Global Cement News

Egpyt: The Mexican cement giant Cemex has said it plans to invest US$100m to expand its operations in Egypt. The planned investments were discussed in a meeting between Sergio Menendez, President of Cemex in Egypt, and Yehia Hamed, Egyptian Minister of Investment.

The investment will allow Cemex to 'significantly improve its operations in Egypt and continue supporting the country's housing, commercial and infrastructure development, according to the company.

New environmental equipment will be installed to reduce emissions of pollutants and increase the use of alternative fuels. "Cemex is constantly providing industry-leading building solutions that help improve the well-being of the people of Egypt," said Menendez. "This investment is expected to support the sustainable development of Egypt for many generations."

Cemex said that more than 250,000t of waste have been processed into alternative fuels in Egypt since 2000. "In 2010 Cemex inaugurated a new US$12m dust filter equipped with the latest technology to reduce emissions in its Assiut cement plant," said Cemex.

India: The Danish cement plant supplier FLSmidth has reported that it has received an order worth around US$35.5m from the Indian cement manufacturer Orient Cement Limited for the supply of main equipment for a greenfield cement plant to be located in the state of Karnataka in southern India. The plant will have a capacity of 6000t/day. The order will be booked by the Cement division and contribute beneficially to FLSmidth's earnings until the end of 2014.

The order covers engineering and supply of main equipment from limestone crusher to packing plant. Included in the scope of supply are key components for raw material crushing equipment, limestone, coal and additive stores, raw material grinding system using roller press technology, vertical mill for coal grinding, ILC pyro processing system with Cross-Bar Cooler, two vertical mills for cement grinding as well as packing and loading system for trucks and rail wagons.

"Orient Cement is a well-known customer to FLSmidth. In 2007, we supplied the company with a pyro-processing system with a capacity of 4000t/day for a brownfield project. This new order from Orient Cement is based on a close and successful customer relationship and is furthermore a good example of FLSmidth's leading position in the Indian cement market," said Group Executive Vice President Per Mejnert Kristensen.

India: The Goa State Pollution Control Board (GSPCB) has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with a cement company to use the plastic waste generated across the state as fuel for its manufacturing plant. Vasavadatta Cement, a company with its plant in Karnataka, would procure the plastic waste collected by the state agencies and villages in Goa.

State Environment Minister Alina Saldanha said that the plastic waste collected from the highways and other internal roads would be baled before being handed over to the cement company. Goa State Infrastructure Development Corporation, a state run agency, has already taken up the task of collecting garbage from the highways, while villages would be asked to clean up their own roads.

"Two baling machines have already been installed one each in North and South Goa to treat the plastic before handing it over to the cement company," said GSPCB Chairman Jose Manuel Noronha. "The state requires six such machines to bale all of its plastic waste."

Vietnam: Cement companies in Vietnam sold 19.15Mt of cement in the domestic market in the first five months of 2013, up by 9% from the same period of 2012, according to the Ministry of Construction. The country produced 23.8Mt of cement between January and May 2013, fulfilling 41% of Vietnam's whole-year target, including an on-year rise of 19% in May 2013.

Le Van Toi, director of the Building Material Department under the ministry said that the increase in cement sales in the first five months showed a recovery in the country's economy thanks to the government's stimulation packages to support the real estate market. It also signals an increase in demand for other building materials in the construction season, he added, noting that many cement grinding firms had had difficulty buying clinker in the first half of May 2013 as domestic demand surged.

Vietnam's cement output is expected to reach 79.45Mt in 2013, 81.56Mt in 2014 and 83.86Mt in 2015, according to the ministry.

DR Congo: Pakistan-based cement producer Lucky Cement has announced plans to begin construction of a US$240m plant in Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in June 2013. Lucky Cement has a 50-50 agreement with the Rawji Group, a banking company, to start production via a company called Nyumba Ya Akiba (NYA), according to Reuters.

"Now's the time to reconstruct a country that was destroyed by civil war," said Sajid Feroze, NYA's chief financial officer.

The proposed factory, to be located around 250km from the capital Kinshasa, is due to come online in late 2015 and will produce 1.2Mt/yr, more than double the current total production in Congo. The country currently consumes just 15kg/capita/yr. Neighbouring Angola uses 300kg/capita/yr and the global average is 400kg/capita/yr said Feroze.

Earlier in May 2013, South African cement firm PPC announced it would build a US$200m cement plant in Congo.