Displaying items by tag: Pakistan

Germany/Pakistan: Germany’s Loesche says it has sold over 400 vertical roller mills for cement and ground granulated blast furnace slag, following a sale to Kohat Cement. Two LM 53.3+3 CS type mills has been sold to the Pakistani cement producer. The plant will produce 210t/hr of Ordinary Portland Cement at a fineness of 9% R 45 μm. No value for the deal has been disclosed.

The first Loesche LM type mill was put into operation at Fos sur Mer in France in 1994. Sales of the mill type for cement and slag markets have accelerated since 2006. The engineering company sold 50 LM mills in the 10 years to 2004. It then sold another 50 mills to 2006. However, from 2006 to 2014 it sold 200 mills. It then sold a further 100 mills after 2014.

Pakistan: Business activity slowed during the month of Ramadan in Pakistan, with cement demand also affected. In May 2018, domestic cement sales were the slowest seen in the current fiscal year, which runs until the end of June 2018, yet they still rose by 2.4%. When exports, which rose by 41.8%, are also included, the year-on-year change rises to 5.7%.

The All Pakistan Cement Manufacturers’ Association (APCMA) reported that 3.92Mt of cement was sold in May 2018 compared to 3.71Mt in May 2017. Sales in the country's northern region stood at 2.81Mt, compared to 2.8Mt in May 2017. In the south, sales came to 0.67Mt in May 2017, as opposed to 0.59Mt in May 2017. Exports from the northern region were 0.224Mt in May 2018 compared to 0.219Mt in May 2017. From the southern region, exports totalled 0.215Mt compared to just 0.09Mt in May 2017.

Total cement sales in the first 11 months of the 2018 Fiscal Year hit a record high, with 42.92Mt sold, a 14.2% rise year-on-year compared to 37.6Mt in the first 11 months of the 2017 Fiscal Year. The APCMA reported that the national capacity utilisation rate over the 11 months period was 94.7%, beating the previous 93.6% record from 1992-1993.

An APCMA spokesperson said the association anticipated that domestic cement consumption would once again rise after Ramadan, while a continued increase in exports was a welcome sign for the industry. However, he said the major factor behind the rise in exports had been the decline in the value of the Pakistani Rupee against the US Dollar, which greatly improved the competitiveness of cement manufacturers in global markets.

Pakistan: Germany’s Loesche has sold four vertical roller mills (VRM) to Bestway Cement through China’s Sinoma International Engineering. The mills will be used to upgrade Bestway Cement’s Farooqia plant in the Punjab province. No expected date of commissioning or value for the order has been disclosed.

The order consists of one raw mill, one coal mill and two clinker mills. One four-roller mill VRM with a capacity of 450t/hr will be used to grind cement raw material to a fineness of 12% with sieving residue of R 90μm. Two further mills with a throughput of 170t/hr will serve for the subsequent grinding of cement clinker to a fineness of 3200 Blaine. One large modular VRM with a capacity of 40t/hr will be used in the grinding of coal to a fineness of 10% and R 90μm sieving residue.

Pakistan: DG Khan has completed the installation of its new cement grinding plant at Hub in Baluchistan. A new vertical cement grinding mill with a COPE drive has started trial operations together with cement siloes and a packing plant. Commissioning has also taken place of raw material crushing, transportation and storage units. Loesche, who supplied the mills for the project, said in 2017 that a 1050t/hr raw mill was the biggest raw material mill in the world.

Pakistan: Gharibwal Cement has started commercial operation of a 250t/hr vertical cement mill for grinding cement. It says it is the single largest cement grinding mill in the country. The cement producer operates a 2.1Mt/yr integrated plant at Ismailwal in Chakwal.

Pakistan: Dewan Cement has rejected a takeover bid by Mega Conglomerate to buy a 87.5% stake in it. Chairman Dewan Mohammad Yousuf Farooqui turned down the offer following a valuation of the company, according to the Pakistan Today newspaper. The valuation reported that the value of the cement producer was below the initial offer made by Mega Conglomerate due to low capacity utilisation rates at Dewan’s plants and the need for investment at the sites. Dewan Cement has claimed that negotiations are still on going.

Pakistan: The Peshawar High Court has stopped construction of a cement plant by Fecto Cement at Palai in Malakand. Opponents of the project cited environmental and health concerns, according to the News International newspaper. Fecto Cement announced plans for its new 6000t/day plant in February 2018.

Pakistan: Cement producers have proposed finding an alternative water source in a case about the Katas Raj Temples being adjudicated by the Supreme Court. They have also agreed to pay the Punjab government for any water they use until then, according to the Statesman newspaper. The court was investigating allegations that the pond at the Hindu heritage site was drying out due to water consumption by nearby cement plants.

Bestway Cement and DG Khan Cement proposed that they would submit up to US$17m and US$4m respectively as security deposits until they find alternative water sources. They have also proposed building a small dam in the area, the outflow of which will be maintained in a way that the pond at Katas Raj is not adversely affected. Local cement plants of the two companies are currently using water from nearby river and underground sources.

Pakistan: The Supreme Court has asked cement producers using water near the Katas Raj Temples in Punjab to submit recommendations for a policy on how they should pay for the resource. The court noted that the companies have used water worth ‘billions of rupees’ without any payment, according to the Pakistan Observer newspaper. Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar criticised a local government official, “for giving away everything for free.” The court has been investigating media reports that the pond at the Hindu heritage site was drying out due to water consumption by nearby cement plants.

Pakistan: GE Power has won a contract to design, manufacture and deliver a 132/6.3kV air-insulated switchgear (AIS) grid station to support a new production line being built at Power Cement’s plant in Nooriabad. The project is expected to be completed in early 2019. It will supply the cement plant with a reliable electricity supply from the Hyderabad Electric Supply Company.