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SEPTEMBER 2008

Global cement news IAA 2008 preview Contracts 2007/08: Part 2 Corporate Top 10: Part 2 CFD Latin America focus Plant upgrades

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This month’s front cover...Loesche – The Grinding ExpertLoesche provides milling and drying plants worldwide for the cement, energy and mineral industries. The Loesche company has attained a notable market leadership by means of patent-protected process technology and engineering know-how, de-veloped over more than 100 years. Our engineers are constantly developing new ideas and individual concepts for grinding technologies. Thus, we were able to build the world’s largest 6 roller grinding mill for cement raw material. Loesche is able to deliver all mills for a cement plant. From fi rst concept to com-missioning, augmented by maintenance, repair,modernisation of milling plant and spare parts activities - all from one source.For more information please visit: www.loesche.com.

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Dear Readers,

It’s not been much of a summer here in the UK. Th e weather continues to frustrate. In the past, the month of August was a virtually guaranteed period of warm sunshine and long summer days. But, if recent years are anything to go by, times are changing; August is now jokingly referred to as the UK’s ‘monsoon season.’ Whether this is a trend that is set to last remains to be seen. Climate change is there for all to see, but as for global warming, we’re yet to experience much of it over here!

Nevertheless, what has ‘brightened’ me up while putting this issue together is the almost never-ending news coming out of Venezuela, principally the nationalisation saga that has aff ected three of the world’s major cement companies (for the record, Lafarge, Holcim and Cemex). I’m not in any way happy or unhappy about what is going on (I’m strictly neutral). Rather, the dramatic series of events coming out of that part of South America makes my life as an editor so much more interesting (and easier). Th ere’s nothing quite like a bit of juicy intrigue to keep our publishing juices fl owing. Life would be dull without a bit of drama, and Hugo Chávez is helping to keep those particular wheels turning quite nicely.

Perhaps with a delicious sense of timing, this issue of the magazine puts a spotlight on Latin America, focusing on some of the news coming out of this region that is abuzz with cement and construction-related activity. Th is edition is also chock-full of varied and interesting features, including, in no particular order, a focus on cement transport (with a preview of the forthcoming IAA trade fair in Hanover); more alternative fuels and slag cement news and articles; the second part of global cement contracts and the latest installment of our Corporate Top 10 (featuring Cemex, Anhui Conch and Italcementi).

Also featured is a round-up of recent cement plant upgrade stories, as well as an interesting article on computational fl ow dynamics. Th is last paper came fi rst in the ‘best presentation’ category at the Global Cement Europe Conference, held in Moscow in March 2008. It’s well worth a read.

Enjoy the issue!

SEPTEMBER 2008

CONFERENCE & EXHIBITION 2008

GLOBAL SLAG CONFERENCE 10-11 November 2008, Strasbourg• Make contacts in the global slag industry• Catch up on the latest developments, applications, technology and news• Field trip to ArcelorMittal’s Florange plantDetails: www.propubs.com/gsc

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CFD is generally defi ned as a mathematical ap-proach using numerical and computational tech-

niques to obtain the visual interpretation of a solution of physical equations for fl uid motion. Th is technique hasimproved in the last decade with computational powerbeing boosted by new hardware architectures and paral-lel computing. In addition, physical models have beenmodelled better due to advances in engineering science,multiphase fl ow studies and experiment correlations.

CFD is structured to provide numerical solutions us-ing the concept of fi nite volume. Th e fi rst concept de-scribes the domain where the fl uid will be embedded,i.e. the physical geometry that must contain the fl uid.In engineering science, it is named as Computer AidedDesign (CAD), and is a sketch or drawing of the physi-cal equipment. With the technology being used, a three-dimensional geometry is created that does not use many resources. Aft er the domain, the second important con-cept is the mesh, which is the basic division of the geom-etry in elements formed by nodes. Th e mesh has to begenerated in a such way that the volume applied to eachdiscrete element is discrete, i.e. able to process continu-ous models and equations. Discretisation is concernedwith the transformation of continuous diff erential equa-tions, in this case the Navier-Stokes fl ow equations, intodiscrete diff erence equations, solved by numerical com-puting.

Th e scenario applied to the problem brings the pre-processing, where the fl ow will be modeled by a set-up within a group of equations that can represent thephysics. Th e solver must apply numerical details of theinterpolation scheme, relaxation and solution criteriato guarantee a comparison of physical variables within

the user range. Th e last stage is post-processing, which involves displaying the results in graphs, profi les and animations.

Lots of in-house and commercial soft ware can be used to perform CFD calculations. However, the engi-neer has to be aware about the limitations of each one. A good tip is to compare at least two of the most renowned when a budget is approved.

Th ere are four critical stages in the cement process: dynamic separator, calciner, rotary kiln and electrofi l-ter or electrostatic precipitator (ESP). Th e fi rst two have been the subject of some simulations and analysis that ESSS has been performing for approximately a year at Holcim’s Barroso plant in Brazil.

Case I – dynamic separatorTh e dynamic separator is located between the raw mill exit and the calciner entrance (before the rotary kiln). Th e aim of the dynamic separator is to drive cement quality in terms of particle sizing. In theory, all crude particles have to be under 90μm to be considered a ‘fi ne particle’ and suitable for separation. Although dynamic separators are designed to separate particles of diff er-ent sizes, there is a limitation on the separation process where the mixture is formed. As a result, it is far from being 100% effi cient. Th e problem is that coarse parti-cles jump into the fi ne storage, reducing the quality of the material that reaches the furnace.

As is well known, coarse particles make it diffi cult to form clinker. On the fl ip side, fi ne particles can also be captured by strong fl ow and be stored on the coarse side. Th is eff ect represents a problem in terms of cost of pro-duction because if the fi ner material is already in place,

CFD MODELLING

The manufacture of cement involves several steps, each one critical in determining the effi ciency of the overall process. Optimising each of these steps is a major task in itself. With the advent of Computational Flow Dynamics (CFD) – a mathematical modelling approach – some of this complexity is removed. In this paper, ESSS, a Brazilian company that specialises in developing scientifi c simulation software, describes how its CFD methodolgy has helped Holcim Brazil to optimise its operations.

Computational fl uid dynamics as a tool Computational fl uid dynamics as a tool for challenging problems in the cement for challenging problems in the cement industry – a case study at Holcim Brazilindustry – a case study at Holcim Brazil

Leonardo Paes Rangel Engineering Simulation and Scientifi c Software (ESSS)

Matthias Wissmann, presi-dent of the German As-

sociation of the Automotive In-dustry (VDA), had this to say of the upcoming IAA Hanover au-tomotive fair: “Th e world’s mostimportant mobility trade fair– the 62nd IAA Commercial Ve-hicles in Hanover – will set new records for the number of exhib-itors, the number of countriesrepresented and the amount of exhibition space occupied,” MrWissmann was speaking to 200journalists from all over Europeat the VDA’s International PressWorkshop on commercial vehi-cles in Frankfurt.

Th e number of exhibitors is expected to reach 2000, i.e. upby one quarter on the previousrecord set at the IAA in 2006.“Th is is clearly a huge increase,”Wissmann said. Nearly twomonths before the trade fairbegins (on 25 September, run-ning to 2 October 2008), 1986

exhibitors from 47 countries have registered (compared to 1556 in 2006). Th e amount of exhibition space will be 275,000m2, 10% more than 2006. “So the IAA is im-pressively emphasising its leading position among the

world’s mobility trade fairs,” Wissmann stated.Th is year the IAA, which is organised by the VDA,

will again be the ideal platform for exhibitors and pro-fessional visitors to initiate business and conclude con-tracts. Wissmann stressed: “Th ere is no other commer-cial vehicle trade fair with more innovations or morevehicle presentations.”

Furthermore, this IAA will comprehensively addressthe questions of sustainable mobility and transport ef-fi ciency. Th e IAA’s headline is “Commercial Vehicles:On the move for everyone.” Wissmann continued: “Wewant this to underscore again the essential role playedby commercial vehicles in delivering people’s everyday supplies and in enabling business to function. All of usshould consider that having fresh vegetables in the su-permarket, for example, requires the use of trucks, evenif some motorists don’t like the trucks when they are onthe freeways.”

However, the VDA president pointed out that truckswill “not be able to move all our freight traffi c on theirown” which, according to forecasts, will increase by 50%in Germany and Europe in the next 15 years. Wissmannadded: “All modes of transport are going to be needed –trucks, railroads and inland waterways. Th e trench war-fare between them is now fi nally a thing of the past, andeach one should exhaust its potentials, both individually and in combination. Th ere is enough transport availablefor everyone.”

Global Cement Magazine now showcases some of thecompanies exhibiting at the 62nd IAA fair that have animportant part to play in cement haulage.

62nd IAA HANOVER

Global Cement Magazine presents a preview of the 62nd IAA Commercial Vehicles trade fair in Hanover,between 25 September – 2 October 2008, including a description of some of the companies exhibiting that play a part in cement haulage.

62nd IAA Commercial Vehicles in62nd IAA Commercial Vehicles inHanover sets new records in exhibitor Hanover sets new records in exhibitor numbers and exhibition spacenumbers and exhibition space

Editorial staff Global Cement Magazine

Hanover – venue for

the 62nd IAA Commercial

Vehicles trade fair. From top

to bottom: Hanover’s

Herrenhausen Gardens; the

new town hall and an aerial

view of the city.

1414 globalglobalcementcement MAGAZINEMAGAZINE September 2008September 2008

PLANT UPGRADES 20072008

Aumund/Schade Lagertechnik GmbHSchade Lagertechnik, part of the Aumund Group, has been busy expanding the range of services it off ers, espe-cially in the fi eld of cement plant upgrades. In 2007/08 Schade engineers have been involved in plant upgrades in the following countries: Argentina (Amali), the UAE (Fujairah), Australia (German Creek and Curragh) and even in North Korea.

In Fujairah the reclaiming capacity of the existing bridge scraper of a competitor was increased from 280t/h to 400t/h. At the same time, the storage capac-ity of the existing silo was extended from 36,000t to 43,000t.

In Amali, the Schade service team achieved an in-crease in the reclaiming capacity from 450t/h to 750t/h of a third-party product. In the Australian Curragh and German Creek, Schade engineers carried out an up-grade of the existing Schade bridge scrapers from 1200 to 1800t/h each.

In the North Korean town of Sangwon the cement works which has been operating for more than 20 years will be completely renewed. Here, Schade Lagertechnik received an order to increase the capacity and availabil-ity of the existing stockyard equipment.

globalcement MAGAZINE

Right: A Schade circular

reclaimer.

Below: A Schade engineer

servicing parts.

40 globalcement MAGAZINE September 2008


Plant upgrades 2007/08Plant upgrades 2007/08Global Cement Magazine showcases some cement plant upgrades that have taken place during the past 12 months, focusing on Aumund/Schade Lagertechnik, Pillard, Thermoteknix and Vicat.


CONTENTS

77

1414The presence of sulphate is one of the most impor-

tant factors that aff ects the durability of concrete.In nature, sulphate solutions exist in ground water, seawater, and soil. Th e penetration of the sulphate ionsfrom these sources into concrete is simply defi ned as‘sulphate attack.’ Th is penetration leads to deteriorationin concrete and results in expansions, strength loss,scaling and extended cracks.

C3A and C4AF compounds mainly dominate theperformance of the cement against sulphate attack. Th eexistence of these compounds in cement directly aff ectsthe amount of etringite and monosulphoaluminateformations in the presence of sulphate. Th e higher theconcentration of C3A, the higher the amount of mono-sulphoaluminate is formed in fresh concrete, whichresults in etringite formation in hardened concrete, ul-timately leading to the creation of expansions.

Many studies have been performed on the sulphateresistance of cement. Investigations show that in addi-tion to low C3A content in cement, the permeability of the concrete also plays a great role in mitigating sul-phate attack. Generally, mineral admixtures are knownto have positive eff ects on the sulphate resistance of con-crete as they make the concrete less permeable. Recentstudies prove this hypothesis, specifi cally that use of mineral admixtures – such as blast furnace slag – im-prove the sulphate resistance of cement.1,2 As for GGBFScements, research shows that they perform even betterthan traditional sulphate-resistant cements against sul-phate attack.3

Th e objective of this study was to determine the per-formance of GGBFS cement (TS EN 197-1 CEM III/A42.5N) mortars against sulphate attack in comparison tothat of sulphate-resistant cement (TS 10157 SDÇ 32.5)and ordinary Portland cement (TS EN 197-1 CEM I42.5R).

Materials and methodsIn the study, all cements having similar 28-day compres-sive strengths of 50MPa were obtained commercially. Foreach type of cement, mortar prisms of 40 x 40 x 160mmand 25 x 25 x 285mm were pro-duced according to TS EN 196-1. All specimens were stored in cur-ing water at 20°C (±1) until they reached a compressive strength of 20MPa. Th e specimens were then placed in 5% aqueous Na2SO4

solution at 20°C (±1) for the re-mainder of the study. Changes in prism length in the form of elongations were measured and recorded weekly, according to ASTM C 1012 for a period of 32 weeks. Th e physical, chemical and mechanical properties of the cements are shown in Table 1.

Results and DiscussionTh e results obtained from the mortar prisms treated with the

sulphate solution show that the elongations of CEM III/A 42.5N and SDÇ 32.5 prisms aft er 32 weeks are similar to each other and equal to 35% of the elonga-tions of CEM I 42.5R prisms (see Figure 1).

Th e test results also show that the CEM III/A 42.5N sample is the most resistant among the other three ce-ments, with an elongation increase of 0.087%. Th e elon-gations of SDÇ 32.5 and CEM I 42.5R are 0.095% and 0.251% respectively. Th e elongations of the cement mor-tar prisms and related coeffi cient of variations values are summarised in Table 2.

Considering the strength performances, CEM III/A 42.5N again appears to be the most durable cement with a compressive strength loss of 18 %. Th e respective strength losses of SDÇ 32.5 and CEM I 42.5R are 20% and 30% (see Table 3).

CEM III/A 42.5N showed the best performance against sulphate attack concerning the degree of elonga-tion and loss of strength among three types of cements. Th is observation is probably explained on the basis that CEM III/A 42.5N has a lower C3A content compared


Table 1: Physical, chemical

and mechanical properties

of the cements investigated

in this study.

Figure 1: Graph to show

elongations of the mortar

prisms stored in Na2SO4

solution.

ALTERNATIVE RAW MATERIALS SLAG

Parameter CEM 1 242.5R SDC 32.5 CEM III/A 42.5N

Loss on ignition (%) 2.83 3.42 -

Insoluble residue (%) 3.25 3.82 -

Cl- (%) 0.008 0.0105 0.007

SO3 (%) 3.12 2.87 3.00

C3A (%) 8.67 4.20 -

C3A + 2 C4AF (%) 25.04 21.72 -

Total constituents (%) - - 58.2

Density (g/cm3) 3.13 3.14 3.02

Specifi c surface (cm2/g) 3675 3445 4270

2 day compressive strength (MPa) 23.4 21.7 16.7



Initial setting time (min) 125 135 175

Final setting time (min) 185 200 225

Soundness (mm) 1.0 1.0 1.0

0

0,05

0,1

0,15

0,2

0,25

0,3

W e e k

CEM I 42.5R

SDÇ 32.5

CEM III/A42.5N

Global technology & trends 6 Diary dates

7 Computational fl uid dynamics as a tool forchallenging problems in the cement industry

14 62nd IAA Commercial Vehicles, Hanover preview

18 Transport focus: Getting cement from A-to-B

Alternative fuels for cement 20 Alternative fuels in Pakistan

22 The practical aspects of alternative fuels

28 Alternative fuels news

Alternative raw materials for cement 30 A comparative study of the sulphate resistance of

CEM III/A cement

34 Alternative raw materials news

European cement 35 European cement news

The latest news from the European cement industry

40 Plant upgrades 2007/08

46 Corporate Top 10: Part 2

North & South American cement 50 North and South American cement news

The latest news from the cement industry of the Americas

55 Global Cement contracts 2007/08: Part 2

61 Latin America focus

Asian cement 64 Asian Cement news

The latest news from the cement industry in Asia

Middle Eastern & African cement 67 Middle Eastern and African cement news

The latest news from the Middle East and Africa

71 Global cement prices

72 Subscription form

73 The Last Word



Sulphate attack is one of the most important factors aff ecting the durability of concrete. This article presents an experimental study on the sulphate resistance of ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBFS) cement as compared to that of ordinary Portland cement and sulphate resistant cement. In the study, mortar samples were prepared and subjected to 5% Na2SO4 solution for a period of 32 weeks. The performance of the cements was then determined through expansion and compressive strength measurements. The results revealed that GGBFS cement showed good performance against sulphate attack.

A comparative study on the sulphateA comparative study on the sulphateresistance of CEM III/A cementresistance of CEM III/A cement

Oktay Kutlu*, Bahadir Erdoğan‡ *Adana Cimento, ‡ Turkish Cement Manufacturers’ Association


Felbinder (FBB)Feldbinder Spezialfahrzeugwerke GmbH – also knownas FFB – started operations in 1975 when FFB manag-ing directors Otto Felbinder and Jan-Dirk Beckmannjoined together to construct silo vehicles. Since then,FFB has expanded to produce liquid tankers (since1993), silo rail wagons (since 1996) and liquid and railwagons (since 2003).

Aft er operating from confi ned premises in Hamburgfor the initial fi ve years, Otto Felbinder and Jan-Dirk Beckmann moved to Winsen/Luhe together with 20other staff . At that time, FFB had an annual output of approximately 120 units. FFB now employs 1300 mem-bers of staff in their factories throughout Europe. Th is

includes approximately 1200 employees in Germany alone, of which roughly 80 are trainees. In 2007, FFB produced more than 3000 vehicles. Th is corresponds to a daily rate of over 12 units which, together with the aft er-sales business, amounts to a consolidated annual turnover of approximately Euro215m, with similar pro-duction fi gures anticipated for 2008.

In the summer of 2008 FFB opened a new production facility at its Winsen headquarters, boasting 7000m2 of space. Its order books made this necessary in order to be able to supply a suffi cient number of vehicles.

At the IAA show FFB can be found in hall 25, stand B43. Th e entire production range for road and intermo-dal transport will be on display.

62nd IAA HANOVER

A Felbinder tanker truck

Felbinder supplies vehicles for liquid haulage, as in this wagon seen here.


there is no need for returning tothe mill. What to do then? New technologies can provide highereffi ciencies, but high costs andtime pressures lead to slow de-cision-making. Th e alternativein this case is to understand thephysics of separation and to sim-ulate the particle track on a ba-sic level, and to propose simplegeometry modifi cations to im-prove the effi ciency on a secondlevel using CFD analysis.

Th e geometry details andequipment progress are present-ed with the guide vanes and thecrude feed in detail. Setting upof the mesh is done in accord-ance with precise surface infor-mation that is important to the fl ow, i.e. surfaces where there is more interest in investigating internals require a fi ner mesh. Th e number of nodes is proportional to the time it takes to converge a case. With 1.4m nodes, the case takes about three days to provide a solution with a quad-process computer parallelised with eight central processing units.

Th e mathematical modelling of the dynamic sepa-rator includes a steady state assumption with air fl ow at 25°C; a turbulence k-є model; a rotation speed of 165rpm and a multiphase fl ow based on the Euler-La-grange method. Figure 1 reveals the parts of the equip-ment that have been modelled with refl ected particles atthe walls having inlet velocity of 0.8ms-1 and an outletpressure of 0atm (reference pressure is 1atm).

In this study the solver calculated the track of 3000particles each time, evaluating the velocity and pressureat each iteration. By monitoring the conservation of mass during the solution, it is possible to consider themass of particles and air that enter the equipment andthe amount that leave it through the outlet.

One of the most important results that can be vali-dated with fi eld data is the velocity profi le. Simulationallows internal fl ow visualisation and observes the fl ow split when it fi nds the conic plate on the way up. It isrelatively easy to understand that one portion of parti-cles is driven to the core and the remainder go to the fan.Th ose particles on the fan are removed and disposed of in coarse storage. Another important point is that theinternal chamber captures coarse particles. Simulationshave presented a spiral movement downwards to thecore of the cone. Figure 2 illustrates this phenomenon.Acceleration is observed in the lower part of the coarseparticles exit path, causing instabilities and increases therisk of fi ne particles suff ering from drag.

As well as investigating the important variables thatinteract in the process, it is necessary to identify the par-ticles’ separation trend. Simulation results have shownthat besides the rotation, particles follow a directionscheme within the separator and this is used to guide thegeometry changes. Figure 3 shows the direction schemeof particles within the separator.

An animation is also provided during the analysisthat shows the particles’ simple motion. In the videothey are identifi ed by their size and colour. Blue par-ticles are 50μm; green, 80μm; yellow, 100μm and red,122μm. Th e video is slowed down as much as possibleso that human eyes are able to follow the particles’ path.Th e particles’ collision and breakdown behaviours arenot modelled, since the main fl ow forces the particles to

Figure 1: The dynamic

separator and parts

according to boundary

conditions.

Figure 2 (below): Internal

chamber for storage of

coarse particles.

Figure 3: Particles

scheme separation.

CFD MODELLING

Particle inletParticle outlet

Rotating domain

Interface

Static domain

Particle collecting surfacesLeft: Fine particles outletRight: Coarse particle outlet

Top-to-bottom: Pillard's

Rotafl am RV2 kiln burner

(viewed from both ends)

and tip.

PillardTh e Phoenix Zementwerke Krog-beumker GmbH & Co KG has optimised its clinker production for the coming year. By installing a modern fi ring plant, the cement producer was able to satisfy its in-creasing need for fl exibility whilst being able to apply both primary and alternative fuels, and in the process maintain high product quality.

In order to achieve this, Phoenix Zementwerke Krogbeumker has called on its long-standing partner, Pillard Feuerungen GmbH, based in Taunusstein, Germany, for tech-nical support. In addition to the main burner with a fi ring capacity of 58MW, the modifi cation project also covered engineering – including unique components for the related burner carriage and the ignition burner, control unit and spare parts.

Rotafl am® RV2, the new rotary kiln burner from Pillard, will be the center piece of the plant. While Rota-fl am burners have been continuously optimised for 20 years, this latest version was specifi cally designed for burning larger quantities of alterna-tive solid fuels.

According to Pillard: "A high level of fl exibility in terms of fuel handling and fl ame design as well as a proven track record of a substitution rate for alternative solid fuels in excess of 80% distinguish Rotafl am® RV2 as it is rapidly improving."

Th e Rotafl am burner is also capa-ble of burning a variety of liquid and gaseous fuel types.

Ernst Kirchhoff , general manager of Pil-lard Feuerungen GmbH, said: "Th e number of burners put into operation is rising con-stantly. Th e results have been, all in all, very satisfactory. Nonetheless, we keep looking for possibilities to improve the substitution rate yet further.”



LATIN AMERICA FOCUS

Argentina• Th e leading cement groups in Argentina were hit by bad news – the Camara en lo Penal Economico court ratifi ed a fi ne of US$101.4m applied by the Comision Nacional de Defensa de la Competencia (CNDC) back in 2005 for cartel activities in maintaining artifi cially high prices. Loma Negra – now owned by Brazil’s Ca-margo Correa – has been fi ned US$45.6m; Cementos Minetti, US$32.9m; Cementos Avellaneda, US$11.4m; Cementos San Martin, US$9.4m; Petroquimica Co-modoro Rivadavia, US$1.9m; and the Asociacion de Fabricantes de Cemento Portland, US$174,000. Th e fi nes relate to cartel pricing between 1989 and 1999.

• Argentinian cement group Minetti, owned by Holcim, is to try to raise Peso$400mil via a global programme of Obligaciones Negociables (ON or negotiable bonds). It has informed the Comision Nacional de Valores (CNV) in Buenos Aires. Its plan will take greater shape on 18 September 2008, at an ordinary meeting called by Minetti. Th e money will be used as working capital for debt-refi nancing and to buy fi xed assets and capital goods. Minetti is the second leading cement group in Argentina, behind only Loma Negra, and boasts four industrial centres in the provinces of Buenos Aires, Cordoba, Mendoza and Jujuy as well as 20-plus concrete factories and one aggregate plant in Cordoba.

• Hazemag & EPR GmbH has supplied Cementos Mi-netti not only with a new primary crushing plant but

also a secondary crushing plant with a screen. During the handling of the project, Hazemag was requested to bring forward the delivery date of the equipment fol-lowing a sudden rise in the demand for cement.

Brazil• CSN is to open a cement plant within the facilities of its steel mill at Volta Redonda, near Rio de Janeiro. Th is is the fi rst step on a path to turn the company into one of the top fi ve players in the Brazilian cement market. Jose Tarcisio Piaui, manager of the cement business, says the fi rst plant is to run at 3Mt/y capacity and should start manufacturing in January 2009. Th e production

Above: The primary crushing

plant at Holcim‘s Cementos

Minetti works, Argentina.


Latin America focusLatin America focusGlobal Cement Magazine focuses on the latest news from Latin America, currently a hot bed of cement and construction-related activity. Topping the bill is the on-going nationalisation saga in Venezuaela, which has seen Hugo Chávez's government at logger heads with several cement fi rms, notably Cemex. This, and the rest of Latin America news, is presented below.

Dr Nino Mancino Editor, Global Cement Magazine

Below: Venezuelan

president, Hugo Chávez, is

determined to press ahead

with his plans to nationalise a

whole host of industries.

and distribution would test the market for which Piaui estimates a 10% growth in 2008 to 50Mt/y, and a two digit growth since 2006. Th e per capita consumption of 250kg is to reach 400kg over the next ten years, while the national market is cornered by 10 companies that have already reached the limits of the installed capacity.

Th e idea for the project was born in 2005 while its ex-ecutives were trying to work out what to do with 1.4Mt of scrap iron (slag) from its blast furnaces, that was sold on to cement companies.

• Brazil's domestic cement sales totaled 4.8Mt in July 2008, 5% more than in June and 20.8% more than in July 2007, the Brazilian Association of Cement Manufactur-ers (SNIC) announced. Year-to-date overall cement sales totaled 29.2Mt, of which 28.8Mt were then sold in the domestic market – 16.5% more than in 2007.

Bolivia• Th e Bolivian president Evo Morales has announced that a new state cement group is to be set up, boasting two production plants in Oruro and Potosi. Th e plan will include Iranian and Venezuelan involvement.

Bolivia has a cement defi cit that the new fi rm will look to rectify. It has been provisionally named Estrate-gica Cementos de Bolivia and starts life with fi nancing of US$230m.

Colombia• Cement sales volumes rose 7% for Colombian fi rm Argos in the fi rst half of 2008. Its concrete sales rose 19%, said Argos president Jose Alberto Velez Ca-david. Total cement volumes for January-June 2008 came to 2.29Mt whilst total concrete volumes came to 821,000m3. Th e fi rm’s consolidated operational income totalled US$457m, up 18% from 2007. Th e company said it is also optimistic about performing well in the second half of 2008.

Guatemala• Gebr. Pfeiff er AG has been asked to supply a second hydrating plant to Cementos Progreso in Guatemala. Maerz Ofenbau AG, based in Zurich, Austria, has or-dered the core components of a hydrating plant from Gebr. Pfeiff er. As was the case with the last order back in

2004, the capacity of the plant will be 30t/h of hydrate.

Peru• Having announced investment of US$250m in the construction of a cement plant in Puno, Peru, Cementos Interoceanicos (CI) has already said how it will expand those installations by 2012. CI also plans to add a lime plant at a cost of US$50m.

CI’s executive director Armando Belfi ore states that the initial costs will be covered by an alliance with Fi-nance Inc of the US, an investment group that will put up US$40m for a 20% stake; the three Peruvian partners of CI will provide US$60m; the machinery supplier – either a German or Danish fi rm – will off er another US$60m. Th e fi nal US$90m will be covered by carbon bonds, the contract for which should be signed midway through 2009. CI wants to launch three cement brands for 2011, one for export, one for the Peruvian market and one for wholesale.

Venezuela• Th e nationalisation of cement plants (as well as other industries) in Venezuela has dominated the news pages all summer. Negotiations with Lafarge and Holcim over adequate compensation for the state's take-over of their cement plants have proceeded relatively smoothly. Lafarge is receiving US$267m for an 89% stake in its ce-ment plants, while Holcim is receiving US$552m for an 85% stake.

However, similar negotations between Hugo Chávez's government and Venezuela's other major cement pro-ducer, Cemex, have progressed less easily. Cemex had intially failed to complete talks over the state's takeover of 60% of its shares within the alloted deadline aft er rejecting the government's US$650m off er, as it alleg-edly requested US$1.3bn for the subsidiary. Analysts consulted by BNamericas valued Cemex Venezuela at around US$1bn. Cemex even talked about seeking in-ternational arbitration before the International Center for Settlement of Investment Disputes following the Venezuelan government’s confi scation of its assets on 19 August 2008.

However, as Global Cement MAgazine went to press, the Venezuelan government had reportedly reached an agreement with Cemex over the take-over. Under the deal, the state will control all of Cemex Venezuela's plants, while the parent company will agree to negotiate a fair price for the facilities by 26 September 2008.

At the same time it was agreed that this price will be determined aft er the parties analyse the results of several audits on the company. Both parties signed an understanding to validate these conditions.

"Th e parties agree that the state has taken control of all the company's operations, plants and assets," Ven-ezuelan President Hugo Chávez was quoted as saying. Th e agreement was signed by Cemex fi nance and plan-ning vice president Héctor Medina and Venezuela's oil and energy minister Rafael Ramírez.

Is this the end of the story? Only time will tell, but in the meantime it looks like a truce has been agreed. For now!

LATIN AMERICA FOCUS


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DIARY DATESBulk Europe, 11-12 September 2008, Prague: www.bulkeurope2008.powderbulkchannel.com

Powtech 2008, 30 September-2 October 2008, Nuremberg: www.powtech.de

2nd Global Capital Conference: Finance and capital for energy, minerals, metals and markets, 1-2 October 2008,London: www.propubs.com/glo-cap

Global Landfill Mining Conference, 9 October 2008, London: www.propubs.com/glm

3rd Global Insulation Conference, 16-17 October 2008, Barcelona: www.propubs.com/gic

North American Mining Forum, 28 October 2008, London: www.propubs.com/global-forums

Global Diamond and Gems Forum, 6 November 2008, London: www.propubs.com/global-forums

4th Global Slag Conference, 10-11 November 2008, Strasbourg: www.propubs.com/gsc

Russian and CIS Mining Forum, 13 November 2008,London: www.propubs.com/global-forums

15th Arab International Cement Conference and Exhibition: 18-20 November 2008, Cairo: www.aucbm.org

Loesche America’s 11th Annual Discussion of the Round Table Symposium, 3-6 December 2008, Miami

2nd Global Refractories for Cement and Lime, 8-9 December 2008, Cologne: www.propubs.com/grc

2nd Global Mortars Conference, 19-20 January 2009, Barcelona: www.propubs.com/glo-mo

Global Cement Conference India, 17-19 February 2009, Mumbai, India: www.propubs.com/ac

2nd Global Gold and Silver Forum, 24 February 2009, London: www.propubs.com/global-forums

4th Global Lime Conference, 11-12 March 2009, Dubai,www.propubs.com/glc

Global Cement Conference Libya, 23-24 March 2009, Tripoli, Libya: www.propubs.com/mec

Global Cement Quality Control Conference, 20-21 April 2009, London.

3rd Global Fuels Conference, 15-16 June 2009, Toronto: www.propubs.com/gfc

2nd Global Cement Conference Iran, 6-7 July 2009,Tehran: www.propubs.com/gci

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Contents Subscribe Ad Index

CFD is generally defi ned as a mathematical ap-proach using numerical and computational tech-

niques to obtain the visual interpretation of a solution of physical equations for fl uid motion. Th is technique hasimproved in the last decade with computational powerbeing boosted by new hardware architectures and paral-lel computing. In addition, physical models have beenmodelled better due to advances in engineering science,multiphase fl ow studies and experiment correlations.

CFD is structured to provide numerical solutions us-ing the concept of fi nite volume. Th e fi rst concept de-scribes the domain where the fl uid will be embedded,i.e. the physical geometry that must contain the fl uid.In engineering science, it is named as Computer AidedDesign (CAD), and is a sketch or drawing of the physi-cal equipment. With the technology being used, a three-dimensional geometry is created that does not use many resources. Aft er the domain, the second important con-cept is the mesh, which is the basic division of the geom-etry in elements formed by nodes. Th e mesh has to begenerated in a such way that the volume applied to eachdiscrete element is discrete, i.e. able to process continu-ous models and equations. Discretisation is concernedwith the transformation of continuous diff erential equa-tions, in this case the Navier-Stokes fl ow equations, intodiscrete diff erence equations, solved by numerical com-puting.

Th e scenario applied to the problem brings the pre-processing, where the fl ow will be modeled by a set-up within a group of equations that can represent thephysics. Th e solver must apply numerical details of theinterpolation scheme, relaxation and solution criteriato guarantee a comparison of physical variables within

the user range. Th e last stage is post-processing, which involves displaying the results in graphs, profi les and animations.

Lots of in-house and commercial soft ware can be used to perform CFD calculations. However, the engi-neer has to be aware about the limitations of each one. A good tip is to compare at least two of the most renowned when a budget is approved.

Th ere are four critical stages in the cement process: dynamic separator, calciner, rotary kiln and electrofi l-ter or electrostatic precipitator (ESP). Th e fi rst two have been the subject of some simulations and analysis that ESSS has been performing for approximately a year at Holcim’s Barroso plant in Brazil.

Case I – dynamic separatorTh e dynamic separator is located between the raw mill exit and the calciner entrance (before the rotary kiln). Th e aim of the dynamic separator is to drive cement quality in terms of particle sizing. In theory, all crude particles have to be under 90μm to be considered a ‘fi ne particle’ and suitable for separation. Although dynamic separators are designed to separate particles of diff er-ent sizes, there is a limitation on the separation process where the mixture is formed. As a result, it is far from being 100% effi cient. Th e problem is that coarse parti-cles jump into the fi ne storage, reducing the quality of the material that reaches the furnace.

As is well known, coarse particles make it diffi cult to form clinker. On the fl ip side, fi ne particles can also be captured by strong fl ow and be stored on the coarse side. Th is eff ect represents a problem in terms of cost of pro-duction because if the fi ner material is already in place,

CFD MODELLING

The manufacture of cement involves several steps, each one critical in determining the effi ciency of the overall process. Optimising each of these steps is a major task in itself. With the advent of Computational Flow Dynamics (CFD) – a mathematical modelling approach – some of this complexity is removed. In this paper, ESSS, a Brazilian company that specialises in developing scientifi c simulation software, describes how its CFD methodolgy has helped Holcim Brazil to optimise its operations.

Computational fl uid dynamics as a tool Computational fl uid dynamics as a tool for challenging problems in the cement for challenging problems in the cement industry – a case study at Holcim Brazilindustry – a case study at Holcim Brazil

Leonardo Paes Rangel Engineering Simulation and Scientifi c Software (ESSS)


there is no need for returning tothe mill. What to do then? New technologies can provide highereffi ciencies, but high costs andtime pressures lead to slow de-cision-making. Th e alternativein this case is to understand thephysics of separation and to sim-ulate the particle track on a ba-sic level, and to propose simplegeometry modifi cations to im-prove the effi ciency on a secondlevel using CFD analysis.

Th e geometry details andequipment progress are present-ed with the guide vanes and thecrude feed in detail. Setting upof the mesh is done in accord-ance with precise surface infor-mation that is important to the fl ow, i.e. surfaces where there is more interest in investigating internals require a fi ner mesh. Th e number of nodes is proportional to the time it takes to converge a case. With 1.4m nodes, the case takes about three days to provide a solution with a quad-process computer parallelised with eight central processing units.

Th e mathematical modelling of the dynamic sepa-rator includes a steady state assumption with air fl ow at 25°C; a turbulence k-є model; a rotation speed of 165rpm and a multiphase fl ow based on the Euler-La-grange method. Figure 1 reveals the parts of the equip-ment that have been modelled with refl ected particles atthe walls having inlet velocity of 0.8ms-1 and an outletpressure of 0atm (reference pressure is 1atm).

In this study the solver calculated the track of 3000particles each time, evaluating the velocity and pressureat each iteration. By monitoring the conservation of mass during the solution, it is possible to consider themass of particles and air that enter the equipment andthe amount that leave it through the outlet.

One of the most important results that can be vali-dated with fi eld data is the velocity profi le. Simulationallows internal fl ow visualisation and observes the fl ow split when it fi nds the conic plate on the way up. It isrelatively easy to understand that one portion of parti-cles is driven to the core and the remainder go to the fan.Th ose particles on the fan are removed and disposed of in coarse storage. Another important point is that theinternal chamber captures coarse particles. Simulationshave presented a spiral movement downwards to thecore of the cone. Figure 2 illustrates this phenomenon.Acceleration is observed in the lower part of the coarseparticles exit path, causing instabilities and increases therisk of fi ne particles suff ering from drag.

As well as investigating the important variables thatinteract in the process, it is necessary to identify the par-ticles’ separation trend. Simulation results have shownthat besides the rotation, particles follow a directionscheme within the separator and this is used to guide thegeometry changes. Figure 3 shows the direction schemeof particles within the separator.

An animation is also provided during the analysisthat shows the particles’ simple motion. In the videothey are identifi ed by their size and colour. Blue par-ticles are 50μm; green, 80μm; yellow, 100μm and red,122μm. Th e video is slowed down as much as possibleso that human eyes are able to follow the particles’ path.Th e particles’ collision and breakdown behaviours arenot modelled, since the main fl ow forces the particles to

Figure 1: The dynamic

separator and parts

according to boundary

conditions.

Figure 2 (below): Internal

chamber for storage of

coarse particles.

Figure 3: Particles

scheme separation.

CFD MODELLING

Particle inletParticle outlet

Rotating domain

Interface

Static domain

Particle collecting surfacesLeft: Fine particles outletRight: Coarse particle outlet

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travel in a rotary motion, with the main force exerted on the particles being centripetal.

Obtaining the best solution is important in order to follow the particles escaping through guide vanes. Furthermore, it has been veri-fi ed that opening the angle allows the par-ticles to return to the internal chamber. Th e problem starts when coarse particles do not return to the internal chamber because they drop down in the external chamber and are collected with the fi ne particles.

Aft er this diagnosis during the case study the separation effi ciencies were improved by at least 15%. Th e Tromp curve, presented in the Figure 4, shows the diff erence in a range of diameters from the fi eld and simulation points.

Case II – calcinerTh e calciner is located between the dynamic separator exit and the rotary kiln entrance.Th e aim is to calcinate the crude material to aid clinkerformation. Poorly calcined crude material will result inpoor quality clinker. Th us, the aim is to provide a ho-mogeneous thermal profi le and uniform mixing of thecrude material within the domain before it enters thecyclone.

It is important to optimise the loading of coal toguarantee the best mixing. How can this be done? First,one must understand the physics behind the simulatedfl uidised bed to identify best location to insert coal. Th emain geometry shows in detail the gas, coal and crudeinlets on the bottom and on the top. Th e computationalmesh is much smaller than the previous equipment:only 200,000 cells need to be employed because theequipment is relatively simple.

Th e inlet parameters have to be respected in order toprovide a well-developed fl ow at the inlet. Th e mathe-matical modelling associated with this equipment takesinto account a multiphase gas-solid model (Euler-Eul-er); transient fl ow regime with 50s being simulated witha time step of 0.04s and turbulent fl ow. Th e boundary conditions applied to the simulation used 800°C as thetemperature of the gas from the kiln, with a mass fl ow rate of crude material equal to 0.006kgs-1 running to thekiln, and nearly 20kgs-1 driven to the core of the coun-ter-fl ow gas. Th e relative pressure is negative since thereis gas coming through the top. Figure 5 shows the partsof the calciner included in the mathematical model.

Th e solver visualisation allows the engineer to moni-tor the temperature in the outlet and to check the re-siduals down to the convergence criteria. In a transientsolution, the temperature must be homogeneous for areasonable time (>50% of the total). Other convergencecriteria can be analysed to check the simulation per-formance.

Th e results show gas from the kiln entering the cal-ciner at 817°C and being cooled due to coal and air feednear 3.6m. Th is has a small eff ect on the fl ow, but it helpsto create a low reactive zone near the opposite wall, re-ducing the homogenous mixture. Aft erwards, the gas is

lift ed to the crude top injection zone and stabilises at a temperature near 750°C. Th e result of this heat exchange helps to explain the reacting zones in the calciner do-main. Th e same temperature profi le can be observed from side animation or front animation.

An important variable of the analysis is the volume fraction of crude material and coal. Figures 6 and 7 show the profi le before and aft er the injection of both, which present the same standard of mixing, being reduced while in the gas bed. All crude particles experience drag that provides for a low residence time of 3.4s.


Figure 4 (above): Tromp

curve of fi eld and

simulation analysis.

Figure 5 (below): Calciner

sketch with inlets (white

arrows) and outlet (yellow

arrow).

CFD MODELLING

Outlet

Non-calcined crude inlets

Gas inlet from rotary kiln

Calcined crude inlet

Coal inlet

As a general conclusion, low volumetric fractions within the calciner indicate a good mixture of gas and solid. With regards to the coal injection, it is seen that while exiting the particles either burn, (this cannot be completely evaluated since there is no combustion mod-el in the mathematical modelling) or transfer energy to the gas domain up to 13m where the fl ow becomes sta-ble.

Th e residence time analysis is connected to the pres-ence of recirculation zones near the inlets. Th e average

residence time for coal was 10.3s and the average resi-dence time for crude was 3.4s. Figure 8 shows the aver-age mean velocity of crude material on the top side of the calciner.

ConclusionsTh e main conclusions of this work are that important equipment and processes involved in the production of cement – specifi cally the dynamic separator and calcin-er – have been analysed by CFD techniques to identify opportunities where effi ciencies in the process can be improved upon.

Th is work was done in collaboration with Holcim Brazil. Th e particle track calculations aided Holcim Brazil engineers to visualise recirculation regions and the physics of particle separation, in addition to deter-mining how small changes in geometry can modify the particles’ tracks of motion. Th ese investigations should allow the engineers to achieve more effi cient particle separation (with a real gain of 15% possible in the fi ne percentage).

Simulations with multiphase models of calciner pro-vide details of mixture zones, temperature profi le and concentrations within the equipment. Furthermore, diff erent coal inlet positions have been analysed in an attempt to improve the effi ciency by creating more ho-mogeneous fl ow conditions.


Figure 8 (right): Average

mean velocity of crude on

the top side of the calciner.

Figure 6 (below left):Volume fraction of crude

material over the calciner

height.

Figure 7 (bottom right):Volume fraction of coal over

the calciner height.

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Matthias Wissmann, presi-dent of the German As-

sociation of the Automotive In-dustry (VDA), had this to say of the upcoming IAA Hanover au-tomotive fair: “Th e world’s mostimportant mobility trade fair– the 62nd IAA Commercial Ve-hicles in Hanover – will set new records for the number of exhib-itors, the number of countriesrepresented and the amount of exhibition space occupied,” MrWissmann was speaking to 200journalists from all over Europeat the VDA’s International PressWorkshop on commercial vehi-cles in Frankfurt.

Th e number of exhibitors is expected to reach 2000, i.e. upby one quarter on the previousrecord set at the IAA in 2006.“Th is is clearly a huge increase,”Wissmann said. Nearly twomonths before the trade fairbegins (on 25 September, run-ning to 2 October 2008), 1986

exhibitors from 47 countries have registered (compared to 1556 in 2006). Th e amount of exhibition space will be 275,000m2, 10% more than 2006. “So the IAA is im-pressively emphasising its leading position among the

world’s mobility trade fairs,” Wissmann stated.Th is year the IAA, which is organised by the VDA,

will again be the ideal platform for exhibitors and pro-fessional visitors to initiate business and conclude con-tracts. Wissmann stressed: “Th ere is no other commer-cial vehicle trade fair with more innovations or morevehicle presentations.”

Furthermore, this IAA will comprehensively addressthe questions of sustainable mobility and transport ef-fi ciency. Th e IAA’s headline is “Commercial Vehicles:On the move for everyone.” Wissmann continued: “Wewant this to underscore again the essential role playedby commercial vehicles in delivering people’s everyday supplies and in enabling business to function. All of usshould consider that having fresh vegetables in the su-permarket, for example, requires the use of trucks, evenif some motorists don’t like the trucks when they are onthe freeways.”

However, the VDA president pointed out that truckswill “not be able to move all our freight traffi c on theirown” which, according to forecasts, will increase by 50%in Germany and Europe in the next 15 years. Wissmannadded: “All modes of transport are going to be needed –trucks, railroads and inland waterways. Th e trench war-fare between them is now fi nally a thing of the past, andeach one should exhaust its potentials, both individually and in combination. Th ere is enough transport availablefor everyone.”

Global Cement Magazine now showcases some of thecompanies exhibiting at the 62nd IAA fair that have animportant part to play in cement haulage.

62nd IAA HANOVER

Global Cement Magazine presents a preview of the 62nd IAA Commercial Vehicles trade fair in Hanover,between 25 September – 2 October 2008, including a description of some of the companies exhibiting that play a part in cement haulage.

62nd IAA Commercial Vehicles in62nd IAA Commercial Vehicles inHanover sets new records in exhibitor Hanover sets new records in exhibitor numbers and exhibition spacenumbers and exhibition space


Hanover – venue for

the 62nd IAA Commercial

Vehicles trade fair. From top

to bottom: Hanover’s

Herrenhausen Gardens; the

new town hall and an aerial

view of the city.

1414 globalglobalcementcement MAGAZINEMAGAZINE September 2008September 2008


Feldbinder (FFB)Feldbinder Spezialfahrzeugwerke GmbH – also knownas FFB – started operations in 1975 when FFB manag-ing directors Otto Feldbinder and Jan-Dirk Beckmannjoined together to construct silo vehicles. Since then,FFB has expanded to produce liquid tankers (since1993), silo rail wagons (since 1996) and liquid and railwagons (since 2003).

Aft er operating from confi ned premises in Hamburgfor the initial fi ve years, Otto Feldbinder and Jan-Dirk Beckmann moved to Winsen/Luhe together with 20other staff . At that time, FFB had an annual output of approximately 120 units. FFB now employs 1300 mem-bers of staff in their factories throughout Europe. Th is

includes approximately 1200 employees in Germany alone, of which roughly 80 are trainees. In 2007, FFB produced more than 3000 vehicles. Th is corresponds to a daily rate of over 12 units which, together with the aft er-sales business, amounts to a consolidated annual turnover of approximately Euro215m, with similar pro-duction fi gures anticipated for 2008.

In the summer of 2008 FFB opened a new production facility at its Winsen headquarters, boasting 7000m2 of space. Its order books made this necessary in order to be able to supply a suffi cient number of vehicles.

At the IAA show FFB can be found in hall 25, stand B43. Th e entire production range for road and intermo-dal transport will be on display.

62nd IAA HANOVER

A Feldbinder tanker truck

Feldbinder supplies vehicles for liquid haulage, as in this wagon seen here.


62nd IAA HANOVER

Spitzer Silo-Fahrzeugwerke GmbHSpitzer specialises in the production of dry bulk tank-ers for the transportation of pulverised and granulatedmaterials. Spitzer was founded in 1872 and claims tohave been the fi rst manufacturer of aluminium vesselsfor dry bulk tankers. In 1950, the fi rst dry bulk tankerfor the transportation for cement and soda was designedand produced, and at the end of the 1960s Spitzer con-centrated on the design and production of road tankers.Since then numerous patents have been registered.

Th e overall area of the Spitzer group of companiesis approximately 780,000m2. All existing productionfacilities are being extended continuously. Th e group of companies consists of more than 700 employees, and ap-proximately 1500 road tankers are produced each year.Spitzer operates worldwide by numerous subsidiary companies, agents, and licensees.

Spitzer closely cooperates with its customers whenan order for a dry bulk tanker is made, and each tankeris produced individually to conform with the customer’srequirements. According to Spitzer, such a close co-op-eration guarantees the design and production of prod-ucts with highest possible quality and long life time, aswell as high payload and low tare weight.

At the 61st IAA Hanover fair in 2006, Spitzer present-ed the latest new design of a plastic vessel with a volumeof approximatey 60m3 made from reinforced carbonfi bre. A total of 10 of these dry bulk tankers are currently being operated in Europe for testing purposes.

Spitzer will present its products during the 62nd IAAHanover trade fair between 25 September – 2 Octoberin and in front of pavilion 34. Among the items pre-sented will be:

Non-tipping type semi-trailers with a volume of 25-• 64m3;Tipping type semi-trailers with a volume of 40-89m3;• Full trailers with a volume of 18-33m3;• Truck mounted vessels with a volume of 16-35m3;•BDF interchangeable system;• Spitzer interchangeable system;• ADR semi-trailers with a volume of 38-66m3;•Vacuum semi-trailers with a volume of 40m• 3 and59m3, and for container transportation Spitzer pro-duces three types of tipping chassis for the transporta-tion of 20, 30, and 40ft containers.

A selection of Spitzer tankers for dry bulk materials transport

Spitzer’s head offi ce and production facility at Dallau, Germany

Spitzer has further production facilities at:• Cloppenburg, Germany;

• Wörnitz, Germany;• Strasbourg, France;

• Pecs, Hungary.

Worldwide distribution.

C A L C I N I N G

C O O L I N G

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D O S I N G

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D R Y I N G

G R I N D I N G

PA C K I N G

P N E U M AT I C C O N V E Y I N G

P U LV E R I Z E D F U E L S U P P LY

S I LO S Y S T E M S

S T O C KYA R D S Y S T E M S

A L U M I N A H A N D L I N G S Y S T E M S

T U R N K E Y P R O J E C T S

Claudius Peters Technologies GmbHSchanzenstraße 40, D-21614 Buxtehude, GermanyPhone: +49 (0) 4161 706 0 Fax: +49 (0) 4161 706 270

Claudius Peters Technologies S.A.34 Avenue de Suisse, F-68316, Illzach, FrancePhone: +33 (0)3 89 31 33 00 Fax: +33 (0)3 89 31 33 39

www.claudiuspeters.com

Claudius Peters innovative solutions in silo technology are renowned across

the globe. Multiple designs of silo systems are engineered to suit every new

application from the storage of a single product; the blending of multiple

products or for multi-chambered storage. Silos of up to 60,000 tonnes

capacity, handling free-flowing bulk solids materials, can be supplied.

More than 3000 installations of varying capacities are installed incorporating

Claudius Peters’ innovative technologies, which is why time and time again

the world’s leading organisations rely on Claudius Peters.

� Customised Solutions

� De-aeration within the silo

� Discharge Capacities more than 1000T/hour

� Inspection Chamber for enhanced reliability

Technology you can trust

Claudius Peters (China) Ltd.- Beijing & Hong Kong . Claudius Peters (Asia Pacific) Pte. Ltd.- Singapore . Claudius Peters (UK) Ltd. - London . Claudius Peters (Italiana) srl.- BergamoClaudius Peters (Iberica) S.A.- Madrid . Claudius Peters România S.R.L. - Sibiu . Claudius Peters (do Brasil) Ltda.- São Paulo . Claudius Peters (India) Pvt. Ltd. - Mumbai

http://www.claudiuspeters.com

Right: Transairvac’s VR

Blower.

Below: Betico’s diesel-

driven cement discharge

pack.


TRANSPORT

TransairvacBoost to Transairvac ’s Betico compressor rangeTransairvac International, which supplies high quality cement tanker discharge equipment, is set to unveil a new oil-free Screw Compressor from Betico, for whom the company is the exclusive UK and Ireland agent. Th is latest addition to Transairvac’s product portfolio will complement the Betico 2 bar acoustically-enclosed die-sel-driven compressor cement discharge package, which complies with northern European noise and exhaust emission legislation.

In what has been a busy and successful 2008 forTransairvac, the company will soon be showing Beti-co’s reknowned compressors on stands A6, A7 and A8 at Tank-Ex, Donington Park, UK, from October 8-10 2008.

‘Continuous trouble-free use’Paul Wood, Transairvac International’s managing director, commented: “With Betico we have es-tablished an increasing number of cement tanker customers, especially in Ireland, and as far afi eld as West Africa, the Baltic states and the Carib-bean. Th ere is bound to be strong interest in the new Screw Compressor at Tank-Ex because the cement and transport industry in general know that Betico means continuous trouble-free use.”

In addition to Betico, Transairvac’s own 1 bar VR Blower Range will be dis-played at Tank-Ex. Designed with carbon-tipped cast-iron rotors for optimum tolerance and effi ciency, the highly durable VR Blower has proved particularly popular in emerging countries. Utilis-ing the proven bi-lobe roots-type Blower for ultimate reliability, the VR brings numerous benefi ts to rotary-valve vehicle applications

for lean-phase pneumatic conveying systems and 1barpressure tanks. Transairvac’s Tank-Ex stand will alsofeature contact-free, liquid tanker discharge Titan Com-pressors, Airblast Hydraulic Oil Coolers and PressureLine Filters.

‘Enhance performance and increase effi ciency’Transairvac International also supplies air and gas mov-ing equipment for other transport, industrial and waterprocessing applications. Th e range of products, whichare primarily for high volume, low pressure air and gasmovements, is backed by a wealth of expert knowledge.Transairvac has worked closely with customers to helpenhance performance and increase effi ciency, and hasalso pioneered the use of Centrifugal Blowers in the ani-mal feed market, as well as the Contactless Compressorfor the pressure-discharge liquid tanker market.

Transport focus: Moving cementTransport focus: Moving cementfrom A-to-Bfrom A-to-BOnce produced, cement needs to be transported to its point of use. However, getting the white stuff from A-to-B is not just a case of putting it on the back of a lorry, it requires a little more sophistication than that. In this short review, Global Cement Magazine puts the spotlight on two companies. Transairvac International and Fort Vale, which are about to showcase their latest tanker and discharge solutions at upcoming trade shows.



TRANSPORT

Fort ValeFort Vale is launching its new ‘FKS specifi cation’ powder blower relief valve which has a certifi ed fl ow rate that is competitive with similar valves on the market. Th e new valve is manufactured to FKS requirements for static pressure vessels, as well as road tankers for liquid, granular and powder products. Th e valve is fully compliant with Module B and D of the Pressure Equipment Directive and will be supplied with the CE mark as well as being accredited with TUV approval.

According to Fort Vale: “Th e valve’s most remarkable advantage is its certifi ed fl ow rate which is one of the highest of any published fl ow rates of similar valves on the market.”

Th e valve is available with 1” BSP, 1¼” BSP, 1½” BSP and 1½” NPT tank connections and is manufactured with an integral cowl on the body which facilitates eff ective venting. It is supplied with a pre-set spring pod with a silicone membrane seal to prevent powder ingress into the spring housing and incorporates an anti-tamper fea-ture which allows the visual inspection and cleaning of the seal area whilst preventing the valve’s complete disassembly. Contact parts are manufactured in brass and stainless steel. Standard pressure set-tings are 1, 1.5, 2 and 2.6bar and alternative settings are available.

Valveconnection

Fort Vale valve fl ow rateat 1bar set pressure

Competitor valve fl oww rate at 1bar set pressure

1½” BSP 593 M3/h (certifi ed) 449 M3/h (certifi ed)

1” BSP 551 M3/h (certifi ed) 369 M3/h (certifi ed)

Fort Vale’s new MK3

powder blower

relief valve.

Hydraulic Coolers, Pressure Line Filters, Air & Gas Compressors / Vacuum Pumps / Blowers / Booster Packages and Rotary Lobe Pumps for Transport and Industry

Tel: +44(01782) 710282 Fax: +44(01782) 710126 E-mail: [email protected] Website: www.transairvac.com

RANSAIRVACI N T E R N A T I O N A L LTD

Betico compressors for cement tanker

discharge ( 2 barg ).

The SB-D diesel engine compressor package

gives years of reliable performance now also

available as an acoustic enclosed version SB-SD.

VR range of blowers for cement tanker discharge ( 1 barg).

The wade type roots blower is available in 3 sizes .

VR113 , VR142, & VR170 .

Hydraulic drive systems and 5 micron filters for road transport.


ALTERNATIVE FUELS

Dirk Lechtenberg’s latest article for Global Cement Magazine features recent news that Pakistan has received its fi rst secondary fuel preparation plant. Working in partnership with Fauji Cement Co, MVW Lechtenberg will assist in the sorting of domestic waste as a fuel for cement manufacture.

20 globalglobalcement cement MAGAZINE MAGAZINE September 2008

MVW Lechtenberg helps Fauji Cement MVW Lechtenberg helps Fauji Cement gear up for secondary fuelsgear up for secondary fuels

Above and right: The fi rst

screening of household

waste for Fauji Cement Co in

Pakistan.

In July 2008 MVW Lechtenberg commissioned the fi rst secondary fuel preparation plant in Pakistan,

at Fauji Cement Company Ltd. MVW Lechtenberg is

advising eight cement plants with a clinker production capacity of 12Mt/y which corresponds to 90% of the Pakistani market. Introduced fuels are tyres, bagasse,

rice husks and mainly high calorifi c value fractions of municipal solid wastes. In MVW’s studies for utilising high calorifi c value light fractions from household waste the following results were ascertained: in total, the substi-tution potential at the named plants equates to 880,000t/y of high calorifi c value light fractions from household waste.

Th is means that, in the meantime, competition has evolved between the Pakistani cement plants to secure contracts with the cities to capture the waste. As an example, Lahore – with a population of 6m – collects around 6000t of household waste per day; as the organic part as well as the non-recycla-ble parts (stones, sand, metals) amounts to 80%, only 1200t/d of high calorifi c value fractions can be extracted. Th is corresponds to around 400,000t/y.

In Faisalabad – population of 2.5m – 1200t of daily household waste is collected, corresponding to 80,000t/y. Islamabad and Rawalpindi – with a population of 1.8m – 1500t of daily household waste is collected, corre-sponding to 100,000t/y.

Dirk Lechtenberg MVW Lechtenberg

9 OCTOBER 2008 RSA House, London

From its origins in the 1950s, landfi ll mining is an idea whose timehas come. Even aside from their valuable methane resources, landfi llsshould now be seen as valuable repositories for a wealth of higher value materials. Attendance at this event will help landfi ll operators to extend their business models, and to extract the maximum value from their assets. Networking opportunities at the event will be superb, and the adjacent exhibition will allow operators to source the most cost-eff ective equipment and advice for landfi ll mining and monetisation.

Who should attend?• International delegates

• local authorities• landfill operators

• legislators• stakeholders

• equipment producers• academics

• hydrologists

Resource users include:• cement and lime

producers• power producers• metals producers

• chemicals producers


1stgl bal landfill mining

Organised by:

PRo Publications International Ltd

gl bal fuels .CO.UK


Treasure from trash

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Alternative fuels are not a new subject for the ce-ment industry. Th ey have been used for many

years and in some places materials that were originally considered as alternative fuels – such as tyres or recycled liquid fuels – are now being considered as traditional fuels. Th is is because the users have developed sig-nifi cant operating experience with these materials and have demonstrated the signifi cant benefi ts of their use. Operators oft en talk about the ‘win, win’ or even ‘win, win, win’ eff ects of using such fuels and the fact that these materials do decrease cement stack emissions, do reduce landfi ll and incineration and do save fossil fuels are undeniable. Th ey also ensure that local cement manufacturers remain competitive and therefore ensure the support of local economies; this is a critical factor in some locations, where there are no other industries in the surrounding area and local communities are de-pendent upon the cement works for survival.

Despite the experience that has been gained by ce-ment producers over the years – regardless of whether they are part of a multinational company or a single plant producer – some countries, companies and loca-tions have had signifi cantly more success in introducing alternative fuels than others. Th is paper attempts to re-view some of the key success factors in introducing a successful alternative fuels programme.

The alternative views of alternative fuelsDependent upon the role of the individual within the organisation, many diff erent views of alternative fuels may be held. Whilst these may to some degree be gen-eralisations, it may be valuable to consider the diff erent

views within an organisation before entering into an alternative fuels programme or trial. Th e diff erent views are described below.

The corporate viewGenerally providing the ‘top-down’ view on what the company targets for substitution rates will be, oft en based upon target cost per ton of cement and/or target CO2 emission rates. In this viewpoint targets are oft en set without a view of the detail of how to achieve the target rates.

The operational viewTh is is the level at which the corporate vision and targets get put into practice. Almost all areas of the plant are involved, i.e. the engineering department in installing the feeding equipment; the production department in carrying out the trial; the laboratory ensuring that the new fuel does not impact the quality of the cement etc. It is also at this level that best practices should be shared such that the fuel substitution rate can be optimised as rapidly as possible and a trial can be commenced with confi dence of success.

The quality viewTh ose on the plant with the responsibility for the quality of the product may take a reserved view of alternative fuels. It is well known that one of the issues with many alternative fuels is the minor elements that they contain, and these minor elements can have an impact upon ce-ment properties. For example when using a fuel such as animal meal, it may be the desire of the production


ALTERNATIVE FUELS

The technical aspects of using alternative fuels in cement manufacture are well established. The harder part is overcoming the ‘human’ barriers to using them. This includes fostering the right kind of relationship with all the key stake-holders, including regulators, environmental bodies and the public. In this paper Mark Mutter of Cement Performance International argues that any cement plant worth its salt cannot aff ord to overlook these issues when planning an alternative fuels trial. To do so is to put the success of the trial at risk...

The practical aspects of alternative fuels The practical aspects of alternative fuels

Mark Mutter Cement Performance International

Ad IndexSubscribeContents

department to hit a high thermal substitution rate to satisfy the corporate vision, but the qual-ity department will want to keep an eye on the P2O5 levels in the clinker to ensure that it does not exceed the 0.5% level.

The regulator’s viewTh e regulator has a diffi cult role when dealing with alternative fuels. On the one hand it is within their remit to ensure that emis-sions from industrial sites are reduced and alternative fuels are one way by which this objective can be achieved. However the regulator is also answerable to the public to ensure that the correct protocols are followed, that the en-vironment is protected and that an environmental benefi t is achieved. Furthermore, the regulator has to remain impartial such that they are protecting the public while also not inhibiting the economic performance of industry.

The public viewWhilst many of the public close to a cement works are fully supportive of environmental improvements on a global scale, there still exists an element of the public who prefer that environmental improvement by the use of alternative fuels is done somewhere else. Th is is generally due to lack of understanding of both the cement manufacturing process and the fuels that are being used, as well as the industry’s failure to respect the environment and the communities.

In the past environmental improvement was not a priority of the cement producers and the local com-munity accepted emissions from the cement plant. However, communities have become less accepting of emissions and communities have become mistrustful of cement producers. Th erefore, when cement producers have tried to implement alternative fuels programmes without proper communications, the public has oft en felt that the industry has something to hide. Such views of the industry are extremely hard to change and in some countries such as the UK and US, action groups against the cement industry have been started, provid-ing a formidable obstacle to the success of alternative fuels through publicity campaigns and by putting pres-sure on the regulator to prevent trials taking place.

One of the key elements therefore, well in advance of undertaking a trial, is to ensure that the local com-munities have been provided with the information and communication about the trial, have been able to raise their questions with the cement producer and have been able to visit the plant to see what will be happening dur-ing the trial. Without the necessary public relations, the producers will be accused of trying to hide something.

Success with alternative fuels trialsIt can be seen from the section above that there are a signifi cant number of diff erent parties involved with successfully implementing an alternative fuels pro-gramme. In fact, when taking into account all of these diff erent parties and the relationships that have to be managed, it could be said that the technical issues with implementing an alternative fuel are a relatively minor issue. Adjustments in raw meal chemistry can be made, the ideal injection point for the fuel can be found, han-dling systems can be designed to avoid blockages and so on. However it is the management of all of the human relationships that will have a much greater bearing on the success of the trial.

Th e starting point in planning an alternative fuels programme is developing the relationships and the plans with the regulator, as not only will the regulator authorise the trial but will also be the one to decide whether the trial has been deemed to be a success or not. Th e relationship with the regulator has to be com-pletely open, defi ning the length of the trial, the length of the optimisation period before the trial, the baseline periods for emissions monitoring and the target substi-tution rates to name but a few. In some countries these are all relatively standard items as defi ned by protocols.

Other areas that need to be discussed with the regu-lator are what happens if things do not go as planned? What if the plant has a refractory failure during the trial – can it be extended? What if the quality of the fuel changes during the trial? What if the fuel supplier fails to deliver the correct quantities of fuel? All possible outcomes should be discussed, where possible before a

Above: Environmental

damage - one reason for

a sceptical public.

globalglobalcement cement MAGAZINE MAGAZINE September 2008 23

ALTERNATIVE FUELS

trial, so that the regulator can stand over any decisions that need to be made once the trial has started.

It is at this stage that the public relations campaign must start. If this stage is left any later then the public may feel that the trials have all been organised with-out proper consultation and that no opportunity to have their feelings listened to has been given. Typical elements of a PR campaign are mailshots to the local community explaining what will happen during the trial and the longer term; public exhibitions and site visits for the public and regular reporting of the results as the trial progresses.

Th e second relationship that has to be developed is that with the fuel supplier. It is oft en a good idea to educate the supplier not just in the equipment that is installed at the works that will deliver the new fuel, but also the complete cement manufacturing process such that they have a clear view of how the new fuel can im-pact the process and quality of the product. Like any area of the cement manufacturing process, it is important to seek consistency and therefore the more consistent the fuel, the more stable the process and the more consistent the emissions will be. But it is not only the supplier of the new fuel that has to be on board for the trial, but all other suppliers of inputs into the process. Th is could be suppliers of the other fuels that are used on the proc-ess or other raw materials in the raw mix – all of these materials must be consistent. If this is not the case then a change in emissions which is due to one of these other materials will be linked with the alternative fuel and will put the success of the trial at risk.

Th irdly, the internal relationships on the plant must be maintained and strengthened during a trial period. Th is is so that all concerned are working together to ensure a successful trial. Everybody has a part to play and the objectives of the trials should be explained to the employees. In most cases the employees live in the

local communities and therefore can be the best people to spread the word in a positive manner about the use of alternative fuels. However this can only be expected of the employees if they have been briefed in the cor-rect manner and that they have all had their concerns listened to by senior management.

During the baseline, optimisation and trial phases the works teams must all work together on a day-to-day basis. For example, it is essential that the quarry ensures that the same quality stone is used for the baseline as it is for the trial. Th is will ensure that a like-for-like comparison is made between the two periods and that the results are representative of normal operations. Th e engineering department needs to ensure that personnel are available out of hours to fi x the equipment in case of failure, and the stores department must ensure the necessary spare parts are available for the new handling system, such that it can be put back into operation as quickly as possible during the trial. Th e production and process engineering teams need to ensure that they as-sist the kiln burners in optimising the fuel at the same time as reducing emissions.

Finally, there are some other fundamental questions that need to be asked in the planning of the trials. Some of these include:• What is the clinker stock forecast for the duration of the trial? What impact will there be if there is a loss of output during the trial? What about production of off -spec during the optimisation period? What if these events occur at the same time as an upturn in the mar-ket? Can other works supply in the event of low stocks? All these questions can normally be answered by having a long term production and sales plan and performing variance analysis on the diff erent parameters. • How long will the optimisation process take place? Where else within the organisation (if the company is part of a large group) have similar trials taken place

Right: Used and

discarded tyres contain

excellent calorifi c value

and have been used as an

alternative fuel in cement

manufacture for several

years.


ALTERNATIVE FUELS

http://www.sfarsteel.com

http://www.specodlew.com.pl

where best practice can be shared? If the company is part of a small group or inde-pendent are there any other companies with whom they can share experiences?• Are there any parts of the process which may have an indirect impact on the trial? For example, are there any fi lters that are close to their emissions limits which might be associated with the change in fuel? Are there emissions from other parts of the plant – for example the clinker store – which could be re-duced before the trial starts? It is essential that the plant is in as good a shape possible before the trial starts so that the public do not associate any visible emissions with the new fuel.

If all of the relationships mentioned here are well managed, and the technical aspects are addressed, with best practices put in place, then the plant will stand the best possible chance of having a successful trial.

Operating with multiple alternative fuelsOnce the producer has been successful with the fi rst fuel, what happens next? What most cement manufac-turers have realised is that one single alternative fuel is not enough to achieve a zero or negative fuel cost, and that multiple alternative fuels must be used instead. Many companies in Europe are using fi ve or six diff erent fuels along with a support fuel such as coal or petcoke to maintain the fl ame at the front end of the kiln.

Apart from the fact that using a number of alterna-tive fuels should result in a negative fuel cost, there are also the following benefi ts to using more than one type of fuel:• It reduces reliance on one particular fuel – especially if that fuel comes from a process industry which has an

annual shutdown and therefore has a break in supply, such as the chemical industry.• Removes the problem of large volumes of one particular alternative fuel being required – for example it may be the case that there are six dif-ferent fuels available but their total CV represents half of the total required heat input to the kiln. Th is benefi t is even greater if these small quanti-ties of fuel can be mixed on site with other fuels and use common equipment, thereby removing the need for capital investment in materials han-dling equipment.

However, using a number of diff erent fuels does require careful management and commu-nication on the site to ensure process, quality and environmental stability. Oft en the fuels that

are used are sought by other industries – such as power generators – and the cement industry is required to en-sure that adequate quantities are secured on a weekly basis. Th e aim when using multiple fuels is to try to maintain as consistent a fuel mix as possible at all times. In this way there should be less need for changes in raw mix chemistry – for example when using animal meal which has a signifi cant content in ash. A consistent fuel mix will produce a more consistent emissions pattern. If one fuel runs out completely then oft en the base fuel will have to be increased to provide the missing calorifi c value. If the base fuel is pet coke, which creates a high level of NOx, then increases in the emissions will be seen, which can lead to breaches in emissions limits. A consistent fuel mix will also lead to a more stable proc-ess and more consistent output and quality of clinker.

Th erefore one of the keys to using multiple alterna-tive fuels is the short-term planning and management. Here short-term means one to two weeks planning of which fuels are promised by the suppliers, what rates of addition will be used, which fuels will be used if supplies are more or less than promised, etc. It is better to use a limited supply at a lower rate and have a consistent fuel

Above and right:Cement plants face stiff

competition for the

supply of alternative

fuels, including from the

chemicals (above) and

paper industries (right).


ALTERNATIVE FUELS

globalglobalcement cement MAGAZINE MAGAZINE September 2008 27

mix than to use it all early and then change to a diff erent mix which may have a detrimental process and environ-mental impact. Table 1 shows some of the aspects which need to be taken into account when using a range of dif-ferent alternative fuels (this mix is an example of a real mix used by the author with pet coke as the base fuel).

The public perspectiveTechnically, success with alternative fuels can be achieved relatively easily. However, one of the most important as-pects of alternative fuels is the public reaction to their use. Over many years cement manufacturers have been ignorant of their impact upon the environment and their communities and have therefore bred a mistrust of their actions. Th erefore, when alternative fuels have been in-troduced communities are wary, to say the least, of the intentions of the cement manufacturer. Many cement companies have faced both local and national campaign groups against the use of alternative fuels – and these campaigners are well organised in terms of publicity and communication.

What cement manufacturers need to achieve is re-gaining credibility within the local communities. Th ere are a number of public relations initiatives and tools that can be used to aid the communities to understand the motives of the trials and the use of alternative fuels, but gaining credibility comes down to human relations between the two parties. It is the responsibility of the senior management team on a plant to be fully behind the PR initiative and to ensure that the actions promised as part of the trial actually happen. One of the most damaging parts of an alternative fuels PR exercise are unfulfi lled promises. If the cement works makes a com-mitment – such as re-investing some of the proceeds of the alternative fuels in environmental improvements – then these must happen. Credibility is all about fol-lowing up words with actions.

SummaryAchieving success in alternative fuels trials is so much more than solving the technical issues with a particular fuel; in fact, alternative fuels are so well established now that there is enough ‘best practice’ available that this is generally the easy part of using these fuels. Th e more de-manding part is developing the human relations aspects with all of the stakeholders – the regulator, the public, all suppliers and the employees, and the eff ort required across all disciplines should not be underestimated.

Fuel Process impact Cost Handling issues Management

Animal meal Variable phosphate

Good NOx reduction

Negative butdecreasing

Competition

Proven technologybut fats in summer

Resource required to ensure supply

Recycled liquid meal Good CV

Stabilised fl ame

Multiple points ofinjection

Negative but stable Management of tank farm – safety andenvironment

In-house supplier

Dependant upon chemical industry

Tyres/car fragments CO creation good for NOx

Not good for build-up

Very negative Unsuitable feedingsystem fromsupplier

Good deliveryschedule in place

Waste water Good NOx reduction

Higher fuelconsumption

Slightly negative Same as RLF Simple – take what is available

Refi nery coke Causes high NOx Highly negative butlow volume

Simple – as perpetcoke

Availabilitydependent upon refi nery

Table 1: Aspects that

must be considered when

a cement plant choses to

use alternative fuels.

Right: A successful trial

of alternative fuels in

cement production is

possible - but only if

agreement is reached

between all the major

stake holders involved.

ALTERNATIVE FUELS

Holcim utilise plastic waste in lloilo

Philippines: Holcim will start a 100-day seg-regation test run of plastic solid wastes from a Calajunan dumpsite to the Holcim cement plant in Lugait, Misamis Oriental in Mindanao. Mayor Jerry P Treñas said the plastic waste will be used as an alternative fuel by Holcim in cement processing. Treñas said the recovery of alternative fuels and raw materials will minimise the volume of waste at the city dumpsite.

The recovery of the plastic waste will also in-tegrate the waste pickers and reclaimers into the intended site improvement of the Calajunan dis-posal facility. Treñas assured that more than 300 waste pickers at Calajunan will continue to earn their living from alternative livelihood opportuni-ties such as bag and fl ower making to promote eff ective solid waste management, aside from solid waste reclaiming at the site.

NEWSALTERNATIVE FUELS for CEMENT


US: Cemex is collaborating with US Department of Energy’s (DOE) Industrial Technologies Programme (ITP) to improve energy effi ciency at several of its US cement plants. The partnership between Cemex and ITP is already producing energy savings in several of the company’s plants. These savings result from upgrad-ing ineffi cient electric motors and improving the effi ciency of motor-driven pumps, fans and compressed air systems.

For instance, staff at Cemex’s Dav-

enport, California, cement plant used the DOE’s MotorMaster+ software tool to evaluate motor ineffi ciency; they found that 13 of the plant’s electric motors required upgrading. These upgrades are saving the com-pany US$168,000 in annual energy costs while increasing reliability and production. What’s more, Cemex is actively participating in several ITP Save Energy Now energy assess-ments, bolstering its commitment to sustainable and environmentally responsible manufacturing.

Cemex mixes sustainability with profi tability


Nexterra biomass gasifi cation ready to displace fossil fuels in lime kilns and boilersCanada: After two years of biomass gasifi cation testing at the company’s product development centre in Kamloops, British Columbia, Canada, Nexterra Energy Corp has confi rmed that renewable synthesis gas, or ‘syngas,’ produced by its gasifi er has the ability to displace at least 6% of fossil fuels used in lime kilns. Depending on the biomass feedstock and existing equipment confi gura-tions, 95% substitution may be possible at many pulp mills, and up to 100% in certain types of boilers.

Nexterra’s fi rst genera-tion gasifi cation systems are close-coupled with heat exchangers to generate hot water, steam or hot air. The new direct fi re application enables customers to decou-ple the process by producing syngas in one location and combusting it elsewhere on a site. The product develop-ment programme included process simulation of end user equipment, as well as testing of specialised syngas conveying, pressurisation and burner equipment at Nexterra’s test facility.

Nexterra’s technological breakthrough makes the switch from fossil fuels to syngas an attractive option for North America’s more than 100 kraft pulp mills and other industrial sites which face record high natural gas prices and, in British Columbia’s case, new carbon taxes.

According to Nexterra, installing a direct fi re gasifi cation system at an av-erage sized commercial pulp mill lime kiln, for example, has the potential to reduce natural gas consumption by more than 800,000GJ/y, the equivalent amount of natural gas needed to heat 5000 residential homes. In addition, such a system could save a mill several million dollars annually and reduce green-house gas emissions by more than 25,000t/y.

Rubbish fuels the futureUK: Cemex’s Euro43.5m factory planned for Southam quarry will produce fuel made out of rubbish. The 16-acre site, for which Cemex sub-mitted a planning application last week, would receive local waste in enclosed buildings. After shredding, it would be fed into enclosed vessels, where air is pumped to encourage rapid break-down.

Known as mechanical biological treatment technology (MBT), the process accelerates the work of bacteria to produce a dry and clean ma-terial. It is intended that the product, Climafuel, would then be burned at the company’s Rugby site. Cemex aims to produce at least 250,000t/y of Climafuel from 300,000t of household, com-mercial and industrial waste. The plant would also blend up to 124,000t of Climafuel brought in from manufacturers outside the county.

However, concerns over the move have been expressed. Conservative county councillor John Appleton said: “This will have an impact on all residents living in the Southam area. My princi-pal concern is the transport arrangements - the routes taken by vehicles to and from Rugby. And for that matter they will be manufacturing fuel from rubbish which is brought in from outside Warwickshire.”

Cemex’s Climafuel

Inside a syngas burner

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Sulphate attack is one of the most important factors aff ecting the durability of concrete. This article presents an experimental study on the sulphate resistance of ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBFS) cement as compared to that of ordinary Portland cement and sulphate resistant cement. In the study, mortar samples were prepared and subjected to 5% Na2SO4 solution for a period of 32 weeks. The performance of the cements was then determined through expansion and compressive strength measurements. The results revealed that GGBFS cement showed good performance against sulphate attack.

Oktay Kutlu*, Bahadir Erdoğan‡ *Adana Cimento, ‡ Turkish Cement Manufacturers’ Association

A comparative study on the sulphateA comparative study on the sulphateresistance of CEM III/A cementresistance of CEM III/A cement

The presence of sulphate is one of the most impor-tant factors that aff ects the durability of concrete.

In nature, sulphate solutions exist in ground water, seawater, and soil. Th e penetration of the sulphate ionsfrom these sources into concrete is simply defi ned as‘sulphate attack.’ Th is penetration leads to deteriorationin concrete and results in expansions, strength loss,scaling and extended cracks.

C3A and C4AF compounds mainly dominate theperformance of the cement against sulphate attack. Th eexistence of these compounds in cement directly aff ectsthe amount of etringite and monosulphoaluminateformations in the presence of sulphate. Th e higher theconcentration of C3A, the higher the amount of mono-sulphoaluminate is formed in fresh concrete, whichresults in etringite formation in hardened concrete, ul-timately leading to the creation of expansions.

Many studies have been performed on the sulphateresistance of cement. Investigations show that in addi-tion to low C3A content in cement, the permeability of the concrete also plays a great role in mitigating sul-phate attack. Generally, mineral admixtures are knownto have positive eff ects on the sulphate resistance of con-crete as they make the concrete less permeable. Recentstudies prove this hypothesis, specifi cally that use of mineral admixtures – such as blast furnace slag – im-prove the sulphate resistance of cement.1,2 As for GGBFScements, research shows that they perform even betterthan traditional sulphate-resistant cements against sul-phate attack.3

Th e objective of this study was to determine the per-formance of GGBFS cement (TS EN 197-1 CEM III/A42.5N) mortars against sulphate attack in comparison tothat of sulphate-resistant cement (TS 10157 SDÇ 32.5)and ordinary Portland cement (TS EN 197-1 CEM I42.5R).

Materials and methodsIn the study, all cements having similar 28-day compres-sive strengths of 50MPa were obtained commercially. Foreach type of cement, mortar prisms of 40 x 40 x 160mmand 25 x 25 x 285mm were pro-duced according to TS EN 196-1. All specimens were stored in cur-ing water at 20°C (±1) until they reached a compressive strength of 20MPa. Th e specimens were then placed in 5% aqueous Na2SO4

solution at 20°C (±1) for the re-mainder of the study. Changes in prism length in the form of elongations were measured and recorded weekly, according to ASTM C 1012 for a period of 32 weeks. Th e physical, chemical and mechanical properties of the cements are shown in Table 1.

Results and DiscussionTh e results obtained from the mortar prisms treated with the

sulphate solution show that the elongations of CEM III/A 42.5N and SDÇ 32.5 prisms aft er 32 weeks are similar to each other and equal to 35% of the elonga-tions of CEM I 42.5R prisms (see Figure 1).

Th e test results also show that the CEM III/A 42.5N sample is the most resistant among the other three ce-ments, with an elongation increase of 0.087%. Th e elon-gations of SDÇ 32.5 and CEM I 42.5R are 0.095% and 0.251% respectively. Th e elongations of the cement mor-tar prisms and related coeffi cient of variations values are summarised in Table 2.

Considering the strength performances, CEM III/A 42.5N again appears to be the most durable cement with a compressive strength loss of 18%. Th e respective strength losses of SDÇ 32.5 and CEM I 42.5R are 20% and 30% (see Table 3).

CEM III/A 42.5N showed the best performance against sulphate attack concerning the degree of elonga-tion and loss of strength among three types of cements. Th is observation is probably explained on the basis that CEM III/A 42.5N has a lower C3A content compared


Table 1: Physical, chemical

and mechanical properties

of the cements investigated

in this study.

Figure 1: Graph to show

elongations of the mortar

prisms stored in Na2SO4

solution.


Parameter CEM 1 242.5R SDC 32.5 CEM III/A 42.5N

Loss on ignition (%) 2.83 3.42 -

Insoluble residue (%) 3.25 3.82 -

Cl- (%) 0.008 0.0105 0.007

SO3 (%) 3.12 2.87 3.00

C3A (%) 8.67 4.20 -

C3A + 2 C4AF (%) 25.04 21.72 -

Total constituents (%) - - 58.2

Density (g/cm3) 3.13 3.14 3.02

Specifi c surface (cm2/g) 3675 3445 4270




Initial setting time (min) 125 135 175

Final setting time (min) 185 200 225

Soundness (mm) 1.0 1.0 1.0

0

0,05

0,1

0,15

0,2

0,25

0,3

W e e k

CEM I 42.5R

SDÇ 32.5

CEM III/A42.5N


Table 2: Average

elongations of the prisms

stored in Na2SO4 solution

for a period of 32 weeks.

Table 3: Compressive

strengths of the mortar

prisms by the end of 32

weeks


to CEM I 42.5R. Moreover, CEM III/A 42.5N cement is less permeable than the other two types of sample, leading to reduced sulphate penetration into the mortar prisms compared to SDÇ 32.5 and CEM I 42.5R.

ConclusionIn light of the experimental results from this study, the following conclusions can be drawn. Firstly, that CEM III/A 42.5N-type cement has almost the same sulphate resistance as SDÇ 32.5 and considerably better resistance than CEM I 42.5R. Th is might be due to two factors:

CEM III/A 42.5N has a blast furnace slag content of •about 60%, which eff ectively decreases the C3A con-tent in the matrix;CEM III/A 42.5N cement mortar is less permeable•than the CEM I 42.5R analogue, leading to decreasedpenetration of sulphate ions.

Another important conclusion from this study is thatthe strength loss of CEM III/A 42.5N aft er 32 weeks of exposure to a solution of Na2SO4 is almost same as thatof SDÇ 32.5 and far better than CEM I 42.5R.

References1. O S B Al-Amoudi, M Maslehuddin, M M ve Sadi, “Ef-fect of magnesium sulphate and sodium sulphate on thedurability performance of plain and blended cements”,ACI Materials Journal, 1995, 92(1), p15-24.2. P K Mehta, “Studies on blended portland cementscontaining pozzolans and granulated blast furnace slag”gProceedings of the Fift h International Symposium onConcrete Technology, 1981, p35-50.3. F R Hogan, J W Mausel, “Th e evaluation of durability and strength development of a GGBFS cement” C9 Sym-posium on Durability of Concrete, December 1980.4. ASTM C1012-04 Standard test method for lengthchange of hydraulic-cement mortars exposed to a sul-phate solution.

Type of cement Prism number Elongation (%) Coeffi cient of variation (%)

CEM I 42.5R 4 0.251 4.2

SDC 32.5 4 0.095 3.9

CEM III/A 42.5N 4 0.087 2.0

Parameter Compressive strength (MPa)

CEM 1 42.5R SDC 32.5 CEM III/A 42.5N

Cured in tap water 58.2 55.2 57.4

Stored in 5% Na2SO4 40.7 44.4 47.3

Index (%) 70 80 82

Strength loss (%) 30 20 18

4th

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Xinyu Steel invests in capacity boost

China: Xinyu Iron & Steel Co plans to invest in a series of tech-nology improvement measures to come online in 2009. It plans to build a batch of small sintering machines, small blast fur-naces, small converters and obsolete steel rolling production lines will be eliminated.

After the completion of the project Xinyu Steel will increase its capacity to 10Mt for steel products and 2.6Mt for blast furnace slag, which will all be transported to its subsidiary construction companies for realising a capacity of 700,000t of cement, 1Mt of slag powder and 400,000t of steel slag powder.

NEWS ALTERNATIVE RAW MATERIALS for CEMENT


India: The saying ‘convert waste into wealth’ has been truly put into practice by Essar Steel. It has been touted as the fi rst Indian steel company to become a zero waste and environment-friendly steel plant.

“We have adopted various measures to utilise the plant waste eff ectively to achieve our goal of becoming a zero waste com-pany. It is our endeavour to make this world class plant into a green plant,” said Dilip Oommen, chief executive offi cer of Essar Steel. Essar Steel’s plant at Hazira has an output capacity of 4.6Mt/y and generates 20-24% slag and less than 1% dust.

The company has developed technology to use slag for manufacturing cement, vitrifi ed steel and building roads. Dust

will be used to make bricks by mixing it with rice husk. Other steel fi rms simply dump these wastes, said Oommen. He further said that bricks made out of the mixture are 60% stronger than conventional ones, and are not baked but sun-dried.

“We have already built a road using slag, which is under test-ing. We intend to seek a patent for these two innovations and give it to entrepreneurs who could use it for commercial pur-poses,” Oomen added.

Essar Steel uses electric arc furnaces to produce the commod-ity in its lone domestic steel-making facility at Hazira in Gujarat. It is also setting up another 4.9Mt/y facility adjoining the existing plant.

Waste goes green in Essar Steel plant


New blast furnace slag cement plant in Brazil

Brazil: CSN Company - a steel, mining, infrastructure and cement business - has announced that its cement plant is in its fi nal con-struction stage, and is expected to be operational by early 2009, with initial production estimated at 1Mt of high-quality cement. The raw material for cement production will be blast furnace slag from President Vargas Mill owned by CSN. Annual production ca-pacity is expected to reach 2.3Mt by 2010.

Burnpur Cement acquires 60% stake inBurnpur Natural ResourcesIndia: Burnpur Cement – manufacturer of portland slag cement at its plant in Asansol, West Bengal with a 1000t/d capacity – announced that the company has become the holding com-pany of Burnpur Natural Resources by acquiring 6000 shares (equivalent to 60% of the total holding) of Burnpur Natural Resources. Further, the company said that Burnpur Natural Resources will be engaged in mining activities.

Wanted: Cement partners to use excess slagIndia: Steel Authority of India Ltd plans to raise its annual hot metal production to 26.2Mt by 31 March 2009, from 14.6Mt cur-rently. Output will be raised further to 60Mt by 2020, according to the company’s annual report.

Steel Authority, India’s second-biggest producer, spent US$496m of its own cash during the year ending on 31 March 2008 to enhance capacity. The company has formed a joint ven-ture for a 2.2Mt cement plant that will use slag from the Bokaro steel mill as raw material. Production will begin by March 2010, the report said. Steel Authority is also looking for a partner for another cement plant at its facilities in Rourkela.

India: Jiten Chatterji and Bobby J King, both of Duncan, D Chad Brenneis of Marlow, Roger S Cromwell of Walters, (all Oklahoma), Brent P Balcer of Magnolia, Barry L Peiser of Katy, and Don M Everett of Houston (all Texas), have developed a method for a special foamed cement from fl y ash.

According to the US Patent & Trademark Offi ce: “Methods of cementing and low density foamed cement compositions there-fore are disclosed. A low density foamed cement composition of the invention comprises fl y ash comprising calcium oxide or calcium hydroxide, water present in an amount suffi cient to form a slurry, a foaming and foam stabilising surfactant or a mixture of surfactants present in an amount suffi cient to facilitate foam and stabilise the foamed cement composition, and suffi cient gas to foam the foamed cement composition.” The inventors were issued US Patent number 7,413,014 on 19 August 2008.

Not content with one patent, Craig W Roddy, Jiten Chatterji and Bobby J King, all from Duncan, and D Chad Brenneis of Mar-

low, (all Oklahoma), have developed a foamed settable cement kiln dust.

According to the US Patent & Trademark Offi ce: “The present invention provides settable compositions that comprise water and cement kiln dust. The settable compositions optionally may comprise an additive that comprises at least one of the follow-ing groups: fl y ash, shale, slag cement, zeolite, metakaolin, and combinations thereof. The settable compositions optionally may be foamed with a gas. Methods of cementing also are provided that comprise: providing the settable composition; introducing the settable composition into a location to be cemented; and al-lowing the settable composition to set therein. The location to be cemented may be above ground or in a subterranean forma-tion.”

The inventors were issued US Patent number 7,387,675 on 17 June 2008. Both patents have been assigned to Halliburton Energy Services Inc, Duncan, Oklahoma.

Double whammy - Halliburton inventors develop cement compositions from fl y ash and slag

NEWSEUROPE


Latvia: The Latvian Competi-tion Council is considering legal action against Cemex for selling its products at low prices, the watchdog’s repre-sentative said. Competition council representative Dana Kumpina said the watchdog was gathering additional in-formation in order to decide whether there are grounds to initiate a case against Cemex over alleged abuses of its dominant position.

In Kumpina’s words, on 18 August 2008 the council received an application from the Latvian Association of Con-struction Materials Producers, Eksim Trans, Baltijas Betonmix and Betons 97, asking to as-sess Cemex’s operations. The competition council must de-cide whether to initiate a case within 30 days of receiving an application.

Latvia’s Dienas Bizness (DB) newspaper reported that a number of concrete produc-ers, as well as the Association of Construction Materials Pro-ducers, have fi led a complaint with the competition council saying that Latvia’s largest ce-ment producer Cemex follows a ‘dumping’ policy, whereby it off ers to transport concrete for a price well below its prime cost. Citing the complaint, DB said that Cemex was selling transported concrete at a price about 15% below the prime cost.

The applicants have asked the watchdog to restrict Ce-mex’s aggressive expansion policies. The companies be-lieve that Cemex will be able to compensate its losses incurred from the low prices by taking advantage of its dominant po-sition in the concrete market.

Latvia watchdog considers action againstCemex

Russia urged to impose 20% import tax oncement

Russia: The Russian Union of Cement Producers (Soyuztsement) intends to fi le a request with Russia’s government to impose a 20% import tax on cement, general director of the union Mikhail Kiselev said. Mr Kiselev argues that this action is necessary due to a sharp increase in cement imports from Turkey, China and other countries. Import of cement grew almost 20-fold to 4.7Mt in the fi rst half of 2008.

South Ossetia confl ict hits HeidelbergCement in Georgia

Georgia/Russia: HeidelbergCement has stated that the Georgian-Ossetian confl ict has infl icted losses amounting to Euro200,000 to its plant in Georgia. Head of HeidelbergCement, Meinhard Tul, said that “Russian aircraft bombed the Kasp cement works of HeidelbergCement and electric cabins have been damaged.” He added: “The cement works has not been damaged directly which enables the company to continue activities.”

The plant has been closed since the beginning of the confl ict, he said. Meinhard Tul noted that the company is not going to suspend its activities in Georgia and will continue investing in the country’s economy.

“In 2008, Euro10m is expected to be invested in Georgia’s econ-omy,” Tul said. Investments in the 2006-2008 period amounted to Euro176m.

New cement terminal at Kaliningrad port

Russia: HeidelbergCement has commissioned a cement shipment terminal at the Kaliningrad port on the Baltic Sea. The Kaliningrad cement terminal is designed to unload cement from vessels, and to store and transfer cement to motor transport vehicles.

The terminal’s capacity makes it possible to ship around 200,000t/y of cement during the fi rst stage. The terminal is fi tted with two fi lters with purifi cation effi ciencies of up to 99.9%.

Youngsters cement a really wild futureUK: Lafarge’s Cauldon cement works has created a nature reserve on its doorstep thanks to a helping hand from youth volunteers. The lake near the Cauldon plant is now teeming with wildlife including grebe, kingfi shers, herons, coots and swans – and now the company is keen to encourage groups of schoolchildren to visit the site and view for themselves the range of biodiversity.

The environmental project, which was funded by Lafarge through a UK£1000 donation, saw youth volunteers aged 12 to 16 team up with the Staff ordshire Wildlife Trust to create the new bird hide.

Lafarge’s environmental co-ordinator Alison Shenton said: “We are committed to supporting and developing biodiversity, particularly within the former quarry areas and quiet areas within the works boundaries. By drawing on Staff ordshire Wildlife Trust’s expert knowledge and advice we hope to continue to develop the grassland and aquatic habitats and welcome even more fl ora and fauna to estab-lish itself here.”

“At the moment the lake and the hide is only accessible for Lafarge visitors and school groups who have arranged to come to the site. In the future we very much hope to be able to open up the site and enable more local people to enjoy this beautiful, peaceful site in complete safety.”

The work forms part of a Moorlands-wide project, deliv-ered by Staff ordshire Wildlife Trust and supported by the Big Lottery Fund that aims to get young people involved in improving local environments. Martin Evans, youth projects offi cer with the trust, said: “This has been a really good project for the young people to be involved in. Not only are we enabling local school groups to utilise the site but the young people are also learning valuable greenwood con-struction skills.

“The lake already boasts a rich array of wildlife and to give others the chance to view it at close quarters is really special.We’re hoping that Lafarge will be pleased with the work that the young people have done and that we’ll be able to fi nd other conservation tasks at the site for them to undertake. “

Euro5.2m contract for Siemens

Lithuania: Akmenes Cementas has signed a contract worth over Euro5.2m with Siemens to purchase electrical equip-ment for its new production line. The new line should be completed by 2011.



NEWSEUROPE

Ireland: CRH, the Irish building materials group, has warned that it expects a 10% fall in full-year profi ts as the slowdown in US housebuilding begins to bite.

The warning came as the group reported a 10% fall in fi rst-half pre-tax profi ts to Eu-ro606m on revenue marginally higher at Euro9.7bn. Otherwise healthy results were dragged down by the Americas division, where fi rst-half operating profi ts tumbled 29% to Euro197m.

CRH’s chief executive Liam O’Mahony said: “Following 15 years of consecutive growth and a record performance in 2007, more diffi cult trading conditions and a weaker dollar will result in a lower outcome for 2008,’’ Mr O’Mahony said. “The percentage decline in full-year profi t before tax is expected to be broadly

similar to that reported for the fi rst six months. The housebuild-ing market in the US is very weak and it will continue for some time. There is no sign of an end to that,’’ he said.

The number of unsold homes on the market in the US is at its highest level for at least 40 years, according to a survey by the Na-tional Association of Realtors.

The company, which has cut 6% of its workforce since the start of 2007, will continue to make effi ciency savings, and Mr Mahony said he “wouldn’t be surprised if we had more cuts in 2009 than we did in 2008’’.

The group’s European divi-sion saw a modest 4% rise in operating profi ts to Euro515m but was knocked by a 14% fall in cement sales in Ireland.

CRH braced for 10% profi ts fall

Ukraine: The operator of Bakhchisaray cement works situated in the Crimean Peninsula ordered a coal mill from Gebr. Pfeiff er AG. The MPS 200 BK will be capable of achieving a capacity of 15t/h, grinding a mixture of anthracite and pit coal. This will be the fi fth MPS vertical roller mill that will be installed in the Ukraine.

New coal mill for Ukraine

Cyprus cement production up by 5.1%

Cyprus: Production of cement in Cyprus rose by 5.1% to 1.16Mt in the fi rst seven months of 2008, from 1.1Mt in the January-July 2007 period. This growth was slightly higher than in 2007, when production rose by 4.8%.

The biggest kind of cement by tonnage is Portland composite, which according to the German Cement Works Association, is more environmentally friendly than regular cement. Production of Portland composite rose by 4.2% to 567,846t.

However, exports of cement or clinker in the fi rst seven months of 2008 were zero, as production was totally ab-sorbed by the local market. This is despite shortages in places such as the Gulf region, as Saudi Arabia has lim-ited its own exports to help its local construction sector. In 2007 Cyprus exported 62,969t of cement.

Cemex turns to ABB for kiln temperature check

UK: Cemex’s Rugby Cement manu-facturing facility is standardising on the latest fi eld-mountable tempera-ture transmitter from ABB following successful trials of a unit on its rotary cement kiln. The Warwickshire-based plant produces 4200t/d of cement, and it’s vital to keep the giant kiln turning. The ABB TTF300 temperature transmitter helps this by monitoring the temperature of one of the bear-ings responsible for carrying the enormous weight of the kiln.

Holcim Serbia involved in water consortium

Serbia: The Serbian unit of cement producer Holcim, Bulgarian electric-ity producer Brikel and a Serbian consortium are interested in the sale of Serbian water transport fi rm Kamenko Gagrcin, according to the country’s privatisation agency. The consortium is made up of the following companies: GP Napred, Hidro-Baza and Karin Komerc MD, the agency said in a statement, adding it will rank the bids in up to 30 days.

Kalenborn International reorganises

Germany: Kalenborn, headquar-tered in Vettelschoss, Germany has announced that it has reorganised under the new name of Kalenborn International GmbH & Co KG. This company takes over the leading function for a total of 12 affi liated companies. A new company has been formed, Kalenborn Kalprotect GmbH & Co KG, to be responsible for handling the operative business from the Vettelschoss location.

This group of companies of-fers wear protection solutions from consultation, planning and production to design and installa-tion on-site based on a variety of materials consisting of specialised minerals, ceramics and metallics. The company has experienced substantial growth during the last 10 years, expanding from a sales volume of approximately Euro15m and three associated companies to a business with consolidated sales of more than Euro40m (with pro-jected sales of Euro50m by 2010) and 12 associated companies. Worldwide Kalenborn employs around 500 people.

The managers of Kalenborn International will be Dr Conrad Mauritz, Michael W Rokitta and Dietmar Tremmer. The operative company Kalenborn Kalprotect will be managed by Michael W Rokitta and Dietmar Tremmer.

Meeting of Kalenborn partners: Dr Manfred Schleiter, partner Georg Graf von Kerssenbrock,

general manager Dietmar Tremmer, managing partner Dr Conrad Mauritz,

partner Hedi Mauritz and legal counsel of the Duke, Dr Karl-Peter Esse.

Meeting of Kalenborn partners: Managing partner Dr Conrad Mauritz, partner Hedi Mauritz,

general manager Dietmar Tremmer, general manager Michael W Rokitta,

partner Georg Graf von Kerssenbrock and legal counsel of the duke Dr Karl-Peter Esser

NEWSEUROPE

European news in brief

Russia: KHD Humboldt Wedag has awarded Gebr. Pfeiff er AG a contract for the supply of a grinding-drying plant for a new cement pro-duction line which will be built in Perwomaiskij situated in the south of Russia. The plant will be capable of producing 550t/h of raw meal. If used for grinding raw materials with an aver-age grindability, such a plant could achieve a capacity of more than 800 t/h.

Czech Republic: Cement production increased only by 4% year-on- year to 2.2Mt in 1H 2008. But its exports increased by 24% to 291,760t in 1H 2008. Most of the amount is exported to Germany where about 109,451t of cement was exported in 1H 2008. Exports to Poland increased the most where over 43,000t of ce-ment were exported in 1H 2008. Nearly 97,000t of cement were exported to Slovakia, a 43% increase compared to the fi rst half of 2007.

Russia: Viktor Shapovalov has been appointed as president of Sibirskiy Cement. Previously he served as executive vice-president.

Serbia: Holcim has acquired a further 7.08% of the Holcim cement works in Novi Popovac. The deal has a value of Euro9.7m. Holcim now has a share of 99.4%.

Portugal: Cimpor registered a 17.6% year-on-year drop in its fi rst half 2008 net profi t to Euro114.2m, the company said. EBITDA earn-ings fell 6% to Euro279.1m. The geographical diversifi cation of Cimpor’s operations helped the company to limit this decline to 6%.

Russia: OAO Promsintez, Russia’s main pro-ducer of nitrobenzene and other industrial explosives, plans to build a 1Mt/y cement plant at a cost of Euro200m, due to open in 2010.

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Court opens case over Dontsement bankruptcyUkraine: The Donetsk regional business court has opened a case of bankruptcy of Ukrainian cement producer Dontsement. The court launched the bankruptcy procedure on 15 July 2008, the same day that a moratorium for the satisfaction of creditors’ demands was introduced. Vasyl Bilozir has been appointed as the asset manager. The claims are accepted until 29 September 2008.

Dontsement has six cement kilns and produces about 2Mt/y of cement. In December 2005, HeidelbergСement purchased Dontsement from Ukraine in-vestment company via its Dutch branch CBR Portland BV. Dontsement ended 2007 with a net profi t of UAH 201.21 million.


25 years of Fritsch laser technologyGermany: As part of Fritsch’s 25th anniversary celebrations, the German laser technology fi rm is selling 25 of its Analysette 22 Compact Laser Particle Sizers at a 25% discount.

According to Fritsh: “The Analysette 22 Compact is the ideal solution for analy-sis of sample materials with particle sizes in the range from 0.3 to 300μm – and the ideal starter model for anyone wishing to switch from classical sieving and sedimentation processes to laser diff raction.”

The Analysette is available in three diff erent versions, for wet dispersion, dry dispersion and a combined wet and dry model. More details on the sales off er can be found at www.fritsch-laser.com.

Fritsch’s Analysette 22 Compact Laser Particle Sizer

Austria: Dipl.-Kfm. Ing. Kurt Hofer has handed over his respon-sibilities as general manager of the industrial minerals business segment of Scheuch GmbH to Christian Straif with eff ect from 1 August 2008. Under Kurt Hofer’s leadership, Scheuch developed over the past few years into a company that has enjoyed global success. One of the factors enabling this success was the com-pany’s EMC technology for the removal of dust and the recovery of materials using process fi lters in the cement industry.

Preparations for the change in leadership have been thor-ough. With Christian Straif, Scheuch promotes an employee whose deep knowledge of this special sector has its roots from working on the job. Straif joined the company in 1987 and after completing his basic training as a design draftsman, he took on

various executive and managerial functions in project handling and sales. After working with Uwe Neumann to establish a branch offi ce in Germany between 1997-2002, Straif re-turned to the head offi ce in Aurolzmünster, where he has served since 2006 as assistant general manager, a position that has prepared him for his new responsibilities. Kurt Hofer hands over the baton to Christian Straif

New general manager at Scheuch

NEWSEUROPE

Samson – goes from strength to strength

Europe: In the last few months B&W has received several or-ders for the delivery of its Samson™ Feeders to the European cement industry, including the following projects:

Titan Cement Company placed an order for one Samson • (1600x11m) for handling pozzolan, gypsum, limestone and slag with a capacity up to 300t/h at its Zlatna Panega ce-ment mill in Bulgaria;Elite Cementos (Spain) ordered one Samson to handle • clinker, gypsum and limestone at 750t/h;Cemex in Latvia placed an order with B&W for one Samson • to be installed at its Broceni plant. The machine will be used to transport coal at 75t/h;Cemex Spain ordered a Samson to handle alternative fuels • at 70m3/h;Four identical Samson units will be supplied to Volyn Ce-• ment and YugCement (Ukraine). Once in operation the machines will handle coal at a rate of 200t/h. A further Sam-son will be supplied via Aumund Fördertechnik to the CRH Podilsky plant in Ukraine.


Austria: Intensiv-Filter has strengthened its presence in south eastern Europe, by establishing a new Austrian subsidiary – Intensiv-Filter Austria GmbH – located in Grieskirchen. The aim of the company is to serve the customers locally in the south eastern European region and to expand the resources of Intensiv-Filter worldwide. In addition to companies in Brazil, India and Korea, Intensiv-Filter Austria GmbH is the third European subsidi-ary outside Germany.

In an offi cial announcement, Thomas Blüggel, director of the founding company, said: “The south eastern European region is one of the most promising areas in the world. Part of our strategy is to develop core competences [in this region] with our own employees. Our subsidiary in Austria is intended to enhance our bond with the region, to develop rapidly after it establishes itself and to expand our business.”

The new managing director (MD) of Intensiv-Filter Austria is Joachim Thiele (pictured) who has many years of experience in

fi lter technology, including that from within Intensiv-Filter. For many years he was also the MD at Intensiv-Filter’s sister company Infastaub GmbH.

Intensiv-Filter Austria GmbH founded

HeidelbergCement shows global growthdespite weakness in the US and UK

Germany: HeidelbergCement has released details of its fi nan-cial fi gures for the January-June 2008 operating period. For the fi rst six months of 2008 HC achieved Euro6.9bn in turnover (up from Euro4.2bn in 2007). Net profi t for this six month period was Euro1.7bn, up 29% for 2007.

One of the reasons for this increase was the purchase of Han-son, in addition to strong performance in eastern Europe, central Asia, Indonesia, China, Africa and Turkey.

Cement and clinker sales volumes rose by 8% to 44.4Mt, with growth strongest in the Australia-Africa group area, followed by Europe. Sales volumes in North America were impaired, mainly as a result of a weak construction market. Deliveries of aggregates more than trebled, reaching 145.4Mt. In addition, ready-mix con-crete sales volumes increased by 81.5% to 22.2Mm3.

Intensiv-Filter Austria’s new headquarters

Joachim Thiele

First construction round of Cemex’s terminal at Liepaja Port, Riga, completedLatvia: The fi rst round of construction of the Cemex cement terminal at Liepaja Port has been completed, according to Cemex public relations manager Eriks Matulis. The project is being implemented by Cemex in conjunction with the Liepaja Port company Liepajs Osta LM.

The new premises will become part of the Cemex network of terminals. Total investments in the project are estimated at Euro9.7m, with Cemex contributing Euro7.2m.

The construction of the cement terminal in Liepaja began in November 2007. The cement terminal is fully automated and can handle up to 250t of cement per hour. After the second round of the construction of the terminal concludes in Septem-ber 2008, it will also be able to export cement. The terminal’s total annual handling capacity will be 500,000-800,000t.

Holcim lowers 2008 outlook after 66% drop in net profi tSwitzerland: Holcim has lowered its full-year outlook after reporting a 66% drop in second-quarter 2008 net profi t, hit by high raw-material costs and a slowdown in the US construction industry.

Net profi t fell to Euro432m from Euro1.3bn a year earlier, when the fi gure was boosted by a Euro808m divestment. Sales were down 4.8% to Euro4.3bn. Analysts noted that business in North America was surprisingly weak and that slowing growth in India burdened Asia. The company said it is maintaining its long-term target of 5% annual internal growth in EBITDA earnings.

Semapa H1 net drops 22% to Euro55.7mPortugal: Portuguese conglomerate Semapa, which controls paper producer Portucel and cement maker Secil, posted a 22% drop in fi rst-half 2008 net profi t following 2007’s one-off gain. Semapa’s net profi t fell to Euro55.7m in H1 2008 after Euro71.5m in the previous year. EBITDA earnings fell 20% to Euro185.1m.

NEWSEUROPE

Dyckerhoff ’s Ukrainian output increase

Ukraine: Ukrainian plants belonging to Dyckerhoff Ze-ment boosted production 7.7% to 1.33Mt of cement in the fi rst half of 2008 compared to the same period of 2007. The Yugtsement plant increased production 11.8% to 546,700t in the half, while Volyn Cement raised output 4.9% to 778,400t.

Yugtsement increased production 13.7% to 115,100t in June 2008, while Volyn Cement reduced output 3.3% to 142,700t.

Holcim Romania sees 2008 turnover up 22%

Romania:The Romanian unit of Holcim expects its turnover to rise by up to 22% on the year in 2008, from Euro280.9m in 2007, CEO Markus Wirth said on 18 August 2008. Holcim Romania’s turnover grew by an annual 28% in 2007.

The company set aside an investment budget of Euro135 m for 2008 for projects including modernisation of production technology, environment protection and labour safety. Holcim Romania also an-nounced its intention to acquire local building materials producers, as well as expand through greenfi eld investments.

The company invested a total of Euro515m in Romania by the end of 2007, divided between a new Euro95.0m cement plant in northwestern Alesd as well as Euro60.8m and Euro35m for cement production facili-ties in southern Campulung and northwestern Turda, respectively.

Lafarge reassures truck drivers

UK: Lafarge has said that switching between 50,000 long-distance truck journeys a year to rail will result in no job losses among drivers as a result. Lafarge says its em-ployed drivers and sub-contractors will be moved from deliveries of silo cement – which will now go by rail – to deliveries of packed cement.

Lafarge’s 48 new rail wagons were part of a £5m expan-sion plan at its Hope Works in Derbyshire. The company says making the move will cut 6800 local truckloads each year from the Hope Valley site, with only one additional train journey a week to carry the increased tonnage.

The primary role of the new rail wagons will be to carry cement in 22-wagon loads from the Hope Works to depots in the south east. The cement will then be taken to its fi nal destination by truck.

Turkey’s Akçansa targets US$715m turnover in 2008

Turkey: Turkish cement producer Akçansa is targeting revenue of over US$715m in 2008, the general manager of the company Hakan Gurdal said. The company, which is owned by Sabanci Holding andHeidelbergCement Group, had sales of Euro400m in 2007.

Akçansa’s fi rst-half 2008 net profi t fell 31% to Euro40.6m as sales rose 18% to Euro234.7m. The company will make investments of Euro13.8m in the second half of this year, and plans Euro20.7m in energy invest-ments in 2009, Gurdal said.

http://www.intensiv-filter.de


Aumund/Schade Lagertechnik GmbHSchade Lagertechnik, part of the Aumund Group, has been busy expanding the range of services it off ers, espe-cially in the fi eld of cement plant upgrades. In 2007/08 Schade engineers have been involved in plant upgrades in the following countries: Argentina (Amali), the UAE (Fujairah), Australia (German Creek and Curragh) and even in North Korea.

In Fujairah the reclaiming capacity of the existing bridge scraper of a competitor was increased from 280t/h to 400t/h. At the same time, the storage capac-ity of the existing silo was extended from 36,000t to 43,000t.

In Amali, the Schade service team achieved an in-crease in the reclaiming capacity from 450t/h to 750t/h of a third-party product. In the Australian Curragh and German Creek, Schade engineers carried out an up-grade of the existing Schade bridge scrapers from 1200 to 1800t/h each.

In the North Korean town of Sangwon the cement works which has been operating for more than 20 years will be completely renewed. Here, Schade Lagertechnik received an order to increase the capacity and availabil-ity of the existing stockyard equipment.


Right: A Schade circular

reclaimer.

Below: A Schade engineer

servicing parts.



Plant upgrades 2007/08Plant upgrades 2007/08Global Cement Magazine showcases some cement plant upgrades that have taken place during the past 12 months, focusing on Aumund/Schade Lagertechnik, Pillard, Thermoteknix and Vicat.



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Top-to-bottom: Pillard's

Rotafl am RV2 kiln burner

(viewed from both ends)

and tip.

PillardTh e Phoenix Zementwerke Krog-beumker GmbH & Co KG has optimised its clinker production for the coming year. By installing a modern fi ring plant, the cement producer was able to satisfy its in-creasing need for fl exibility whilst being able to apply both primary and alternative fuels, and in the process maintain high product quality.

In order to achieve this, Phoenix Zementwerke Krogbeumker has called on its long-standing part-ner, Pillard Feuerungen GmbH, based in Taunusstein, Germany, for technical support. In addition to the main burner with a fi ring ca-pacity of 58MW, the modifi cation project also covered engineering – including unique components for the related burner carriage and the ignition burner, control unit and spare parts.

Rotafl am® RV2, the new rotary kiln burner from Pillard, will be the centerpiece of the plant. While Rotafl am burners have been con-tinuously optimised for 20 years, this latest version was specifi cally designed for burning larger quan-tities of alternative solid fuels.

According to Pillard: "A high level of fl exibility in terms of fuel handling and fl ame design as well as a proven track record of a sub-stitution rate for alternative solid fuels in excess of 80% distinguish Rotafl am RV2 as it is rapidly im-proving."

Th e Rotafl am burner is also capable of burning a variety of liquid and gaseous fuel types.

Ernst Kirchhoff , general manager ofPillard Feuerungen GmbH, said: "Th e number of burners put into operation is rising con-stantly. Th e results have been, all in all, very satisfactory. Nonetheless, we keep looking for possibilities to improve the substitution rate yet further.”





ThermoteknixAs computing technology advances, users frequently ask for upgrade paths so that their investment in kiln shell scanning can be protected. Th ermoteknix WinCEM® 3D has been developed to ensure new and older installa-tions can benefi t from the latest soft ware and operating platform developments. Existing historical data can be opened and reviewed with WinCEM 3D soft ware.

WinCEM 3D is the latest in 3D image processing providing real time advanced kiln data visualisation. Operators can select any viewing angle, including inter-nal views to show refractory thickness and coating wear, ensuring a complete survey of full kiln conditions.

Compatible with all Th ermoteknix Centurion-based line scanning systems, WinCEM 3D future-proofs the valuable kiln shell scanning investment. Based on Cli-ent-Server technology, WinCEM 3D provides fl exibility in the display of multiple kiln data on any PC within the plant network.

In the last 12 months, Th ermoteknix has upgraded a range of scanning systems at various cement plants worldwide. Lafarge UK's Dunbar plant in East Lothian, Scotland, upgraded a stereo TK20 to a TK25 Centurion Kiln Shell Scanner with WinCem Graphic 3D Kiln Shell Visualisation soft ware. Lafarge UK also commissioned Th ermoteknix to supply and commission two Centu-rion Kiln Shell Scanners with WinCem Graphic Kiln Shell Visualisation soft ware to replace a Th ermoteknix DOS based system installed in the early 1990s at its Hope plant in Derbyshire. Lafarge USA also charged Th ermoteknix for a similar soft ware upgrade at its Dav-enport, Iowa plant.

Holcim's Dudfi eld plant in Johannesburg, South Af-rica, asked Th ermoteknix to resite and recommission an existing Centurion Kiln Shell Scanner with WinCem 3D Graphic Kiln Shell Visualisation soft ware for a new kiln due to a plant development project.

In the Philippines, Republic Cement Co agreed with Th ermoteknix to supply and install a new Th ermaScope SLK radiometric kiln camera and to upgrade to the lat-est Centurion/WinCem Kiln Shell scanner aft er years of service from a previous Centurion model.

Middle East cement plants have also upgraded their respective Th ermoteknix soft ware: Raysut Cement Co in Oman commissioned a Centurion Kiln Shell Scanner

with WinCem Graphic Kiln Shell Visualisation soft ware system. Similarly, El Minya White Ce-ment, part of Italcementi Group El Menya in Egypt, upgraded a 2D DOS-based system supplied by Th ermoteknix in the mid 1990s to a WinCem Graphic 3D Kiln Shell Scanning and Visuali-sation soft ware system.

Saudi Arabian fi rm Eastern Province Cement Co ordered an upgrade of an existing 16-bit Centurion system to WinCem 3D graphic to match a system supplied by a competitor on the company's kiln 3.

During the last year Guatemalan fi rm Cementos Progreso has upgraded to the latest Centurion Kiln Shell Scanner with the purchase of a WinCem Graphic Kiln Shell Visualisation soft ware system. Th e same upgrade was also made by Heracles' cement plant in Milaki, Greece; Cementir SpA's Spoleto plant in Italy and by Honduran producer Cementos del Norte SA de CV, a subsidiary of Holcim.

Above: Thermoteknix's

Thermoscope.

Left: A screenshot of the

visualisation software

in action.

Below and bottom: The

Centurion scanner

being used in situ.

Top: An artist's impression of

the Almaty cement plant, due

to be completed in 2010.

Above: The signing ceremony

between Kazkommerts Invest

and members of the Vicat

Group.

Right: An aerial view of the

Montalieu cement plant.

Below: Side-view of the

Montalieu cement plant,

showing the completed

circular pre-homogenisation

store.



VicatTh e Vicat Group has become part of the project initiated by Kazkommerts In-vest, a Kazakhstan investment fund, for construction of a cement plant in My-naral Kazakhstan. Vicat has acquired 60% of the cement manufacturing and marketing company, the remainder being held by Kazkommerts Invest. Th e cost of the project is estimated at US$230m which, above the US$60m of

the company’s share capital, will be fi nanced by a syndi-cated loan from a supranational bank.

A turnkey contract has been signed with Chinese contractor China Triumph Engineering International for construction of the cement plant with an annual cement production capacity of 1.1Mt. Th e project will create 400 jobs. Th e fi rst steps of the construction have been initiated (the ground breaking ceremony took place in May 2008) and the production is scheduled to start in 2010. Th e plant will benefi t from substantial mineral reserves and direct road and rail links providing easy access for both supply and delivery to large regional markets, particularly that of Almaty.

Th is investment will draw on the growth and poten-tial of Kazakhstan which enjoys an abundance of natural resources yet is a net importer of cement. Th e project has a great many advantages, particularly in terms of its

location and implementation, making it preferable to the fi rst project the Vicat Group examined, in Kentau, for which certain conditions were not met within the agreed timeframe.

Another major plant upgrade involving Vicat has been the refurbishment of the Montalieu cement plant in the Rhône-Alpes area of France. Aft er having built its fi rst cement plant at Genevrey-de-Vif south of Grenoble (Isère), Vicat expanded in 1922 with the construction of a plant at Montalieu, which, in the opinion of Vicat, has become one of the most powerful and modern cement plants in Europe, as well as one of the most environmen-tally friendly. Between 2005 and 2007 Vicat invested Euro51m to enhance the Montalieu plant. Some 20% of this investment was dedicated to environmental protec-tion and the implementation of green areas.

Th anks to the major improvements achieved in 2007, Vicat's Montalieu cement plant has a production capacity that has grown from 3500t/d in 2007 to 4500t/d in 2008, allowing it to meet the needs of the increasing market and to reduce transportation costs between plants.

Th e main improvements and new equipment sup-plied to the Montalieu cement plant include:

Installation of a vertical raw mill;• Improvements on the cement kiln-line;• Circular pre-homogenisation store with 30,000t• capacity;A 1.8km-long conveyor belt between the plant and • the quarry;A new 'state of the art' vertical cement mill. •

http://www.paglierani.com

CORPORATE TOP 10 PART 2

CemexA mixture of buoyant fi nancial fi gures, several strategic purchases, as well as the on-going nationalisation saga in Venezuela, have all combined to make 2007/08 an eventful period for the Mexican cement group, to say the least!

Financially, Cemex enjoyed a successful 2007. Net sales increased by 19% from 2006, reaching US$21.7bn in 2007, which equates to an operating income of almost US$3.0bn, a 1% increase from 2006. And in 2008, these fi gures have continued to impress. Cemex's fi rst quarter 2008 results showed that consoli-dated net sales increased 26% to US$5.4bn versus the comparable period in 2007. EBITDA grew 10% in the fi rst quarter of 2008 to US$951m versus the same period in 2007. In addition, majority net income increased 18% to US$470m from US$400m in Q1 2007. Th e increase in majority net income is mostly explained by the gain in fi nancial instruments and other net gains.

At 'home,' Cemex's Mexican sales increased 2% in the fi rst quarter of 2008 to US$915m, compared with US$901m in the same period of 2007. EBITDA in-creased 3% to US$346m. Despite a housing slump in the US, Cemex's operations in this region reported net sales of US$1.2bn in the fi rst quarter of 2008, up 43% from the same period in 2007. However, EBITDA decreased 8% to US$164m vis a vis Q1 2007.

Further gains were also made in Q2 2008: Consoli-dated net sales increased 29% in the second quarter of 2008 to US$6.3bn versus US$4.9bn in the comparable period in 2007. EBITDA increased 21% in Q2 2008 to US$1.4bn from US$1.1bn a year-ago.

Héctor Medina, executive vice president of planning and fi nance, said: "Our consolidated results for the sec-ond quarter show the strength of our business model, characterised by our international presence and diverse asset portfolio. We achieved signifi cant increases in net sales while further reducing our debt level, even in the face of the continued downturn in the US residential sector and the downturn in the Spanish economy. Looking ahead, we remain focused on strengthening our fi nancial fl exibility while continuing to drive solid returns for our shareholders."

Undoubtedly one of the key milestones in 2007 was the US$15.3bn purchase of aggregates and ready-mix company Rinker. At the time of the acquisition, Cemex

estimated that it would achieve US$130m in annual synergies aft er the fi rst three years, but now expects to exceed US$200m in 2008 alone. In addition, the company originally anticipated that the average cost of funding the Rinker acquisition would be 6%, but it now expects that the average cost of funding the Rinker buy-out for 2008 will be closer to 4%.

As well as acquisitions, Cemex has made a number of high-profi le sales during the course of 2007/08. On 31 March 2008 Cemex announced the sale of its stake in Axtel. Proceeds from the sale totalled US$257m, repre-senting almost 90% of Cemex's shares in Axtel.

On 6 May 2008 Cemex announced it was consider-ing selling some of its assets in Austria, Hungary and selected building products in the UK. In fact, on 31 July 2008 Cemex said it had reached an agreement to sell its Austrian and Hungarian subsidiaries to Strabag SE, a European construction and building materials group, for Euro310m. Th e proceeds from the potential assets sale will be used to reduce debt.

Furthermore, on 6 August 2008, Cemex said it was exploring the sale of some of its Australian assets. Th e items being considered for sale operate under the 'Humes' brand name and consist of 16 concrete pipe and product manufacturing facilities located through-out Australia.

More recently much of the news surrounding Cemex has been linked with Venezuela, specifi cally with the na-tionalisation programme championed by the country's president, Hugo Chávez. A more detailed synopsis of this story can be found in 'Latin America focus' feature in this issue of Global Cement Magazine (p62).


Lorenzo H Zambrano (top)

and Héctor Medina (above),

Cemex's chairman and CEO

and executive VP for fi nance

and planning respectively,

continue to be frustrated

by nationalisation plans of

Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez (below right).



2007/08 Corporate top 10: Part 22007/08 Corporate top 10: Part 2Global Cement Magazine continues its review of the world's top 10 cement companies in 2007/08, focusing on Cemex, Anhui Conch and Italcementi. The remaining companies will be featured in the next issue of Global Cement Magazine.


http://www.paglierani.com

Below: In true Olympic-style,

Yiyang Conch plant workers

hold the lighting torch during

the launch ceremony.

Below: The 5000t/d kiln is lit.

Right: Proud workers line up

for the ignition ceremony.

Anhui ConchAnhui Conch Cement Co, China's largest cement producer by output, has seen healthy operating results for the 2007-2008 period. In 2007 total revenue came to US$2.8bn, up 16.7% from the US$2.4bn achieved in 2006. Net profi t payable to shareholders in 2007 amounted to US$334.2m, an increase of 69% from 2006's equivalent fi gure of US$198m.

Th e group's revenue dur-ing the operating period January–March 2008 amounted to US$675m, representing an in-crease of 27.5% from that of the corresponding period in 2007, while its net profi t attributable to shareholders of the company came to almost US$66m, rep-resenting an increase of 98.5% from Q1 2007. Th is dramatic in-crease was explained by Anhui Conch as being attributable to

the expansion of production capacity, increases in sales, improvement in the balance of supply and demand in the market and an increase in the average selling prices of the Group when compared with those of the same pe-riod in 2007, and, in addition, Conch’s acquisition of the minority interests of certain subsidiaries in April 2007.

More recently, Conch's interim report for the fi rst six months of 2008 showed impressive statistics. Revenue for this period was US$1.5bn, representing an increase of approximately 22.1% from the same time in 2007 (US$1.2bn). In terms of operating profi t aft er tax, this amounted to US$207m, up 14.7% from the US$180m achieved in the fi rst half of 2007. Moreover, profi t attrib-utable to Conch's equity shareholders was US$190m, which is a 46% increase over the corresponding period in 2007.

Around 44% (US$655m) of Conch's sales revenue came from eastern China (in-cluding Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Fujian and Shanghai). Th e next largest sector was central China (Anhui, Jiangxi and Hunan provinces) with almost 23% (US$336m); followed by south-ern China (Guangdong and Guangxi provinces) with almost 20% of sales (US$290m). Th e remaining 13% of sales went to export, realising US$190m for the company (equivalent to 6.6Mt of cement and clinker).

Th e company is proud of the fact that it was able to realise sustained growth in production, sales volume, as well as net profi t in spite of various external factors, including low-temperature snowstorms, rainstorms, freezing weather and fl oods. Conch also had to contend with the increasing cost of coal, electricity, fuel and transportation. Indeed, almost 69% of Conch's total costs was attributable to energy expenditure, an increase of 6.3% compared to the fi rst half of 2007.

Nevertheless, Conch was able to ride these rougher seas by a combination of technology upgrade projects and management measures for energy conservation and the reduction of discharges and emissions. For example, Conch built more residual heat and power generating units: At half-year's end, Conch stated that it had 17 of these power generating units in operation, which con-tributed approximately US$52m in cost savings.

A thorough review of Conch's fi nancial summary reports bears testament to its audacious expansion capacity programmes in 2007/08. For example, Conch spent US$37m on upgrading two 4500t/d clinker pro-duction lines at its Anhui Digang subsidiary. Also, four 4500t/d clinker production lines belonging to Chizhou Conch were built at a total cost of US$25.7m.

An important milestone was achieved in July 2008 when Yiyang Conch, Anhui Conch's subsidiary in Jiangxi province, successfully ignited a new 5000t/d clinker line, amidst great fanfare and celebration. Th is is Conch's fi rst such facility in Jiangxi, and should help to alleviate the high demand for cement in the province. Th e ignition ceremony was attended by Anhui Conch's management board, technical experts, engineers and staff . To light the furnace, an Olympic-style torch relay took place among its staff , reminiscent of the Beijing Olympics that started just a few days later.

As well as plant upgrades and expansion, Anhui Conch, under its Tongling Conch branch, has started to prepare a new facility based on a dry-process method for treating urban waste, perhaps as a precursor to using it as an alternative, refuse-derived fuel for cement man-ufacture. Th e scheme is under preparation, and current expenditure on the project is not yet known.

What of the future? According to a press release: "Looking to the second half of 2008, eff ective control of the company's production costs will enable us to deliver sound results. For this purpose the Group intends to advocate energy conservation...and implement all proc-esses for better control of coal procurement costs."

During the second half of 2008, Conch intends to ex-pedite construction projects in eastern, central, southern and western China. It has also stated its commitment to remain involved in rebuilding projects in areas devas-tated by the Sichuan earthquake.





Below: Jean-Paul Méric

was appointed president of

CEMBUREAU and will serve for a

two-year term.

ItalcementiTh ere is no doubt that in 2007/08 Italcementi has suf-fered as a result of the US housing downturn, especially in mature markets that are more directly linked to that economy. Its 2007 fi nancial results refl ect this: total rev-enue was Euro6bn, a modest 2.5% increase compared to 2006 (Euro5.9bn). Th e majority of this revenue came in cement and clinker sales (Euro4bn, equivalent to 64.6Mt). Of this, only 6.2Mt were sold in North Amer-ica, representing an 11.6% decrease from 2006. Similar trends were also witnessed in the sales volumes of Ital-cementi's aggregates and ready-mix products. EBITDA income in 2007 amounted to Euro1.4bn, down almost 3% from the Euro1.45bn garnered in 2006.

Despite the US-led downturn, Italcementi's revenue fi gures were boosted by generally strong performances in developing markets, especially Asia and the Mid-dle East, where construction activities remain healthy. Italcementi attributed the slight decrease in EBITDA earnings to higher energy costs and forex eff ects.

Italcementi's results for the fi rst half of 2008 were little better. Half-year recurring EBITDA earnings were Euro589m, which is 15.4% down on half-year 2007. EBIT earnings, at Euro381.3m, fell by 22.4% from the January-June period in 2007. Aft er an increase in net fi nance costs to Euro72.7m (a 26% increase), net profi t for the fi rst half of 2008 was Euro221.7m, a reduction of 29.3%.

According to Italcementi, the company's results were penalised due to a particularly poor second quarter in 2008. Th is was especially true in Italy, Spain, Greece and North America, where the negative trend intensifi ed. In the emerging countries on the other hand, sales volumes grew in all domestic markets. Th is was particularly true of India, Morocco and Bulgaria, but with the exception of Kazakhstan. Production and sales did resume in this latter country until April 2008 aft er a suspension on quarrying licences was lift ed.

Aggregate sales volumes on a like-for-like basis were aff ected by the sharp decline in Spain, whereas ready-mixed concrete sales volumes showed a like-for-like improvement, albeit marginal, thanks to the lively performance of emerging countries. Th is in some ways helped to counter the deterioration in Spain and Greece.

Th e group's investments in industrial and fi nancial fi xed assets were signifi cant during the fi rst six months of 2008, rising by approximately 20% to Euro471m. Of this total, approximately 60% was due to capital ex-penditure designed to improve Italcementi's production facilities and raise operating effi ciency.

Italcementi is confi dent business will pick-up in the second half of 2008 and beyond. According to an offi cial company press release: "Effi ciency drives, production and distribution rationalisation programmes (in Italy in particular) and acquisitions in countries with high growth potential should enable the Group to mitigate the critical eff ects of the slowdown in the mature mar-kets and recover overall effi ciency. Th ese measures are expected to bring benefi ts starting this year [2008]. Over the medium term they will contribute with the eff ects of

current programmes for internal growth and on-going integration in the ready-mixed concrete sector, enabling the Group to continue geographical diversifi cation and integration of its core business."

Th is mood of optimism was refl ected through a series of key acquisitions that have allowed the group to grow steadily. In Asia, for example, Italcementi pur-chased Cement China and Cement Kuwait, both in the second half of 2007. Italcementi also expanded the scope of its vertical integration scheme with the inclusion of various ready-mix fi rms, including: Crider & Shockey (US) in Q1 2008; Kuwait German and Kuwait Gulf (Ku-wait) both in Q1 2008; Mauritanienne des Bâtiments et Routes (Mauritania), also in Q1 2008. Italcementi has also entered into a joint venture (JV) with Arabian Cement Company for ready-mix products in Saudi Arabia, which is due to begin in Q3 2008. In addition, Italcementi signed a JV with Suez Cement and Unicalce for lime production in Egypt.

Domestically, Italcementi has been very busy too. In January 2008 the fi rm spent Euro50m on buying a cement grinding centre in Ravenna with a capacity of 0.5Mt/y. According to Italcementi, this move is a good opportunity to improve its industrial network in the north east of Italy, while strengthening its market posi-tion. Th is move will also realise 'signifi cant' costs savings in terms of production and logistics.

In April 2008 Italcementi decided to sell its Turkish operation to Russian company Sibirskiy Cement for Eu-ro600m. Of this, Euro400m was paid in cash, with the remaining Euro200m allocated as share equivalents in Sibirskiy to Italcementi. Th e sale price is equivalent to Euro259/t of clinker produced in 2007. Sibirskiy will ob-tain four integrated cement plants, one grinding facility with integrated port and 18 ready-mix concrete batch-ing plants. Th e deal was subject to approval by Turkish antitrust and privatisation authorities, which has since been given.

January 2008 saw high drama for Italcementi when the CEO of its Calcestruzzi unit was arrested over al-leged links to organised crime. Some Euro600m-worth of Calcestruzzi assets were subsequently seized by police. As a result, Italcementi decided to remove Calcestruzzi's fi gures from its fi nancial calculations in 2007 and 2008. Italcementi has promised full cooperation with the authorities during their on-going investigations.

One a more pleasant note, Jean-Paul Méric, executive vice-president of Ci-ments Français (Italcementi's French subsidiary), has been appointed president of Cembureau for a two-year term at the Association's General Assembly in June 2008 in Taormina, Italy. Mr Méric suc-ceeds Paul Vanfrachem of Belgium.

NEWSNORTH & SOUTH AMERICA



US: Mitsubishi Materials Corp is spending some US$27.6m to expand cement storage facilities in the US as part of eff orts to bolster its cement business there. The company will build new cement storage and load-ing facilities adjacent to the Long Beach, California, cement receiving facility managed by group member Mitsubishi Cement Corp. The new fa-cilities could be in operation as early as the start of 2010 and will raise its US shipping capacity by 30%.

The US storage facilities procure cement from Mitsubishi Materials’ Chinese production sites as well as from local manufacturers in China, Thailand and Taiwan.

Mitsubishi Materials has produc-tion sites in Japan, the US, China and Vietnam. In the year ending in March 2008, it shipped 14Mt of cement worldwide, of which 2.4Mt was in the US.

Although US cement demand is slumping due to the economic problems sparked by the subprime mortgage crisis, the company expects demand growth in the medium term as the population there increases.

US: Texas Industries Inc (TXI) has an-nounced plans to close four of its wet kilns, leaving its cleaner-burning dry kiln to operate in the near term. The move means fewer emissions of nitrous oxides from TXI’s Midlothian plant.

For years, the north Texas air quality debate has focused largely on cars and coal plants. The cement kilns just to the south often escaped unscathed in talks about tougher regulations. The heavily polluting plants were often termed as ‘belching gorillas in the corner of the room.’ So, environmen-talists – and people who endeavour to venture outdoors – are naturally celebrating the shutdown.

While TXI won’t discuss whether this move might become perma-nent, growing interest in ‘green cement’ could help ensure that the wet kilns are turned off indefi -nitely. Several local governments have passed resolutions that give preference to purchasing cement produced by cleaner kilns. The Dal-las City Council led the way, and a handful of other north Texas cities have followed.

TXI offi cials have been quick to

note that an economic downturn – not an environmental crisis of conscience – forced this decision. Regardless of the motivation for pulling the plug on pollut-ing kilns, the result is reduced emissions.

TXI’s action doesn’t negate the need for tighter pollution standards in Texas. But for now, at least, the ‘belching gorilla’ is taking a break.

Mitsubishi Materials invests ‘Belching gorilla’ stops belching

Holcim receives award from Post-Tensioning Inst.

US: The Post-Tensioning Institute (PTI), a non-profi t organisation for the advancement of post-tensioned, pre-stressed concrete design and construction, has announced the recipients of its 2008 awards compe-tition.

In the Industrial/Special Appli-cations category, post-tensioning supplier VSL received an award of Excellence for the Holcim plant in St Genevieve County, Missouri. Consist-ing of two 151ft x 207ft clinker silos and two cement ‘four-pack’ silos (in which each individual silo is 79ft in diameter and 275ft tall), the cement plant for Holcim will be the largest of its kind in the world when completed later in 2008. A post-tensioned design helped considerably in reducing the amount of mild reinforcement used, and in turn aided in the labour-inten-sive, slip-form construction process.

Cemex exports cement to Caribbean from Tampa

US: Cemex Inc. has initiated its plan to export 165,000t of cement manufactured at its Brooksville, Florida, plant through the Port of Tampa, according to published reports. The company said the exports began on 31 July 2008 and will continue indefi nitely.

“This is an illustration of our ability to leverage the global Cemex network to max-imise our assets in the United States,” Gilberto Perez, president of Cemex USA, said in a media release.

Cemex said it decided to convert its Tampa Bay-area operations to export primarily because of the housing slowdown. Cemex says it is the fi rst cement company to export large amounts of cement from Florida, primarily to the Caribbean. Cemex is using a dedicated vessel that will transport cement from the Tampa terminal to the Caribbean every 10 days.

US: Houston-based Cemex Inc has signed a lease for its US headquarters in a ‘green’-constructed building in Houston. The new Cemex USA headquarters will be the largest ‘green’ building of its kind in Houston using Cemex’s concrete.

Much of the concrete will refl ect more of the sun’s energy during the day and does not radiate as much stored heat at night. This will reduce the urban heat

island eff ect as it decreases the building’s energy usage and the demand on air-conditioning systems, especially in the summer.

The new facility is currently being con-structed and will occupy 170,000ft2 of the 325,000ft2 offi ce building. The construc-tion is expected to be completed in the fi rst quarter of 2009.

‘Green’ headquarters for Cemex in Houston

The enigmatic ‘belching gorilla’ - now a rare(r) species in Texas

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US: Lingering negative eff ects on cement consumption and the construction industry as a result of the waning US econ-omy is projected by the Portland Cement Association (PCA) in its latest industry forecast. The PCA forecast of cement, concrete, and construction predicts a 12% decline in cement consumption in 2008, followed by another 6% drop in 2009.

“Real construction activity is expected to decline 9% in 2008, and another 7% in 2009,” Edward Sullivan, PCA chief econ-omist, said. “The combination of high home inventories, weak economy-wide demand condi-tions, and poor state budget conditions will hit all sectors of construction – residential, non-residential, and public.”

Although the PCA said it had expected a downturn in non-residential construction to occur in the third quarter of 2008, the sector is working on the backlog of projects already under contract and seems con-sistent until closer to the end of the year. However, the trend in

contract awards for the future is alarming.

“In the fi rst fi ve months of 2008, there was a 29% decline in non-residential contract awards. If these trends hold true, a simi-lar intensity will materialise in 2009,” Sullivan said.

The majority of cement consumption occurs in the residential and public sectors, each facing unique challenges. High inventories will suppress housing starts and residential cement consumption until 2010. State budget shortfalls attributed to increased spend-ing in entitlement programmes such as Medicare and decreased revenue from job losses will result in a 4.8% drop in cement consumption by the public sec-tor in 2008, followed by two additional years of decline, the PCA said.

The PCA predicts a recovery to begin in 2010, but more mod-est than previously forecast. Total cement consumption in 2010 is expected to increase 2.7% from 2009 levels.

Portland Cement Association delivers its latest forecastThree Holcim plants earn EPA’s Energy Star

US: Three Holcim cement plants – Devil’s Slide in Morgan, Utah; Theodore in Theodore, Alabama; and Midlothian in Mid-lothian, Texas – have earned the US Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) prestigious Energy Star award, the national symbol for protecting the environment through superior en-ergy performance.

Patrick Dolberg, president and CEO of Holcim US said: “Hol-cim is pleased to accept the EPA’s Energy Star in recognition of our energy effi ciency eff orts. We have a strong commitment to protecting the environment and conserving natural resources throughout the company and this achievement refl ects the relentless eff orts by the management and employees at each plant.

The Energy Star indicates that each plant is in the top 25% of cement plants in the US in terms of energy effi ciency. Hol-cim improved its energy performance by managing energy strategically across the entire organisation and by making cost-eff ective improvements to the plants.

US: Members of the US Green Building Council’s (USGBC) South-west Virginia Chapter toured Roanoke Cement Company’s (RCC) Troutville, Virginia, plant recently to learn from the company’s successes in reducing energy use, as well as how cement and cement-related products help build a more sustainable commu-nity. Over 60 attendees including USGBC members, ready-mixed concrete producers, plant management, and employees enjoyed presentations, re-freshments and a bus tour highlighting the last 15 years of the facility’s environmental progress.

Don Ingerson, vice president of sales and marketing for Roanoke Cement Company, said: “What’s important for us is to continue to reduce our own environmental footprint at Roanoke Cement, as well as to assist in building a greener community. Cement is the ‘glue’ that binds concrete and concrete products, and concrete is a green building product in its own right. This is highlighted in cutting edge uses like pervious con-crete paving and thermal mass construction.”

The only active cement plant in Virginia, Roanoke Cement is one of only 10 plants ranked in the US Environmental Protection Agency’s ‘Top Performing Plants’ in the country, earning a 2007

Energy Star for superior energy effi ciency within the cement industry.

Specifi cally, over the last fi ve years, RCC has spent US$50m in capital upgrades with US$30m spent in the last two years to fur-ther modernise the plant, eliminate ineffi ciencies and improve environmental performance.

“If we isolated but a single reason for winning the Energy Star award, it is our in-vestment in the preheater tower,” said Dan Babish, production engineer in his presen-tation. “The plant obtains a 40% reduction in fuel consumption through the heat ex-change alone.”

“RCC’s eff orts to improve energy ef-fi ciency benefi t both the environment and [its] bottom line,” said Nell Boyle, Southwest Virginia Chapter Chair of USGBC. “A tour like this allows our members to be exposed to

and educated about how plants can modernise and become more green. We serve many industries like engineering, archi-tecture and contracting that are true staples of our economy, and they are adaptable. We are here to learn how and then to teach them the green way.”

USGBC tours Roanoke cement plant

Canada: One worker has died and two others have been injured at a cement facility near Kingston, Ontario. Bruce Skeaff of the ministry of labour says the accident happened as the workers were rebricking the walls of a kiln at Lafarge Cement in Bath. Some bricks came loose and fell on the three men while they were adjusting scaff olding. The two injured men were treated and released from hospital. The name of the 35-year-old victim has not yet been released.

Worker, 35, killed in accident at cement plant

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North and South America News in Brief

US: Monarch Cement will receive a 40t/h Aumund Samson sur-face feeder for the handling of slag, coke and coal.

US: Ash Grove Cement has purchased a 5% stake, equivalent to about 2.2m shares in Eagle Materials, according to a fi ling with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Ash Grove spent about US$53.5m for the stake, which represents 5% of Eagle Materials’ 43.5m outstanding shares.

Mexico: Gebr. Pfeiff er AG has received an order from Fives FCB for the supply of a coal grinding plant that will be set up at Hermosillo-based Holcim Apasco’s cement works situated in the north of Mexico. The MPS 250 BK vertical roller mill will be capable of producing 19t/h of pet coke or, alternatively 31t/h of coal. Apart from the grinding equipment this order will see Gebr. Pfeiff er supply the material feeding equipment.

Cemex raises US concrete prices

US: Mexican cement maker Cemex said it will raise US con-crete prices by US$25 per cubic yard, eff ective from 1 October 2008, in response to escalating fuel prices.

“We have put forth this new, transparent pricing struc-ture that will allow our customers to count on a fi rm price through January 2010,” Gilberto Perez, president of Cemex USA, said in a statement. “We are eff ectively removing all fuel surcharges and taking on fuel price risk through this time,” Perez added.

The company, which said fuel prices have increased 107% since December 2006, said that while ready-mix concrete prices have dropped, rising energy costs have signifi cantly driven up other building materials since December 2006. For example, steel prices are up 39%, aggregate prices are up 13%, and asphalt prices are up 17% and rising steadily as the price of liquid asphalt has nearly doubled in the last few months, Cemex said. All quotes written before 1 October will not include the US$25 increase but will continue to be subject to fuel surcharges.


‘Contemptible’ decision by Vulcan leads to rowUS: Vulcan Materials Co’s, request to moor barges in the James River near two historic plantations, a wildlife refuge and a bald eagle nest has inspired tough opposition in Charles City County. Vulcan – a producer of construction aggregates and materials, such as crushed stone, asphalt and cement – has applied to the Virginia Marine Resources Commission and the Army Corps of Engineers to set up a mooring site near Shirley and Upper Shirley plantations.

Residents and owners of the plantations have joined the James River Association, the Virginia Department of Historic Resources and the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries in ex-pressing concern over the proposed site. The Charles City County Board of Supervisors unanimously passed a resolution object-ing to the proposed location near the southern end of Presquile National Wildlife Refuge, citing concerns that barge traffi c would harm the area’s recreational, educational and natural resources. That part of the James also is described as spawning territory for Atlantic sturgeon.

“It’s contemptible that Vulcan would pursue this application,” said Taylor M Dameron, who owns Upper Shirley Plantation and lives there. “This is one of the few recreational boating areas that is not marred by industrialisation left on the James River.”

Tom Carroll, a spokesman for Vulcan Materials, said that the company undertook a comprehensive review of fi ve or six sites and found this one to be the most practical, based on considera-tions such as cost, safety and environmental impact. He said the company, which reported sales of US$3bn in 2007, intends to maintain an environmentally friendly track record.

New article establishes criteria forlimestone quarrying in BarbadosBarbados: A new research paper from the Journal of Envi-ronmental Management has outlined the criteria that are necessary to select a site appropriate for limestone quarrying in Barbados. According to the abstract of the paper:

“Site selection is a key activity for quarry expansion to support cement production, and is governed by factors such as resource availability, logistics, costs, and socio-economic-environmental factors. Adequate consideration of all the factors facilitates both industrial productivity and sustain-able economic growth.

This study illustrates the site selection process that was undertaken for the expansion of limestone quarry op-erations to support cement production in Barbados. First, alternate sites with adequate resources to support a 25-year development horizon were identifi ed. Second, technical and socio-economic-environmental factors were then identifi ed. Third, a database was developed for each site with respect to each factor. Fourth, a hierarchical model in analytic hierarchy process (AHP) framework was then developed.

Fifth, the relative ranking of the alternate sites was then derived through pair wise comparison in all the levels and through subsequent synthesising of the results across the hierarchy through computer software (Expert Choice). The study reveals that an integrated framework using the AHP can help select a site for the quarry expansion project in Barbados.”

Dover Beach, Barbados

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CONTRACTS 20072008 PART 2


MAERZ• Fels-Werke GmbH in Goslar, Germany, has struck a deal with Maerz for the turnkey erection of a Finelime kiln at its Kaltes Tal plant. Th e new kiln of the type F2P is to produce between 300-400t/d of burnt lime and will be equipped with a dual fi ring system for natural gas and pulverised lignite or coal.

• Märker Kalk GmbH, domiciled in Harburg, Germany, has placed an order with Maerz for the turnkey instal-lation of a new Maerz Finelime kiln at its Herrlingen plant. Commissioning of the kiln is scheduled for the beginning of 2009.

• Ispat Industries Ltd in Calcutta, India, decided to in-stall a new coal dust fi ring system on the existing 275t/d Maerz lime kiln in its Steel Plant Complex located at Dolvi, Maharashtra, and placed an order with Maerz for the supply of engineering services, license, know-how and equipment for this project.

• Wietersdorfer & Peggauer Zementwerke GmbH in Klagenfurt, Austria, placed an order with Maerz for the supply of engineering, license, equipment and technical assistance for the installation of a new Maerz Finelime kiln at its Peggau plant.

• Argentinian fi rm Cefas SA has signed a deal with Maerz to supply an additional coal/petcoke fi ring sys-tem to its existing 400-500t/d natural gas-fi red Maerz Finelime kiln at its San Juan plant.

• Schaefer Kalk GmbH & Co KG in Diez/Lahn, Ger-many, a long standing customer of Maerz, placed an order with Maerz for installing two new RCE Lime Kilns at its Steeden plant. Maerz will supply engineering and key components for the kilns which are due for commis-sioning in 2009.

• Andaluza de Cales SA, based at Morón de

la Frontera, Seville, Spain, and a member of the CALCINOR Group

signed a contract with Maerz for installing a new fi ring system on one of the existing natural gas-fi red Maerz lime kilns at its Morón de la Frontera Plant.

• JP Steel Plantech Co from Yokohama, Maerz’s long standing partner for lime kiln projects in Japan, placed an order with Maerz for the installation of a new coal dust dosing system on the existing Maerz PFR Kiln at Ashidachi Lime Co.

• OAO ‘Kombinat Magnezit’ in Moscow, Russia, placed an order with Maerz for two RCE Multiple Hearth Fur-naces of the MS4 type – each furnace being equipped with 19 hearths – to be installed at the customer’s Kras-nojarsk plant. Maerz is to supply detailed engineering for the two 300t/d lean gas-fi red furnaces producing calcined magnesite. Th e new plant will be operative in 2010.

• Kimtaş Kireç Sanayi ve TAS in Alsancak/Izmir, Tur-key, formerly known as Öztüre, is going to install a new 250t/d petcoke-fi red Maerz Kiln at its Soma/Torbali lime plant and has signed a contract with Maerz for the supply of know-how, licensing and the re-use of draw-ings from previous projects.

• Lingyuan Iron & Steel Group Co Ltd, from Lingyuan, Liaoning Province, China, placed an order with Maerz for the supply of engineering, license, know-how, equip-ment and technical support services for the installation of a new Maerz PFR Kiln. Th e new kiln project is due for completion at the end of 2008/beginning of 2009.

• Golden Lime Co Ltd, from Bangkok, Th ailand, isgoing to install Maerz’s lime kiln number 4 at its Lop-buri plant. At the same time a soft ware package upgrade


Global cement contracts 2007/08: Part 2Global cement contracts 2007/08: Part 2Global Cement Magazine presents the second part of a round-up of recent contracts from some of the most distinguished companies in the world of cement and lime.

If your company’s contracts are not included, please send your ongoing contract information to [email protected] and it will be included in the next contracts round-up in Global Cement Magazine.




for kiln number 2 was ordered by Golden Lime. Th e kiln will produce 150t/d of burnt lime, using coal/petcoke dust as fuel. Th e kiln will be ready for com-missioning at the end of 2008/beginning of 2009.

• JP Steel Plantech Co from Yokohama placed an order with Maerz for the installation of a new coal dosing system on the existing Maerz PFR kiln at Yakusen Lime Co.

• Tarmac Limited, based in Buxton, Derbyshire, UK,placed an order with Maerz for the supply of a Maerz Finelime kiln at its Tunstead Quarry plant. Th e kiln, of the F2S type with suspended inner cylinders and a shaft diameter of 3.5m, will produce 300-400t/d of burnt lime (depending on the size of raw limestone fed to the kiln), using natural gas as fuel. Start-up of the new kiln plant is scheduled for the third quarter of 2009.

• Fels-Werke GmbH in Goslar, Germany is going to in-stall a Maerz Finelime kiln at its Saal/Donau plant and has placed an order with Maerz for the turnkey erection of the new kiln plant. According to the time schedule established, the new kiln plant will be ready for start-up in mid-2009.

• Cementos Progreso SA of Guatemala has now placed an order with Maerz for a new 400t/d Maerz lime kiln, together with a 30t/d capacity hydrating plant from Gebr. Pfeiff er, Germany.

PENTA• Th e construction of a 3500t/d clinker production line is currently being fi nalised at Continental Cement’s Han-nibal, Missouri, plant. Penta was responsible for laying out the new production line and integrating it with the existing plant as well as for working closely with all the vendors to make sure that equipment they supplied was fully integrated with the process systems.

• Th e new 5000t/d clinker production line belonging to CTG/Italcementi Essroc Cement Group in Martins-burg, West Virginia, is now under construction and start up is scheduled for the second quarter of 2009. Penta is

providing all mechanical and civil/structural detail engi-neering for the raw mill, blending silo, pyro line, clinker cooler, pulverised coal silos and fi nish mill circuit.

• Caribbean Cement‘s new 2850t/d clinker line at its Rockfort, Jamaica, plant location is now in the fi nal stages of completion. Penta provided the conceptual process design and various layouts and cost options for the new line as well as technical input. Working closely with FLSmidth, the main process equipment supplier, Penta provided detail electrical, structural and balance of plant mechanical engineering.

Jamaica lies in both the hurricane belt requiring design for 150mph wind speeds as well as in a Zone 3 Seismic Area. Penta’s structural design team produced economical, balanced and special designs for the vari-ous structures taking into account these conditions.

POLYSIUS• Schwenk Zement in Ulm, Germany, ordered a newPolytrack® clinker cooler with a rated clinker through-put of 3500t/d for its Allmendingen plant.

• Duna Drava Cement contracted Polysius to modernise kiln line 2 of the Beremend plant in southern Hungary. Th e purpose of the modernisation project is to increase the output from 1500 to 3450t of clinker per day and to permit the use of secondary fuels. Th e upgraded plant is scheduled to start production in spring 2009.

• Commissioning of the Polysius' Quadropol® roller mill has started at Vicat’s facility in Montalieu, France. Th e grinding plant has a rated raw meal throughput of 380t/h (see also page 44).

• February 2008 saw the start of commissioning at Cimpor’s modernised cement plant at Niebla in Spain. Polysius was contracted to increase the capacity of the clinker production plant from 950t/d to 1500t/d on a turnkey basis. In December 2007, Cimpor's plant in Córdoba was also modernised using Polysius's tech-nology. Th e clinker production capacity of the plant increased from 1515t/d to 2200t/d.

Above: Penta is responsible

for laying out Continental

Cement's new production

line at its Hannibal plant in

Missouri.

Right: The new CTG/

Italcementi plant in Martins-

burg, West Virginia. Penta

is providing structural and

mechanical services for the

raw mill and silos.



• Devnya Cement AD, the Bulgarian subsidiary of Italcementi, has contracted Polysius for the supply of a 7000t/d kiln line. Th e new line is to be constructed in Devnya, about 30km from the Black Sea port of Varna and is scheduled to commence operations at the begin-ning of 2010.

• Iskitimcement, Iskitim, Siberia, Russia decided to build a new clinker production line in partnership with Polysius. Rated for a clinker output of 3500t/d, the plant meets all environmental requirements.

• Sebryakovcement’s modernised kiln line number 8 commenced operations at its Mikhailovka plant in southern Russia. For this undertaking, which was aimed at boosting cement output from approximately 1700t/d to 2400t/d, Polysius supplied the engineering, as well as the electrical and mechanical equipment.

• In partnership with Polysius, the fi nancial and indus-trial group Altcom in Ukraine is going to build two new 5000t/d cement production lines in the vicinity of Kerch on the Crimean peninsula. Both plants will be supplied by a 1200t/h limestone crusher, a circular blending bed for 50,000t of raw material, a 120t/h additives crusher and an additives store.

• Podilsky Cement of the Ukraine, and a member of the Irish CRH Group, is to build the Ukraine’s largest clinker production line at Kamenets-Podilsky. As part of the project, Polysius will supply a variety of clay crushers, blending beds, roller mills, as well as kiln and calciner equipment.

• Kazakhstan’s UG Cement Ltd has ordered a new 3500t/d cement production line from Polysius. Th e plant, for which Polysius is supplying the main compo-nents from the raw material preparation system to the cement grinding system, is to be constructed near the town of Karatau in the south of the country.

• In partnership with Polysius, Çimko Çimento ve Beton San Tic AS, Turkey, constructed a 7500t/d cement production line on a green fi eld site about 3km north of Gaziantep. Commissioning of the new plant com-menced in February 2008.

• At the Çanakkale plant of Akcansa Çimento Sanayii AS, Turkey, Polysius has converted two existing ball mills into combi-grinding systems. Each of these grind-ing systems has a rated output of 200t/h of cement.

• In Oro Grande, California, commissioning of Texas Industries’ (TXI) new 6000t/d cement production line supplied by Polysius commenced at the beginning of 2008.

• TXI contracted Polysius to extend the TXI Hunter factory in New Braunfels by adding a complete 3500t/d production line.

• Cemento Panama SA purchased a Polysius Quadropol® roller mill with a drive power of 1800kW for grinding ce-ment at its plant in Tucan, Panama. Th e grinding plant, which has a rated output of 85t of cement per hour, is scheduled to come on stream at the end of 2008.

• Cementos Moctezuma SA de CV is to build a new 2700t/d kiln line in partnership with Polysius at a new location in Municipio de Apazapan in the Mexican state of Vera Cruz. Th e line will include a fi ve-stage Dopol® ’90 preheater with PREPOL®-AS calcining system and a Polro® rotary kiln.

• To enable the two cement production lines at Cemen-

Above: Caribbean Cement's

new 2850t/d clinker line.

Penta supplied layout design

and cost options for the plant.

Left: TXI Rio Grande's

6000t/d plant, built by

Polysius, is in the

commissioning stage.



tos y Concretos Nacionales SA de CV in Aguascalientes, Mexico, to use petcoke as fuel from the end of 2008, Polysius is to construct a petcoke grinding plant on a turnkey basis. Th e grinding plant will be equipped with a roller mill and will have a petcoke throughput of 27t/h.

• In Argentina the new 2000t/d cement clinker produc-tion line of Petroquimica Comodoro Rivadavia SA was put into operation. Located in Pico Truncado in the province of Santa Cruz, this is the southern-most ce-ment production line in the world.

• Polysius has received two orders from Peru'sCementos Lima SA for raw material and cement grind-ing plants equipped with Polycom® high-pressure grinding rolls. Th e cement grinding plant and separator will produce 110t/h of cement.

• Cementos Andino SA from Peru has ordered a Poly-com® and a Sepol®-HR separator for the production of 141t/h of raw meal. Th e second Polycom® and Sepol® are designed for an output of 105t/h of cement.

• Th e Al Safwa Cement Company (Orascom Construc-tion Industries Cement Group and Saudi Khayyat Group) asked Polysius to construct a 5300t/d cement production line in Jabal Farasan, Saudi Arabia, approxi-mately 150km northeast of Jeddah. Production start-up of the plant is due to take place in summer 2009.

• Th e commissioning of Perak-Hanjoong Simen SDN BHD’s upgraded cement factory in Pedang Rangas, Ma-laysia, has started. Polysius supplied a Polytrack® clinker cooler with intermediate roll crusher for a rated clinker production capacity of 4000t/d.

• Changjiang Huasheng Tianya Cement Co Ltd. has con-tracted Polysius to supply a roller mill for raw material grinding with a throughput of 475t/h.

• In China, TCC Liuzhou Construction Materials Co Ltd started up another Polysius roller mill for the grind-ing of granulated blast furnace slag (GBFS). Th is plant has a rated GBFS throughput of 90t/h.

• In August 2007 the Polysius roller mill, with a throughput of 90t/h for slag grinding went into service at Shaoguan City New Shaogang Jiayang New Material Co Ltd, China.

• Th e new Polysius roller mill for slag grinding (90t/h), constructed at Jinan Luang Materials Co Ltd, China commenced operation at May 2007 at the steelworks of Jinan Steel.

• Polysius was contracted by the Fauji Cement Company Ltd to supply a new clinker production line with an out-put of 7200t of clinker per day.

• Vasavadatta Cement Prop Kesoram Industries Ltd (India) awarded Polysius a follow-up order for new raw material and cement grinding plants. It will produce 210t of cement per hour.

• Burnpur Cement Ltd of India selected Polysius as its partner for the construction of a new 1600t/d cement production line at its Pattratu plant in the Indian state of Jharkhand. Th e new plant will be put into service in the second half of 2009.

• Jaypee Cement, New Delhi, India, awarded Polysius an order to supply a raw material and coal grinding plant for its Satna plant in Madhya Pradesh, central India. Th e raw material grinding plant will be equipped with a 330t/h roller mill. For the coal grinding a 38t/h roller mill will be used.

• Visaka Cement Industry Ltd based in Tandur, India, contracted Polysius for the construction of its second 2500t/d cement production line at the Tandur plant in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh.

• Polysius has received an order to construct a 3500t/d clinker production line for the largest cement plant in West Africa owned by Sococim Industries (part of the Vicat Group). Th e new plant is located approximately 40km from Dakar and is scheduled to start production in summer 2009.

• Senegalese company Les Ciments du Sahel SA decided to expand the existing cement production section at its

Above: Çimko Çimento ve

Beton San Tic AS 7500t/d

cement plant built by

Polysius.

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Kirène plant (approximately 80km east of Dakar) with a second production line. Polysius has been awarded the order to supply the new cement production line, due to start production as early as 2009.

PRIMASONICSPrimasonics has launched its new GRP™ range of Audiosonic™Acoustic Cleaners to complement its exist-ing high quality PAS™ spun stainless steel range. Th e ‘bell’ sections are made from a special glass reinforced polymer composite which gives them high strength without the excess weight associated with older cast iron models. Th e texturised glass yarns are manufactured from high performance E’ Glass fi laments. Th e yarns are then texturised by passing over high pressure air jets to produce loft ed yarns with predetermined bulk. Th e glass fi bre ‘mats’ are woven to the required bell shape of the particular Acoustic Cleaner and are enclosed in Ebolam resins, both externally and internally.

Th e two materials act together, each enhancing the properties of the other. Th e glass fi bres are very strong in tension but have comparatively little compressive strength, whereas the resin has a very strong compres-sive loading. Th us when combined, they provide the GRP™ Acoustic Cleaner range with both excellent com-pressive and tensile forces. Like the spun stainless steel PAS™ Acoustic Cleaner range, this new GRP™ range also has a smooth internal fi nish which is essential in order to achieve continued peak performance.

Initially the new GRP™ Acoustic Cleaner range will be restricted to the GRP-75 and GRP-60 models, which are mainly installed on silos, fi lters and spray dryers and off er a distinctive price advantage over their stainless steel equivalent model. Primasonics® Acoustic Cleaners have been installed in a wide range of dry processing, storage and power generation industries in over 45 countries worldwide.

VESUVIUS• Vesuvius UK has recently completed annual turna-round repairs at Castle Cement’s Padeswood works in the UK using its SurGun® ‘drycrete’ products throughout the cooler, kiln hood and preheater system. Th e Pades-wood repair was completed on time, within budget and full production was resumed one day earlier than nor-mal due to the shorter dryout period.

According to Vesuvius:"Th e SurGun® range has been developed from the proven SurShot shotcrete materials, but installation is by a more fl exible and user-friendly ‘drycrete’ technique. SurGun® products off er not only optimum in-place properties, but also very low rebound loss and improved dryout characteristics." SurGun® products are now being used for both repairs and origi-nal installations in a wide range of applications including cement, minerals processing and incineration.

Th e fi nal part of the contracts review and a compre-hensive index of all the cement companies featured in the round-up will be listed in the October 2008 issue of Global Cement Magazine.

Right: Primasonic's GRP™

Acoustic Cleaner.

Right: Padeswood's

production manager, Vikki

Winspear (left), with

Vesuvius' account manager,

Steve Wilkinson (right).

Right: Vesuvius' SurGun®

product in operation.

LATIN AMERICA FOCUSSubscribeContents Ad Index

Argentina• Th e leading cement groups in Argentina were hit by bad news – the Camara en lo Penal Economico court ratifi ed a fi ne of US$101.4m applied by the Comision Nacional de Defensa de la Competencia (CNDC) back in 2005 for cartel activities in maintaining artifi cially high prices. Loma Negra – now owned by Brazil’s Ca-margo Correa – has been fi ned US$45.6m; Cementos Minetti, US$32.9m; Cementos Avellaneda, US$11.4m; Cementos San Martin, US$9.4m; Petroquimica Co-modoro Rivadavia, US$1.9m; and the Asociacion de Fabricantes de Cemento Portland, US$174,000. Th e fi nes relate to cartel pricing between 1989 and 1999.

• Argentinian cement group Minetti, owned by Holcim, is to try to raise US$131.6m via a global programme of Obligaciones Negociables (ON or negotiable bonds). It has informed the Comision Nacional de Valores (CNV) in Buenos Aires. Its plan will take greater shape on 18 September 2008, at an ordinary meeting called by Minetti. Th e money will be used as working capital for debt-refi nancing and to buy fi xed assets and capital goods. Minetti is the second leading cement group in Argentina, behind only Loma Negra, and boasts four industrial centres in the provinces of Buenos Aires, Cordoba, Mendoza and Jujuy as well as 20-plus concrete factories and one aggregate plant in Cordoba.

• Hazemag & EPR GmbH has supplied Cementos Mi-netti not only with a new primary crushing plant but

also a secondary crushing plant with a screen. During the handling of the project, Hazemag was requested to bring forward the delivery date of the equipment fol-lowing a sudden rise in the demand for cement.

Brazil• CSN is to open a cement plant within the facilities of its steel mill at Volta Redonda, near Rio de Janeiro. Th is is the fi rst step on a path to turn the company into one of the top fi ve players in the Brazilian cement market. Jose Tarcisio Piaui, manager of the cement business, says the fi rst plant is to run at 3Mt/y capacity and should start manufacturing in January 2009. Th e production

Above: The primary crushing

plant at Holcim‘s Cementos

Minetti works, Argentina.


Latin America focusLatin America focusGlobal Cement Magazine focuses on the latest news from Latin America, currently a hot bed of cement and construction-related activity. Topping the bill is the on-going nationalisation saga in Venezuela, which has seen Hugo Chávez's government at loggerheads with several cement fi rms, notably Cemex. This, and the rest of Latin America news, is presented below.


Below: Venezuelan president

Hugo Chávez is determined

to press ahead with his plans

to nationalise a whole host of

industries.

and distribution would test the market, for which Piaui estimates a 10% growth in 2008 to 50Mt/y, and a two digit growth since 2006. Th e per capita consumption of 250kg is to reach 400kg over the next ten years, while the national market is cornered by 10 companies that have already reached the limits of the installed capacity.

Th e idea for the project was born in 2005 while its ex-ecutives were trying to work out what to do with 1.4Mt of scrap iron (slag) from its blast furnaces, which was sold on to cement companies.

• Brazil's domestic cement sales totalled 4.8Mt in July 2008, 5% more than in June and 20.8% more than in July 2007, the Brazilian Association of Cement Manufactur-ers (SNIC) announced. Year-to-date overall cement sales totalled 29.2Mt, of which 28.8Mt were then sold in the domestic market – 16.5% more than in 2007.

Bolivia• Th e Bolivian president Evo Morales has announced that a new state cement group is to be set up, boasting two production plants in Oruro and Potosi. Th e plan will include Iranian and Venezuelan involvement.

Bolivia has a cement defi cit that the new fi rm will look to rectify. It has been provisionally named Estrate-gica Cementos de Bolivia and starts life with fi nancing of US$230m.

Colombia• Cement sales volumes rose 7% for Colombian fi rm Argos in the fi rst half of 2008. Its concrete sales rose 19%, said Argos president Jose Alberto Velez Ca-david. Total cement volumes for January-June 2008 came to 2.29Mt whilst total concrete volumes came to 821,000m3. Th e fi rm’s consolidated operational income totalled US$457m, up 18% from 2007. Th e company said it is also optimistic about performing well in the second half of 2008.

Guatemala• Gebr. Pfeiff er AG has been asked to supply a second hydrating plant to Cementos Progreso in Guatemala. Maerz Ofenbau AG, based in Zurich, Austria, has or-dered the core components of a hydrating plant from Gebr. Pfeiff er. As was the case with the last order back in

2004, the capacity of the plant will be 30t/h of hydrate.

Peru• Having announced investment of US$250m in the construction of a cement plant in Puno, Peru, Cementos Interoceanicos (CI) has already said how it will expand those installations by 2012. CI also plans to add a lime plant at a cost of US$50m.

CI’s executive director Armando Belfi ore states that the initial costs will be covered by an alliance with Fi-nance Inc of the US, an investment group that will put up US$40m for a 20% stake; the three Peruvian partners of CI will provide US$60m; the machinery supplier – either a German or Danish fi rm – will off er another US$60m. Th e fi nal US$90m will be covered by carbon bonds, the contract for which should be signed midway through 2009. CI wants to launch three cement brands for 2011, one for export, one for the Peruvian market and one for wholesale.

Venezuela• Th e nationalisation of cement plants (as well as other industries) in Venezuela has dominated the news pages all summer. Negotiations with Lafarge and Holcim over adequate compensation for the state's take-over of their cement plants have proceeded relatively smoothly. Lafarge is receiving US$267m for an 89% stake in its ce-ment plants, while Holcim is receiving US$552m for an 85% stake.

However, similar negotations between Hugo Chávez's government and Venezuela's other major cement pro-ducer, Cemex, have progressed less easily. Cemex had intially failed to complete talks over the state's takeover of 60% of its shares within the alloted deadline aft er re-jecting the government's US$650m off er, as it allegedly requested US$1.3bn for the subsidiary. Analysts have valued Cemex Venezuela at around US$1bn. Cemex even talked about seeking international arbitration before the International Center for Settlement of Invest-ment Disputes following the Venezuelan government’s confi scation of its assets on 19 August 2008.

However, as Global Cement Magazine went to press, the Venezuelan government had reportedly reached an agreement with Cemex over the take-over. Under the deal, the state will control all of Cemex Venezuela's plants, while the parent company will agree to negotiate a fair price for the facilities by 26 September 2008.

At the same time it was agreed that this price will be determined aft er the parties analyse the results of several audits on the company. Both parties signed an understanding to validate these conditions.

"Th e parties agree that the state has taken control of all the company's operations, plants and assets," Ven-ezuelan President Hugo Chávez was quoted as saying. Th e agreement was signed by Cemex fi nance and plan-ning vice president Héctor Medina and Venezuela's oil and energy minister Rafael Ramírez.

Is this the end of the story? Only time will tell, but in the meantime it looks like a truce has been agreed. For now!

LATIN AMERICA FOCUS


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NEWSASIA


Thailand: The Siam Refractory Industry Co, Ltd recently held its ‘Agent Forum’ whereby all local and international agents from 14 nations world-wide were invited to meet between 10–12 July 2008. The forum was chaired by Mr Somyod Tangmeelarp (sixth from left on the front row, see picture), managing director of The Siam Refractory Industry Co, Ltd. Siam Refractory or-ganises the agent meeting on a bi-annual basis in order to exchange business information dur-ing these economically challenging times.

The 2008 mid-year conference highlighted business issues in the refractory industry, and attempted to strengthen Siam Refractory‘s

partnership network by setting out its mutual goals. Moreover, the agent forum is intended to establish strategies that fi t in with the present economic conditions and to establish appropri-ate responses to the dramatic increase in the cost of raw materials that have been witnessed in recent months. This strategy should help to sustain Siam Refractory’s growth in 2008/09.

Siam Refractory, the largest refractory manufacturer in south east Asia with its highest sales turnover in Thailand, supplies world class refractory products and services to the cement industry in 53 countries worldwide.


India: With rising cement supplies to northern India, companies dependent on this market are changing their prod-uct mix from Portland pozzolana cement (PPC) to ordinary Portland cement (OPC) in order to sustain growth. OPC is used for roads and infrastructure while PPC is used in real estate projects.

Shree Cement managing director H M Bangur, who runs the largest single-loca-tion integrated factory in northern India, confi rmed the trend: “The contribution of PPC to our total income will gradually come down as we have decided to in-crease 20% of our OPC production in the next few quarters.”

“Shree’s share is the highest in the Delhi market, the most important market in the national capital region. 86% of the company’ output is sold in northern Indian markets while the remaining 14% is consumed in central India.”

Binani Cement has shifted its focus too. Binani MD Vinod Juneja said: “The de-mand for OPC has almost doubled in the northern region because of construction works for the Commonwealth games and the international airport. Binani Cement is a leading player in the northern region.

It enjoys 13% market share in Rajasthan. It dispatches nearly 45% of its sales in this state.”

Analysts said the data shows that the new trend is gathering momentum in the northern markets. OPC constituted 21.6% of total sales in the June 2008 quarter from 16% in the same period in 2007. They said even after the rise in OPC production there is still a shortage of this product in the market. “With the real es-tate boom slowing down in the last few months, the demand for PPC has also gone down. So it makes more sense for the cement makers to concentrate more on OPC,” said an analyst.

According to another analyst, the trend will be popular in other markets when the additional capacity comes up in 2009. The domestic cement companies are expected to witness an excess supply of cement in 2009. The cement industry plans to add around 95Mt over next three years. Capacity additions are pegged at 45Mt in 2009 and 33.5Mt by 2010.

India is the second-largest producer of cement after China. The Indian cement industry comprises 130 large cement plants and 365 mini-cement plants.

Siam Refractory holds mid-year ‘Agent Forum’

Tokyo Cement Lanka up 25%

Sri Lanka: Sri Lanka’s Tokyo Cement Co Lanka group posted 25% higher net profi ts for the June 2008 quarter, compared to the same 2007 period, un-audited results showed. Tokyo Cement Co Lanka profi ts increased to US$1.97m from US$1.6m in 2007. Revenue for the June quarter 2008 increased 30% to US$36.3m. The group’s fi nance costs were up 62% to US$1.4m.

At a company level, profi ts were up 3% to US$716,000 while revenue increased 29% to US$12.9 during the period under review. The total assets stood at US$112m.

The company has a cement grinding mill and bagging plant in the eastern port of Trincomalee in a joint venture with Ja-pan’s Mitsui.

State intervention sought

India: Kerala’s merchant trade organisation – Kerala Vyapari Vyavasayi Ekopana Samithi – has urged the state government to prevent the stoppage in the move-ment of cement from the public sector fi rm Malabar Cements Ltd at Walayar due to problems at the Walayar check-post. In a statement, Samithi district president Joby V Chungath said the stoppage of cement move-ment from the company had hit the construction sector.

The drivers have been on strike for more than a week on the issue and there is no movement of cement from the company. Therefore, the state government should ur-gently intervene to solve the problem, Chungath said.

Change in northern India cement product mix

Good Chinese performanceChina: China’s cement output increased 9% to 514Mt, and sales revenue soared 23.6% to US$23.4bn in January-May 2008, according to Guangzhou Metal Trading Center. The average price increased 10.1% in May 2008 due to the growing coal costs and market demand. Total profi t reached US$1.2bn between January-May 2008, up 65.4% year-on-year.

Delegates at Siam Refractory’s July 2008 ‘Agents Forum’ pose for a group photo.

NEWSASIA


Asian cement news in brief

India: Holcim-owned Ambuja Cement has reported 6.9% growth in cement production at 1.2Mt in August 2008 against 1.1Mt for the corresponding period in 2007. Sales grew 7.7% at 1.2Mt. In the fi rst eight months of 2008, the company’s cement output rose 5.3% to 11.8Mt versus 11.2Mt between January-August 2007.

China: China Shanshui Cement Group said its interim net profi t expanded 1.2 times to US$22.6m for the six months ending on 30 June 2008. Its revenue soared by 88% to US$492.7m, with operat-ing profi t 1.3 times higher at US$46.9m.

India: Cement shipments by India’s Aditya Birla Group in August 2008 fell 5.4% August 2007 to 2.2Mt. Cement production fell 8.9% to 2.1Mt, it said in a statement. The group includes fl agship Grasim Industries and UltraTech Cement and has a combined cement-making capacity of more than 31Mt/y.

Thailand: Siam Cement, Thailand’s biggest industrial conglom-erate, said it plans to sell up to US$585m worth of bonds with maturities of four years. The bonds would be partly sold to retail investors, the company said in a statement.

China: China’s Gezhouba Group Company Ltd announced on 27 August 2008 that it will increase investment in its controlled sub-sidiary Qianjiang Gezhouba Cement Co, Ltd by US$4.7m in a bid to expand the production capacity of its existing 1Mt/y of cement powder production line in Qianjiang City.

India: The Indian state government has decided to provide 400 bags of cement at a concessional rate of US$4.5 a bag on produc-tion of family cards for those constructing houses with an area up to 1000ft2.

Vietnam: The southern province of Binh Phuoc has started work on the An Phu cement plant, with a total investment of US$278.8m. Located in Binh Long District, the plant will have a designed capac-ity of 5000t/d of clinker, and 2Mt/y of cement. Scheduled to come into operation in early 2011, An Phu will create more than 400 jobs for provincial workers.

China: A 4000t/d dry process cement clinker production line run by Heibei Yanzhao Cement Co, Ltd is expected to start operations in January 2009. US$20.6m will be invested in energy saving and emission cutting equipment, which will be capable of decreasing energy consumption by 5300t/y of coal equivalent, as well as cut-ting CO2 emissions by 24,800t/y.

Indonesia: Holcim Indonesia will fi nalise a loan worth between US$525-600m as part of its Tuban factory construction. Formerly, the projected cost of constructing the plant had been US$420m, but due to the continually increasing price of steel, this fi gure will rise anywhere between 25-43%.

India: Delhi-based JK Lakshmi Cement plans to invest about US$227.5m to set up 4-5 ready mix concrete plants by March 2009. The company is also increasing its clinker capacity from 3.65Mt/y to 4.75Mt/y by setting up a grinding unit at Kalol in Gujarat.

http://www.thorwesten.com


NEWSASIA

Singapore: Singaporean developers should consider using recycled con-crete or cement substitutes. This is a recommendation by assistant profes-sor Holger Wallbaum, chairman of sustainable construction at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich, who presented at a construction con-ference on 27 August. Prof Wallbaum was present to promote sustainability in the Singapore concrete industry.

Prof Wallbaum said that since concrete and cement production contributes signifi cantly to emissions of CO2, the use of recycled concrete or cement substitutes would allow for more sustainable development of buildings.

Prof Wallbaum said: “Wastes from other production processes could be used in concrete production,” as he also cited waste materials from incin-eration plants and steel-manufacture as cement substitutes which are com-monly used.

The Singapore government has been promoting sustainable develop-

ment for some time. In February 2008, the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Sustainable Development was formed to set up a framework for sustainable development in Singapore.

Responding to the call, the local offi ce of Holcim developed an ‘ecolog-ically friendly’ concrete called Holcim Green, in line with Prof Wallbaum’ recommendations. Holcim Green uses recycled materials like copper waste from shipyards as a concrete raw-material substitute. As there is no other way to dispose of the cop-per waste except in landfi lls, Holcim’s use of the waste is more ecologically friendly, and has also received Singa-pore’s GreenLabel.

Holcim’s concrete production plants in Singapore also recycle concrete and waste water from the production process. However, besides an ecological focus on sustainable development, Prof Wallbaum empha-sised that socio-cultural and economic aspects cannot be neglected.

Holcim Vietnam to double capacity

Vietnam: The People’s Committee of the Mekong Delta province of Kien Giang has licensed Holcim Vietnam Ltd to build its second clinker produc-tion line at the Hon Chong cement plant. Work on the construction of the US$656m production line with a capacity of 10,000t/d of clinker will start in January 2009.

Apart from the Hon Chong cement plant, Holcim Vietnam is currently operating another cement station in Ho Chi Minh City with an an-nual capacity of 3.6Mt of cement and more than 120,000m3 of ready-mix concrete. Once the sec-ond clinker production line is put into operation, Holcim Vietnam’s total capacity will increase to 14,500t/d or 7Mt/y of cement.

Holcim Vietnam Ltd is a joint venture (JV) be-tween Holcim and the Ha Tien 1 Cement Company, a subsidiary of the Vietnam National Cement Cor-poration.The US$440m JV was licensed to operate for 50 years in 1994. According to the cement industry development scheme, an additional 46 cement projects will be put into operation from now until 2010, with a total production capacity of more than 45Mt. The Ministry of Construction forecast that local makers will be able to meet do-mestic demand for cement and clinker by 2009.

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NEWSMIDDLE EAST & AFRICA

Italcementi invests US$550-750m in Libya

Libya: Italcementi SpA said it will spend between US$550-750m to build a new ce-ment plant in Libya. Italcementi said it has set up a joint venture with the Libyan Economic and Social Development Fund to build the plant some 50km from Tobruk in the east of Libya. Italcementi will own 50% of the joint venture.

The new joint venture has already concluded a mining concession agreement with the National Mining Company of Libya, the company said. The cement plant at Tobruk will have a total capacity of 4Mt/y of Portland cement. Italcementi said it also was considering the construction of a new white cement line, with a capacity of 500,000t/y.

Middle East and Africa News in Brief

Tanzania: Via Aumund Beijing and CBMI, China, two Samson feeder units will be supplied to the Holcim Tanga grinding plant in Tanzania. One machine will be used for handling clinker at 250t/h, the other will be used for handling additives at 100t/h.

Saudi Arabia: Dana Holding Company, a Saudi joint stock company, is to build a 10,000t/d cement plant in Baha province at a cost of US$395m.

Lebanon: A recently released report by Bank Audi shows that the total amount of cement deliveries in Lebanon rose by 8.3% the end of the fi rst half of 2008 compared with the corresponding period in 2007.

Egypt: Cemex is to appeal against the fi ne imposed upon it by Cairo commer-cial courts for alleged anti-competition activities. Cemex executives have called the accusations unfounded. It should be noted that the fi ne has only been commu-nicated verbally and not offi cially as yet. The Egyptian branch of the multinational has been hit with a fi ne of US$1.9m whilst another eight cement fi rms have also been fi ned. (see p68 for more information).

Namibia: Ohorongo Cement is to erect a Euro211m cement plant near Otavi. The company now has a licence to mine the raw materials needed. The plant will sup-ply cement from the end of 2010.

Algeria: La Banque Exterieure d’Algerie and the cement industry’s administra-tive organisation, La Societe de Gestion des Participations Industrie des Ciments (SGCP Gica), have signed an agreement for investments totalling US$780m. New production lines will be installed in three of the 12 state cement plants of SGP Gica. From 2012, the 12 plants will then have capacity totalling 18Mt/y.

Morocco: Ciments du Maroc will build a cement plant in Agadir with a production capacity of 2.2Mt/y of cement and 1.6Mt/y of clinker and will be operational in 2009.

Egypt: National Cement reported a 9.6% drop in net profi t to the end of June 2008 to US$47.5m. National Cement is 98% state-owned by government-run Chemi-cal Industries Holding Co.

Zimbabwe cement fi rms on ‘brink of closure’

Zimbabwe: Cement manufacturers are tottering on the ‘brink of closure’ due to crip-pling price controls that have resulted in building contractors shelving construction projects after the market ran out of cement, according to the Zimbabwe press. The selling price of cement is set by the government-run National Incomes and Pricing Commission (NIPC), which accuses companies of hiking prices to foment public anger against president Robert Mugabe’s administration, charges denied by industrialists.

Despite hyperinfl ation and a rapidly deteriorating exchange rate, there have been long delays by the Commission in reviewing the price of cement, resulting in the ce-ment price falling well below cost.

The industry, dominated by Pretoria Portland Cement (PPC), Circle Cement and Sino, has been pushed into a situation where it is no longer viable to manufacture cement. Currently, the selling price of cement is less than 10% of the cost of produc-tion.

The industry, which is the lifeblood of the construction industry, has in the past, and is again, being forced into borrowing considerable sums of money from banks, at punitive interest rates to settle creditors accounts, while the NIPC debates the setting of a revised cement price. These increased borrowing costs will have to be recovered from the new prices – thus pushing up the price of cement in the long run, according to industry sources.

Zimbabwe is currently going through hard times with the cost of building materi-als and basic commodities going up on a daily basis. A bag of cement, which is only found on the illegal parallel market, ranges between US$10 and US$15.

Kenya: Kenya’s president Kibaki has presided over the ground breaking ceremony of a new US$42.7m cement manufacturing plant in Athi River, Ka-jiado district. When completed, the new project will have an initial production

capacity of 1000t/d, with provision for a further increase to 2500t/d and 1Mt/y.

The project is owned by Devki Steel Mills Ltd group of companies which has invested US$50m in developing the venture.

New US$42.7m cement plant planned for Kenya

15% stake sale to black investorsSouth Africa: Pretoria Portland Cement (PPC) has sold a 15% stake worth US$344m that will directly benefi t 3.5m black investors and have a minimum 59% diluting eff ect on existing PPC shareholders. The deal took two years to com-plete and was developed in accordance with the mining charter.

Employees, an education trust, a construction industry association trust and two community service groups will be allocated the largest por-tion of shares at 8.2% of PPC’s ordinary share capital, while selected black partners will get 7%.

SCC profi t up 5.2%Saudi Arabia: Arabian Cement Company (ACC) registered a 5.2% year-on-year increase in net profi t to $54.8m in the fi rst half of 2008. ACC’s operating profi t stood at US$57.4m for the six months ending on 30 June 2008, up 14.1% year-on-year, boosted mainly by stronger sales and higher revenue from affi liated companies.




Egypt: Executives of some of the Egypt’s leading cement fi rms have been fi ned by a Cairo court for violating anti-competi-tion laws. Among the 20 defendants fi ned were the executives of Suez Cement, Tora Cement, Misr Beni Suef Cement, and Misr Qena cement.

The judge told the court that those accused had caused “deliberate harm to the national economy” through price fi xing. Each defendant was forced to pay US$1.9m.

The landmark ruling came after a 14-month investigation during which the prosecution accused the companies of collusion and violating price-fi xing laws. Cement has been one of Egypt’s key in-dustries, with prices and company profi ts surging amid high construction-sector demand.

The court ruling was the fi rst of its kind under new anti-competition laws and has been regarded as a major step forward

for the Egyptian Competition Authority (ECA). However, the fi nes are still small compared to the profi ts made.

Under previous proposals put for-ward, the ministry of fi nance, along with the ECA, recommended earlier in 2008 that the penalty for violating laws against price fi xing would be between 10–15% of total company profi ts, but these pro-posals were rejected by the Egyptian parliament.

Nevertheless the court’s decision sets an important precedent, which could see similar charges launched against companies in other sectors, including the steel sector dominated by the gov-ernment-linked El Ezz Group. Steel prices have surged by almost 100% since 2007. This, along with high cement prices, has weighed heavily on the country’s infl ation rate which recently hit an all-time high of 22%.

Key Egyptian cement companies fi ned over price fi xingLimestone quarrying to start in OctoberUganda: Hima Cement will start min-ing limestone from Dura in October 2008, a development that could see the company double its production to 480,000t/y to meet growing demand.

Mr Allen T Mate, Hima’s plant manager, said that they were close to completing the upgrade of roads, bridges and site offi ces ready to start quarrying in the area. “But we are treading very carefully in respect to the environmental agreements we signed in this regard” he said in newspaper interview in August 2008.

The growing demand for cement in Uganda - which has pushed cement prices upwards - has sent money fl ow-ing into the coff ers of Tororo and Hima Cement. However, industry experts expect prices to drop as more supply volumes come online.

Madinaty project receives concrete boost

Egypt: South Valley Cement said that it has signed a contract amounting to US$35m with Alexandria Com-pany to supply concrete for the Madinaty project, a new leisure and residential mega-complex being built in the desert east of Cairo.

Nigeria: The Nigerian government has given no fewer than 13 local manufacturers license to import bagged cement in order to put an end to short supply and ensure a price crash of the product in the country. It has also directed the Nigeria customs service to ensure that approved duties payable by the authorised importers are strictly adhered to.

In a letter written by the ministry of fi nance and forwarded to the customs service, the government noted that out of the 13 approved importers, seven were in the business of cement

processing and manufacturing while six are new entrants.The companies authorised to import bagged cement are

Wapco\Lafarge; Ewekoro\Shagamu; Ashaka Cement Co; Benue Cement Co; Obajana Cement Co; Unicem; Calabar; Cement Com-pany of Northern Nigeria; Sokoto and Purechem.

The new entrants who were also authorised to now import bagged cement are Minaj Holdings Ltd; Enugu, Madewell Prod-ucts Ltd; Sapele; BUA International Ltd; Kano; NIC A Ltd; Maiduguri; Reagan Renaissance Ltd; Calabar and Mann Lababibi Ltd.

Thirteen fi rms get the nod to import bagged cement into Nigeria

Saudi cement prices seen easing in 2010 onoutput hike

Saudi Arabia: Cement prices in Saudi Arabia will remain fl at for 2008 and most of 2009 but are expected to fall by up to 5% per year until 2013 on much higher output, a Saudi investment fi rm said in a report.

Annual cement production in the kingdom is expected to rise to 69.9Mt by 2013 from 23.5Mt in 2005, helped by an upgrading of existing current production facilities and the establishment of new companies, Jadwa Investment said. Most of the new plants are expected to oper-ate at or above design capacity, as plants are usually built with 10-15% excess capacity, the report said.

“The huge increase in capacity under way combined with a recent ban on exports is expected to exert considerable downward pressure on cement prices in the years ahead,” the company said. The export ban was introduced in June 2008 after shortages in cement due to large volumes of exports caused prices to soar.

More than 12Mt in new production capacity was added last year and a further 7.8Mt will be added in 2008. The capacity increase should slow after 2010 and production is expected to stabilise after 2013 when the second batch of new projects is completed, according to the report.

A view of the Madinaty leisure and residential complex, Egypt.

http://www.aucbm.org

New Angolan cement plantAngola: Japan’s Sojitz Corp has clinched a US$498m order to build a large ce-ment plant in Angola. The order from state-owned company FCKS is for a plant capable of producing 1.4Mt/y of cement – a quarter of the Angola’s cement demand – in an area 200km south of the capital Lu-anda. The contract was won with ETA Star International, a construction company from the UAE. Sojitz will supply the core equipment while ETA will handle con-struction. Completion is slated for 2011.



US$15m to ease cement crisisBahrain: Bahrain’s only cement manu-facturer, Star Cement, is planning to invest US$15m to increase production and combat a critical cement shortage. Star Cement’s mill in Hidd has a capacity to produce 400,000t/y. It will be increased to 500,000t/y when a new mill is installed, said Star Cement chief executive offi cer R S M Abul Hasan.

Bahrain’s construction industry has been badly hit by a shortage of cement and other materials, following a restriction by Saudi Arabia on its cement exports.

Tripoli23-24 March 2009

www.propubs.com/mec

Market trends in Libyan cementCapacity expansion

Trading and shippingTechnology case-studies

Alternative fuels


gl bal cement

Joining the Libyan boom

Ethiopian cement imports increase

Djibouti/Ethiopia: Avorniga, an Israeli company that leases the Addis Abeba ce-ment plant from Mugher Cement Factory has procured 22,000t of clinker from Pakistan. The clinker docked at the Port of Djibouti in August 2008. Avorniga is the second company to import clinker, the fi rst being the Chinese company CGC Overseas. The clinker is imported duty free according to an insider.

The Addis Abeba cement plant, located in Kirkos district of Gotera, was built in 1964. Initially it had a production capacity of 70,000t/y. However, in 1996 the plant was forced to stop production of clinker because of the increase in emission levels from the old machinery, which polluted the surrounding areas. It was transformed into a grinding plant, buying about 100,000t/y of clinker from Mugher cement factory for the production of mainly ordinary Portland cement, with Portland poz-zolana cement being produced when the need arises. The plant has two cement mills, each with a grinding capacity of 12.5t/h.

Avorniga envisages supplying 160,000t of cement per year. This is an almost 8% increase compared to what cement factories are currently supplying. Presently, Ethiopia’s annual production of cement stands at 1.82Mt. However, the yearly demand-supply shortfall is estimated to be more than 2Mt. Up to 8 April 2008, a total of 24 companies had permits to invest in the cement production sector out of which 10 have secured land and three have begun operations. However, they are far from fi lling the gap between demand and supply.

The government has thus decided to import 100,000t of cement every year to bridge this gap. For instance, 78,771t of cement docked at Djibouti on 5 August 2008. There has also been an increase in investments in cement plants.

Over 20 investors have so far been licensed to build cement factories - 13 have begun installation and construction works, while the remaining are undertaking studies that will lead to construction. Jema, Abyssinia, CGC, and Dejen (Derba-Midroc) cement factories in Oromia regional state have already started cement production.

LIBYALIBYA

http://www.propubs.com/mec

Global Cement Magazine’s regular review of global cement and fuel prices by GC staff and GC’s global pricing correspondents

Here Global Cement Magazine presents its monthly review of global cement and fuel prices, in US$ for easy comparison. The full infor-mation in this article (including the latest information on prices throughout Asia and the Americas) is only available to subscribers of Global Cement Magazine. To receive the LATEST news, you should subscribe. See page 72.

Cement price correspondents required

Do you have your fi nger on the cement and fuel price pulse? Can you supply

reliable monthly cement price reports in your location (or further afi eld)?

If so, we need you!

In return for supplying this information on a monthly (and anonymous)

basis, you will be rewarded with a subscription to Global Cement Magazine,

including all the global cement pricing data collated by the magazine

(and if you are not a paid subscriber, there’s no other way to get it).

Please apply to Dr Nino Mancino, GC’s editor, at: [email protected]

Prices are for cement, unless stated otherwise. Where a source has given a range,

the published price is the minimum value.

FOB {+ the named port of origin} = Free On Board: The delivery of goods on

board the vessel at the named port of origin (loading), at seller’s expense. Buyer is

responsible for the main carriage/freight, cargo insurance and other costs and risks.

CIF {+ the named port of destination} = Cost, Insurance and Freight: The cargo

insurance and delivery of goods to the named port of destination (discharge) at the

seller’s expense. Buyer is responsible for the import customs clearance and other

costs and risks.

ASWP = Any safe world port

Conversion rates: Euro 1 = US$1.55, US$1 = Euro 0.65

Egypt, 42.5N: US$96/t FOB MED/RED SEA (inc. $15/t export tax) (August 2007)Egypt: US$73/t (February 2008)

Algeria: US$100/t (big bags) FOB (August 2008)Algeria: US$100/t (July 2008)

Morocco, pet-coke: US$128/t (October 2007)Saudi Arabia US$70/t (average January-June 2008)

South Africa, coal: US$143/t CIF (February 2008)South Africa, 42.5: US$127/t (bagged) (July 2008)

South Africa, 42.5: US$119/t (bulk) (July 2008)Ghana (Accra): US$168/t RETAIL (September 2007)

Ghana (Takoradi): Portland US$8.90/bag RETAIL (February 2008)Burkina Faso: US$208/t, (bagged) (November 2007)

Ethiopia: US$180/t (March 2008)Kenya: US$200/t (December 2007)Liberia: US$10.45/bag (April 2008)

Zambia (Lusaka): US$15.80/bag RETAIL (October 2007)Cameroon: US$190/t (bulk), US$10.50/bag RETAIL (October 2007)

Uganda: US$14.20/bag (September 2007)Nigeria: US$6.38/ 50kg bag (September 2008)

Tanzania: US$17.70/bag (December 2007)

Russia: US$225/t (bulk) (April 2008)Russia: US$160/t (bulk) (June 2008)

Ukraine, US$120/t (without VAT, bulk), EX-WORKS (August 2008)Latvia: US$178/t (bulk, DAF Russian border) (May 2008)

Latvia: US$122/t (bulk, DAF Russian border) (August 2008)Belarus: US$60/t (September 2007)

Czech Republic: US$70/t (September 2007)Ukraine: US$150/t (May 2008)UAE: US$80.35/t price cap (March 2008)UAE: US$109/t reported black market price (March 2008)UAE, clinker: US$75/t (March 2008)Oman: US$78/t (June 2008)Qatar, 42.5N/R: US$88/t (bagged), EX-WORKS, FOT (December 2007)

Qatar, 42.5N/R: US$84/t (bulk) EX-WORKS, FOT (December 2007)Lebanon: US$85/t (bulk) + US$85/t (big bags) FOB (May 2008)

Turkey: US$115-US$126/t (big bags) FOB (May 2008)Turkey: US$91-US$95/t (big bags) FOB (August 2008)

Turkey: US$75-US$85/t (bulk) FOB (August 2008)Turkey, white cement: US$175/t (bagged) FOB ISTANBUL (November 2007)

Egypt: US$83.80/t (bagged) (May 2008)

GLOBAL CEMENT PRICES




globalcement .com

SEPTEMBER 2008




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Contents Ad Index

It was only a few weeks ago that Beijing said goodbye to the Olympic Games, the world’s great sporting jambo-

ree, but I’m already missing it. China’s capital off ered us a spectacular games, packed full of drama, sporting great-ness, plus the remarkable sight of Great Britain coming fourth in the medals table with a mighty 19 gold med-als. From a personal point of view it was about time we punched our weight in terms of sport. And without want-ing to ‘name’ any particular countries, it was extremely satisfying to fi nish above certain nations that have for too long fi nished above us. You know who you are!

So now, as Beijing 2008 recedes into memory, atten-tion now turns to the next host city: London in 2012. What kind of games will London produce? Can it match the grandeur and spectacle of its predecessor? According to Lord Sebastian Coe, chair of the London 2012 Organis-ing Committee Board, (LOCOG), Beijing will be the lastOlympics of its kind; it was an awe-inspiring spectacle but also mightily expensive. Such expense is not sustainable.

If Lord Coe is right – and the noises coming out of the IOC seem to back him up – then London will be smaller, less extravagant but hopefully a more fun, exuberant and open aff air. As awesome as the Birds Nest stadium is, don’t expect the same thing in 2012. Th e keystone upon which London’s successful bid was built was legacy. An important legacy that the organisers hope will come to fruition is the re-awakening of the importance of sport in the consciousness of the British public, especially its youth. No doubt the success of Team GB in Beijing will have helped this cause already.

Th e other main legacy item for London 2012 is the overdue transformation of Stratford, the site of theOlympic Park in the east end of London. Th e regeneration project will create numerous job opportunities, aff ordable housing, leisure facilities plus a new sense of pride.

It goes without saying (but it’s my job to say it anyway) that all this building and regeneration brings great oppor-tunities for cement and construction fi rms. Consider for a moment the scale of the project: Th e Olympic Park will be the site of the major venues, including the main Olympic Stadium, the Aquatics Centre, the Velodrome and BMX

circuit, plus arenas for fencing, hockey, handball and bas-ketball and an international broadcast and media centre. Th e Park will also contain the Olympic Village that will accommodate 17,000 athletes and will feature shops, lei-sure and medical facilities. Once the Games are over, the Village will become part of the Stratford City regeneration scheme that will be made up of additional leisure, offi ce and residential amenities, including up to 3300 aff ordable new homes for sale and rent.

Th is gargantuan project needs to be supported by a comprehensive upgrade of the surrounding transport and utilities infrastructures. Th e new Speed 1 Javelin® shut-tle train service will ensure that athletes and visitors can reach central London in just seven minutes for example.

Th e overall project is split into three phases: Stage 1 involved agreeing the timetable for delivery, and submit-ting one of the largest planning applications in European history. Stage 2, termed ‘demolish, dig, design’, requires getting the site ready for construction work, including de-contaminating 2.5km2 of derelict land. Stage 3 – the ‘big build’ – began three months early, when work started on the Olympic Stadium in May 2008.

Another key aspect of the ‘big build’ phase is the com-mitment to re-use 90% of construction waste. Any waste created during construction of the venues and infrastruc-ture will be collected and taken to a dedicated area on site before being separated and sorted for re-use or recycled. Materials not able to be re-used will be taken away to external sites by sustainable transport methods, includ-ing by barge on the River Th ames, so they can be used elsewhere. Th is new integrated system has been externally audited as being of an international standard – a fi rst for a major project of this size according to LOCOG.

As a fan of sport I cannot wait for London 2012. Th eOlympic Games – as well as the Paralympic Games a month later – could turn to be the UK’s single most im-portant cultural event in the fi rst half of the 21st century. It is also a fantastic opportunity for the cement and con-struction industry to play a part in this global event. On your marks, get set, go!


The Last Word The 2012 Olympic Games in London will create many winners, from athletes to construction companies.



THE LAST WORD


AUCBM 2008 69

Aumund Foerdertechnik GmbH 29

Chieftain Group 12

Claudius Peters Technologies 17

Demag Cranes & Components GmbH 41 and 51

Gebr. Pfeiff er AG 33

2nd Global Cement Conference India 2009, Mumbai 66

Global Cement Conference Libya 2009, Tripoli 70

1st Global Cement Quality Control Conference 2009, Düsseldorf 53

1st Global Landfi ll Mining Conference 2008, London 21

4th Global Lime Conference 2009, Dubai 63

2nd Global Mortars Conference 2009, Barcelona 6

2nd Global Refractories Conference 2008, Cologne 41

4th Global Slag Conference 2008, Strasbourg 32

W. L. Gore & Associates IFC

Intensiv-Filter GmbH & Co. KG 39

Kowey GmbH 9

KRC Mining Consultants 59

Loesche GmbH FC

Maschinenfabrik Möllers GmbH 13

MHC Engineering 10

Paglierani Group 45 and 47

Powtech 75

Remsan Refractory Materials Inc. 5

Russig GmbH 59

SFAR Steel 25

Specodlew Ltd. 25

Spitzer Silo-Fahrzeugwerke GmbH OBC

Thorwesten Vent GmbH 65

Transairvac International Ltd 19

UNITECR 2009 51

Vesuvius UK Ltd. 59

ADVERTISER INDEX & READER ENQUIRY

globalcement MAGAZINE Reader Enquiry Form - September ‘08To receive detailed information on products and services advertised in this issue, please place a tick adjacent

to the advertiser’s name, complete the coupon below and fax a photocopy of this entire page to us on+44 1372 743838 or post to us at the following address: GC: Global Cement Magazine,

PRo Publications International Ltd, Adelphi Court, 1 East Street, Epsom, Surrey, KT17 1BB, UK.Editorial enquiries should also be directed to PRo Publications International Ltd, quoting the name of the

company in question and the page number upon which the item appeared.Prior to faxing or posting please ensure that you have marked

the companies you are interested in.Name.................................................................................................................................................................................................................Position.............................................................................................................................................................................................................Company..........................................................................................................................................................................................................Nature of business........................................................................................................................................................................................Address ............................................................................................................................................................................................................Telephone ................................................................................................ Fax...............................................................................................e-mail ........................................................................................................ Internet .....................................................................................Please send details of: ........................................................................................................................Pages............................................

Contents Subscribe

http://www.powtech.de

Besuchen Sie uns auf der IAA 2008 - der Messe für Nutzfahrzeuge in Hannover - 25. September bis 02. Oktober 2008, Pavillon 34 mit Freigelände.

SPITZER SILO-FAHRZEUGWERKE GmbH

Brühlweg 10

74834 Elztal-Dallau

Tel.: +49 (0) 62 61 / 80 05-0

Fax: +49 (0) 62 61 / 80 05-60

E-Mail: [email protected]

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SPITZER PRODUKTION:

Deutschland - Elztal-Dallau, Cloppenburg, Wörnitz

Frankreich - Fegersheim

Ungarn - Pécs

VERTRIEB WELTWEIT

Visit us on our stand during the IAA 2008 – the exhibition for commercial vehicles in Hanover – September 25th - October 2nd 2008 in Pavilion 34 and open area.

SPITZER PRODUCTION:Germany - Elztal-Dallau, Cloppenburg, WörnitzFrance - FegersheimHungary - Pécs

WORLDWIDE DISTRIBUTION

SPITZER SILO-FAHRZEUGWERKE GmbHBrühlweg 1074834 Elztal-Dallau

Tel: +49 (0) 62 61 / 80 05-0Fax: +49 (0) 62 61 / 80 05-60E-Mail: [email protected]

http://www.spitzer-silo.com

Prices are for cement, unless stated otherwise. Where a source has given a range, the minimum has been published.

FOB {+ the named port of origin} = Free On Board: The delivery of goods on board the vessel at the named port of

origin (loading), at seller’s expense. Buyer is responsible for the main carriage/freight, cargo insurance and other costs

and risks.

CIF {+ the named port of destination} = Cost, Insurance and Freight: The cargo insurance and delivery of goods to the

named port of destination (discharge) at the seller’s expense. Buyer is responsible for the import customs clearance and

other costs and risks.

ASWP = Any safe world port

globalcement MAGAZINE September 2008 Prices 2

Afghanistan: US$60/t CIF (January 2008)Australia, thermal coal: US$76.25/t FOB NEWCASTLE (November 2007)

Vietnam: US$62.50/t (February 2008)China (Hainan province): US$68/t (December 2007)

China: US$63.88/t (fourth quarter 2007 average)China, 42.5: US$47.7/t (July 2008)China, GBFS cement: US$54.5/tChina, 32.5: US$42.10/t (average), DOMESTIC (September 2007)China, clinker: US$36/t FOB RIDZAO PORT (September 2007)Taiwan RoC: US$78.12 (bulk) DOMESTIC (January 2008)Pakistan: US$81/t, US$4.04/bag (May 2008)

Pakistan: US$92/t, US$4.61/bag (June 2008)Pakistan: US$100/t, US$5.02/bag (July 2008)

Pakistan: US$99/t, US$4.94/bag (August 2008)Pakistan: US$60/t (bagged) FOB KARACHI (January 2008)

Pakistan (Karachi): US$3.42/bag (March 2008)India (Andhra Pradesh): US$4.40/bag EX-FACTORY (March 2008)

India (Delhi): US$5.87/bag (March 2008)India (Mumbai): US$6.70/bag (March 2008)

India (Kolkata): US$5.50/bag (March 2008)

India (Chennai): US$6.375/bag (March 2008)India: US$125/t (bulk) EX-WORKS, (August 2008)India, coal: US$143/t CIF (February 2008)Mexico: US$9.20/bag (January 2008)

Malaysia (Labuan): US$4.30/bag (September 2007)Malaysia (west coast): US$91.40/t (October 2007)

Malaysia, petcoke: US$87/t, CIF JAPAN (October 2007)Indonesia: US$37/t, FOB SOUTH SULAWASI PORT (September 2007)

Indonesia: US$103/t CIF UAE (March 2008)Philippines: US$3.83/ 40kg bag RETAIL (July 2008)

Thailand: US$54/t (November 2007)Thailand: US$41/t EXPORT (July 2008)

Vietnam: US$52-US$62/t WHOLESALE (September 2008)Vietnam: US$52-US$62/t RETAIL (September 2008)

Brazil US$8.96/50kg bag(August 2008)Brazil US$159.23/t (August 2008)

Honduras (Tegucigalpa): US$141.18/tHonduras: US$115.30/t FOB (bagged) (March 2008)

Trinidad and Tobago: US$128/t (November 2007)US: US$102/t (December 2007)

US, petcoke (>4% sulphur): US$58/t FOB (November 2007)US, petcoke (3% sulphur): US$62/t (November 2007)

US, petcoke: US$111.83/t CIF JAPAN (November 2007)Venezuela, petcoke (4-5% sulphur): US$50/t FOB (November 2007)

Jamaica: Import tariff reduced to US$1/t until 31 March 2008 (October 2007)

GLOBAL CEMENT PRICES

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