Global Cement News

Egypt: ASEC Minya (formerly the Arab National Cement Company), part of ASEC Cement, has started the production of clinker at its 2Mt/yr cement plant in Minya. Cement production at the US$360m plant is expected to start by the end of June 2013.

"We are extremely proud to have been able to see this project through to completion despite the challenging operational environment," said ASEC Cement CEO Giorgio Bodo. "Security issues, fuel scarcity and a general environment of instability resulted in major setbacks and required us to come up with creative ways of ensuring that the project did not come to a halt." Construction on the plant began in December 2010 but work was interrupted by the Egyptian Revolution in January 2011.

ASEC Minya will produce Portland Grey cement using limestone in Minya governorate. The plant has created 400 direct and 800 indirect jobs in Minya.

ASEC Minya will be connected to the national grid via a 42km transmission line that connects the plant to the Samalloot power station. A slow regulatory approval process will not allow the plant to have a connection to the electrical grid until the end of 2013 but in the meantime ASEC Minya has come up with a temporary solution with rented generators to provide power to the plant.

ASEC Minya is the second greenfield cement plant to be launched by ASEC Cement in five years. The first was Takamol Cement in Sudan, a 1.6Mt/yr plant that began production in November 2010.

US: The Mexican multinational cement producer Cemex has announced that it plans to expand the production capacity at its Odessa, Texas cement plant by 0.345Mt/yr to nearly 0.9Mt/yr. The company will expand the plant in order to keep pace with rapidly growing demand in its West Texas market, which is led mainly by the oil and gas industry. By using existing assets and producing value-added products, the company expects to achieve strong returns on its investment.

"This expansion reinforces our longstanding history of serving West Texas and the oil and gas industry by providing superior products coupled with superior customer service," said Karl Watson, Jr, President of Cemex USA. "We look forward to remaining a top cement provider to the oil and gas industry as well as supporting the region's growth in infrastructure and residential construction."

The demand for specialty cement products used in well construction is growing as a result of the use of more efficient extraction technologies, such as horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing. Oil wells using this technology typically reach depths of thousands of meters. Specialty well cement is required for the complex application and extreme conditions to which the wells are exposed. The expansion will use state-of-the-art production technology to achieve higher fuel efficiency and improved productivity. The expansion will also include an improved higher capacity load out system, allowing for a more efficient truck loading process to accommodate the region's growing demand for cement.

Thailand: German steel and engineering group ThyssenKrupp has won a Euro150m contract to build a cement plant in Saraburi near Bangkok for TPI Polene. The plant will have a cement production capacity of 10,000t/day and is scheduled to start production in 2015.

"With domestic cement demand expected to reach 45Mt/yr by 2015, Thailand is an important market and production location in Southeast Asia," commented ThyssenKrupp.

Jordan: Local residents are protesting against the use of coal at Lafarge's Rashadiyeh cement plant in Jordan. Despite an agreement being reached on 27 May 2013 between the protesters and Tafileh Governor Hashem Suheim, the protesters blockaded the plant, leading police to intervene with tear gas.

According to the Jordan News Agency, Petra, protestors have demanded that an alternative fuel be used to operate the Rashadiyeh cement plant, as the coal or petcoke used has a serious impact on the health of workers and the surrounding environment.

The Rashadiyeh cement factory was established in 1983 by the Southern Cement Company. In 1985 this was merged with the Jordan Cement Factories Company, which was subsequently privatised and bought by Lafarge.

Egypt: Jose Maria Magrina, chief executive officer of Arabian Cement Company (ACC), has asked the Egyptian government to help cement producers move to using coal and alternative fuels. In an announcement Magrina explained that ACC is ready to substitute all the natural gas used at its 5Mt/yr cement plant in Ain Sokhna to coal and refuse derived fuel (RDF) and had applied for the necessary government permits to do so on 14 March 2013. However until late May 2013 no answer had been received from the government.

"The investment needed to substitute natural gas or mazot (heavy duty fuel oil) with coal ranges from US$6-8m/Mt, while converting to RDF costs around US$8-12m/Mt. However for private companies to be encouraged to commit to such a huge investment, the government should look into incentivising this initiative by putting together a solid policy that includes governmental support," commented Magrina.

Magrina added that the government should remove the operating license fee imposed on new companies, as this was intended to cover the cost of subsidised natural gas, and that it should be granted an environmental permit. ACC is still waiting for the permit to use coal, which will replace 70% of its gas supply. Once the company is granted the permit, it will be ready to make the conversion by the fourth quarter of 2013.

Since February 2013, energy shortages have caused the cement industry in Egypt a loss of 20% (3.7Mt) in production capacity, while ACC has lost 25% (350,000t) of its cement production capacity in the same period. Losses of over 50% are expected during the summer of 2013. Until late 2010, the Egyptian government encouraged cement producers to switch to using natural gas. However, the current energy crisis has seen the government promote the use of coal and alternative fuels instead.