Displaying items by tag: grinding plant

India: JK Cement’s sales rose by 10% year-on-year to US$763m in the financial year to 31 March 2020 from US$691m in the same period in 2019. Its sales volumes of cement decreased slightly to 9.8Mt and its profit after tax nearly doubled to US$63.5m. However, its sales fell slightly in the fourth quarter, sales volumes of cement dropped by 7% year-on-year to 2.9Mt and it reported a significantly reduced standalone net profit.

The cement producer said that its operations had gradually stabilising since coronavirus lockdown measures were relaxed. All of its integrated and cement grinding plants had resumed production and despatch. It noted that due to lower power demands less fly ash was available so it is sourcing this from other locations. Labour shortages are also affecting bag supplies and the availability of drivers. As part of cash conservation measures it has restricted capital expenditure to US$66m in the current financial year.

India: UltraTech Cement has cuts its capital expenditure budget to around US$130m due to the coronavirus pandemic. Work on its 2.2Mt/yr Cuttack grinding unit, which was scheduled for commissioning in March 2021, has been slowed down. Upgrades at its West Bengal and Bihar grinding plants are nearly completed and a waste heat recovery system (WHRS) at its UltraTech Nathdwara Cement subsidiary will be completed in the current financial year.

The leading Indian cement producer said that government directives in response to the health crisis had ‘adversely’ affected revenue. Since ‘select’ activities were allowed to re-open from 20 April 2020 and the company says it is now, ‘dispatching cement from all locations.’ It added that the majority of demand was currently coming from retail markets as some institutional projects restart construction. It operates 22 operational integrated plants, 23 grinding units and 6 bulk terminals. The company said that ‘conserving cash’ is its motto in 2020.

Tanzania: Huaxin Cement has announced the completion of its acquisition of Kenya-based Athi River Mining (ARM) Cement’s Tanzanian subsidiary Maweni Limestone. Reuters has reported that Huaxin Cement will invest US$30m in completing upgrades to the company’s plants in addition to an investment of US$116m to settle Maweni Limestone’s debts.

Guinea: Sinoma Construction has reported that the first batch of cement has been produced from a moveable modular grinding (MMG) mill at a grinding plant in Guinea. Sinoma Construction produced and pre-assembled the mill in China. It said that this method ‘reduces installation time by 56%, reduces CO₂ emissions by 43% and reduces the necessary labour by 70%.’ Sinoma Construction said that the project’s safe completion demonstrates that, “the project department is doing a good job in epidemic prevention and control, overcoming difficulties and successfully completing the commissioning of equipment.”

Oman: Cement producers have reacted positively to anti-dumping measures implemented by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry. The Oman Observer newspaper has reported that the measures, which consist of quality screening, have, since coming into force on 1 March 2020, been ramped up in construction, with a general restriction of the movement of goods due to the coronavirus. Raysut Cement said, “These measures will enable Raysut Cement and our peers Oman Cement to operate at full capacity. We hope that the authorities will continue to strictly enforce this measure in the interest of fair market competition.”

Raysut Cement said that it is ‘Aggressively pushing ahead’ with its US$30m Port of Duqm grinding plant project, which is due for commission in March 2021. “It is a good time for countries like Oman to become self-sufficient in the domestic availability of a strategic commodity like cement,” it said. On 4 May 2020 Raysut Cement announced plans to lobby the government for a gas or electricity subsidy.

Oman’s cement demand is currently 20-25% below pre-lockdown levels.

France: Cem’In’Eu has announced plans to establish a Euro23.0m grinding plant at Portes-lès-Valence in Drôme department. The La Tribune newspaper has reported that the plant will receive imported clinker produced at Adana Çimento’s 5.2Mt/yr integrated Adana plant in Turkey by river and rail from the port of Sète. Cem’In’Eu president and Vincent Lefebvre said that the location “allows us to be in the middle of a Lyon-Marseille-Montpellier triangle but also to be connected to the Alpine valleys.”

The grinding plant is due for commissioning in mid-July 2021, however the coronavirus has delayed the start of construction.

India: Operations of industrial units in rural areas are clear to resume as of 20 April 2020, subject to local permissions and social distancing rules. Dion News Service has reported that JK Lakshmi Cement has resumed operations at two grinding units in Gujarat, JK Cement has resumed reduced operations at its 3.0Mt/yr integrated Muddapur plant in Karnataka and UltraTech has resumed operations ‘at some of the company’s locations.’ Ambuja Cements, ACC, ICC and India Cements all announced plans to return to full capacity utilisation in phases.

As part of phase two of India’s coronavirus lockdown, public spaces remain closed and public transport is suspended until 3 May 2020.

India: Germany-based HeidelbergCement has announced the successful expansion of two grinding plants. Accord Fintech News has reported that the company took advantage of the suspension of cement production since 24 March 2020 to complete debottlenecking work at the Jhansi, Uttar Pradesh, and Imlai, Madhya Pradesh, grinding plants, bringing their cement production capacities to 3.3Mt/yr and 2.5Mt/yr respectively.

HeidelbergCement India has an integrated capacity of 3.7Mt/yr and a grinding capacity of 6.3Mt/yr (total capacity: 10Mt/yr).

Zimbabwe: China-based Sino-Zimbabwe Cement Company and LiveTouch Invest, owner of Diamond Cement Zimbabwe, have acquired a six hectare site in the coal mining area of Hwange, Matabeleland North Province, and announced a planned investment of US$30m in the construction of a grinding plant which will grind clinker with waste materials from coal extraction to produce cement.

LiveTouch Invest had previously mooted the idea of a Zimbabwean clinker plant joint venture with South Africa-based PPC in July 2019.

India: Construction workers employed at the site of Ramco Cement’s Haridaspur, Odisha, grinding plant, which has been under construction since early 2018, have protested over an alleged lack of food being supplied to the plant, where they are currently residing. The Pioneer newspaper has reported that the nationwide coronavirus lockdown prevented the 400 workers, from Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal, from returning home, leading them to take up residence in the Haridaspur plant. Police are talking with the protestors and Ramco Cements management.