Displaying items by tag: Terminal

Maldives: Lafarge Maldives has opened a 4000t cement silo at its Thilafushi silo terminal. It is the largest single cement silo in the Maldives. The facility now has a total capacity of 9000t due to other silos at the same site.

The expansion was opened by the Minister of Economic Development Mohamed Saeed, Lafarge Cement Managing Director Breece Orden Reece and State Trading Organisation Managing Director Ahmed Shaheer.

US: According to Marine Link, as part of strategic efforts to increase cargo business at the Port of San Diego, California, the port has entered a conditional agreement with Mitsubishi Cement Corporation (MCC) for potential future operations at Tenth Avenue Marine Terminal.

The conditional agreement, which was approved by the board of port commissioners on 11 June 2015, will allow the port to conduct a project review under the California Environmental Quality Act in anticipation of MCC's potential operations at the Tenth Avenue Marine Terminal on San Diego Bay.

The port entered into the agreement to facilitate MCC's potential development, lease and operation of a marine transfer and storage facility for the import, distribution, exportation, handling and storage of bulk cement, cement-related bulk products and concrete aggregate. The conditional agreement envisions contributions by MCC toward modernising the marine terminal and the company's participation in development costs for long-term improvements.

"Our maritime business capacity is a core strength of the Port of San Diego and that's why we are committed to maximising our cargo facilities," said port chairman Dan Malcolm. "We look forward to working with MCC. By harnessing the power of partnerships to invest in this terminal, we reinforce our status as San Diego's maritime cargo gateway to the world."

MCC manufactures all of the major types of Portland and specialty cements used in California and Nevada. The company was formed in March 1988 with the acquisition of the Cushenbury cement plant in Lucerne Valley, California and other ancillary assets.

Japan/Singapore: Taiheiyo Cement, which operates a cement terminal in Singapore through Singapore Cement Manufacturing (SCMC), a joint venture with Singapore-based Hong Leong Asia Ltd, has completed a new 24,000t cement silo at SCMC's cement terminal in Singapore.

Infrastructure investment, including subway and highway construction, is driving the robust cement market in Singapore and fuelling demand for low-heat-type cement as a way to prevent thermal cracking in concrete structures with large cross-sections (so-called mass concrete).

Coinciding with the construction of SCMC's new silo, Taiheiyo Cement has developed a new type of cement specifically formulated to satisfy Singapore's local needs. The new export-oriented product, which is manufactured using Portland cement and admixture ingredients such as fly ash from coal-fired power plants, qualifies as type CEM II as defined by Singapore's cement quality standard (SS EN 197-1). The new cement has greater resistance to thermal cracking due to its low-heat and low-shrinkage characteristics, higher long-term strength, improved workability and lower alkali-silica reactivity. It is also certified under the Singapore Green Labelling Scheme (SGLS) and therefore carries a Green Label in recognition of its environmental friendliness, which was demonstrated during a series of tests carried out with the cooperation of local users and experts. SCMC also used the new cement in the construction of its new silo and in the process verified its performance.

Taiheiyo plans to manufacture the product using fly ash that has been selected, formulated and managed with the cooperation of domestic Japanese power companies. It is expected to contribute to the effective use of fly ash from newly-built coal-fired power plants in Japan. Going forward, SCMC plans to use the new silo for CEM II, complementing its Ordinary Portland Cement and expanding its business through the supply of new cement that meets local needs.

Puerto Rico: Cementos Argos has purchased a 60% stake for US$18m in Wetvan Overseas, a company that controls a cement terminal in Puerto Rico. The remaining 40% belongs to Grupo Vicini, a Dominican business group holding investments in the Caribbean and Central America. The acquisition will give Argos a 15% market share in Puerto Rica.

"With this transaction, we are entering a new market that is closely tied to the US economy, that currently consumes close to 650,000t/yr and whose growth perspectives are being driven by the latent recovery and the new programs aimed at stimulating investment in Puerto Rico. The acquisition strengthens our position as leader in the region," said Jorge Mario Velásquez, CEO of Argos.

With the new purchase Argos increases its presence in the Americas with operations in Antigua, Colombia, Curacao, Dominica, the US, Haiti, Honduras, French Guiana, Panama, Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, Saint Martin, Saint Thomas and Suriname.

US: Essroc Italcementi Group has signed an agreement with Holcim to purchase its slag cement grinding facility in Camden, New Jeresy. As part of the transaction, Essroc will also obtain Holcim's cement terminal in Everett, Massachusetts. The acquisition will finalise when the pending Holcim and Lafarge merger completes later in 2015.

"The acquisition of the Camden slag grinding facility reiterates Essroc's commitment to the northeast market," said Francesco Carantani, Essroc's president and chief executive officer. "With the focus on sustainability and durability, there is a projected growth in the demand and usage of slag cement."

The Camden facility can produce upwards of 700,000t/yr of slag cement. Essroc currently produces slag cement at its Picton, Ontario, and San Juan, Puerto Rico, cement plants and at its slag grinding facility in Middlebranch, Ohio. With the addition of Camden, Essroc has a combined annual production capacity in excess of 1Mt/yr. Holcim's staff in Camden and Everett will join Essroc once the transaction completes.

India: The Mumbai Port Trust has allocated allotted 25,000m² of land at Petroleum Godown to UltraTech Cement for 30 years, from which cement can be shipped in from other states and distributed to users across the city, according to trust chairman and managing director Ravi Parmar.

The land will be used to build a fully-automated cement handling terminal devoid of air pollution. In 18 months, when the terminal will be completed, it will engage in the transport of cement required for Mumbai's consumption via the coastal route. The estimated cost of the development of the facility, duly equipped with portable unloaders, 30,000t silos, bagging facilities and other ancillary facilities is about US$16.1m.

Mumbai city consumes approximately 1.25Mt/yr of cement. Currently, this cement is moved by road and rail through neighbouring states, necessitating the entry and exit of nearly 350 trucks per day, congesting the already strained city roads.

Qatar: The upcoming cement storage and conveying terminal being developed by Qatar Primary Materials Company (QPMC) in Mesaieed will be completed by the end of 2015, according to a senior official of a consultancy associated with the project.

The facility has been designed to discharge 1.8Mt/yr of cement into the 12 silos with a total storage capacity of 60,000m3. Once operational, the plant will be able to load 1000t/hr of cement in trucks, which will significantly reduce the truck loading time to about 90 seconds per truck.

"Once completed, the facility will help Qatar to import and store more cement than what it is able to do today. In case the local producers have a surplus output, in future, they can also use the storage facility, which will maintain the quality of cement intact for a longer period of time," said Marc Stordiau, managing director of 'Rent A Port', a Belgium-based engineering consultant specialising in port designing and logistics operations. "Although the temrinal has been designed for cement, it can also be used to store gypsum and clinker after minimal modification," added Stordiau.

According to Stordiau, the terminal will also improve the cost efficiency and handling capacity of the port significantly as the latest technology will help unload a vessel with 60,000m3 of cement within a day, instead of 10 - 15 days without the conveyor belts and silos facilities. The high rate of discharge capacity from ships will also reduce ship waiting times. The cement terminal is also equipped with smaller silos, which have been designed to load up to four trucks simultaneously, taking the total loading capacity to 40 trucks per hour or 20,000t/day.

Russia: Donskaya Tekhnicheskaya Company, one of the largest suppliers of construction materials, intends to construct a cement terminal in Azov, Rostov in 2015, for Euro3.13m. The terminal will load out over 490,000t/yr or 2000t/day of cement. The cement will be dispatched by rail and by ships from the Sebryakovcement plant in Volgograd and the Novoroscement plant in Krasnodar. The project will help solve the cement deficit in the region.

Oman: Raysut Cement Company (RCC) intends to build a distribution terminal in Duqm and additional silo capacity at its Salalah cement plant. The company is also building an offshore unloader and blow pump system in the north of the country to facilitate bulk cement handling.

"The work is in a progressive stage and the company will reap benefits from these starting from the new facilities from the early part of 2015," said Ahmed bin Alawi bin Abdulla Al Ibrahim, chairman of Raysut Cement.

Seychelles: Lafarge is constructing a 4000t cement silo in the Seychelles in partnership with the Sri Lankan engineering company Dynamic Technologies. The silo will be built in Sri Lanka and shipped to the Seychelles. Lafarge and Dynamic Technologies developed a similar facility in Mayotte, an overseas department of France, earlier in 2014.