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CMS Cement to increase capacity to 2.75Mt/yr 20 January 2014
Malaysia: Cement manufacturer CMS Cement Sdn Bhd, a Cahya Mata Sarawak Bhd subsidiary, will invest in a third cement grinding plant that will boost its installed capacity by 1Mt/yr to 2.75Mt/yr.
Cahya Mata group managing director, Datuk Richard Curtis, said that the plant would be adjacent to CMS Cement's clinker plant in Mambong, Jalan Penrissen. "We are now evaluating tenders for the project. It is expected to be ready by 2016 to support Sarawak's future growth and development," said Curtis. He said that the new plant, which would be integrated with the clinker plant, would serve the needs of Kuching and its hinterland while the existing plant at Pending would cater for other towns in Sarawak when the new factory was commissioned.
CMS Cement recorded sales of 1.67Mt of bulk and bagged cement in 2013. Curtis said the company's cement sales were estimated to increase to 1.72Mt in 2014 and that the company might import 0.20Mt, which was lower than the 0.27Mt imported in 2013. Once the third grinding plant is operational, the company will be able to address any production disruptions when one of the plants is shut down for maintenance.
CMS Cement will invest US$18.1m on the new plant, a third bulk cement barge to improve distribution capability, a 4000t cement silo to increase storage capacity and an inline packer for the Bintulu grinding plant to beef up capacity for bagged cement.
Ambuja Cements commissions Mangalore cement terminal 17 January 2014
India: Ambuja Cements has commissioned its cement terminal unit at Mangalore in the Dakshina Kannada district of Karnataka. The US$57.1m project has a capacity of 1Mt/yr. With the launching of this unit, all of the states along the west coast will be covered by Ambuja Bulk Cement Terminals.
The terminal will provide Ambuja an opportunity to receive imported cement and also help to reduce the negative effects of seasonality at the Gujarat plant. The terminal will also reduce the logistic costs by having common vessels for Mangalore and Cochin Bulk Cement Terminal.
Kazakhstan to launch new cement plants to reduce imports 17 January 2014
Kazakhstan: The Ministry of Innovation and New Technology of Kazakhstan has announced that in 2014 the Mangistau region in the southwest and Akmola region in the north of Kazakhstan will be able to completely halt cement imports, as new cement production facilities will be launched in these regions.
"The launch of new production facilities, Caspiycement in the Mangistau region, which will have a capacity of 1Mt/yr and Kokshecement in the Akmola region, which will have a 2Mt/yr capacity, will allow the regions to halt cement imports, increase cement exports and curb seasonal price increases in the west and north of Kazakhstan," the ministry said.
According to the ministry, in the first 10 months of 2013 Kazakhstan produced 6.2Mt and imported 1.6Mt of cement. During this period, the supply of cement produced in Kazakhstan exceeded 80% of the country's demand. Kazakhstan now has 10 cement plants with a total production capacity of 10.7Mt/yr.
In December 2013 Italy's Italcementi held a ground-breaking ceremony for a new kiln line at its ShymkentCement plant in southern Kazakhstan. The plant's managing director, Gabriel Morin, said that the production capacity of the new dry cement line will be 1.2Mt/yr and will take 20 months to complete.
"The new cement making technology line is expected to produce first clinker in the middle of 2015," said Morin, adding that after the launch of the new line the old kiln will be shut down. Modernisation of the 1.28Mt/yr plant has cost US$80m.
169 bags of low quality cement seized in Jammu 17 January 2014
India: Jammu police, acting on a tip-off, seized 169 bags of low quality cement from a cement shop. The cement was labelled as Ambuja and ACC Cement.
"The cement dealer was selling low quality cement as Ambuja and ACC Cement to make a profit," police said. The dealer, Subhash Chander and shop worker, Vijay Kumar, were both arrested. Investigations are on-going.
FLSmidth wins cement order in Oman 16 January 2014
Oman: FLSmidth has received an order worth US$38m from Oman Cement Company for the supply of milling equipment for a cement plant located in Rusayl Industrial Area, 60km from Port Sultan Qaboos, Muscat.
The order includes a 150t/hr closed circuit ball mill system that consists of two 8000t capacity cement silos. The scope of supply also includes a high-efficiency central drive for the ball mill and a dynamic separator and fabric filters to reduce dust emissions.
"Infrastructure growth in Oman has created a huge demand for cement. Oman Cement Company are already upgrading their existing production lines and now want to set up a fifth cement grinding unit. FLSmidth has a strong service capability and presence in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries and therefore has good relations with the company," said group executive vice president Bjarne Moltke Hansen.
The order will be booked by the Cement division and contribute to FLSmidth's earnings until mid-2015.