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Holcim Philippines to Build Build Build 03 September 2018
Philippines: Holcim Philippines is reported to be considering additional clinker lines in line with the government's ‘Build Build Build’ infrastructure initiative. The LafargeHolcim subsidiary is already in the process of undertaking national expansion from 10Mt/yr in 2018 to 12Mt/yr in 2019.
Loesche coal mill for Ewekoro plant 03 September 2018
Nigeria: Lafarge Africa Plc, part of LafargeHolcim, is erecting a new coal grinding plant at its cement plant in Ewekoro, Nigeria, with Germany’s Loesche GmbH as the supplier. The plant previously used natural gas as its main fuel but inadequate local supplies meant that a change to coal was necessary. The order was made by the project’s general contractor, China’s CBMI Construction Company.
Local lignite and petcoke will be used as grinding materials. The grinding capacity for coal is 23t/hr at 23% R90µm and for petcoke it is 16t/hr at 3% R90µm.
The engineering, the core components of the mill and of the classifier with central feed, the rotary gate and the mill gearbox with a nominal power of 450kW are all included in the scope of service. Naturally, the reliable coal mill type corresponds to the ATEX standard to ensure safe operation. This is in line with LafargeHolcim's declared goal, defining health and safety as an overarching value.
Polpaico profit up by a half 03 September 2018
Chile: Cemento Polpaico, part of LafargeHolcim, reported a profit of US$5.93m in the first half of 2018, a 52.6% rise with respect to the US$3.9m profit it achieved in the first half of 2017. Its operating revenues from continuing activities were US$120.7m, a 32.2% year-on-year increase.
The company reported that the higher operating revenues were mainly due to an increase in sales volumes of cement and concrete, driven by the greater economic activity.
LafargeHolcim snaps up Denver ready-mix producer 03 September 2018
US: LafargeHolcim has acquired Metro Mix, LLC, a leading provider of ready-mix concrete in the Denver metropolitan area in Colorado. With Metro Mix, LafargeHolcim reports that it has further strengthened its position in the United States, where it is already present with operations in cement, ready-mix concrete, aggregates and asphalt.
Jan Jenisch, CEO of LafargeHolcim, said, “This is our fourth acquisition this year, in line with our Strategy 2022 - 'Building for Growth'. Metro Mix's operations are highly complementary to our existing footprint and will allow us to gain a larger share in a growing market with immediate commercial and operational synergies. I very much welcome all employees of Metro Mix to our company.”
Metro Mix operates two ready-mix concrete plants and reported net sales of around US$30m in 2017.
Moroccan cement consumption rebounds 03 September 2018
Morocco: Cement consumption in Morocco was higher in July 2018 than for any July since 2012 at 1.3Mt, a 0.1Mt (7.8%) year-on-year increase.
The upturn was reported by local press as having been expected by cement companies, which now hope to finish the year level or even slightly up on 2017, if conditions remain favourable.
According to data provided by the Professional Association of Cement Manufacturers (PCA), 10 out of 12 regions saw consumption increase in July 2018. Increases range from 0.33% for Oriental to 40.55% for Guelmim-Oued Noun.
Casablanca-Settat still has the lion's share of Moroccan cement consumption. The region was able to absorb 282,680t, an increase of 3.8% year-on-year. This zone was followed by Marrakech-Safi, which its volumes sold rise by nearly 21% compared to July 2017, thus accumulating 180,131t.