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FLSmidth takes process and quality optimisation order from CRH 21 January 2016
Denmark: FLSmidth has been awarded a contract for process and quality optimisation of 17 cement plants acquired by the CRH Group in 2015. FLSmidth's ability to deliver the large number of systems within 14 months was a factor in the order.
The order is the largest advanced process optimisation project awarded to FLSmidth and includes process optimisation of 12 kilns and 40 grinding mills, as well as quality optimisation of 14 raw mills. In addition, the order includes a service agreement, covering all 66 applications, where FLSmidth will provide support and on-going remote monitoring and optimisation by its process specialists.
The contract uses FLSmidth's ECS/ProcessExpert and QCX/BlendExpert products. The ECS/ProcessExpert system aims to improve plant performance by stabilising the process of the plant, optimising the production, managing and correcting process disruptions and minimising wear on plant equipment.
The QCX/BlendExpert system controls the proportioning of raw material feed to raw mills to obtain the desired chemical product quality with respect to chemical constraints, process constraints and material costs.
CRH is the third largest building materials supplier in the world and has more than doubled its cement production volume due to the recent acquisition of 34 plants (including grinding stations), divested as part of the Lafarge/Holcim merger in 2015. Many of the plants are already using optimisation systems, but CRH chose to standardise on FLSmidth's ECS/ProcessExpert and QCX/BlendExpert solutions.
Nepal: Cement producers have suggested that consumers wait for cement prices to fall before they build new homes. Bishnu Prasd Neupane, managing director of Jagadamba Cement, made the comment at a forum organised and reported upon by Nepal Republic Media. He said that end users could benefit from the fall in the international price of crude oil. A drop in fuel prices is expected to cut transport and production costs. Overall, the price of construction materials could drop by 20%.
Tara Prasad Pokharel, general secretary of Cement Manufacturer's Association Nepal (CMAN), asked customers not to pay more than a transportation cost of more than US$1.4/bag or more than 20% dealer costs on top of factory prices. The retail price of cement has increased by more than 50% due to high transportation costs caused by fuels shortages.
"The price of diesel is expected to come down to US$0.55/litre from US$0.69/litre. It will obviously lower our cost of production," said Pashupati Murarka, promoter of Arghakhanchi Cement and also the president of Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI). Use of diesel-run generators increases the price of cement by around US$0.74/bag at current oil prices. Use of the country's national grid increases is also expected to cut the cost of production significantly.
Lafarge Halla Cement up for sale 21 January 2016
South Korea: Glenwood Private Equity, a South Korean investment company, is in talks to buy Lafarge Halla Cement for US$497m. The private equity fund is in talks to buy the cement company in cooperation with Eugene Group, the country's largest ready-mixed concrete manufacturer, and Sungshin Cement, another Korean cement maker, according to sources cited by the Maeil Business Newspaper.
If the sale completes it will make Sungshin Cement the country's largest cement producer. At present Lafarge Halla Cement is the fourth largest producer with 12.1% of the market. The current market leader, Ssangyong Cement Industry, holds 19.8% of the market. Sungshin Cement could also benefit from buying Lafarge Halla Cement due to the company's diverse locations.
Lafarge Halla Cement was acquired by Lafarge in 2000 and is wholly owned by LafargeHolcim. Lafarge Halla Cement recorded US$367m in sales and US$30m in operating income in 2014.
Has China’s cement production peaked?
Written by David Perilli, Global Cement
20 January 2016
Even the Chinese premier doesn't trust his country's GDP figures. Li Keqiang reportedly told a US ambassador this in 2007. He described Chinese GDP figures as 'man-made' and unreliable. Wikileaks then made the diplomatic report public a few years later. This anecdote has been much reported this week due to the latest gloomy economic figures from China. Its economy officially grew by 6.9% in 2015, its slowest rate in 25 years.
So what can a jittery world trust? Keqiang was reported to focus on three data samples to compensate for an unreliable GDP: electricity consumption, rail cargo volume and bank lending. Global Cement Magazine suggests that he should have followed one more: cement. What can cement tell us about the Chinese economy in recent years?
Chinese cement production fell by 4.9% to 2.35Bt/yr in 2015 according to newly published figures by the National Bureau of Statistics of China (NBSC). This is significant. Firstly, whether it is a true reflection of actual production or not, it is an admission by a Chinese state body that cement production is declining. Secondly, it signals the end of the rapid growth of the country's heavy industries through the 1990s and 2000s.
Figure 1 – Chinese cement production by quarter, 2014 – 2015
Figure 1 shows Chinese cement production by quarter in 2014 and 2015 using NBSC data. Two years are insufficient to pick out any major trends other than seasonal trends throughout each year. However, remove the slow winter months in the first quarter of each year and a steady decrease in production throughout 2014 and 2015 is apparent.
Figure 2 – Chinese cement production by year, 2005 – 2015
Figure 2 offers the context that Figure 1 lacked by comparing cement production from 2005 to 2015. Notable trends to point out are a slow down in growth in 2008, around the time of the global financial crash. Then production peaked in 2014 before falling in 2015. This data comes from the United States Geological Survey and then latterly the NBSC.
Figure 3 – Chinese cement production by year and GDP/capita, 2005 – 2015
Figure 3 shows annual growth in cement production against growth in GDP. The similarity of each line here, or the rate of growth, and where they diverge is what is interesting here. Up until the late 2000s the trend is similar until GDP/capita starts to grow faster than cement production. At this point either the Chinese economy has started to acknowledge that it can build all the infrastructure and housing it needs or perhaps the slowing growth in cement production has started to point to slowing GDP/capita growth.
2015 could be a blip if growth resumes in 2016. Yet the other heavy industry metrics suggest otherwise. Electric power and steel production also fell for the first time in 2015. Coal production dropped for the second year in a row. The Chinese housing market started to slow noticeably in 2014, cement production followed by slowing down and now the country's GDP growth has also slowed. Alongside this the industry's capacity reduction programme officially started in late 2013. Cement consumption per capita for China has long suggested that Chinese growth was due to slow. It is reassuring to finally see the official production figures reflect this. The real question though is what happens next.
US: Registration for the 58th annual IEEE-IAS/PCA Cement Industry Technical Conference is now open. The Conference takes place on 15 - 19 May 2016 at the Gaylord Texan Resort and Convention Center in Grapevine, Texas.
The conference features technical presentations, tutorials, state of the industry updates and professional development training sessions, as well as several networking opportunities and a student outreach programme. This year's conference will also feature a new series of training modules called 'Process Training,' which is focused on the cement production process.