Displaying items by tag: Upgrade
Holcim Philippines completes upgrade at La Union cement plant
22 February 2019Philippines: Holcim Philippines has completed an upgrade at its La Union cement plant in Bacnotan. The unit now has a cement production capacity of 1.8Mt/yr from 1Mt/yr previously, according to the Manila Times newspaper. The improvements have been completed two months ahead of schedule. The upgrade is intended to support the development of North Luzon.
The expansion is part of a US$300m production capacity drive at its plants in the country. It plans to increase its national production capacity by 30% to 13Mt/yr by 2020. The second phase of the project involves installing new kilns, mills and a waste-recovery system at its plants in Bulacan and Misamis Oriental provinces.
India: JSW Cement plans to invest over US$275m towards meeting its target production capacity of 20Mt/yr by 2020. Following this achievement it intends to launch an initial public officer (IPO), according to the Economic Times newspaper. The company aims to reach its capacity target through expansions and upgrades at its existing plants.
At present the cement producer has a capacity of 12.6Mt/yr. It will add 1.8Mt/yr at Dolvi, 1.8Mt/yr at Vijayanagar, 1.2Mt/yr at Jajpur in Odisha and 1.2Mt/yr in Salboni. Following the IPO it will build new capacity in Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh.
Bashundhara Industrial Complex to upgrade grinding plant
14 February 2019Bangladesh: Bashundhara Industrial Complex plans to spend US$53m towards upgrading its Mongola grinding plant to 3Mt/yr from 2.1Mt/yr at present. The upgrade is scheduled to be commissioned in 2020, according to the Daily Star newspaper. Bashundhara Group holds the second largest cement market share at 8.48% through its two brands, Bashundhara Cement and Meghna Cement. Once the upgrade at Mongola is completed is will have a total production capacity of 7.56Mt/yr.
Georgia: Mamuka Bakhtadz, the prime minister of Georgia, has officially opened a US$100m upgrade to HeidelbergCement’s Kaspi cement plant. Work on the new dry production line at the site started in mid-2016. A filtration system and equipment for continuous emission control were installed to allow for online monitoring of the plant's dust and emission volumes. The project was supported by the Georgian Co-Investment Fund and Honeywell Partners.
JSW Cement completes upgrade at Dolvi plant
12 February 2019India: JSW Cement has completed a 1.2Mt/yr upgrade to its Dolvi plant in Maharashtra. The unit now has a cement production capacity of 2.2Mt/yr, according to the Hindu newspaper. The plant produces Portland Slag Cement (PSC) and Concreel HD, a high early strength cement product. The company is aiming to increase its production capacity to 20Mt/yr with a number of on-going expansion projects.
LafargeHolcim España to invest Euro4m in Sagunto cement plant
07 February 2019Spain: LafargeHolcim España plans to spend Euro4m on upgrades to its Sagunto cement plant, according to the Las Provincias newspaper. The work will include automating the laboratory, adding a new control system for the plant, making environmental changes, improving lighting and acoustics and remodelling the unit’s white cement line.
Birla Corporation benefits from blended cement sales
06 February 2019India: Birla Corporation’s earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) rose due to increased sales of blended cement in the last quarter of 2018. Blended cements represented 89% of its total sales volumes compared to 85% in the same period in 2017.
The company’s net sales grew by 14.6% to US$653m in the nine months to the end of 2018 from US$569m in the same period in 2017. Its EBITDA rose by 17.1% to US$96.8m from US$82.7m. Its cement production increased by 10.5% to 9.86Mt from 8.92Mt and its cement sales increased by 9.9% to 9.79Mt from 8.92Mt. It said that better sales in key markets had offset raw material price rises such as petcoke, coal and diesel. It noted that the price of diesel had risen by over 20% in the reporting period although it had started to soften in the most recent quarter.
The cement producer held a ground breaking ceremony in late January 2019 for a new plant being built by its RCCPL subsidiary at Yavatmai district in Maharashtra. The 3.9Mt/yr unit has an investment of US$342m and it includes a 40MW captive power plant and a 10.6MW waste heat recovery (WHR) system. Commissioning is scheduled for the 2021 – 2022 financial year. The company is also planning to upgrade RCCPL’s plant at Kundanganj with 1.2Mt/yr of additional production capacity. Other new projects include a 12.25MW WHR system at Maihar that is expected to be commissioned in mid-2019. It is building solar power plants at Maihar, Chanderia and Satna with 11MW, 3.6MW and 1.2MW capacity respectively. Birla Corporation also said that restrictions on using explosives placed on limestone mining at Chanderia in Rajasthan had increased its costs.
JSW Cement to upgrade Salboni grinding plant in West Bengal
04 February 2019India: JSW Cement plans to increase the production capacity to 3.6Mt/yr at its Salboni grinding plant in West Bengal. The unit has a capacity of 2.4Mt/yr at present, according to the Economic Times newspaper. The cement producer plans to strengthen its presence in eastern India starting with West Bengal, Bihar, Odisha and Jharkhand. The plant manufactures Portland Slag Cement and it hopes to tap into local demand for this product with the upgrade.
Oman: Raysut Cement has signed an agreement with Ayoki Engineering for upgrading its clinker cooler line three at its Salalah plant. The local engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contractor will source the equipment from Germany’s IKN, according to the Muscat Daily newspaper.
The existing grate cooler at the unit will be replaced by a 4000t/day IKN Pendulum clinker cooler with a guaranteed capacity of 3500t/day clinker production. The project scope includes related civil works, supply and installation works of mechanical and electrical works. Sourcing and installation of the refractory will also be under the responsibility of Ayoki Engineering through IKN. Final installation of the project is planned for the fourth quarter of 2019.
Aïn Touta Cement buys filter for plant
04 February 2019Algeria: The Aïn Touta Cement (SCIMAT) plant near Batna has spent US$10m on a new filter. The investment is part of a group of improvements intended to increase production at the unit in 2019, according to Le Courrier d'Algérie newspaper. The company is also implementing a new integrated administration system.