Global Cement News

Norway: Oil and gas industry engineering firm Aker Solutions has won a contract to test and study the capture of CO₂ from flue gas emitted at Norcem's cement plant in Brevik, Norway. The award from the HeidelbergCement subsidiary, in cooperation with the European Cement Research Academy (ECRA) marks the first time technology to capture CO₂ will be used at a cement production plant.

Aker Solutions will perform long-term testing on the actual flue gas to select optimum chemical solvent for high content CO₂ flue gas at the plant. Tests will be performed with Aker Solutions' in-house developed Mobile Test Unit (MTU). The MTU is a CO₂ capture plant that includes all processes and functions found in a large scale commercial plant.

ECRA members chose Norcem Brevik as the site for ECRA operational CO₂-capture test project. The project is supported and partly financed by the CLIMIT programme, which is managed by Gassnova in cooperation with the Research Council of Norway.

Aker Solutions has developed CO₂-technology solutions since the early 1990s. A separate company, Aker Clean Carbon, was established in 2007 as a company under Aker ASA to commercialise carbon capture technology. Aker Solutions took full ownership of Aker Clean Carbon in 2012 and carbon capture and storage activities are an integrated part of Aker Solutions.

India: The Competition Appellate Tribunal (COMPACT) has ordered cement producers to pay 10% of a US$1.15bn fine imposed on them by the Competition Commission of India (CCI) for a price-fixing cartel. The tribunal asked 11 Indian cement producers to pay the fine within 30 days otherwise their appeal against the fine will be dismissed.

COMPAT had reserved its order over a batch of petitions filed by various cement producers and the Cement Manufacturer's Association (CMA) on 18 March 2013 after hearing them on an interim plea. In the petitions, the cement producers had challenged US$1.15bn penalty imposed on them by the Competition Commission of India (CCI) and a US$133,000 fine imposed on the CMA. The cement companies charged with cartel behaviour include Lafarge India, India Cement, JP Associates, Binani Cement, Ambuja Cement, Madras Cement and J K Cement.

The CCI had found cement producers were in violation of the provisions of the Competition Act, 2002 which deals with anti-competitive agreements, including cartels. The order was passed following probe by CCI Director General (Investigation) on a complaint filed by Builders Association.

South Africa:PPC (Pretoria Portland Cement Company) plans to build a 1Mt/yr plant costing US$200m in the Democratic Republic of Congo, according to its chief executive in an interview with Reuters. The South African cement producer aims to make at least 40% of its sales outside of South Africa by 2016.

"By the last quarter of 2015 we should begin cement production almost simultaneously in Ethiopia, Rwanda and the DRC. Zimbabwe will probably be six to nine months later," said chief executive Ketso Gordhan. He added that PPC is also looking at opportunities in Zambia, Tanzania and Malawi.

PPC reported its interim results for the half-year ending on 31 March 2013 on 16 May 2013. Profit fell by 20% year-on-year to US434.8m but total revenue rose by 8% to US$409m. Gordhan added that rising cement sales volumes for the half-year had been tempered by low sales in Botswana.

Congratulations to Cemex for their work on alternative fuels in Germany. In April 2013 Cemex reached an alternative fuels substitution rate of over 80% at its German cement plants, with the Kollenbach plant beating 90%. Impressive stuff.

The German cement industry as a whole is already one of the leaders in the industry for alternative fuels use, reaching levels above 60% in 2010. This compares favourably with, for example, the UK's (high) rate of 40% in 2011 and the Cembureau average rate of 28% for its 27 European member states in 2009.

To show how fast the change in alternative fuels usage has been in Germany, in 2000 the rate was around 25%. For Cembureau members it was about 10.5% in 2000. Cemex's achievement at Kollenbach even surpasses HeidelbergCement's alternative fuels rate of 85% that it achieved across the border in 2011, at its Eerste Nederlandse Cement Industrie (ENCI) plant in the Netherlands.

Globally, Cemex seems likely to meet its 2015 target of 35% alternative fuels substitution rate. The other large multinational cement producers have similar plans in place. For example, Lafarge intends to reach 50% usage by 2020.

For more information on the German cement industry, read our feature 'Germany: A modern force in cement' in the May 2013 issue of Global Cement Magazine.

This week we present the 100th issue of Global Cement Weekly, Global Cement's weekly cement industry news digest. To mark the occasion we would like to know what you think about what we are doing. Let us know by taking the Global Cement Reader Survey 2013. All completed submissions will be entered in a draw to win an iPad Mini.

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China: China Tianrui Group Cement has said that Yu Yagang tendered his resignation as an executive director and chief financial officer with effect from 11 May 2013 for reasons of personal development. Yu will remain as the chief accountant of Tianrui Cement, a wholly owned subsidiary of China Tianrui.

Yang Yongzheng has been appointed as an executive director, authorised representative and a member of the nomination committee. Yang will remain as the general manager of Tianrui Cement. Xu Wuxue has been appointed as an executive director, chief financial officer and a member of the remuneration committee. Xu will remain as the chief financial officer of Tianrui Cement. Wang Delong has been appointed as an executive director and deputy chief executive officer.