Displaying items by tag: Plant
New appointments at McInnis Cement
18 February 2015Canada: Alexandre Rail has been appointed as plant manager of McInnis Cement's Port-Daniel-Gascons plant in Gaspé. Rail brings with him 15 years of experience in heavy industry. He joins the company from ArcelorMittal, where he served as a Steel plant manager for seven years.
"We are pleased with our recruitment of an experienced manager in the heavy industry who shares our values in the areas of health and safety, environment and quality. Rail has proven abilities to mobilise employees," said Christian Gagnon, CEO of McInnis Cement. "Rail's family comes from Gaspé, so he is undoubtedly happy to relocate to that region and eager to contribute its local economic development."
McInnis Cement has also named Mark T Newhart as vice president of Logistics and Distribution and as a member of the company's management team. He will develop an efficient distribution network, with responsibility for transport management and marine terminals. Newhart will report to Jim Braselton, senior vice president of Commerical and Logistics.
"With his 30 years of experience in logistics, which includes 20 years in the cement industry, the addition of Mark to our management team is a major milestone," said Gagnon. "Since our business model is based on marine transportation of our products, Newhart's expertise in transportation and marine terminal management will be beneficial for our organisation."
With Newhart's appointment, McInnis Cement's management team is now complete. It comprises: Christian Gagnon as CEO; André Racine as senior vice president of Corporate Development and Legal Affairs; Jim Braselton as senior vice president of Commercial and Logistics; Gaétan Vézina as senior vice president of Operations; Claude Ferland as CFO; Mark T Newhart as vice president of Logistics and Distribution; Marc Lachapelle as senior director of Human Resources; Maryse Tremblay as director of Communications and Corporate Social Responsibility. McInnis Cement has also announced the relocation of its corporate office in downtown Montreal.
Vietnamese government agrees extra cement production capacity
18 February 2015Vietnam: The Government of Vietnam has approved the Ministry of Construction's proposal to increase the capacity of two cement plants in Ha Nam and Nghe An Provinces.
The Thanh Liem Cement plant in Ha Nam Province's Bong Lang Commune will be upgraded with an additional 2.3Mt/yr capacity production line, which is expected to open in 2018. Currently, the plant has just one production line with 450,000t/yr of cement production capacity. Nguyen Quang Bay, director of the Thanh Liem Cement plant, said that it was necessary to increase the capacity of the plant in order to fully exploit the limestone resources in the province.
The Song Lam Cement plant, which is currently under construction in Nghe An Province's Bai Son Commune, will now have 4Mt/yr of cement production capacity when complete. Construction on the plant began in February 2015 with investment capital of US$494m. Three production lines will be built by 2020. The first two are scheduled to be put into operation in 2017.
Prime minister Nguyen Tan Dung asked the Construction Ministry to re-examine cement plant projects in the 2011 - 2020 period and forecast market demand, then report it to the Government later in 2015. Cement consumption reached 5.87Mt in January 2015, an increase of 30% compared to January 2014, according to the Construction Ministry's Building Material Department. Domestic cement production currently meets demand, according to the department.
The Vietnam Cement Association predicts that cement exports in 2015 could earn as much as US$1bn via the export of 20 - 21Mt of cement and clinker, a 15% increase in value year-on-year.
Huaxin Cement to build two new cement plants in Tajikistan
16 February 2015Tajikistan: Tajikistan's parliament has formed an agreement with China's Huaxin Cement for the construction of two new cement plants, including a 1Mt/yr plant in Bobojon Ghafurov District and a 1.2Mt/yr plant in the Dangara Free Economic Zone. According to local media, Tajikistan will possess a 30% stake in the Bobojon Ghafurov plant and a 45% stake in the Dangara plant.
Tajikistan's Ministry of Industry and New Technologies said in January 2015 that that six new cement plants would be established within the next two years. By increasing the country's cement sector, which currently comprises ten plants, Tajikistan expects to become a net cement exporter.
Prism Cement plans 3Mt/yr clinker plant
13 February 2015India: Prism Cement is planning a 4.4Mt/yr limestone mining project, which will include a 3Mt/yr capacity clinker plant and a 48MW coal-fired power plant, at the village of Kotapadu and Kalvatala in Kurnool District, Andhra Pradesh. About 6.63km2 has been acquired and the project awaits approval.
HeidelbergCement India dips on weak third quarter
09 February 2015India: HeidelbergCement India has reported a net loss of US$1.59m in the third quarter of its 2014 - 2015 financial year, which ended on 31 December 2014. This compares to a net loss of US$1.07m in the same period of 2013. Its total income rose by 16.6% year-on-year to US$67.8m in the October - December 2014 quarter. Heidelberg Cement India said that pursuant to the sale of the Raigad plant in Maharashtra, which came into effect on 3 January 2014, the result for the quarter is not comparable with the same period of 2013.
Twiga Cement shut over dust pollution
09 February 2015Tanzania: The National Environment Management Council (NEMC) has indefinitely closed down Tanzania Portland Cement Company (TPCC, Twiga) over environmental pollution.
NEMC senior legal officer Heche Suguta said that the plant was also required to pay US$26,944 in penalties. He said that the NEMC had established that the plant was discharging a huge amount of dust, which was bad for the environment and the people surrounding the plant. "We have several times asked the plant management to work out this shortcoming, but they have not taken any steps to mitigate the problem," said Suguta.
Twiga manufactures almost half of the cement produced by the three major plants in the county and its closure is likely to spark the fear of a sharp rise in cement prices. According to 2013 statistics, Twiga produces 1.4Mt/yr of cement out of the 3Mt/yr the country can produce. The remaining 1.6Mt/yr is shared among Mbeya Cement Company and Tanga Cement Company.
Suguta said that, previously, Twiga had four chimneys to emit pollutants, but three broke down and the plant was using only one out-dated chimney, which was overwhelmed. "The plant will be allowed to resume operations only after sorting out the problem by controlling dust," said Suguta. He said that the NEMC had been receiving complaints from residents surrounding the area that the dust from the plant was causing headaches and respiratory problems. "If they disobey this order, we will arrest their managing director and other stern legal action would follow."
Twiga's managing director and area manager for East Africa, Alfonso Rodriguez, said that the dust was coming from an old plant after the filter of the new plant got a technical fault. He said that they had ordered a new filter, which might take a month to arrive in the country.
Vietnam: Hoang Phat Vissai Group began work on the Song Lam cement plant with an investment of US$488m in Vietnam's central province of Nghe on 4 February 2015.
Located in Bai Son commune and being transformed from the current Do Luong cement plant, the new 5.6Mt/yr clinker plant will be developed in two phases and will be ready for operation within 18 months, according to company chairman Nguyen Ngoc Oanh. The first phase will last until 2017, with two production lines with a combined capacity of 12,000t/day of clinker installed. The second phase, adding 6000t/day of clinker, will be developed in 2017 - 2020.
Vietnam has 74 cement production lines with a combined output estimated at 81Mt/yr, while sales of cement and clinker are projected to be 73Mt for 2015, according to the data from the Ministry of Construction. Of the sales, 52 – 53Mt are expected to be sold to the domestic market, while 19 – 20Mt will be exported.
Dangote starts preparations to set up cement plant in Nepal
05 February 2015Nepal: A team of technical experts from Nigeria's Dangote Group recently visited potential sites in Makawanpur and Dhading Districts to study the feasibility of opening a cement plant there.
The team, composed of civil engineers, geologists and mine experts, visited different sites in the district, according to K R Rao, team leader of director of Dangote Group's Cement Production Division. According to Rao, the team has sent limestone samples collected from the sites for laboratory tests. He said that Dangote would choose the project site and start land acquisition process within two months.
Dangote plans to open a 6000t/day capacity cement plant in Nepal, which would be the 15th country for Dangote's cement plant operations. The government has already approved the proposal to invest US$550m to establish a cement plant. For the purpose, the group has registered 'Dangote Cement Nepal Private Limited' at the Office of Company Registrar.
"We will start cement production by June 2017. Our product will be of high quality as we will put in place a high-tech quality control mechanism. Similarly, we are adopting vertical roller mill technology, which is a modern and efficient technology," said Rao. He added that Dangote has seen cement market in Nepal growing. "We expect the market to grow to 6Mt/yr by 2020." Nepal currently consumes 3.5Mt/yr of cement and imports 1.5Mt/yr. However, with big plants coming up, experts say that the country will soon be able to start cement to neighbouring countries. "We are eying the markets in Bihar and Utter Pradesh in India," said Rao.
As the government has prioritised infrastructure development, mega projects like hydropower plants, road, airport and irrigation projects are being implemented in different parts of Nepal. These projects are likely to propel demand for cement and other construction materials in the near future.
Dangote Group's technical officials have not yet decided on an alternative power supply for the proposed plant. "Though our initial plan was to invest in hydropower project, we have aborted it as it takes lot of time to develop. We are thinking of investing in coal or diesel-fed power plants to arrange a stable power supply," said Rao. The proposed plant needs a 35MW supply of uninterrupted power.
Amaka Cement Industries plant on the cards
05 February 2015Zambia: Scirocco Enterprises Limited has entered into an agreement with a consortium to construct a state-of-the-art cement plant in Lusaka's Makeni area at cost of US$200m. Scirocco Enterprise managing director Moustafa Saadi said that the cement plant would have the capacity to produce 2500t/day of cement. He added that the company, Amaka Cement Industries Limited, had been incorporated in Zambia.
Saadi said that Scirocco has entered into an agreement with a Chinese firm and an international funder to carry out the project. "The agreement has been signed and feasibility study is being undertaken to establish the viability of the project. As soon as the exploration work that needs to be carried out is finalised, an environmental impact assessment will be carried out to comply with the prevailing laws," said Saadi. "We expect that the process can be concluded quickly without any undue delays. We are looking forward to the support of our community and various government institutions to facilitate the process in order to begin the physical work."
According to Saadi, the plant will be modern and efficient and will exceed all the environmental regulations in Zambia and have a positive impact on the economy of the area and the nation as a whole. He said that construction of the plant is earmarked to start in September 2015 and it is expected to be completed by 2017. Amaka Cement Industries would produce two grades of cement for the local and international markets. 500 people will be engaged during the construction period and 200 people will be employed on a full time basis once production starts.
India: Ramco Cements Ltd expects to commission the US$76.9m grinding unit in Vizag, Andhra Pradesh in April 2015. The company said that, while it has witnessed increased in cement sales in Kerala and West Bengal, in other states where it has operations the demand for cement has become sluggish.
In its unaudited standalone results for the three months that ended 31 December 2014, Ramco Cements showed a decline in income from operations to US$132m as against US$141m in the corresponding quarter of 2013. Net profit for the quarter fell to US$3.72m from US$4.14min the same quarter of 2013.
In the first nine months of the current fiscal year, Ramco Cements sold 5.66Mt of cement in the domestic market, compared to 6.2Mt in the corresponding nine months in the previous year. Exports amounted to 129,000t, taking the total sales to 5.79Mt in the first nine months of the 2015 financial year.
Ramco Cements said that cement production was 8% lower and sales fell by 9% in the first nine months of the 2015 financial year compared to the corresponding period in the previous year. Sales declined in Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telengana and Odisha.