Displaying items by tag: Thailand

Thailand: Siam Cement Group (SCG) has introduced a new low-carbon cement, contributing to Thailand's net-zero ambitions. According to the company, SCG is Thailand's first cement manufacturer to produce this eco-friendly cement, reducing CO₂ emissions to as low as 0.05t during production. The new cement reportedly matches or is stronger than traditional Portland cement. SCG achieved this by improving its manufacturing processes, using clean energy sources and waste heat utilisation, leading to a 38% decrease in energy consumption. The company also modified raw material ratios in order to further reduce emissions.

SCG's president of the cement and green solutions department, Surachai Nimlaor, said “Since cement production consumes a considerable amount of energy and emits CO₂ during the process, we decided to find out how we could reduce this impact." He continued “With the initial low-carbon cement formula, we have reduced emissions by 15 to 20%. Moving forward, our goal is to develop new formulas that can reduce carbon emissions by up to 50%.”

Valentine’s Day last week included some ‘hot’ news for the cement sector with the announcement that Electrified Thermal Solutions is preparing to build the first commercial-scale pilot of its Joule Hive thermal battery (JHTB) in San Antonio, Texas. The company is working with the Southwest Research Institute on the project along with Buzzi Unicem USA, 3M and Amy’s Kitchen as industrial partners. Advisors include Imerys. The project update follows the award of a US$5m grant from the US Department of Energy (DOE) in late January 2024.

The funding description from the DOE’s Industrial Efficiency & Decarbonization Office reports that the end goal is to “turn intermittent renewable electricity into constant industrial grade heat” that can replace fossil fuel usage. Electrified Thermal Solutions aims to test its JHTB thermal energy storage system, which uses electrically conductive refractory bricks, to convert and store electricity as heat at temperatures higher than 1700°C. The JHTB power ranges between 1 - 200MW of thermal output, with duration up to tens of hours, enabling ‘very affordable’ high temperature energy storage and on-demand heat. Notably, it can charge and discharge simultaneously, allowing a continuous heat supply.

Electrified Thermal Solutions is not alone in targeting the cement sector. As Global Cement Weekly has covered previously energy storage is a growing topic of interest with a few large-scale electrical battery units running at cement plants in Pakistan and Taiwan. The other big name in thermal batteries for cement production is Rondo Energy. Both Electrified Thermal Solutions and Rondo Energy are using modular three-dimensional arrays of refractory bricks to store thermal energy and then release it, although they are likely to have key proprietary differences. However, Rondo Energy appears to be further along the industrial adoption process so far. Titan Cement and Siam Cement Group (SCG) invested in Rondo Energy in 2022. Then in July 2023 SCG and Rondo Energy said that they were planning to expand the production capacity of a heat battery storage unit at an SCG plant from 2.4 GWh/yr in mid-2023 to 90GWh/yr. For more information on Rondo Energy read the feature by CEO John O’Donnell in the January 2023 issue of Global Cement Magazine.

The reason that this matters, as partly explained above, is that fossil fuels contribute about one third of the CO₂ emissions created by heating up the kiln in cement production to make clinker. This is dropping globally due to the uptake of alternative fuels, but burning alternative fuels emits gross CO₂, however you account for the emissions. Mass adoption of thermal batteries by the sector could potentially cut out this double-accounting and reduce that third down to the carbon footprint of the refractory bricks used. This would then create knock-on issues concerning what to do with the waste streams instead but that is not a problem for the cement sector. These are worries for another day, as we first need to see how thermal batteries work at scale at a cement plant.

A recent feature in the Economist considered whether the mass adoption of electrical power from renewable sources might be an increasingly viable path to decarbonising industry. Geopolitics, faster-than-expected growth in renewables and new technology are all doing their bit to make this possible. As with so much of the carbon agenda it may alter the very concept of the traditional cement production line or at least the speed of change. Just imagine how a future cement plant might look, decked out with a electrical micro-grid, a heat battery, an oxy-fuel kiln, a carbon capture unit and either a chemical plant or gas pipeline junction. Will it happen? Who knows… but it is an exciting time for the cement sector.

Thailand: Siam Cement Group (SCG) reported sales of US$14bn in 2023, down by 12% year-on-year from 2022 levels. Nonetheless, its profit grew by 21% to US$726m, largely attributed to gains from fair value adjustments of investments in the first half of 2023. The group’s cement and construction products business incurred a loss due to local impairments of cement plant assets.

As of 31 December 2023, SCG's total assets amounted to US$22bn, down by 1.4% year-on-year from the end of 2022.

Thailand: Siam City Cement has appointed Ranjan Sachdeva as its Acting Group Chief Executive Officer (CEO) from the start of January 2024. He succeeds the former Group CEO Aidan Lynam in the position. Lynam had been in post since 2019.

Sachdeva has worked for Siam City Cement since 2017, first as the Group Head Internal Audit and Compliance and then as the Group Chief Financial Officer, from April 2023. Prior to this he worked in procurement and audit roles for Holcim in India. He has also worked for Vedanta and Nestle during his career. He holds a bachelor of engineering from the Thapar Institute of Engineering & Technology and a master of business administration (MBA) degree from the University of Leicester, among other qualifications.

Thailand: Siam Cement Group (SCG) recorded sales of US$3.62bn during the third quarter of 2023. This represents a fall of 12% year-on-year. Business World News has reported that the producer attributes the decline to the on-going ‘slow economic revival’ in Southeast Asia. Nonetheless, chief executive officer Roongrote Rangsiyopash said that he expects growth to accelerate, especially in Indonesia, where construction of the new capital city, Nusantara, is underway in East Kalimantan. SCG reported a third-quarter operating profit of US$86.9m, up by 26% year-on-year.

Rangsiyopash said “SCG has continuously adjusted its business strategy and has operated with caution and prudence, thereby maintaining financial stability.”

Thailand: Siam Cement Group’s sales dropped by 12% year-on-year to US$3.47bn during the first nine months of 2023. The group’s net profit remained level year-on-year, at US$67.4m.

Thailand: China-based intelligent dumptruck supplier Waytous has partnered with Siam Cement Group (SCG), as well as Thailand Advanced Info Service, Huawei, and Zhengzhou Yutong Mining Equipment, to develop full-scope automated operating systems for limestone mines. SCG will host a study at its Saraburi limestone mine in Central Thailand. The study will use Waytous’ driverless vehicles, supported by 5G, AI, cloud computing and new battery technologies.

Waytous CEO Chen Long "We've carried out two phases of unmanned mining research for this project and found the most comprehensive, efficient, and effective unmanned solution for cement mines in Saraburi.”

Thailand: Siam Cement Group (SCG) has appointed Thammasak Sethaudom as its president and chief executive officer. He will succeed Roongrote Rangsiyopash, following his resignation, from January 2024. Thammasak has also been appointed as the president of Cementhai Holding Company. Surachai Nimlaor the president of SCG’s cement division will also be appointed to president of the division from the start of 2024.

Thammasak has worked for SCG for over 30 years in a variety of financial and investment positions, primarily in the chemicals business. Prior to this, he was the general director of Long Son Petrochemicals. He holds a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from Chulalongkorn University, a master of business administration (MBA) postgraduate degree from the London Business School and has also attended Harvard Business School’s Advanced Management Program.

Thailand: Siam Cement Group (SCG) recorded sales of US$7.22bn in the first half of 2023, down by 17% year-on-year from US$8.69bn. Cement and building materials accounted for US$2.6bn (36%) of sales, behind chemicals at US$2.74bn (38%). The company's earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) dropped by 24% to US$915m from US$1.21bn. Meanwhile, its profit excluding extra items dropped by 49% to US$279m from US$543m. Cement and building materials contributed 78.5m (28%) of group profit, down by 38% from US$126m (23%).

During the first half of 2023, sales of alternative CEM-I and CEM-II cement rose above 50% of SCG's cement sales for the first time, compared to 41% throughout 2022. The group substituted 22% of all cement fuel with alternative fuel (AF) across its operations, and 22% of cement fuel in its Thai domestic business. SCG invested US$91.5m in capital expenditure in its cement and building materials business throughout the first half of 2023.

Thailand: Siam Cement Group (SCG) says that it expects to invest US$1.17 - 1.47bn in capital expenditure across its operations throughout 2023, Reuters has reported. SCG's activities span cement and other building materials, packaging, chemicals and batteries.