Displaying items by tag: Russia

Russia: Three workers at Krasnoyarsk Cement and its associated company Sibcemservice have been awarded the title of ‘Honoured Builder of the Russian Federation’ by the central state government. Excavator driver Mikhail Yelkin, grinding workshop supervisor Valentina Trofimova and turner Stepan Grishechko have been issued with the honourary titles for their long service with the company of over 30 years and help in mentoring new employees.

Russia: Eurocement subsidiary Mordovcement has begun packaging its CEM-I Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC) in 50kg bags made of polypropylene. The company said that the plastic has strength advantages over paper and makes its products harder to counterfeit. It advised customers to reuse the bags for collection and disposal of waste, or to recycle them.

Russia: The Ministry of Finance of Sverdlovsk Oblast has named Buzzi Unicem subsidiary SLK Cement amongst the winners of Best Taxpayer of the Year 2019, an award that recognises commercial contributions to the regional economy by taxpaying in order to “raise the profile of companies and increase their role in the socio-economic development of the territory.” SLK Cement paid US$23.0m in taxes in 2019, up by 2.4% year-on-year from US$22.5m in 2019.

General director Andrey Immoreev said, “Honesty and compliance with the law are one of the key values of the Buzzi Unicem business code, in accordance with which we work. In our activities, we strictly follow the legal norms in the field of labour protection, industrial, fire, sanitary and epidemiological, environmental safety, taxes and Gosudarstvenii Standart (GOST) and international cement quality standard regulations, as well as retaining a customer focus in the company. In addition, despite the external factors associated with the coronavirus pandemic, we confidently continue to implement investment projects to modernise production equipment and provide assistance to the territories in which we are present.”

Russia: Eurocement subsidiary Kavkazcement produced 0.89Mt of cement in the first seven months of 2020, up by 10% year-on-year from the corresponding period of 2019. General director Nikolay Muradov said, “Despite the difficult epidemiological situation in the region and in the country, Kavkazcement ensured the stability of production processes and increased production. This was made possible by product quality control and systematic work aimed at increasing efficiency at all stages of production, introducing advanced technologies and the high-quality servicing of equipment.”

Russia: Vostokcement subsidiary Teploozorsky Cement has engaged FLSmidth to complete two hot kiln alignments at its integrated Teploozorsky Cement plant in Oblu, Khabarovsk Krai following inspections. Vostokcement said that the plant’s second and third rotary kilns will need to undergo the process of adjustments to their axis and axial balance, in order to eliminate stresses to the kiln body.

Russia: Eurocement Group’s exports rose by 67% year-on-year to 0.33Mt in the first seven months of 2020 from 0.20Mt in the same period in 2019. Deliveries to the Belarus, Finland, Latvia, Estonia and Kazakhstan have grown significantly. The group says it managed this despite coronavirus-related lockdowns with construction project suspensions in many markets.

Russia: Siberian Cement Holding Company (SibCem) subsidiary Iskitimcement produced 454,000t of cement in the first half of 2020, up by 7.8% year-on-year from 421,000t in the first half of 2019. Cement shipments over the period were 447,000t, up by 7% from 418,000t.

Iskitimcement said that its CEM-I Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC) was its most in-demand product, constituting 53% of total production at 243,000t. Its new CEM-II Portland slag cement, launched on 28 April 2020, achieved production volumes of 4000t (1%). It said that the coronavirus outbreak caused a slowdown in June 2020, resulting in a 7% year-on-year drop in demand compared with June 2019. Managing director Vladimir Skakun said, “The general weakening of economic activity, the fall in oil prices and the exchange rate of the national currency and a decrease in the incomes of Russians are causing concern.”

The company completed the installation of a closed-circuit dynamic separator and bag filter produced by Germany-based Christian Pfeiffer into the Iskitimcement plant’s grinding unit 6 in June 2020. To date, the equipment has produced 114,000t of ultra-fine cement towards an annual target of 480,000t.

Russia: The railways transported 11.4Mt of cement in the first half of 2020, down by 11% year-on-year from 12.4Mt in the first half of 2019. Beton News has reported that the figure is the lowest in a decade, down by 33% from17.0Mt in the record first half of 2012.

Russia: The Commission for Entrepreneurs’ Rights has asked the Ministry of Industry and Trade to change Council for Standardisation, Metrology and Certification (GOST) conformity assessment and cement certification rules requiring production and packaging of cement to be carried out by a single legal entity. The commission says that the restriction, introduced in September 2019, unfairly restrains smaller-scale producers, according to the Kommersant newspaper.

In an open letter to Minister of Industry and Trade Denis Manturov, Commissioner Boris Titov said, “This preferential treatment of full-scale enterprises negatively affects the formation of a competitive environment. The purpose of cement certification is to confirm quality and safety, which clearly do not depend on production and packaging being carried out by a single legal entity.”

Russia: Siberian Cement has reported a 4% year-on-year rise in total cement production across its five integrated cement plants to 2.2Mt in the first half of 2020 from 2.1Mt in the same period in 2019. Angarskcement increased production by 9% to 289,000t from 265,000t, Iskitimcement by 8% to 454,000t from 420,000, Krasnoyarsk Cement by 2% to 295,000t from 289,000t and Topkinsky Cement by 1% to 1.0Mt from 990,000t, while Timlyuycement kept production level at 165,000t. The group shipped 101,000m3 of concrete over the period, down by 21% due to the impacts of the coronavirus lockdown on demand.

Vice president Gennady Rasskazov said, “The first half of 2020 turned out to be a difficult period. In April 2020, which traditionally opens the high construction season in Siberia, construction collapsed and demand fell by 20% from April 2019 levels. We closed this gap on a half-year basis due to increased sales after construction resumed. However, the situation remains difficult, it is almost impossible to predict its development.”