Displaying items by tag: Upgrade

Libya: The state-owned Ahlia Cement Company has launched a tender for the upgrade and restart of its lime plant at Souq Al-Khamis. It wants to run the restart as a joint-venture, according to the Libya Herald newspaper. The tender is for the renovation, operation and the marketing of the lime factory output for a renewable 10-year period. Al-Ahlia has invited interested parties to arrange for a site visit and collect the specifications sheet. The deadline for receiving tenders is 14 July 2022.

Zimbabwe: Germany-based Gebr. Pfeiffer says that a new MVR 3070 C-4 mill for cement grinding is due to be commissioned at Holcim Zimbabwe’s integrated plant at Manresa near Harare. The order was handled by the Chinese contractor CBMI.

The roof at the plant collapsed over a cement mill in October 2021 leading to a reduction in production volumes at the plant. The mills were restarted in February 2022 but one of the one of the existing cement ball mills was decommissioned. This mill is being replaced by the new vertical roller mill supplied by Gebr. Pfeiffer. It is expected to double the plant’s cement production capacity after it is commissioned in the second quarter of 2022.

Saudi Arabia: Southern Province Cement has completed technical studies and commenced construction of a new 5000t/day line at its Jazan cement plant. The company will also build the infrastructure for another 5000t/day line at the site. Reuters new has reported that, together, the lines will replace the plant’s existing production lines.

Zimbabwe: Lafarge Zimbabwe’s cement volumes fell by 55% year-on-year in the first quarter of 2022. The company restarted grinding units at its Manresa grinding plant in February 2022 following a roof collapse in October 2021. In a trading update, Lafarge Zimbabwe said that the disruption impacted its profit in the quarter. The producer took the opportunity to decommission one of its ball mills for replacement with a new vertical roller mill in mid-2022.

Chief executive officer Geoffrey Ndugwa said “The company is confident that volumes will recover and grow as the availability of cement stabilises, especially after the new vertical roller mill start-up in the second quarter of 2022.”

US: Drake Cement & Materials has inaugurated a new finish mill at its integrated plant at Paulden in Arizona. Chief executive officer Enrique Rozas and Ricardo Rizo Patron, the chairman of parent company Skanon Investments, attended the event. Drake Cement & Materials is a subsidiary of Peru-based UNACEM.

Uzbekistan: United Cement Group (UCG) has successfully completed the modernisation of the grinding units at its Kuvasay cement plant in Fergana. The work consisted of installation of protective armour on the inner surface of mill drums and mill ends and the replacement of bar partitions between chambers with sectional partitions. This increased the total mass of the cylpebs to 43t from 39t and improved the mills’ efficiency. UCG also upgraded the units’ dust removal equipment, replacing their original electrostatic precipitators with RIF–0500–03 K and FRKI 360 bag filters. The group carried out the modernisation in collaboration with the Uzsanoatkurilishmateriallari Association and the Fergana Regional Committee for Environmental Safety.

Vietnam: Three new integrated cement lines are expected to raise Vietnam’s total installed cement capacity by 8% to 115.4Mt/yr in 2022, from 106.6Mt/yr at the beginning of the year. VNDirect Securities has calculated that the upcoming lines – Dai Duong 1, Long Thanh and Xuan Thanh 3 – have a total capacity of 8.8Mt/yr. They are situated in Northern Vietnam’s Ha Nam Province and Central Vietnam’s Thanh Hoa Province, both of which already have cement overcapacity.

Viet Nam News has reported that Vietnam exported 4.31Mt of cement and clinker in April 2022, down by 7.6% month-on-month. The products’ total value was US$171m, down by 2.9% month-on-month.

Australia: Boral and carbon capture specialist Calix have received US$21m in government funding for the launch of carbon capture and storage (CCS) feasibility study at the producer's Berrima cement plant in New South Wales. Local press has reported that Boral aims to establish a 100,000t/yr-capacity capture facility at the plant. Initially, the project will involve commercial model and pilot design to assess the engineering and commercial viability of the project. This phase is scheduled for completion in June 2023.

Chief operating officer Darren Schulz said "This is game changing technology for our industry and will play a critical role in supporting customers' sustainability targets. Together, Boral and Calix have access to the required infrastructure, technology and operational expertise required to deliver this project and lead the way in reducing emissions across the industry." Schulz concluded "If successful, we believe this project will enable the national rollout of carbon capture technology to Australia's cement and lime industry creating smarter and more sustainable solutions for our customers."

India: Chettinad Cement has ordered a MVR 5600 R-6 type mill for raw meal grinding and a MVR 5300 C-6 type mill for grinding composite cements from Germany-based Gebr. Pfeiffer for a new production line at its integrated Kallur plant in Karnataka. The supplier says that the MVR 5600 R-6 type mill is the first of its kind provided with six rollers. The order was placed in April 2022 and the contract has since been activated with the receipt of down-payment and a letter of credit.

The core components of the MVR mills as well as the 5810 kW gearbox will be supplied by Gebr. Pfeiffer SE from Europe. Foundation parts, housings and other components will be manufactured in India and delivered to the customer under responsibility of its subsidiary Gebr. Pfeiffer (India). The office of Gebr. Pfeiffer (India) in Noida, near New Delhi, will also support the end customer in plant design, procure most of the grinding plant machinery such as filters, fans, hot gas generators, the fly ash handling and conveying aggregates, and will be on site with personnel for quality control of the customer's site fabrication as well as supervision of erection and commissioning.

India: Dalmia Cement (Bharat) plans to invest US$38.9m in an upgrade to 2.5Mt/yr Belagavi cement plant. The work will consist of a capacity expansion and the installation of a new 9MW solar power plant at the facility. The latter is expected to halve the plant's grid electricity consumption. When commissioned in March 2024, the expanded plant will directly and indirectly employ 700 additional people.