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Holcim New Zealand in talks to sell Westport plant 20 January 2017
New Zealand: Holcim is conducting negotiations with prospective buyers for its Westport cement plant and associated assets. The cement producer closed the site in June 2016 with the loss of 100 jobs, according to the Daily Post newspaper. The assets on sale include the cement plant site, a quarry, a packing plant site, wharf silos, a water treatment plant and 11 houses. The assets comprise about 500 hectares of land, including 200 hectares of farmland. Expressions of interest closed in July 2016.
Flexicon launches weigh hopper with fill-pass valve 20 January 2017
UK: Flexicon has launched a weigh hopper with a ‘Fill/Pass’ valve for dilute-phase pneumatic conveying systems. The ‘Fill/Pass’ valve allows material to pass through the valve or to fill a hopper based on weight gain signals transmitted from load cells to the system's controller.
Suspended from three small-scale load cells, the bulk handling company says that the gain-in-weight hopper delivers higher accuracy than loss-of-weight systems requiring higher-capacity load cells. Single or multiple hoppers can be positioned along a common vacuum or positive pressure pneumatic conveying line for the discharging of dry bulk solids into single or multiple process equipment, storage vessels or downstream use points by weight. Downstream of the last ‘Fill/Pass’ valve, the conveying line can be routed to the original material source point or into a dust collection device.
Najran Cement’s net profit drops by over half in 2016 20 January 2017
Saudi Arabia: Najran Cement’s net profit has fallen by 51.2% year-on-year to US$33m in 2016 from US$68.1m in 2015. Its revenue fell by 35% to US$1.89bn from US$2.9bn. It blamed the fall in earnings on lower sales volumes due to low cement demand. It said this was caused by a slowdown of construction activities, an increase in energy prices and finance expenses.
Jordan: LafargeHolcim’s Rashadiya cement plant is set to generate up to a quarter of its power from a solar plant that will start operations in July 2017. Dubai’s Adenium Energy Capital signed a deal for the cement producer to develop the photovoltaic (PV) facility, according to SeeNews. Previously the PV unit was reported to have a capacity of 15MW but this has not been confirmed. In October 2016 Adenium Energy Capital said it had commissioned four PV parks in Jordan with a total capacity of 50MW in total.
Cement producers launch Georgian Cement Association 20 January 2017
Georgia: HeidelbergCement Caucasus (HCC) and the Georgian Building Group (GBG), a subsidiary of Kavkaz Cement, have formed the Georgian Cement Association. The association intends to focus on the quality of cement sold in the country and to create a publicly-recognisable seal of quality.
Domestically produced cement will be sampled in blind tests from product purchased from the open market. Testing shall be conducted primarily by an independent and neutral laboratory, such as the Georgian Technical University, and reconfirmed by parallel testing. Additionally, the Chamber of Commerce and industry of Georgia will supervise the process. The goal of the association is to create a respected and well-recognised ‘Good Quality Seal’ that only members will be able to use on packaging and in advertising.
Other aims of the association include working with the government and appropriate official bodies to tackle industry relevant issues and to promote the industry generally through the creation of jobs and economic growth.