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Oman: Raysut Cement Company (RCC) has recently launched a new silo at its cement plant in Salalah. The storage capacity of the new silo is 20,000t. It has a diameter of 30m and a height of 43m. RCC say it is one of the largest silos in the region.
The silo contains three compartments with a capacity of 3000 - 12,000t. It is designed to hold Ordinary Portland Cement, sulphate-resistant cement and oil well cement. The silo also contains two units for the loading of bulk cement with a delivery rate of 300t/hour. Weighbridges have been fitted beneath the silo to allow direct weighing of bulk cement before it is packed. The new silo will feed a proposed packing plant with 150t/hour of cement. This new packing plant is expected to be completed in the fourth quarter of 2016.
RCC intends to use its new silo and packing plant to target local and international markets.
US: A worker has died from a fall at the Midlothian Ash Grove Cement plant in Texas on 10 May 2016. The worker, Roderick U Barnes, was a maintenance mechanic at the plant according to the Waxahachie Daily Light newspaper. Barnes had been working on the top of a concrete mixing tower. The Mine Safety and Health Administration and Ash Grove Cement are conducting investigations into the cause of the accident.
Austria: The Federation of Austrian Cement Industry (VÖZ) has reported that its national cement market volumes grew by 4% year-on-year to 4.6Mt in 2015. Overall sales turnover increased by 4.3% to Euro388m. Alongside this, the use of alternative fuels by the cement industry increased to 76.1% in 2015 from 75.5% in 2015.
Rudolf Zrost, CEO of VÖZ, lauded the growth in cement volumes despite a ‘difficult’ year. Looking ahead to 2016 he expected that a turnaround in housing investment and hopes for infrastructure spending in 2016 would aid the market.
He also warned against emissions trading describing it as ‘bureaucratic’, as stifling innovation and as having no basis in reality.
China: Harbin Xiaoling Cement in Heilongjiang province has taken the environment ministry to court after its approval to operate was rejected following complaints by residents. The cement company’s representatives say the ministry was wrong to overrule a decision by the local authorities in 2011 that granted approval for production at the plant, according to the South China Morning Post.
The ministry took action following complaints by residents about noise and dust pollution. They argued that residents living within 500m of the plant should have been relocated following the recommendation of an environmental review conducted when the plant expanded production in 2009. However, the cement plant has countered that it was built in 1932, whilst the area was under Japanese occupation, before any resident moved to the area.
Zimbabwe: The Cement and Concrete Institute of Zimbabwe has presented a paper to the Ministry of Industry and Commerce suggesting government intervention in the cement industry including banning imported cement. The paper also calls for a protection tariff on imported cement of US$50/t, granting import licences to local producers, cancelling or reviewing all issued permits in circulation in the country and lowering duty on raw materials according to local press.
The country’s cement producers include Lafarge, PPC and Sino Cement. Together they have a cement production capacity of 1.85Mt/yr compared to an estimated demand of 1.17Mt/yr in 2016. Together these cement producers have invested nearly US$185m in cement plants upgrades within the last five years. However, a surplus of cement in the region means that South Africa, Mozambique, Zambia and Botswana export cement to Zimbabwe which is threatening the local producers’ investment.