Displaying items by tag: Upgrade

France: LafargeHolcim subsidiary Lafarge France has completed the renovation of its 70m³/hr Larrieu concrete plant in Toulouse, Haute-Garonne Department. The renovated facility is equipped with six cement silos, two of which are dedicated to low-carbon cements for the production of ECOPact low-carbon concrete. It also has eight aggregate hoppers, including one dedicated to recycled concrete aggregates, and two mixer loading stations with forward truck access for safety. The total cost of the upgrade was Euro3m.

Haute-Garonne sector head Vincent Pelloquin praised the project’s speed and ability to rebuild the concrete plant in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic.

Lafarge France is presently engaged in a systematic modernisation of its concrete plants.

Pakistan: Lucky Cement plans to further upgrade its integrated Pezu plant following strong results in the first half of its financial year. It intends to increase the production capacity at the unit by 3.15Mt/yr. The cost of the project will be announced following the conclusion of negotiations with suppliers. Work is expected to start in 2021 and be completed in 2023.

The cement producer recorded sales of US$188m in the first half of its 2021 financial year (1 July 2020 – 30 June 2021), up by 42% year-on-year from US$132m in the first half of its 2020 financial year. Cement and clinker sales volumes grew by 36% to 5Mt from 3.7Mt. Its profit after tax more than doubled to US$28.3m from US$12.1m. It attributed this to higher production capacity at its Pezu plant as well as higher demand in the market generally.

Lucky Cement also reported that its new 1.2Mt/yr integrated plant at Samawah in Iraq started its kiln in the first week of January 2021 and trial production started in mid-January 2021. Commercial production is scheduled to start in February 2021.

Japan/Indonesia: Taiheiyo Cement says that its board has approved and concluded its deal with Semen Indonesia to buy a 15% stake in its subsidiary Solusi Bangun Indonesia (SBI) for around US$220m. As part of the agreement, SBI’s Tuban plant will increase its export capacity by building a new jetty and silos. It will then export 0.5Mt/yr of cement to Taiheiyo Cement’s subsidiary in the US. The Japanese cement producer said that is focusing on markets in South-East Asia as part of its sustainable business development strategy in response to projected long term declining cement demand in Japan.

India: Prism Johnson is considering investing US$19m in a 0.9Mt/yr expansion of its 6.1Mt/yr Prism cement plant in Satna, Madhya Pradesh. Reuters News has reported that the proposal remains in the first round of discussions.

The group revenue for its cement division fell by 8.3% year-on-year to US$241m for the nine months to the end of December 2020 from US$263m in the same period in 2019. Its cement and clinker sales volumes fell by 5% to 3.93Mt from 4.13Mt.

India: UltraTech Cement has awarded Germany-based KHD Humboldt Wedag a contract relating to three new kiln lines, one new raw meal grinding plant with two KHD roller presses, and the upgrade of five existing clinker grinding plants with KHD roller presses. KHD said that the engineering and supply of equipment as well as supervisory services related to erection and commissioning, comprised a potential order volume of more than Euro30m. It added that UltraTech Cement and Humboldt Wedag India are currently negotiating with the aim of concluding a corresponding Engineering and Procurement (EP) contract package.

France: HeidelbergCement subsidiary Ciments Calcia has presented plans of a proposed Euro300m upgrade of its Airvault cement plant in Deux-Sèvres Department to the local community. The La Nouvelle République newspaper has reported that the company will replace the plant’s existing two production lines with a single one. It also plans to upgrade grinding and mixing equipment.

Local mayor Olivier Fouillet said, "In view of its economic, social and environmental character, this project is of public interest. It will help maintain an existing site that provides direct and indirect jobs and will further boost the economy of the territory. This project will also have the interest of meeting societal expectations on decarbonisation . It is thus an asset for the territory while being part of environmental policies to reduce the carbon footprint.” He added that the project will help the plant to meet the decarbonisation and competitiveness challenges of ‘today and tomorrow.’

Oman: Raysut Cement has held a groundbreaking ceremony for a new 9MW waste heat recovery (WHR) unit at its Salalah cement plant. The Times of Oman newspaper has reported that China-based Sinoma Overseas Development will undertake the engineering, procurement and construction work on the project.

The producer said that the installation “Will contribute significantly to our ambitious targets such as reducing power consumption by 25 - 30%, reducing CO₂ emissions and above all reducing in water consumption by more than 50%.”

Canada: LafargeHolcim subsidiary Lafarge Canada, Svante and France-based Total have completed Phase 2 of the CO₂MENT carbon capture and storage (CCS) project at Lafarge Canada’s Richmond cement plant. The completed phase consisted of construction and installation of the CO₂MENT technology to capture and filter the flue gas. Lafarge Canada said that Phase 3, scheduled for construction over the next three years, will include the installation of a liquefaction unit, the development of an expansion project to further reduce emissions and a business case review for further expansion across the Lafarge network

Western Canada president and chief executive officer Brad Kohl said “This has been a turbulent year for business and people due to the Covid-19 pandemic with many large scale projects being put on hold, but the perseverance that the people working at the Richmond cement plant continue to show is evident in the success of Project CO₂MENT.” He added “To continue leading change in the building materials industry means we are always looking to partner with like-minded thought leaders such as Svante and Total. This partnership is showcasing our drive towards a net-zero future, and we are seeing this vision become a reality right now with the completion of this phase.”

Spain: Cemex España has announced plans to invest Euro4m in upgrades to its Buñol, Valencia, Muel, Zaragoza, Raspeig, Alicante and Rubí, Barcelona mortar plants. The upgrades will increase production capacity, safety and efficiency and improve product quality. The company said that the promotion of its range of over 160 special mortars is a main focus of the investment.

Cemex Europe, Middle East, Africa and Asia regional president Sergio Menéndez said “We recognise the growing demand for innovative mortar solutions for new and existing buildings to reduce carbon emissions in our cities and support the EU Renewal Wave. Our wide range of mortars for dry silos, in bags and ready to use, is reinforced by expert solutions for paving streets, plastered walls, tunnel solutions, plasters and special sands.”

The group is also investing in upgrades to production and packaging systems in its mortar segment in Poland and the UK.

France: Hoffmann Green Cement Technologies has begun construction of its second cement plant, called H2. The company will build the plant next to its existing H1 plant in Bournezeau, Vendée, using its clinker-free cement made from blast furnace slag, clay and gypsum. It will have a capacity of 250,000t/yr and cost Euro22m.

Co-founders Julien Blanchard and David Hoffmann said “This second plant is a key milestone in our development plan in order to increase our production capacity. H2 will enable us to address the growing demand for our clinker-free low-carbon cement, as we have recently signed a number of partnerships with key construction players such as Groupe GCC, KP1, Capremib, Cemex and Eiffage Génie Civil. We would like to congratulate our teams, as this second plant is the result of a multitude of challenges taken up in 2020 in order to increase production capacity. It is the rare combination of an exceptional industrial performance and a minimised environmental impact. This structure demonstrates our industrial excellence and perfectly and genuinely materialises our intent to decarbonise the construction sector.”

Head of new construction Olivier Lefelle said “This second plant represents a major and structuring step. The choice of a vertical model for the mixing tower is an innovative concept in the construction sector and is perfectly in line with Hoffmann Green’s responsible vision. Furthermore, by using Hoffmann cement for its construction, this building site will enable CO₂ emissions to be reduced by around 20,000t.”