Global Cement Newsletter

Issue: GCW424 / 25 September 2019

Headlines


Dalmia Cement threw down the gauntlet this week with the announcement of a large-scale carbon capture unit (CCU) at one of its plants in Tamil Nadu, India. An agreement has been signed with UK-based Carbon Clean Solutions Limited (CCSL) to use its technology in building a 0.5Mt/yr CCU. The partnership will explore how CO2 from the plant can be used, including direct sales to other industries and using the CO2 as a precursor in manufacturing chemicals. No exact completion date or budget has been disclosed.

The move is a serious declaration of intent from the Indian cement producer towards its aim of becoming carbon neutral by 2040. Dalmia has been pushing its sustainability ‘journey’ for several years now hitting targets such as reaching 6Mt of alternative raw materials usage in its 2018 financial year and reaching a clinker factor of 63% at the same time. In an article in the November 2018 issue of Global Cement Magazine it said it had achieved CO2 emissions of 526kg/t from its cement production compared to 578kg/t from other Indian members of the Cement Sustainability Initiative (CSI). In its eastern operations it had gone further to reach 400kg/t.

Using CCU is the next step to this progression but Dalmia’s approach is not without its caveats. Firstly, despite the size of the proposed project it is still being described as a ‘large-scale demonstration.’ Secondly, the destination of all that captured CO2, as mentioned above, is still being considered. CCSL uses a post-combustion capture method that captures flue gas CO2 and then combines the use of a proprietary solvent with a heat integration step. Where the capture CO2 goes is vital because if it can’t be sold or utilised in some other way then it needs to be stored, putting up the price. Technology provider CCSL reckons that its CDRMax process has a CO2 capture price tag of US$40/t but it is unclear whether this includes utilisation sales of CO2 or not.

The process is along similar lines to the Skyonic SkyMine (see Global Cement Magazine, May 2015) CCU that was completed in 2015 at the Capitol Cement plant in San Antonio, Texas in the US. However, that post-combustion capture project was aiming for 75,000t/yr of CO2. Dalmia and CCSL’s attempt is six times greater.

Meanwhile, Cembureau, the European cement association, joined a group of industrial organisations in lobbying the European Union (EU) on the Horizon Europe programme. It wants the budget to be raised to at least Euro120m with at least 60% to be dedicated to the ‘Global Challenges and European Industrial Competitiveness’ pillar. This is relevant in a discussion on industrial CO2 emissions reduction because the scheme has been supporting various European cement industry projects, including HeidelbergCement’s work with the Low Emissions Intensity Lime And Cement (LEILAC) consortium and Calix at its Lixhe plant in Belgium and its pilots in Norway. As these projects and others reach industrial scale testing they need this money.

These recent developments provide hope for the future of the cement industry. Producers and their associations are engaging with the climate change agenda and taking action. Legislators and governments need to work with the cement sector to speed up this process and ensure that the industry is able to cut its CO2 emissions while continuing to manufacture the materials necessary to build things. Projects like this latest from Dalmia Cement are overdue, but are very encouraging.


South Africa: PPC has appointed the former Holcim Philippines chief operating officer and Eastern Europe regional CEO Roland Van Wijnen to the position of CEO. Van Wijnen, who holds a master’s degree from the University of Twente, will take over control of the company’s 6.2Mt/yr total integrated capacity across South Africa and Zimbabwe from Johannes Theodorus Claassen on 1 October 2019.


Switzerland: LafargeHolcim’s executive committee has taken on Magali Anderson in the newly-created role of Chief Sustainability Officer. Anderson is a mechanical engineer with extensive managerial and functional experience who joined LafargeHolcim in 2016 as its Head of Health and Safety. LafargeHolcim CEO Jan Jensich has stated that the appointment “will accelerate LafargeHolcim’s vision of running its operations with zero harm to people and the environment.”


Paraguay: Industria Nacional del Cemento (INC) has appointed Ernesto Julián Benítez Petters as president. In his inauguration speech, he expressed his intention to continue the work of his predecessor for the company as a pillar of the Paraguayan economy.


Thailand: Siam City cement has appointed Benjamin Birks to its board of directors. The appointment will take effect on 1 October 2019. Birks will also assume membership of the company’s Nomination and Compensation Committee (NCC).


Germany: Siemens has selected Roland Busch as its new CEO amidst a raft of appointments to senior positions aimed to ‘set a new direction’ for the company. Busch’s appointment emphasises “the importance of the industrial digitalisation of the company for the next generation,” said Supervisory Board Chairman Jim Hagemann Snabe.


India: Rajasthan-based Wonder Cement has announced that Sanjay Joshi will become its executive director. Joshi brings 17 years of marketing and operations experience to the RK Group subsidiary, whose integrated cement production capacity is 6.8Mt/yr.


Canada: Lafarge Canada has received a US$0.3m fine for failing as an employer to ensure that safety measures and procedures in the workplace were upheld. This follows the 2017 death of an employee who fell from a corroded catwalk at the company’s Beachville quarry.


South Africa: South Africa imported 0.1Mt of cement in July 2019, 293% more than in July 2018. The Algeria Press Service has reported the value of July 2019’s imports as US$4.85m. This represents a decrease from the June 2019 figure of US$6.73 of 28%. Vietnam continues to be the main contributor to the June and Julyimport figures, with Pakistan notably absent in both months. In the record seven months to 31 July 2019, South Africa imported 0.6Mt of cement at a total cost of US$29.6m.

Njobo Lekula, managing director of PPC, has stated that cement prices are ‘critically’ low for domestic producers, whose 18Mt/yr capacity faces a domestic demand of 13Mt/yr. In August 2019, South Africa’s major cement producers applied to South Africa’s International Trade Administration Commission (ITAC) for a tightening of cement standards, which may take the form of a blanket tariff on imports.


Morocco: LafargeHolcim Morocco’s net profit in the first half of 2019 was Euro90.6m, representing an increase of 8.6% year-on-year from Euro83.5m in the six months to 30 June 2018. Its revenue held steady year-on-year with a 0.2% increase to Euro366m from Euro365m. It continues its ambitious renewables plan with an 80% increase in its use of wind power.

HeidelbergCement’s Moroccan subsidiary Ciments du Maroc improved its net profit restated for exceptional items by 3.4% year-on-year to Euro55.3m from Euro53.6m in the first half of 2018. Its 2019 first-half revenue improved by 5.0% to Euro191m from Euro183m in the same period of 2018, which it said was due to a record year-on-year increase in clinker sales of 55% due to increased exports and operational improvements.


Egypt: South Valley Cement has reported losses of US$6.19m in the first half of 2019, down by 587% from a US$1.27m profit in the same period of 2018.


Oman: Raysut Cement, Oman’s leading cement producer, has taken a step forward in the implementation of its 1Mt/yr Duqm grinding plant plans by securing a land lease and port of terminal services agreement from the Port of Duqm. Raysut chief executive Joey Ghose has said that the Duqm unit will help to secure Raysut’s presence ‘in Oman and the neighbouring Gulf markets,’ as well as support strategic investments oversees. Raysut’s 6.4Mt/yr integrated capacity extends from East Africa to the Caucasus. The company has India as its next phase expansion target.


Kenya: East Africa Portland Cement Company (EAPCC) dismissed its entire management staff except managing director Simon Peter Ole Nkeri with one month’s notice on 19 September 2019. Business Daily has reported that the company will seek to rehire a small proportion of the personnel with a 60% pay cut. The downsized management team will oversee the redundancy of its entire junior staff, some of whom will be taken back on with a view to reducing the total employees by 25% to 600 from 800.

EAPCC’s staff costs in the second half of 2018 were US$38.5m, 80% of its net revenue for the period. Its anticipated sales of land, if successful, are expected to exceed the US$52m needed to clear its outstanding debts. Shareholders in the company include LafargeHolcim (42%) and the Kenyan government (52%).


Belgium: Holcim Belgium has finished loading around 1250t of cement from its 1.7Mt/yr integrated Obourg cement plant onto a train in Obourg in Belgium’s Hainaut province. It leaves on 24 September 2019 for Lafarge France’s Bonneuile-Sur-Marne, Île-de-France depot. La Province has reported that LafargeHolcim began the process on 20 September 2019 with the conveyance of cement by three shuttle trucks to the train’s 12 carriages. LafargeHolcim spokesperson Séverine Baudoin has explained that the undertaking, LafargeHolcim’s first of its kind in the region, is a part of its sustainable development plan applied to distribution to new clients in the Paris area.


India: Dalmia Cement has revealed its commitment to dropping its net CO2 emissions to below 0t/yr by 2040 as part of its new ‘Future Today’ branding. The company’s plan consists of a transition to renewable power by 2030 and the adoption of plant matter and refuse-derived fuel (RDF) for 100% of its fuel needs. Dalmia’s 4.0Mt/yr integrated Ariyalur cement plant in Tamil Nadu will receive a 0.5Mt/yr carbon capture and storage facility in 2022 at the latest. The UK-based Carbon Clean Solutions will provide technology and operational services for the installation, the largest in the cement industry. Mahendra Singh, managing director and CEO of Dalmia Cement, has expressed the hope that its product should become ‘the World’s greenest cement.’


Sweden: The Land and Environment Court will hear the dispute over Cementa’s licence to work a limestone quarry near its Slite plant in Gotland on 30 September 2019. The company has stated the supply of stone from the quarry is essential to the existence of the 2.5Mt/yr integrated cement plant. It is seeking to extend the permit, which expires in 2021, to 2041.


Belgium: The European Cement Association Cembureau has joined 92 other European associations in lobbying the European Council to prioritise research, development and innovation in its Multiannual Financial Framework for the Institutions for 2021 to 2027. It called on the Council to raise the Horizon Europe project’s budget to at least Euro120bn, with a minimum of 60% dedicated to the ‘Global Challenges and European Industrial Competitiveness’ pillar. Cembureau emphasised the importance that Horizon Europe should have the money to realise its promises of boosting growth, securing technological leadership and scaling up 21st century technologies ‘at this pivotal time.’


Russia: Eurocement has trialled a novel cement transportation solution to increase the capacity of its Volga river barges by 100%. Firstly, the company strengthened its pallets to bear a double load. It then piled a second layer of cement in all four holds of its vessel, which successfully conveyed the 1200t load 1000km upriver to Yaroslavl from its 1.3Mt/yr integrated Sengileevskiy cement plant. Eurocement’s Director of Transport and Logistics Tatyana Dureiko has stated that this was the first time that the company has directly overseen the transportation by boat of its cement from launch to reception.


France: LafargeHolcim France has become the first cement manufacturer to offer tailor-made concrete solutions, with a range of concrete products for eight different applications. These include concretes made with specially adapted cement for thermal insulation, resilience to acid and seawater and optimised CO2 balance.


Germany: Hosokawa Alpine will sell and rent out pre-owned process-technological machines. It has announced that its new rental and used equipment division will uphold the usual Alpine quality.


UK: Aggregate Industries will launch a digital customer service platform in September 2019. The platform, called Loop, will offer Order Tracking, which gives customers real-time delivery information.


UK: The body responsible for the UK’s 15 National Parks has acknowledged the building materials and construction company Tarmac as its lead partner in recognition of its sustainable practice at the UK National Parks Conference at the Yorkshire Dales National Park headquarters. The Conference on the occasion of the 70th anniversary of the inauguration of the National Parks was supported by Tarmac.


China: Taiwan Cement has published information on behalf of its shipping subsidiary Ta-Ho Maritime concerning the latter’s purchase of two 84,000t capacity bulk carrier vessels at a price not exceeding US$70m from Japan-based shipbuilder Sumitomo. The deal contains an option to purchase a third unit for not more than US$35m, to be exercised before 30 September 2019.


China/Finland: Metso Corporation has announced that it will complete its takeover of Shaorui Heavy Industries with the exercise of its call option over 25% of shares. Markku Simula, President of the Aggregates Equipment division of Metso, has expressed the company’s high expectations of Shaorui, one of China’s ‘leading mid-market crushing and screening equipment producers.’ The purchase will be completed in late 2019.


Switzerland: Minerals process control innovator ABB has unveiled new visual control graphics for its Ability System 800xA, which is installed at 450 cement and mining sites worldwide. The platform, called 800xA 6.1, is compatible with other existing ABB and external vendor subsystems.

“As the main interface between humans and the production site, visualisation is critical,” said Michael Marending, lead engineer at ABB. The upgrade allows for extensive customisation for tailored presentation including navigation shortcuts, and features a specially designed alarm system.