Displaying items by tag: Hunan Liangtian Cement

China: Authorities in the province of Hunan have identified a cement plant as the source of thallium contamination in the Leishui River following a botched demolition at the end of 2024, according to Sixth Tone news.

Yongxing County officials said that rainfall had washed thallium-laden dust from a dismantled kiln into the river. Levels peaked at 0.13μg/L, exceeding the national standard of 0.1μg/L, but have since returned to safe levels. The nearby city of Chenzhou is reportedly a hub for non-ferrous metal mining and processing, and a number of Chinese cement plants have begun to process industrial solid waste in recent years. According to Peng Yingdeng, a researcher at the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, this method is a common approach for hazardous waste disposal, but can lead to high concentrations of thallium salts in the kiln’s residue. The owner of the plant, Hunan Liantian Cement, added solid waste management to its list of businesses in September 2024.

The local government has despatched teams to apply chemical treatments to the affected areas, with water quality since returning to safe levels. Local residents’ drinking water was reportedly not affected.

China: China Resources Cement (CRC) turnover fell by 27% year-on-year to US$4.10bn in 2022 from US$5.60bn in 2021. Its profit dropped by 75% to US$247m from US$989m. Its cement and concrete sales volumes decreased by 11% to 72.1Mt and 27% to 10.8Mm³ respectively. During the reporting year the group says it optimised its presence in South China by acquiring majority stakes in Hunan Liangtian Cement and Zhaoqing Jingang Cement, buying a minority stake in Fengqing County Xiqian Cement and by selling a majority stake in Shanxi China Resources Fulong Cement.

China: China Resources Cement’s profit was US$993m in 2021, down by 13% year-on-year from 2020 levels. Its cost of sales grew by 22% to US$3.81bn from US$3.12bn. The group noted that the average cost of coal increased by 54% in 2021. It also pointed out that infrastructure investment growth slowed down in 2021. The company increased its turnover for the year by 9.7% to US$5.62bn. Sales volumes of cement and clinker fell by 7% to 81.3Mt and 7% to 3.3Mt respectively. Concrete sales volumes grew by 11% to 14.8Mm³.

During 2021 the group started construction of a second clinker production line and two cement grinding lines at its plant in Wuxuan, Guangxi. Once the upgrades are completed the plant will have a total cement and clinker capacities of 2.4Mt/yr and 1.4Mt/yr respectively. The group also acquired a 51% stake in Hunan Liangtian Cement in January 2022 to enter into the market in Chenzhou, Hunan. This company has cement and clinker production capacities of 1.6Mt/yr and 2Mt/yr respectively. An ongoing upgrade will increase the cement production capacity of 2.1Mt/yr. In March 2022 it sold its 72% stake in Shanxi China Resources Fulong Cement to Tangshan Jidong Cement to enable it to leave the northern market.

China Resources Cement has also been growing its co-processing capabilities in 2021. At the end of the year it reported 10 co-processing projects with a total capacity of 1.7Mt/yr. The projects, mostly based in Guangxi and Yunnan provinces, process municipal solid waste, urban sludge and industrial waste.