use of alternative fuels, improve electrical energy efficiency and use more renewable sources of energy. Under one of the more ambitious scenarios, 2.2Mt/yr of coal will no longer have to be imported by 2030, saving about US$200m. Furthermore this would lead to a reduction in CO2 emissions to about 2% below the historic level prior to the fuel switch. In addition the cement industry could increase its usage of alternative fuels substitution.
The report was initiated by the EBRD, in cooperation with Egypt’s Ministry of Industry and Trade, the Egyptian Environmental Affairs Agency (EEAA), the Chamber of Building Materials Industries/Cement Industry Association (CBMI) and the Cement Sustainability Initiative (CSI) of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD).
Emami Cement wins limestone-mining lease in Rajasthan
29 September 2016India: Emami Cement has won a limestone-mining lease in Rajasthan for a cost of US$4.5/t. The lease is for the Nagapur 3B1b Deh block that has an estimated reserve of 168Mt. It is the first non-coal mining lease to be sold via auction in the state, according to the Financial Express. Emami Cement will also have to pay royalties and make contributions to the district mineral foundation and national mineral exploration trust once it starts operation. Mining is expected to start in about 18 months subject to land acquisition, project planning and environmental clearance.
Cemengal completes commissioning at Cemindo
29 September 2016Indonesia: Cemengal has completed the commissioning period for Cemindo in Medan. Two Plug&Grind XL units are operational at the site, allowing the cement producer to sell nearly 0.5Mt/yr of cement. A third unit is also due to start work in the country in the next few months.