Displaying items by tag: Plant

Egypt: Tourah Cement says it has stopped production due to a financial crisis caused by oversupply in the local market. Jose Maria Magrina, the managing director of Tourah Cement, told employees in mid-June 2019 that production would be stopped temporarily as it couldn’t cover its costs, according to Mist News. Estimated national cement consumption is 50Mt/yr but total production capcaity is 85Mt/yr.

In a statement the subsidiary of Germany’s HeidelbergCement said that new plants had forced producers to lower prices below the cost of production. It has also blamed higher fuel prices due to a cut in government subsidies.

Paraguay: Cartes Group has been fined US$79,500 for cutting down trees near San Lazaro, Concepción where it is planning to build a new cement plant. It will also have to pay US$1.8m towards gaining environmental certificates for the project, according to the ABC Color newspaper. Cartes Group purchased Calera Risso, the company planning to build the new unit, in late 2018.

Environmental studies at the site have also noted caves that should be protected including the Risso Cavern, where a fossil of a giant sloth was found in 2012. The Paraguayan Federation of Speleology has asked the the Ministry of Environmetnal and Sustainablity (MADES) to safeguard the site that also holds microfossils dating back 550m years.

The Cementos Concepción plant project was announced in early 2019. It intends to build a 1Mt/yr cement plant by 2021 with an investment of US$180m.

Bolivia: The Bolivian parliament has approved draft legislation prioritising the use of locally produced cement by local government and state-owned companies for infrastructure projects and road construction. The law will support the opening of two new cement plants at Potosí and Oruro in late 2019, according to El Potosi. The new rules further extend a decree announced in March 2019.

Russia/Ukraine: Dyckerhoff cement plants in Russia and Ukraine have gained OHSAS 18001 or ISO 45001 certification in occupational safety. The OHSAS 18001 and ISO 45001 standards provide for a safe and healthy workplace environment and set forth guidelines for continually identifying and controlling health and safety risks, reducing accidents and improving overall performance.

Brazil: CSN Cimentos is planning to spend around US$390m on building a new 3Mt/yr cement plant in Paraná. Eduardo Bekin, president of the Paraná State Development Agency, said that the company already had the authorisation to conduct economic viability studies and should confirm the plant by late August 2019, according to the Valor Econômico newspaper. CSN is also considering building the plant in Sergipe state, where it operates a limestone mine. The final decision will depend on the best tax environment for the cement producer.

France: Cem'In'Eu plans to raise Euro55m by the end of 2019 to support building new cement grinding plants in Europe. It opened its first 0.25Mt/yr grinding plant at Tonneins, Lot et Garonne in 2018, according to Les Echos newspaper. Construction of a new plant at Portes-lès-Valence, Drôme is scheduled to start in mid-2019. Construction of a larger 0.5Mt/yr plant at Montreuil-Bellay, Maine-et-Loire is anticipated to start in September 2019 for a commissioning date of February 2021. This project will cost Euro35m. Other projects are planned for Chalon-sur-Saône, Saône et Loire and Ottmarsheim.

International projects include a plant at Ottmarsheim, Haut-Rhin in Switzerland and Thamesport in the UK. The former is expected to gather all the necessary permits by September 2019 with construction to follow by the end of the year. An additional project is being planned at the port of Gdynia in Poland.

India: Larsen & Toubro (L&T) has been awarded an order to build a cement plant in Kurnool, Andhra Pradesh. The end client was not named but UltraTech Cement said in mid-June 2019 that it had received approval from the environment ministry to build a 6Mt/yr integrated cement plant in the same location. The plant will have a 60MW captive power plant and a 15MW waste heat recovery-based power unit. No value for the order has been disclosed.

Bolivia: Empresa Publica Productiva Cementos de Bolivia’s (ECEBOL) at Caracollo in Oruro will start commercial operation in August 2019. The US$306m plant will have a production capacity of 1.3Mt/yr, according to Radio FM Bolivia. A consortium of Sacyr, Imasa and Polysius have worked on the project.

Argentina: Loma Negra says it has started to close its Barker cement plant because it has been unable to reach an agreement with the union over staff redundancies. The company alleges that the union would not accept its plans to convert the unit into a grinding and bagging plant, according to El Cronista newspaper. The plant will now move to a single shift of operation with 24 employees whilst plans for its final closure are implemented.

US: A fire broke out in the preheater tower at Buzzi Unicem’s Stockertown cement plant in Pennsylvania on 7 June 2019. No staff injuries were reported at the plant, although a fireman required medical treatment, according to the Express-Times newspaper. Fire crews were on the site for around two hours.