Displaying items by tag: Plant
ACC to upgrade and consolidate
04 April 2012India: Associated Cement Companies Ltd (ACC) is reportedly planning to boost its capacity by 16% to 35Mt/yr from existing 30Mt/yr at present. The expansion will entail an investment of around US$650m, which would be funded entirely from internal accruals.
To achieve this, ACC plans to set up a 4Mt/yr cement unit and a 2.79Mt/yr clinker unit at Jamul in Chattisgarh. The company will also stop its existing production line at Jamul. Grinding units are also planned at Sindri in Jharkhand and Kharagpur in West Bengal. The company also proposes to develop four coal blocks in Madhya Pradesh and one in West Bengal for its raw material requirements.
Gorazdze to be number one in Europe
04 April 2012Poland: Gorazdze Cement is set to become the largest cement production site in Europe thanks to the installation of a new mill. The new investment will see the company's production capacity grow by 25% to 5.5Mt/yr. Company president Andrzej Balcerek said that within three or four years cement demand in Poland will exceed 20Mt/yr.
Devnya starts work on Euro160m upgrade
04 April 2012Bulgaria: Devnya Cement has announced that it has officially launched the construction phase of a Euro160m project to upgrade its production facilities. The company has signed up Chinese turnkey cement plant builder CBMI, a subsidiary of Sinoma International Engineering, as a general contractor for a new 1.5Mt/yr cement production line, which is set to begin operation in early 2015.
The upgrade represents a significant step up for the company, a subsidiary of Italy's Italcementi, which currently has a capacity of just 2Mt/yr.
Indocement to hit 30Mt/yr by 2017
28 March 2012Indonesia: Indonesia's second-largest cement producer, PT Indocement ,has announced that its recent expansion drive will increase production to up to 30Mt/yr by 2017, up by almost 50% from the 2012 target of 20.6Mt/yr.
One of these projects is the construction of a cement mill in Citeureup, West Java, with an expected production capacity of 1.9Mt/yr. The mill is scheduled for completion in 2013.
Besides the new cement mill, the company is in the final planning stage of constructing a cement factory with a capacity of 4.4Mt/yr at an existing location (brownfield), also in Citeureup. Additionally the company is conducting final studies for the construction of two new cement factories (greenfield) in Central Java and outside Java, each of which will have capacities of up to 2.5Mt/yr.
Finance director Tju Lie Sukanto said the company would fund the expansion projects partly with US$757m of internal cash. He added that this year's market conditions, such as the continuing strong residential-market trends, thanks to an expanding middle class, would further facilitate the company in reaching its growth targets.
Dangote signs up for US$35m plant in Liberia
21 March 2012Liberia: Dangote Cement Liberia, a subsidiary of the Nigerian conglomerate Dangote, has officially signed up for a US$35m cement plant in Liberia.
Speaking during the signing ceremony held in Monrovia at the head office of the National Port Authority (NPA) on Bushrod Island, the president of Dangote, Alhija Aliko Dangote, disclosed that his company will employ hundreds of Liberians and other nationals. Operation is expected to commence by the end of April 2012. Signing on behalf of the Liberian Government, the Managing Director of the NPA, Madam Matilda Wokie Parker lauded the initiatives being applied by the company to invest the economy.
The opening of a new cement factory in Liberia will bring the total number of cement plants to two. The existing plant, the Liberia Cement Corporation (Cemenco), currently employs 63 workers.
Dangote build stalls in Cameroon
16 March 2012Cameroon: Construction of a US$109m Dangote cement plant in Duoala has been halted following an order from the Douala City Council (DCC), raising fears that the 18-month timeline for the construction of the plant may not be met.
DCC delegate Fritz Ntone Ntone halted work on the site following complaints from Ngondo cultural officials. He explained that part of the site allocated for the plant belongs to the DCC and will be used for the construction of an urban park. He added that much of the site is traditionally used as land for the Ngondo cultural celebrations. During the Ngondo General Assembly on 10 March 2012 Sawa Chiefs resolved not to release the land for any reason.
In September 2011 an agreement was signed between the Cameroonian government and Dangote, which authorised the construction of a US$109m cement plant in Douala with a capacity of 1Mt/yr along the shorelines of the River Wouri. The disputed land was contracted from the government through a lease of 30 years. On 13 March 2012 a Dangote delegation from Nigeria announced that the company was ready to renegotiate in order to keep the venture going.
Demand for cement in Cameroon is currently rising rapidly, increasing by 8% in 2011. According to government data the country imported at least 0.5Mt in 2010 but demand is estimated at 4Mt/yr. In addition to Dangote two companies from Korea have also signed investment agreements with the government.
Anhui Conch plans US$400m plant for South Kalimantan
15 March 2012Indonesia: Chinese cement giant Anhui Conch Cement plans to begin construction of a plant in South Kalimantan later in 2012, with an anticipated investment of US$400m.
"The planned plant in South Kalimantan will be able to produce 2.5Mt/yr," announced Industry Minister MS Hidayat as he met with a business delegation from China's Anhui province at the ministry's office. The output will be used for domestic purposes.
Anhui Conch Cement is currently awaiting the completion of its land acquisition process and a license to be issued by the South Kalimantan administration so that the plant can be built in Tanjung, Tabalong. The plant will be equipped with a cement-grinding plant, a seaport, a 60MW power plant and other supporting infrastructure.
Hidayat added that Anhui Conch Cement is also preparing to acquire land in Manokwari, West Papua, in 2013 for another cement plant that would require US$400m. It is expected to meet cement demands in the surrounding areas.
Semen Gresik to build plant in Myanmar
14 March 2012Myanmar: Indonesian giant Semen Gresik has announced plans to build a cement factory in Myanmar with a production capacity of up to 2.5Mt/yr. The project is estimated to cost US$500m according to Ahyanizzaman, the finance director of Semen Gresik.
PT Semen Gresik is one of four state companies asked by the government under Indonesia Incorporated to expand its operations to Myanmar. Ahyanizzaman added that Semen Gresik chose to expand to Myanmar as demand for cement in that country is strong with supplies falling well short of demand. Cement demand in Myanmar is approximately 8Mt/yr compared to a current domestic production of 4Mt/yr.
The three other state companies asked to expand their operations to Myanmar include oil and gas company PT Pertamina, construction company Wijaya Karya and Bank Negara Indonesia.
Carolinas Cement clears hurdle for new plant
13 March 2012US: Officials from Carolinas Cement Company have announced that the Division of Air Quality of the North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) has issued an air quality permit to parent company Titan America LLC to construct a cement plant in Castle Hayne. The issuance comes after four years of technical review of the proposed facility to ensure it will comply with North Carolina's air quality regulations and standards.
The permit was issued after extensive evaluation by DENR, including using air models that incorporate government-approved local meteorological, topographic and site-specific information. The models calculate the concentrations of regulated emissions at the boundaries of the plant property and ambient concentrations throughout the local region and other designated locations to assure they are below legal limits.
"These laws and regulations governing industrial emissions are among the strictest in the world," said Dan Crowley, Titan America's VP of Corporate Engineering. "The issuance of our air quality permit is only a first step. After the plant begins operating we will be subject to unannounced audits by State and Federal regulators as well as internal compliance audits to ensure our emissions are consistently within permitted limits." Carolinas Cement will meet all the new Environmental Protection Agency federal regulations for Portland cement plants that were finalised in 2010, and these regulations are fully represented in the Department of Air Quality permit.
Now that the air quality permit has been issued, Carolinas Cement plans to proceed with completing the federal Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) needed to obtain necessary wetlands permits. The EIS is an 18-24 month process led by the US Army Corps of Engineers (COE) and it requires Carolinas Cement to hire an independent third party to conduct studies of potential impact to numerous ecological and social factors, such as water, aquifers, traffic and flora and fauna.
Parallel to the COE permitting process, Titan America will begin a two-year process to design and engineer the new plant. The design process could not begin prior to the issuance of the air permit, as the design must correspond to the exact standards outlined by the air permit. The new plant will pioneer the industry's most advanced emission control technologies to ensure that public health, the aquifers, Cape Fear River and Island Creek are protected throughout every step of this process.
When it clears all of the regulatory hurdles, Carolinas Cement will create 161 permanent, full-time jobs. During construction it will create 1000 temporary jobs over two-years.
Lafarge plans blocked by French High Court
12 March 2012France: The French High Court has decided to block Lafarge's project to close its plant in Frangey, northern France, until 25 November 2012. The Frangey facility employs 74 workers and had previously been slated for closure in 2012.
The planned closure is part of a much larger restructuring plan at the building materials' giant, which was also annulled by the High Court. However, the court said that the fundamental economic case behind closing the Frangey plant was valid. The group had explained that its decision to shut down the plant was due to overcapacity and high production costs.
The management of Lafarge will now propose a new restructuring plan to the staff representatives starting from November 2012.