Displaying items by tag: Maintenance
Cemcor upgrades Cookstown cement plant's bag filter
13 June 2023UK: Cemcor has installed a new US$7.54m bag filter at its Cookstown cement plant in County Tyrone. The system will detect signs of bag damage and isolate the affected row of bags for either online maintenance or, if the damage is minor, resealing with process dust.
The Irish News has reported that managing director David Millar said “We are forward thinking at Cemcor and understood it was time to put our money on the line and invest in the plant's efficiencies and sustainable outputs, to protect the environment around us and future-proof the plant itself."
Trinidad Cement's sales rise in 2022
18 May 2023Trinidad & Tobago: Trinidad Cements' sales were US$309.6m in 2022, up by 9% year-on-year. Group earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) rose by 19% to US$77.0m. The Trinidad and Tobago Guardian newspaper has reported that the producer recorded a US$16.1m loss during the fourth quarter of the year. The producer attributed this to a weather-related drop in cement demand across its markets, as well as restructuring costs for its Barbados-based subsidiary Arawak Cement.
Trinidad Cement chair David Inglefield and managing director Francisco Aguilera Mendoza said "We will ensure that our operations remain resilient by continuing effective cost management initiatives to maximise value in this challenging economic environment. Additionally, we expect improved productivity and efficiency of our equipment on completion of major planned maintenance in 2023."
Germany: Korfez Eng. is supplying internals for a new Ø 4.40m mill shell being installed for an unnamed cement plant in Eastern Europe. All mill internals for this project have been designed and supplied by Korfez Eng. and Korfez Foundry in Türkiye. The total delivery weight of the Korfez supplied mill internal parts exceeds 150t.
Cuba: Corporación Cementos Cubanos’ has resumed production once more at its Siguaney integrated cement plant in Sancti Spíritus Province. The plant was closed for the last seven months of 2022 due to technical issues. Escambray News has reported that plant manager Gonzalo Reina Aguilar said that imported refractory bricks proved crucial to the successful repair operation. Reina Aguilar also noted a ‘better energy situation’ in the country, ensuring the plant of its ‘necessary allocations’ in future.
Corporación Cementos Cubanos hopes that the return of the Siguaney plant to regular operations will help to ease a shortage of cement in Sancti Spíritus and neighbouring Ciego de Ávila.
Breedon Group issues 10-month trading update
25 November 2022UK: Breedon Group says that it recorded 10-month sales of Euro1.38bn so far in 2022, up by 14% year-on-year from the same period in 2021. The producer completed scheduled maintenance on Kiln 2 of its Hope cement plant in the UK on time and on budget. Throughout the period, it noted 'supportive' trading conditions, with 'resilience' from the majority of its markets in its Great Britain and Ireland regions. In the year's second half to date, Breedon Group's four-month sales grew by 16% year-on-year. The group said that it is on track for record full-year earnings in 2022.
CEO Rob Wood said “Visibility in the trading landscape has been poor for some years now, for a variety of reasons. Against this constantly changing backdrop, our team’s commitment and resolve have delivered quality products and great service to our customers, regardless of the economic or political landscape. For this, we thank them. Their focus and determination in turn continues to deliver for all our stakeholders.” Wood continued “This time last year, we reminded our investors of the agile and entrepreneurial DNA that sets Breedon apart. Our rapid response to changing market conditions, local focus, vertically-integrated business model and disciplined financial framework will again enable us to deliver record results in 2022."
Cahya Mata Sarawak reassures customers amid cement shortage
31 October 2022Malaysia: Cahya Mata Sarawak has informed its customers that its cement despatches will be 'back to normal' by 6 November 2022. The producer's closure of its 1Mt/yr Kuching cement plant for maintenance, followed by unexpected raw materials supply issues, has caused a shortage of cement in western Sarawak State. Bernama Daily Malaysian News has reported that a 14-day delay to raw materials deliveries to the Kuching plant ensued due to heavy rains.
The producer said “We would like to apologise for the shortage of cement, and will strive to ensure a steady supply of cement to all of our customers.”
Cahya Mata Sarawak has successfully maintained regular supply of cement to other areas of Sarawak, including Bintulu, Miri and Sibu, through despatches of cement from its Bintulu grinding plant.
Pakistan: Pakistani cement companies sold 9.61Mt of cement during the first quarter of the 2022 financial year, down by 25% year-on-year from 12.8Mt in the first quarter of the 2021 financial year. Exports declined by 34% to 1.01Mt of cement, from 1.55Mt. The All Pakistan Cement Manufacturers Association (APCMA) said that current economic conditions impacted both domestic and export sales.
Separately, the APCMA has expressed its concern over State Bank of Pakistan limits on the use of letters of credit by companies for the purchase of spare parts and other machinery. The association says that present restrictive conditions will create operational difficulties for the industry.
Titan Cement launches CemAI subsidiary
14 September 2022Greece: Titan Cement has launched CemAI, a subsidiary company that will supply predictive maintenance products based on artificial intelligence for the cement industry. It will use a mixture of a proprietary licensed software and a continuous monitoring and incident resolution service for entire cement manufacturing lines across the world.
Titan Cement has already used the service that CemAI supplies at several of its own plants around the world. It is intended to help cement companies maximise the operational efficiency and reliability of their plants while making their processes more efficient and cost effective. It uses machine learning technology that processes the operating data of entire cement plants in real time. This generates alerts that are analysed by a team of experts in cement operations, working in close collaboration with plant’s operational teams, to resolve issues before they affect operations. CemAI works through remote monitoring centres that collect and analyse the data stream from plant sensors continuously
Building Material Industries Company appoints ASEC for Asyut cement plant operations and maintenance management
16 August 2022Egypt: Arab Swiss Engineering Company (ASEC) has won a contract to manage operations and maintenance at Building Material Industries Company (BMIC)’s Asyut cement plant in Asyut Governorate. ASEC previously held responsibility for the plant’s technical management between 2011 and 2019.
The supplier says that both parties look forward to this new phase in their cooperation to maximise the success of the plant’s operations.
Germany: Christian Pfeiffer has launched its new FlexCore hardened rolled steel plates for ball mill diaphragms. With a hardness of 60HRC, the plates are wear and breakage resistant, enabling maintenance to be planned to the day, according to the supplier.