Displaying items by tag: grinding plant

Fiji: Grinding units in Lami have ceased operations since mid February 2021. The reason for the pause is complaints by community stakeholders about pollution, including clinker spillages on the road from the Port of Suva. The Fiji Times newspaper has reported that plant owners met stakeholders on 23 February 2021.

Environment and Waterways Ministry permanent secretary Joshua Wycliffe said, "The origins of the issue are the transport itself: there was spillage on the way to the cement factories. We have stopped the companies; if it is the transport companies that are breaching, we have stopped them. We are open to someone else doing it provided they have the permits, proper paperwork and also follow the rules and conditions.”

Chile: Melón has signed an electricity supply contract with Enel Generación. The contract covers the supply for its La Calera, Puerto Montt and Ventanas cement plants, and its San Bernardo aggregates quarry, until 2043, according to the La Tercera newspaper. All energy supplied under the contract will come from renewable sources. There is also the possibility of expanding the scope of the contract.

General Manager Iván Marinado said, “Our commitment to the sustainability of our operations is permanent. We have state-of-the-art technologies, we work together with our carriers in programmes to reduce logistical impact and energy efficiency, and we have a solid co-processing strategy for the use of alternative fuels (AF) and raw materials. Today we are happy to take a new step and start the use of renewable energies, as a concrete and effective example of our concern to contribute to the environmental improvement of the localities where we operate.”

Cameroon: Atlantic Group is planning to build a 1Mt/yr integrated cement plant in the Port of Kribi. Business in Cameroon has reported that the company has received all necessary permissions for the project. The group’s only asset in Cameroon is the 48,000t/yr Atlantic Cocoa plant in the Port of Kribi, commissioned in 2020. Parent company Ivory Coast-based Atlantic Group recently inaugurated the 1.5Mt/yr Société Ciment Côte d'Ivoire (SCCI) near Abidjan in Ivory Coast.

Kribi’s five existing cement plants have a total production capacity of 5.8Mt/yr.

France: Vicat recorded full-year consolidated sales of Euro2.81bn in 2020, up by 2% year-on-year from Euro2.74bn in 2019. Earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) rose by 6% to Euro557m from Euro526m. Consolidated net income rose by 8% to Euro172m from Euro160m.

The group said that organic sales were ‘strong,’ rising in all regions except in France, by 6% in total. It attributed the decline to a near-total shutdown due to the coronavirus outbreak in mid-March 2020, which lifted incrementally throughout the first half of the year. Vicat France’s cement business recovered ‘robustly’ in the second half of 2020, resulting in an operational sales increase of 3% for the year. Full stoppages of activity lasted for 33 days in India and for 30 days in Italy. Despite these challenges, business growth, cost-cutting and lower energy costs drove earnings growth, with ‘very sharp improvements’ recorded in the Americas and in Asia. Additionally, the ramp-up of a new grinding plant in Mali and production performance improvements in Senegal supported a ‘significant’ earnings increase in Africa.

Chair and chief executive officerGuy Sidos said, “Thanks to our employees’ tremendous efforts and commitment, the Vicat group strengthened its position amid the unprecedented current pandemic situation. Our resilience and flexibility allowed us to make organisational changes in order to reconcile our competing imperatives of keeping everyone safe and healthy, unlocking savings and making rapid adjustments, such as relocating our Paris head office to L’Isle d’Abeau in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region. Likewise, we made improvements to Vicat’s governance and stepped up our environmental and digital transformation programmes. Given the strength of our cash generation, we were able to resume key productivity investment programmes for the future. Despite the adversity we faced, our teams across all our various regions successfully delivered higher production efficiency levels and met market demand cost-effectively, paving the way for a solid increase in the Vicat group’s results.”

In 2021, the group plans to expand cement production and invest in new cement terminals in India and to continue with the upgrade of its Ragland cement plant in the US. It also says that it will ramp up projects aimed at meeting its carbon footprint reduction targets. The group expects its earnings to rise at constant scope and exchange rates over the full year.

Chile: The protest organisation Frente de Defensa de Islay has launched a challenge against the legality of Cbb’s planned 200,000Mt/yr Arequipa grinding plant in the Port of Matarani. The La República newspaper has reported that the organisation says that the plans would violate Islay district’s urban zoning law due to the risk of contamination.

The producer plans to complete the US$20m plant in mid-2021. It acquired the project from Inversiones Primax in 2019.

Argentina: LafargeHolcim subsidiary Holcim Argentina has presented a voluntary retirement plan to all 50 workers at its Yocsina grinding plant in Cordoba. The La Voz del Interior newspaper has reported that the company is stopping production at the site and has invested US$120m in its integrated Malagueño cement plant in order to consolidate production there. Construction of the Yocsina plant originally started in 1959.

The company said, “At Holcim Argentina we are convinced of the potential of the Argentine market, and - as we have been doing for more than 90 years - we will continue to bet on the development of our country, both in private works and in public infrastructure."

India: Ramco Cements’ nine-month profit for the period ending on 31 December 2020 was US$77.9m, up by 23% year-on-year from US$63.3m in the corresponding period of the 2020 financial year. Cement sales volumes dropped by 18% to 67.6Mt from 82.7Mt. Its revenue from sale of products fell by 9% to US$488m from US$535m.

The company reported that it has redeposited US$3.54m for its appeal against cartelisation charges that carrya penalty of US$35.4m. It said, “The company, backed by legal opinion, believes that it has a good case and hence no provision is made.”

The cement producer plans to commission a 1.5Mt/yr clinker line and a 9MW waste heat recovery (WHR) system at Jayanthipuram, Andhra Pradesh and a 2.25Mt/yr clinker line at Kurnool, Andhra Pradesh in the first quarter of its 2021 – 2022 financial year. A 1Mt/yr grinding unit, a 12MW WHR unit and a thermal power plan are expected to be commissioned later in the year.

Italy: An agreement between Italcementi and its unions has confirmed that its Bergamo research centre to stay in Italy. The agreement with the FenealUil, Filca-Cisl, Fillea-Cgil, Italcementi RSU unions is intended to preserve jobs at the company, maintain at least 15,000 hours/yr of research at the site and dedicate at least 1% of the company’s profits towards research and innovation. Parent company HeidelbergCement was reportedly considering a relocation of the centre to Heidelberg in Baden Württemberg, Germany in late 2020.

Separately, Italcementi’s grinding plant at Salerno has been approved to continue producing white cement. The decision follows staff cuts at the cement producer, according to the Il Mattino newspaper.

Ivory Coast: Société Ciment Côte d'Ivoire (SCCI) has inaugurated a 1.5Mt/yr grinding plant in the PK24 industrial zone of Akoupé-Zeudji near Abidjan. The subsidiary of Atlantic Financial Group spent US$110m on the project and it is expected to create 300 direct jobs, according to Koaci Media. Minister of Trade and Industry Souleymane Diarrassouba attended the event.

Peru: Unión Andina de Cementos’ (UNACEM) income fell by 14% year-on-year to US$467m in 2020 from US$546m in 2019. Cement despatches dropped by 16% to 4.46Mt from 5.32Mt. Its profit decreased to US$8.33m from US$96m. The cement producer attributed the reduction in sales and profits due to the country’s coronavirus-related lockdown from March to May 2020. In December 2020 it agreed to buy Chile-based Cementos La Unión Chile for US$23m. The deal includes the 0.3Mt/yr San Antonio grinding plant and a concrete plant.