Displaying items by tag: Upgrade
El Salvador: Switzerland-based LafargeHolcim subsidiary Holcim El Salvador has announced a planned investment of US$7.5m to establish six concrete plants in 2020, which will bring its total to 18 plants. Esmerk Latin American News has reported that the investment also covers ‘new trucks and other machinery.’ Holcim El Salvador also announced its intention ‘in the long term’ to resume operations at its 1.6Mt/yr Maya cement plant, mothballed in 2008, at an estimated cost of US$20m. It is currently investigating the possibility of installing a US$5m solar power plant at its 1.7Mt/yr El Ronco cement plant.
In 2019 Holcim El Salvador produced 1.2Mt of cement and 710,000m3 of concrete.
Xuan Thanh Cement orders liquid starters from AKA
04 March 2020Vietnam: Xuan Thanh Cement has ordered seven liquid starters from AKA. The plant in Ha Nam Province has a cement production capacity of 5.5Mt/yr from two production lines. The most recent production line was supplied by Denmark’s FLSmidth. France’s AKA supplies a variety of liquid starters, electronic starters and power controllers for industrial end users.
Cementos Argos enjoys sales and EBITDA boom in 2019
25 February 2020Colombia: In 2019 Grupo Argos subsidiary Cementos Argos’ sales rose by 11% year-on-year to US$2.8bn from US$2.5bn in 2018 and its earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) rose by 14% year-on-year to US$0.5bn from US$0.4bn in 2018. Cement dispatches rose by 0.6% to 16Mt. In the US, its main market, the company sold 6.3Mt of cement, up by 9.5% from 5.8Mt in 2018.
Argos CEO Juan Estaban Calle praised the company’s successes in 2019, such as the completion of its Thermally Activated Clays (TAC) project at its 1.4Mt/yr integrated Cementos Rioclaro plant in Colombia. “This allows for production and distribution of green cement with a greatly reduced clinker factor, 38% lower CO2 emissions and 30% of the energy consumption of ordinary Portland cement (OPC) production,” he said.
Ghori Cement achieves 0.2Mt/yr capacity
25 February 2020Afghanistan: Ghori Cement says that it has produced 18,600t of cement in January 2020, up by 400% from 3720t in January 2019. This would give the plant an annual production rate of 0.22Mt/yr, following ‘operational reforms and modernisation of spare parts.’ Arab News has reported that plans for the replacement of Ghori Cement’s Ghori, Pul-e-Khumri, cement plant with a new 0.4Mt/yr plant were interrupted by on-going civil strife in the region, north of the Afghan capital Kabul. Ghori cement plant general manager Riazudin Sharifi said, “Efforts are underway to further improve the capacity of the plant.”
JSW to expand Kurnool plant
17 February 2020India: JSW Cement is planning to expand the cement capacity of its plant in Bilakalagudur, Kurnool District, Andhra Pradesh from 4.8Mt/yr to 6.0Mt/yr, at a cost of approximately US$59m. The project will involve expansion of clinker capacity from 2.5Mt/yr to 3.4Mt/yr and the construction of an 18MW captive coal-fired power plant. The work on the project is expected to commence by September 2020.
LafargeHolcim España Euro8m upgrade to Sagunto cement plant dependent on quarry talks
14 February 2020Spain: LafargeHolcim España says that a planned Euro8m investment to its Sagunto integrated cement plant is dependent on talks with the Valencian local government on the medium and long-term use of its quarry. Plant director José Luis Coleto said that this expenditure is part of a Euro20m package that LafargeHolcim has scheduled for the country until 2022. He added that the plant has spent Euro3.5m on the plant in 2019 on control systems upgrades and installation of an automated laboratory.
Asia Cement orders kiln upgrade from KHD
14 February 2020South Korea: Asia Cement has awarded a contract to Germany’s Humboldt Wedag, a subsidiary of KHD Humboldt Wedag International, to supply and provide engineering for the modernisation of its third clinker production line at its Jecheon plant. The target of the upgrade project is to increase the alternative fuel substitution rate to above 85% of calciner fuel, as well as the reduction of NOx to satisfy local emission limits.
KHD’s scope includes the engineering and supply of mechanical equipment for the clinker production as well as electrical equipment for the overall modernisation of the production process. During the project, the existing preheater will be modernised with the installation of a new Pyroclon R calciner, as well as a Pyrorotor rotary combustion reactor for low-processed alternative fuel.
The overall project scope consists of: a Pyroclon R calciner with Pyrotop mixing chamber; a Pyrorotor alternative fuel combustion reactor; a Pyrobox coal firing system for process start-up and operation balancing; replacement of stage five cyclones with new high-efficiency cyclones for calciner connection and an overall pressure drop reduction; bypass mixing chamber installation; and a new kiln inlet chamber with orifice.
The commissioning of the modernised production line is planned for the first quarter of 2021.
Votorantim orders clinker cooler from Fons Technology
14 February 2020Tunisia: Brazil’s Votorantim Cimentos has ordered a clinker cooler and clinker roller crushers from Turkey’s Fons Technology International for an upgrade to its 1.2Mt/yr integrated Jbel Oust plant. Votorantim has been present in Tunisia since 2012 where it sells cement under the Jbel Oust brand.
HeidelbergCement India grows sales and profits
12 February 2020India: HeidelbergCement India’s revenue grew by 4% year-on-year to US$221m in the nine months to 31 December 2019 from US$232m in the same period in 2018. Its sales volumes fell by 1.9% to 1.22Mt from 1.29Mt. Its net profit rose by 26% to US$22.4m from US$28.3m. The subsidiary of Germany’s HeidelbergCement said that, despite a fall in revenue in the quarter to 31 December 2019, a decrease in petcoke prices and an increase in power generation from waste heat recovery systems, had helped to keep costs under control.
The cement producer added that de-bottlenecking work at its grinding mills at Imlai in Madhya Pradesh and Jhansi in Uttar Pradesh is expected to be completed by the end of March 2020. Following completion of the project the company’s total cement grinding capacity will be 6.26Mt/yr.
Anhui Conch uses coronavirus closure for maintenance
11 February 2020China: Anhui Conch’s subsidiary China Cement Plant Company (CCPC) has made the best of the downtime necessitated by the coronavirus outbreak by carrying out necessary maintenance work on its integrated plant’s third line, including the installation of a new vertical roller mill. Anhui Conch says CCPC is undertaking the work with the greatest degree of care for the ‘prevention and control of new coronavirus cases.’