Displaying items by tag: Plant
Huaxin Cement to launch 5Mt/yr cement plant in Kazakhstan
12 October 2015Kazakhstan: Huaxin Cement plans to a 5Mt/yr capacity cement plant in Kazakhstan. The plant would use a dry-process cement line and will start construction by the end of 2015. The project will cost around US$111m.
DG Khan Cement to set up new plant at Hub
12 October 2015Pakistan: DG Khan Cement plans to set up a new cement plant at Hub to meet growing demand of cement in the country, particularly in Karachi.
DG Cement Director of Marketing Fareed Fazal said that the new plant produce 10,000t/day of clinker. Fareed said that the company's cement was being exported regularly to Northern Africa and Sri Lanka, among others. In addition, Fazal said that recently France had expressed willingness to import bagged cement from DG Khan Cement and that efforts were afoot to meet the production requirement. The French importers, however, have requested 35kg bags instead of the standard 50kg.
Votorantim Cimentos expands its cement plant in Turkey
08 October 2015Brazil/Turkey: Votorantim Cimentos has announced investment plans of up to US$158m to expand its business in Turkey. As well as tripling the output of its cement plant in Sivas, Votorantim may set up or acquire a new plant to tap the growth potential of Turkey's construction sector, according to company officials.
"The investment in our Sivas plant will boost production capacity to 1.8Mt/yr, up from its current level of 600,000t/yr. Following the upgrade, the Sivas plant will account for 42% of Votorantim's cement production capacity in Turkey," said Sefik Tuzun, Votorantim Turkey's CEO. "Votorantim sees the potential of Turkey's construction sector and this investment shows our commitment to reinforcing our presence in Turkey. Sivas' expansion will bring a crucial dynamism and competitiveness to the company in the Turkish cement market."
The capacity upgrade will be completed by April 2017. The construction works for the extension will create employment for 700 people. Votorantim Turkey is active in cement production as well as concrete and aggregate businesses in the country, accounting for a share of about 29% of Votorantim Cimentos' total production capacity, excluding China.
Reliance Infrastructure to sell cement business to cut debt
08 October 2015India: Reliance Infrastructure plans to sell its cement business as part of plans to cut debt through the sale of non-core assets.
As many as 10 global companies have been sounded for a 100% stake of Reliance Cement, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Reliance Infrastructure. These include CRH, Cemex, HeidelbergCement, GE, Blackstone, Carlyle and KKR. Local companies JK Cement and Prism Cement may also be interested. Reliance Group has appointed Morgan Stanley as banker to scout for buyers for Reliance Cement.
The sale of the cement business is aimed at reducing debt by selling non-core assets. Reliance Infra's debt stood at around US$3.86bn on 31 March 2015. Reliance believes that the sale will help reduce its debt by 20 – 25%. It is looking at a valuation of US$769 – 922m for Reliance Cement, which has a cement production capacity of 5.6Mt/yr.
Reliance Cement started operations in 2007 and has plants in Maihar in Madhya Pradesh (2.8Mt/yr), Kundanganj in Uttar Pradesh (2.2Mt/yr) and Butibori in Maharashtra (500,000t/yr). It is also developing a 5Mt/yr greenfield plant at Wani in Maharashtra.
Belzarubezhstroy launches cement-bonded particleboard plant
06 October 2015Belarus: The Belarusian civil engineering company ZAO Belzarubezhstroy has opened a cement-bonded particleboard plant in Krichev, Mogilev on 5 October 2015. Austria's VST Building Technologies was a partner of Belzarubezhstroy and an investor in the project.
The new plant uses the premises of the former Krichev meatpacking factory and is located 7km from the Krichev cement mill, where its cement is sourced. Imported equipment was installed. The plant will make cement-bonded particleboards using the process flows developed by VST Building Technologies. The new technology boasts high speed and quality of construction processes, energy-effectiveness and wide geographical deployment.
The Belarusian Architecture and Construction minister Anatoly Cherny stressed that the opening of the plant represents a truly ground-breaking event for the civil engineering industry of the oblast and the country. "With cement-bonded particleboards of our own, we will be able to greatly reduce the cost of residential housing construction. We will be able to build more homes and export more construction materials," said Cherny.
The plant's construction was prompted by the rapid pace of housing and industrial construction in Belarus, as well as the need to find new ways to modernise the civil engineering industry and reduce costs. Belarus has had to import cement-bonded particleboard to make the panels until now. In addition to serving the local market, over 25% of the cement-bonded particleboard produced will be exported to the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) and the European Union (EU). The plant's proximity to the Belarusian-Russian border and the two rail lines going in the eastern direction will minimise the costs of exports to Russia.
Belzarubezhstroy director general Vitaly Bondarik said that the project was a historical one for the company. "We hope that the site will become kind of a springboard for advancing joint operations and implementing new construction projects in Belarus and abroad together with our partner, VST Building Technologies AG. We expect a successful future and intend to implement a number of joint projects in Venezuela, Saudi Arabia, Ecuador, Algeria and other countries. The enterprise should become a successful example of a new construction formation in Belarus," said Bondarik.
Belzarubezhstroy used its own resources and foreign investments to build the plant. It will create 200 jobs to reach the designed output capacity of 60,000m3/yr. In the future, the output capacity may be increased up to 100,000m3/yr.
The new plant is the first step of the programme sketched out by the Belarusian and Austrian partners.
Limak Holding starts work on cement plant in Mozambique
06 October 2015Mozambique: Limak Holding has started the construction of its 2Mt/yr cement plant in Maputo. The plant is scheduled to come into operation in the first quarter of 2016.
Serdar Bacaksız, a Limak Holding board member, said that the company has been closely monitoring the African market for a long time and might increase its investment by up to US$150m if needed. Underlining that Mozambique falls short of satisfying the rapidly-increasing demand for cement, Bacaksız said that the country offers major incentives to foreign investors, as it needs new investments in all fields.
Limak Holding is also set to lay the foundations of a cement plant on the Ivory Coast in November 2015 with an investment of US$55m. "We plan to open it in 2016," said Bacaksız, adding that the company will continue to seize different opportunities in the region. Limak Holding aims to achieve a turnover of US$3bn by the end of 2015.
Semen Indonesia to press on despite water concerns
29 September 2015Indonesia: Semen Indonesia has decided to continue to develop its new factory in Rembang, Central Java following protests by some local residents. Semen Indonesia's CEO Suparni said that the construction is currently 60% complete, with production expected by October 2016.
Suparni admitted that the development of the factory has been opposed by some of the local residents. Residents of North Kendeng, experts and academics have criticized the development of the factory. Untung Sudadi, a geologist from the Bogor Institute of Agriculture said that the North Kendeng area, where part of the factory will be built, is a karst area, which collects water for local residents and can be susceptible to sinkhole formation and instability.
Similar to an underground basin, karst areas function as water catchment areas. "Karst is essential to maintain water supply," said Untung. He added that conducting mining activities in karst areas would cause environmental damage.
Suparni said that the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) for the cement factory has been completed. He also said that the presence of the factory would not disturb water supplies to the local society.
Construction work of Cemtech’s US$114m cement plant to start in 2016
24 September 2015Kenya: Construction work for the long-awaited US$114m, 1.2Mt/yr cement plant project in Sebit, West Pokot will kick off early in 2016, company officials have confirmed.
Cemtech, a subsidiary of India's Sanghi Group, will begin construction work after approval by engineers who had earlier raised queries over its location, among other issues. Residents, some of whom expected to benefit either directly or indirectly from the plant construction, had waited a long time for commencement of the facility, which is long overdue.
Cemtech general manager Diptish Nandha has confirmed that all pending issues have now been resolved. Nadha said that experts had been assessing the quantity and quality of limestone and solving ground geometric technicalities that had delayed the setting up of the plant. "We have now solved the two major challenges on quality of limestone and ground geometric technicalities that delayed the start of construction," said Nadha. He disclosed that upon completion, residents nearby the plant would benefit from power supply from the company.
The cement plant was expected to start up about five years ago, but a number of challenges delayed construction. At one point, region leaders, including the governor and senator John Lonyangapuo, threatened that they would revoke operation license in favour of another investor who would show 'seriousness.'
Nandha said that the suppliers of the plant machinery are redesigning the machines to ease transportation. He revealed that the machines are expected to be on the location at Sebit by January 2016, after which construction works will begin. "The machines are very heavy and cannot be transported easily from Mombasa. That is why we have redesigned dissembled parts so that they can be easily transported from the port of Mombasa," said Nandha.
Tajikistan plans to become net cement exporter
24 September 2015Tajikistan: Tajikistan is increasing its cement capacity in order to resume exports by 2020, Tajikistan's Ministry of Economic Development and Trade has reported.
Currently, there are six new cement plants operating in various capacities under construction, which will allow Tajikistan to cover its domestic needs, as well as to resume exports. The plants are being financed by domestic and foreign funding. Several medium and large capacity cement plants, including projects in Sughd and Khatlon, are being built thanks to Chinese investments.
The construction of the Tajikistan-China joint venture cement plant, Tajchina has already begun and is expected to start operation in 2015. Other cement plants are planned for construction in the Dangara, Bobokon, Gafurov, and Isfara districts, as well as in Istiklol city. Currently, the country's largest cement plant is Huaxin Gayur Cement, a joint venture between a subsidiary of China's Huaxin Cement and Gaur Limited Liability Company.
Tajikistan's Ministry of Industry and New Technologies said in January 2015 that six new cement plants would be established within the next two years. By improving the country's cement sector, which currently is comprised of 10 plants, Tajikistan expects to become a net cement exporter. Earlier, Tajikistan imported cement in large quantities from Pakistan, Iran and China.
Indian government to cancel India Cements plant
24 September 2015India: The government has decided to cancel the allotment of a cement plant given to India Cements in Gumma, Shimla, Himachal Pradesh.
The decision was taken after India Cements expressed its unwillingness to start works, according to local media. "It has been decided to cancel the allotment as the company is no longer keen to set up the plant and they have failed to show any progress in the years since the allotment was made," said Mukesh Agnihotri, industry minister. He added that the government cabinet would need to confirm the allotment cancellation.
Agnihotri said that the government plans to invite global bids for the proposed cement plant in Chamba have been put on hold as Jaiprakash Associates, which had earlier been given the project, has moved to court. The project in Chamba was allotted to Jaiprakash Associates in 2006 and a memorandum of understanding was signed in February 2007 to establish a 2Mt/yr capacity cement plant.
The industry department issued notices to three cement plants in addition to Jaiprakash Associates as to why their plants should not be cancelled, as they had failed to set up facilities that had been approved several years ago. The three cement plants included units by Lafarge in Alsindi, India Cement in Gumma and Harish Cement in Sundernagar. After finding the replies unsatisfactory, the government cancelled the cement plants allotted to Jaiprakash Associates and India Cements. Some of the companies have already invested a lot of money, but could not start operation due to various factors, including clearances from different agencies like the Ministry of Forest and Environment. In some cases, locals have moved to court against the projects, citing loss of agricultural land and an adverse impact on the health of people.