Global Cement News

Pakistan: The Capital Development Authority (CDA) for Islamabad has made temporary arrangement with Fauji Cement for the disposal of garbage from Sector I-14 of the city to cut pollution. Disposal of garbage has become a major issue for the city and the agreement was carried out in the interests of citizens a CDA official announced.

Fauji Cement has installed a waste processing plant at its site in the Tehsil Fateh Jang region of the Attock District. Here solid waste is processed for the generation of fuel to run the plant using Refuse Derived Fuel technology. As per the agreement, the CDA transports garbage to a nearby green belt whereupon Fauji Cement takes responsibility for segregating the material, taking it to the plant and covering the remaining material with mud.

The CDA official stated that previously the garbage was being disposed of in deep ditches covered with soil but it was an unhygienic and undesirable practice. However, as the Fauji Cement covers the garbage (remains) with mud, there is hardly any adverse impact on the environment. Currently a study is being conducted to gauge the impact of disposal of garbage on the environment in Islamabad.

Iran: Iranian Mines and Mining Industries Development and Renovation Organization (IMIDRO) has announced that Iran produced 23.41Mt of cement in the first four months of the current Iranian year (21 March 2011 to 22 July 2011) showing a 19% rise compared with the same period in 2010.

The report added that Iranian companies produced 6.37Mt in Tir (4th month in the solar calendar, 22 June 2011 – 22 July 2011). Mohammad Hassan Pourkhalil, the secretary of the Cement Industry Contractors Union, stated that Iran exported 0.94Mt of cement in this month. Pourkhalil added that Iran's exports of cement and clinker surpassed 3.40Mt from 21 March to 22 July, showing a 14% growth compared with the same period in 2010.

In June 2011 Iran launched two new cement factories in the provinces of West Azerbaijan and Golestan. Khoy cement factory, which cost USD140m, has the capacity to produce more than 1Mt/yr. Galikesh cement factory, which employs some 210 workers and cost about USD165m, has the capacity to produce more than 3,400t/day.

Argentina: Cement maker Loma Negra, controlled by Brazil's Grupo Camargo Correa, will invest USD404m in Argentina between 2012 and 2014, President Cristina Fernandez has announced.

Camargo Correa officials met with the Argentine president Fernandez and presented an investment plan that includes a new cement plant. "They told me about investments... for USD404m with a cement plant that will allow them to produce 900,000t more," Fernandez, who is seeking re-election in October 2011, said in a speech.

The investments, aimed at increasing output, also include a coal stockpile yard, said Ricardo Lima, vice president of operations at Camargo Correa. Loma Negra has nine cement plants and six concrete plants.

Oman: Raysut Cement's Chairman, Alawi Ali Muqaibal, has announced that the company's pre-tax profit declined by 44% in the second half of 2011, falling to USD19.6m from the USD35m that was earnt in the same period of 2010. For the first six months of 2011 Raysut's production cement production was 1.62Mt and its clinker production was 1.71Mt.

Muqaibal added that during the period under review, total sales reached USD77.6m, a decline of 17% from the USD93m taken in 2010. Despite competition in the UAE, the company's subsidiary, Pioneer Cement, earned USD3m.

India: Grace Construction Products, an operating segment of W R Grace & Company has started manufacturing from a new facility near Delhi, India. Development at the site, which manufactures cement additives as well as concrete admixtures that are sold to cement producers in northern India, is part of Grace's ongoing growth strategy to invest in emerging regions.

Grace's cement additives help cement producers to improve grinding efficiency and overall cement quality, helping to build stronger structures in more energy-efficient ways, which helps to reduce manufacturing costs. In the past India has had issues with sub-standard cement and concrete products, including the much-publicised collapse of a bridge in New Delhi at the Commonwealth Games site in 2010.

The new facility is the most recent addition in a series of emerging market investments in the construction industry for Grace. The company has opened similar facilities in China, Colombia, Panama, Saudi Arabia and Vietnam since 2010.

"We continue to invest in emerging economies in order to meet our customers' needs," said Andrew Bonham, President of Grace Construction Products. "The new facility will allow us to enhance service and delivery times to our customers in Northern India."

The manager at the new plant, Ajay Kapoor said, "Our number one priority is to provide a safe environment and safe practices at the site. We must ensure our company culture extends throughout all our facilities from safety to product quality to community outreach."