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INTERNATIONAL CEMENT REVIEW JANUARY 2018

Vietnam’s solid confidence in its future: Xuan Than Cement’s 12,500tpd kiln line was lit on 9 October 2017

Lighting up the mighty Xuan Thanh

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Reprint of article published in International Cement Review, January 2018

BY ICR RESEARCH, UK

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JANUARY 2018 INTERNATIONAL CEMENT REVIEW

Lighting up the mighty Xuan ThanhVietnam’s first mega plant and 12,500tpd kiln line was commissioned by Xuan Thanh Cement JSC at Ha Nam on 9 October 2017. The line is a bold statement and an apt symbol of the tremendous development achieved by Vietnam, one of Asia’s most dynamic emerging markets, over the course three decades of almost uninterrupted economic growth. ICR reports on the new production line and the Xuan Thanh’s ambitions to construct a further three 12,500tpd lines by 2020.

n by ICR Research, UK

Nestled in the magnificent mountainous landscape of Ha Nam province on

a tributary to the Red River Delta, some 75km south of Hanoi, lies Xuan Thanh cement plant, home of the Vietnam’s newest and largest cement production line.

On 9 October 2017 the giant Line 2 kiln, which has a nominal clinker capacity of 12,500tpd (4.125Mta), produced its first clinker, two months ahead of schedule. Any project of this scale is an immense achievement and Xuan Thanh’s new line joins a select club of mega kilns installed worldwide. Other references include the 12,000tpd line at LafargeHolcim’s Ste Genevieve plant in Missouri, USA (see ICR May 2008, p55-57), and ACC Ltd’s 12,500tpd kiln at Wadi, India (see ICR November 2011, p24-29). The Xuan Thanh facility represents another great milestone in the history of cement production and validates the trend towards high-capacity cement production lines.

Like Ste Genevieve and Wadi, the Ha Nam kiln is equipped with state-of-the-art technology of mainly European origin, with the main pyroprocessing line supplied by FLSmidth (Denmark) and the clinker grinding section supplied by Loesche (Germany). The total investment for the whole project, which was financed internally, was US$700m.

Plant descriptionLine 2 is located adjacent to a high-quality limestone quarry and only 5km from the clay deposit. The quarried limestone is fed to an EV hammer-impact crusher, then conveyed to the large circular storage dome (capacity 55,000t), which also pre-

blends the material prior to raw meal preparation.

Other raw materials and inputs including clay, iron ore and additives, are conveyed from their respective crushers to an impressive longitudinal storage facility, equipped with FLSmidth’s latest portal scrapers and luffing stackers.

Due to the humid sub-tropical climate and to protect against the rain during the wet season, all raw material storage is covered.

The raw meal preparation is carried out by two atox vertical roller mills (VRMs), Type 50.0, and conveyed to the top of a single, large-controlled flow (CF) homogenisation silo, before delivery to the the preheater calciner system via bucket elevators.

The preheater consists of five cyclone stages in a two-string arrangement, with In-Line Calciner (ILC). This proven design ensures low NOx and CO emissions,

enabling Xuan Thanh to easily meet local environmental emissions regulations.

At the heart of the plant is the giant kiln, which has an inner diameter of 6.3m, a length of 97.7m, requiring the support of three piers. The nominal clinker production is 12,500tpd, but in reality and based on the experiences with other similar kilns and subsequent advances in technology the actual output could be higher.

The plant will consume approximately 2400tpd of coal, its primary kiln fuel, which is prepared by two atox 32.5 VRMs and fed to the kiln, where it is burnt using a FLSmidth Duoflex burner. The plant does not yet plan to use alternative fuels. The pyro line is completed by the inclusion of an FLSmidth Cross-Bar clinker cooler (22x74) installed in front of the 100,000t clinker silo.

For clinker grinding, Xuan Thanh Cement has selected two 300tph vertical roller mills, supplied by Loesche GmbH (Germany).

Xuan Thanh cement plant, built on a tributary to the Red River Delta, Vietnam

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INTERNATIONAL CEMENT REVIEW JANUARY 2018

FLSmidth Airtech supplied the plant’s emission control systems: the electrostatic precipitator on the cooler as well as bag filters on the kiln and raw mill, the coal mill (two filters) and the cement mill (two filters) as well as numerous secondary dedusting bag filters. Emissions are monitored and reported via FLSmidth Automation’s ReportLogTM while gas analysis for process optimisation is carried out by a KilnLoq® system.

Plant automation is carried out with a ECS/ControlCenterTM, supplied by FLSmidth Automation, who also delivered the QCX/RoboLab® plant laboratory to ensure the plant’s quality control process.

With a combined output of 4.75Mta, the new line will produce a range of cements for the local market, in addition to selling clinker into the export markets. The plant will initially produce PCB-30 and PCB-40 type cements, which are the prevailing cements consumed in the Vietnamese market.

The majority of the plant’s output will be destined for the local market, delivered by a combination of road transportation and also by river barge, which is made possible by the plant’s waterside location.

In addition, the plant will export 2Mta of clinker to overseas markets, first travelling some 80km by river barge before reaching the South China Sea where the cargo will be transshipped for onward travel to overseas markets. The export facility is equipped to handle up to 2Mta of clinker for barge distribution.

Origins of Xuan ThanhXuan Thanh Group, Vietnam, is a diversified group with business interests in a wide variety of sectors from real estate to insurance and banking. Headquartered in Ninh Binh, a region famous for its picturesque, karst mountains, the group was founded in 1976 by Nguyen Xuan Thanh, chairman of Xuan Thanh Group and one of Vietnam’s most successful business leaders.

Riding the wave of dramatic economic expansion, which has seen Vietnam enjoy uninterrupted economic growth since 1981, the group is already established in the construction sector and is specialised in the construction of hydroelectric dams (1200MW installed). The company has been active in the cement sector since 2012, when it established its first production line at Ha Nam (1Mta) and followed by a second plant in central Vietnam at Thanh My in Quang Nam province.

The 12,500tpd Line 2 kiln at Xuan Thanh cement plant is equipped with state-of-the-art technology of mainly European origin

Table 1: key equipment of Line 2, Ha Nam plant of Xuan Thanh Cement

Item Capacity

Raw material processing

Limestone crusher – EV 250/250 1800tph

Clay crusher – ABON sizer 780tph

Additive crusher– strike bar crusher SB 200x200 650tph

Bulk material storage

Limestone storage – circular blending system 55,000t

Clay/iron storage – 2 x portal scrapers and luffing stacker 101,000t

Additive storage – portal scrapers and luffing stacker 52,800t

Coal storage – portal scrapers and luffing stacker 56,000t

Raw meal preparation

Raw mill – 2 x atox 50 2x500tph

CF raw meal homogenisation silo (ø 25mx65m) 40,000tph

Pyroprocessing system (FLSmidth)

Preheater – 2 x ILC five-stage (low-NOx and-low CO calciner) -

Kiln – 3-pier ø6.30m x 98m 12,500tpd

Burner – Duoflex

Clinker cooler – Cross-Bar 22x74

Coal mill – 2 x atox 32.5 2x50tph

Clinker storage 100,000t

Clinker storage (export) 2 x 120,000t

Cement grinding

2 x 300tph VRM (Loesche) 600tph

DistributionRiver barge loading equipment, bins with telescopic loading spouts 8 x 500t

Control, automation and laboratory

Emission monitoring/reporting – FLSmidth Automation ReportLoqTM -

Emission control – FLSmidth Airtech ESP (cooler) and bag filters (kiln, raw mill, cement mill and coal mill)

-

Gas analysis for process optimisation – FLSmidth Automation KilnLoq® -

Plant automation – FLSmidth Automation ECS/ControlCenterTM -

Plant laboratory, FLSmidth Automation QXC/RoboLab® -

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JANUARY 2018 INTERNATIONAL CEMENT REVIEW

In May 2016 the company signed the equipment supply contract with FLSmidth for the supply of Ha Nam Line 2. Discussing the project, Nguyen Xuan Thuy, general director of Xuan Thanh Cement JSC, explains the decision to select the high capacity kiln. “We studied many kilns, including the Ste Genevieve plant of LafargeHolcim in the United States and saw what was achieved,” he explains. “This allowed us to be confident in the technology and the economies of scale that a 12,500tpd line can offer.”

For Xuan Thanh Cement, selecting European equipment was also a key consideration. “We wanted the best available technology to achieve the best possible environmental standards and a high-quality product,” he argued.

The total investment for the Line 2 project was in the region of US$700m, all internally financed by the Xuan Thanh Group. But this is just the start of a series of investments that will see Xuan Thanh Cement expand its domestic capacity to 25Mta over the next five years. At present, the company is investing VND12trn (US$528m) in a new 4.5Mta integrated plant in the southern province of Binh Phoc, north of Ho Chi Minh City. Strategically, such a plant will have a high logistical advantage over the mainly grinding plants that are located in the south of the country and which have to rely on clinker transported from the northern clinker plants.

Future ambitionsThe current project at Ha Nam will increase Xuan Thanh’s cement capacity to around 6.5Mta, but this is only the beginning of the journey for the company that has ambitions to grow exponentially over the coming five to 10 years. “We are also planning a further

three lines at Ha Nam, Quang Nam and Qingshan provinces. In total, we’re targeting 25Mta from seven lines in the next five years,” explains Mr Thuy.

Over the last 25 years, the cement consumption in Vietnam has risen from a low of just 2.75Mt in 1990 to 56Mt in 2016. During this time, the country has climbed rapidly to become the fifth-largest cement producer worldwide, and in 2016 produced 73.5Mt cement and became the second largest exporter of cement and clinker (17.5Mt in 2016).

The scale of Xuan Thanh’s planned expansion does not lack ambition and Mr Thuy is bullish over the prospects of the industry: “Vietnam remains a growth market, and we expect demand to grow at 12-15 per cent each year for 10 years,” he says. “Demand will be driven by the government’s 2030 development plan.”

Given Vietnam’s track record, and transformation from one of the world’s poorest countries to one of the great

development success stories, the future outlook for the economy, construction and cement consumption should not be underestimated. Continued urbanisation and population growth (93m) will support large-scale infrastructure, housing and other construction activities.

Domestically, the Xuan Thanh Group will also consume a large proportion of its output internally, with around 2Mta offtake from the group’s construction

projects. Going forward the potential is for this consumption to grow alongside external sales.

Export opportunitiesHowever, given the scale of new capacity coming online in Vietnam, which is estimated to have reached 117Mta according to The Global Cement Report, 12th Edition, there will inevitably be a surplus of production in the short term. Xuan Thanh are fully prepared: “We plan to export 20-30 per cent of our capacity from the new line,” points out Mr Thuy. “Indeed, in 2016 we exported 700,000t cement to markets including Cameroon, South Africa, Philippines, New Zealand and Fiji. But until the new line started, we had been buying in clinker to service our 3Mta grinding capacity, which includes the two new Loesche mills and one older mill from Line 1.”

To facilitate this export requirement, the company signed a deal in March 2016 with UK-based Ores & Mineral UK Ltd to export cement under a 10-year contract reportedly worth US$1.2bn, during which time Xuan Thanh aims to export 20Mt of cement to Africa.

Line 3 is comingIn December 2016, Vietnam’s Prime Minister, Nguyễn Xuân Phúc, approved a third production line at Xuan Thanh Cement within the Cement Industry Development Master Plan (2011-20). The Line 3 project will add an additional 4.5Mta cement capacity, raising combined capacity to 10.0Mta from the Ha Nam plant alone. Xuan Thanh is on track to deliver on its target of 25Mta by 2025. n

Table 2: Xuan Thanh Cement JSC active and planned capacity

Plant (Line) Clinker capacity (tpd)

Clinker capacity (Mta)

Cement capacity (Mta)

Ha Nam

Line 1 (2012) 2750 0.900 1.000

Line 2 (2017) 12,500 4.125 4.500

Line 3 (planned) 12,500 4.125 4.500

Thanh My, Quang Nam

LIne 1 (2014) 2750 0.900 1.000

Line 2 (planned) 12,500 4.125 4.500

Binh Phoc

Line 1 (feasilibility) 12,500 4.125 4.500

Qingshan

Line 1 (planned) 12,500 4.125 4.500

Total 24.500

Between 20-30 per cent of Xuan Thanh’s output will be shipped to export markets

©Copyright Tradeship Publications Ltd 2018

INTERNATIONAL CEMENT REVIEW JANUARY 2018

Vietnam’s solid confidence in its future: Xuan Than Cement’s 12,500tpd kiln line was lit on 9 October 2017

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