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Upgrade works at Sino Zimbabwe Cement 16 March 2015
Zimbabwe: Sino Zimbabwe Cement Company is now operating at 60% capacity utilisation following a US$4m investment in a three-phase plant upgrade.
Phase one upgrades were undertaken on the cement mill and rotary kiln in order to boost cement output. The completion of the kiln upgrade has seen Sino Zimbabwe Cement improve its energy consumption and reduce its carbon footprint, while the new high-temperature bag filter system will significantly reduce dust emissions. The second phase of upgrades will target the warehousing and storage facilities and are expected to be completed in 2015. The third phase will be completed in 2016.
"The completion of the first phase boosted clinker production at the Gweru plant. Now we can produce 700,000t/yr," said Industrial Development Corporation of Zimbabwe (IDCZ) public relations advisor Dereck Sibanda. "The amount invested went towards refurbishments of the cement mill, the rotary kiln as well as renewing and automating ancillary equipment."
Sibanda said that cement demand is at its peak and that Sino Zimbabwe Cement will continue its upgrades to improve viability. "The second phase is expected to be complete sometime this year and we are quite confident of our prospects considering the richness of our limestone deposits," said Sibanda.
Sino-Zim is a joint venture company between IDCZ and China Buildings Materials Corporation, which started operating in 2001. The US$4m investment by the Chinese shareholder was to boost output and reduce pollution. Sibanda said that the new technology would help Sino Zimbabwe Cement to reduce its emissions. In 2013, it was fined by the Environmental Management Agency for air pollution.
Commercial coal mining to be allowed 16 March 2015
India: In the first major step towards opening the coal mining sector, India's government will start allocating coal blocks to state governments for commercial mining. The move, which is expected to be undertaken in April 2015, will put an end to the 41-year-old monopoly over the commercial sale of coal.
The coal ministry will allot non-operational mines to state governments for commercial coal mining for end use in the iron, steel, cement and allied sectors. This will bring business and revenue to coal-rich states, which have so far only received royalties from private companies mining coal for captive use.
"Non-operational mines will be allotted to state governments to extract coal for commercial usage and market sale. States could then sell this coal to the utilities under their umbrella or any private company for various end uses, as specified in the ordinance," said a senior official. This is pursuant to an enabling provision on commercial mining and sale of coal in the coal ordinance (special provisions), 2014. The coal ministry will also issue guidelines for the appointment of mining development operators (MDOs) by states.
The coal ordinance has inserted section 3A in the Coal Mines Nationalisation Act to enable joint ventures by central and state governments and their companies and any other company, for mining operations in India 'in any form, either for own consumption, sale or for any other purpose,' in accordance with a licence granted by the state government concerned.
Cement market to grow between 3% and 5% in 2015 13 March 2015
Mexico: Mexico's cement market could grow by 3 - 5% in 2015, driven by dynamism in the housing sector, an increase in the amount of cash remittances migrants send home and the government's national infrastructure programme, according to Holcim. Growth could, however, be limited by low crude oil revenues, federal government budget cuts and the US Dollar exchange rate volatility. Nevertheless, 2015 is likely to be much better than 2014 as far as cement sales are concerned.
The local construction industry continued to recover in the first two months of 2015 as it did after the second half of 2014. Cement sales for infrastructure projects might be driven by growth in three sectors, namely road, airport and port construction, energy construction and water pipeline and dam construction. Infrastructure projects account for 30 - 40% of cement consumption in Mexico. Housing construction accounts for 40% of all sales. An increase in the arrival of cash remittances is expected to trigger more sales of cement for housing projects. Commercial and industrial construction projects consume 20% of all sales and this segment has performed very well in recent months.
Podilskiy Cement reports Euro123m loss for 2014 13 March 2015
Ukraine: Podilskiy Cement, part of Ireland's CRH, has reported a loss of Euro123m for 2014, following a Euro5.05m loss in 2013. Podilskiy Cement enterprise has six kilns for the production of cement with the total capacity of 3.7Mt/yr.
Reliance Infrastructure might sell Reliance Cement 13 March 2015
India: Reliance Infrastructure, part of Anil Ambani-led Reliance Group, has decided to sell its cement business, Reliance Cement, to fund the acquisition of Pipavav Defence and Offshore Engineering, which it is acquiring for US$331m.
Reliance Cement is in talks with HeidelbergCement and Italcementi and has offered a 50% stake in the company. The prospective joint venture partner will also fund the company's cement capacity expansion, which is estimated to rise to 15Mt/yr by 2018. Details of the valuation of the possible deal are unknown. HeidelbergCement has operations in Damoh in Madhya Pradesh, Jhansi in Uttar Pradesh and Ammasandra in Karnataka. Italcementi is active in India via Zuari Cement.
Reliance Cement has a 5Mt/yr capacity cement plant in Maihar, Madhya Pradesh. As part of its expansion plan, it is setting up another 5Mt/yr plant in Maharashtra, which is set to be operational by 2017. It is also planning another 5Mt/yr of capacity to be operational by 2018, via a second line in Madhya Pradesh, a new plant in Karnataka or a new plant in Rajasthan.