Global Cement Magazine Decembre 2020

News 2020 in Cement Top Producers CCS Solar Cement Melón Cementos Wear Protection DG Khan Refractories
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DECEMBER 2020 MAGAZINE
REACHING
NEW HEIGHTS
US HOLCIM STE. GENEVIEVE PLANT

Produces More than 15,000t from
a single kiln in 24 hours... See Page 4
Optimization
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DALOG DPS November 2020.indd 2 13/10/2020 17:10

GLOBAL CEMENT MAGAZINE: DEAR READERS
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On the cover... LafargeHolcim News 2020 in Cement Top Producers CCS Solar Cement Mélon Cementos Wear Protection DG Khan Refractories
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December 2020
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The Holcim Ste. Genevieve plant in Missouri, part of the
LafargeHolcim network of cement plants in the US, recently

produced a record 15,000t of clinker in a single 24 hour REACHING
Refractories
MAGAZINE period. The plant makes Type I cement, day-in, day out, NEW HEIGHTS
DG Khan
Wear Protection
enabling incredible economies of scale and low emissions.
Mélon Cementos
During these challenging times, LafargeHolcim, the world’s
Solar Cement
CCS
largest building solution provider, is leading the industry
Top Producers
Exclusive Official Magazine for movement to reduce its environmental footprint while
2020 in Cement
Global Cement Conferences: Global CemFuels, supporting the construction of vital infrastructure. This is
News
Global Ash, Global Slag, Global CemProducer, why LafargeHolcim has joined the net zero pledge and set
FutureCem, Global CemBoards, Global WellCem, ambitious 2030 climate targets validated by the Science- US HOLCIM STE. GENEVIEVE PLANT
globalcementMAGAZINE
Produces More than 15,000t froM
Global CemProcess, Virtual Events Based Targets initiative (SBTi). From low-CO2 performance 24 hours... see Page 4
a single kiln in
products to leveraging alternative fuels and renewable

energy, the company is also working on a number of Carbon
Capture, Utilization and Sequestration (CCU/S) projects to Visit...
Editorial Director sequester CO2 emissions and reuse them elsewhere. These
Dr Robert McCaffrey efforts will play an increasingly important role in addressing www.MaterialsThatPerform.com
rob@propubs.com
climate change and promoting sustainable operations for our ...to learn more.
(+44) (0) 1372 840 951
industry (See Page 20).
Editor
Dr Peter Edwards
peter.edwards@propubs.com
(+44) (0) 1372 840 967
Welcome to the December 2020 issue of Global Cement Magazine - the world’s
most widely-read cement magazine - and one that features a major achievement
Web Editor on the cover. Earlier in 2020, the Holcim Ste. Genevieve plant in Missouri, US,
David Perilli produced more than 15,000t in a single 24 hour period from a single kiln. The plant
david.perilli@propubs.com was the first I visited when I joined Global Cement in 2010 - talk about jumping
(+44) (0) 1372 840 952
into the deep end! The 18 cyclone giant is a technological marvel, with efficiencies
of scale unparalleled in the US. If it was able to run at 15,000t/day throughout the
year, it would produce more than 5Mt of cement.
Editorial Assistant
Elsewhere in this issue, LafargeHolcim is pushing the boundaries of sustainability
Jacob Winskell
jacob.winskell@propubs.com with another huge undertaking, the CO2MENT carbon capture and storage (CCS)
(+44) (0) 1372 840 953 project at its Holcim Portland plant in Florence, Colorado, US (Page 20). This will
make use of a metal organic framework (MOF) technology, essentially a CO2 filter,
from Canada’s Svante. The aim is to capture and compress 2Mt/yr of CO2 from the
plant by 2024-5. Also on the sustainability side, this issue contains an interview
Commercial Director
Paul Brown with Cemex and Synhelion about solar-powered cement production (See Page 26),
paul.brown@propubs.com which could do away with fuel (and the need to capture the associated emissions)
Mobile: (+44) (0) 7767 475 998 completely.
Novel technology has been a recurring theme in these pages during 2020, including
graphene in cement, green hydrogen, Cemex’s net-zero Vertua concrete, Vicat’s
Company manager Carbon8 project, C-Capture’s novel CCS solvent, SCM use and a plethora of solar
Sally Hope • sally.hope@propubs.com and wind power news stories. Continuing the theme, this issue contains updates
Subscriptions on LafargeHolcim’s EcoLabel products, its tie-up with Carbon Clean and the
Amanda Crow • amanda.crow@propubs.com inauguration of Buzzi Unicem’s Cleanker pilot plant. As before, Global Cement will
Office administration endeavour to include as many innovative technologies
Jane Coley • jane.coley@propubs.com in 2021, when we should hopefully be able once again to
Views expressed in articles are those of the named author(s). hold in-person events.
For details on submission, see: www.GlobalCement.com
Have a good Christmas and New Year break... Peter Edwards
... and see you (in person) in 2021! Editor
ISSN: 1753-6812
Published by Pro Global Media Ltd
Ground Floor, Octagon House, 20 Hook Road, Cement Printed on Programme for the Endorsement
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GLOBAL CEMENT: CONTENTS
Features
10 2020 in cement
David Perilli looks back at the major news stories of a tumultuous year for the cement sector.
16 Global cement producer round-up

Our annual run-down of the top cement producing
companies and countries worldwide.
Technical
20 LafargeHolcim and Svante: Preparing
for the future carbon economy
An interview with the major players from
the CO2MENT project, which aims to
capture and store 2Mt/yr of CO2.
26 Towards full solar-powered

cement production
Cemex and Synhelion are harnessing
the power of the sun to make cement
in a major new project.
30 Stealing back profits with

aluminium bricking machines
Bricking Solutions introduces the benefits of
light-weight bricking machines.
32 Global Concrete News
34 Products & Contracts News
Europe
36 News 40 Update on alternative fuel equipment projects
Wear protection expert Kalenborn provides
details of some of its recent activities.

GLOBAL CEMENT: CONTENTS
Americas
42 News 46 Melón Cementos’ Puerto Montt grinding station
An in-depth report from Chile’s Melón Cementos’ most
southerly plant, with a focus on its Cemengal technology.
Asia
49 News
52 Plant report: DG Khan’s Hub plant

DG Khan’s Dr Arif Bashir introduces the company’s largest
and newest plant, with a focus on its Loesche technology.
56 Industry 4.0 to the fore in Vietnam

Authors from ABB discuss how digital solutions are optimising
performance and electrical supply at Tan Thang Cement’s new plant.
Middle East & Africa

59 News
Regulars & Comment
63 Global Cement prices

Cement prices from around the world.
Subscribers receive extra information.
64 Subscriptions
65 The Last Word
66 Advertiser Index & future issues
Global Cement Magazine December 2020 7

GLOBAL CEMENT MAGAZINE: DIARY DATES
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GLOBAL CEMENT: TRENDS
David Perilli, Global Cement Magazine
2020 in cement
Coronavirus dominated the cement industry news in 2020, but sustainability was always
going to be a major theme too, as the sector showed serious intent in tackling the climate
crisis. Plus divestment trends have continued for some of the larger cement producers
with implications for many markets.
Covid-19
The actions taken in Wuhan came too late to save
For the cement producers and the wider construc- the rest of the world, as serious outbreaks had already
tion materials sector, coronavirus has represented a incubated elsewhere. Notable early epidemics oc-
two-pronged threat during 2020. Firstly, to cope with curred in Iran and Italy. This then led to lockdowns
the immediate health threat to staff. Secondly, they being enforced in much of the world in March 2020.
had to navigate rapidly-changing government regula- At the peak, some 4.5 billion people were under some
tions that sought to minimise damage to both public form of ‘lockdown.’ At the time of writing, this has
health and national economies. led to the current situation where the highest num-
The first coronavirus-related lockdown in Wuhan ber of cases to date have been reported in Europe and
from January 2020 showed the consequences of the the Americas, with other notable outbreaks in India,
second point. Nationally, the Chinese cement sector South Africa and Indonesia.
suffered a 17% drop year-on-year in cement output Cement producers started tackling the crisis
in March 2020 and locally there was a reported 80% publicly from the end of March 2020 with market-
drop in demand at the time that the lockdown ended soothing action plans to reassure investors about
in early April 2020. The return to normality was also liquidity levels. These came in the face of wildly dif-
hindered by workers being in the wrong places after fering government lockdown policies on national
the New Year holiday. Similar repercussions were industrial and construction sectors. On the mining
seen elsewhere in the world later in the year. side, FLSmidth summed this dilemma up in late
Data from the Hubei Cement Association re- April 2020 by saying that it was ‘impossible’ to assess
ported that on 30 March 2020 only half of Hubei the impact of coronavirus on its business at the time
province’s 57 clinker production lines were produc- because of the difference between government poli-
Below: The Shanghai Metro in
January 2020. Scenes like this, ing cement. The rest were still suspended. Since then cies. More than a few commentators described the
as coronavirus cases spread China’s cement industry has mostly recouped its situation as a ‘cash crunch’ as opposed to the ‘credit
across China, were a warning losses from the pandemic with a decrease in cement crunch’ a decade earlier, as government policy ter-
to the world that the virus
output of only 1.1% year-on-year to 1.68Bnt in the minated revenue streams overnight. Alongside this
would not be short-lived.
Credit: Robert Way first nine months of 2020, with similar falls below 5% these companies implemented health and safety pro-
/ Shutterstock.com. of overall sector revenue and profit. tocols and provided support to local communities.
The regional variance cannot be over-
stated. Some countries, for example Germany,
instituted a lockdown but largely kept manu-
facturing and construction operating almost
as normal. Brazil embraced weaker social
distancing guidelines. Market trends in both
of these countries continued largely as normal
with sales rising in Brazil. Other countries,
notably Mexico, initially blocked construction
before a rapid U-turn. Finally, some countries
like India, the world’s second-largest cement
producing nation, brought in full-scale indus-
trial shutdowns. In April 2019 India produced
29.1Mt of cement. In April 2020 it produced
just 4.3Mt. Most governments were unable to
prevent major downturns in demand, although
some did provide a semblance of normality.

The financial effects of national lockdowns

rippled through the global cement sector like
the virus itself. Chinese producers like CNBM,
Anhui Conch and China Resources Cement
all reported year-on-year falls in revenue of
around 20-25% during the first quarter of
2020. Western multinationals like Lafarge-
Holcim, HeidelbergCement and Cemex then
reported drops in revenue in the region of
10-20% in the second quarter of 2020. India’s
UltraTech Cement noted a 33% decline in its
revenue at the same time. Producer sales and
profits subsequently picked up, but the west-
ern multinationals now face the consequences
of new lockdowns to tackle the second wave
of Covid-19 during the fourth quarter of 2020.
Sustainability
The Covid-19 pandemic derailed the Euro-
pean Green Deal from being central focus for
new European Commission President Ursula the European Union (EU) emissions trading system Above: Titan America’s Heard
Aggregates employees social
von der Leyen in 2020. Yet despite this, the year has (ETS), which topped Euro30/t for the first time in
distancing in Virginia, US.
been notable for acceleration in sustainability targets September 2020, has no doubt helped to focus minds. Such protocols are now
by cement producers and the announcement of re- Another route that received traction this year was second-nature across the
search projects around the world. the use of hydrogen around and in the production global cement sector.
Source: Titan America.
China leapfrogged everyone when President Xi of cement, as the EU’s hydrogen strategy indicated in
Jinping told the United Nations’ General Assembly in July 2020. Lafarge Zementwerke, OMV, Verbund and
September 2020 that his country was aiming to hit Borealis signed a memorandum of understanding
peak emissions before 2030 and carbon neutrality in July 2020 to plan and build a full-scale unit at a
by 2060. He may have been playing politics on the cement plant in Austria to capture CO2 and process
global stage but when the government that controls it with hydrogen; the Westküste100 green hydrogen
over 60% of global cement production makes an- project in Germany that plans to involve Holcim
nouncements like this, it matters. How China will Deutschland’s Lägerdorf cement plant at a later stage
actually hit its targets is unclear at present, but well- received government funding; and suppliers like Air
known existing measures like raising alternative Products and ThyssenKrupp Industrial Solutions Below: Commitments to
sustainability targets would
fuels co-processing rates, lowering the clinker factor, announced plans in the hydrogen sector. Part of the
have been the main story of
recycling building materials and bringing in some attraction of hydrogen to planners is that it can be 2020 if it had not been for the
material full-lifecycle-thinking would have a major used to transition from a carbon-intensive economy Covid-19 pandemic.
effect. A country that has the gumption to al-
ready enforce production peak shifting could
be well placed to introduce carbon capture at
scale, even at current prices.
Also very impressive were the sustainability
ambitions of the western-based multinational
cement producers, which are subject to mar-
ket forces. HeidelbergCement led the pack in
January 2020 with the early results from its
Low Emissions Intensity Lime And Cement
(LEILAC) pilot project at the Lixhe plant
in Belgium. At the associated Innovation in
Industrial Carbon Capture Conference 2020
(IICCC) it was apparent that the thinking by
HeidelbergCement, Cembureau - the Euro-
pean Cement Association - and others had
moved towards CO2 transport and storage at
scale with a range of capture options ready and
emerging depending on state-imposed CO2
prices. Despite a crash during the first wave of
European lockdowns, the high carbon price on

to a net zero one via a variety of pathways such as in September 2019 once the sharp contraction of
storing renewable energy, as a fuel or to make other the local lockdown had been overcome. In the US,
products such as plastics. national cement shipments increased by 2.2% year-
All of this ambition coalesced in the autumn as on-year to just under 50Mt in January to July 2020,
the larger producers started issuing carbon neutral from 48.9Mt in the same period in 2019. However,
strategies with targets validated by third-parties. the Portland Cement Association’s (PCA) autumn
LafargeHolcim said it was the first global building forecast expected US cement consumption to drop
materials company to sign up to the Science Based by 1.5% year-on-year on 2020.
Targets initiative (SBTi) ‘Business Ambition for Chinese expansion into Central Asia and Sub-
1.5°C.’ HeidelbergCement brought its original CO2 Saharan Africa paused earlier in the year when
emission target for 2030 forward to 2025 and Cemex personnel were restricted from travelling, but then
announced that the Carbon Trust had validated started back up again with Huaxin Cement buying
its roadmap to decarbonise its global operations. ARM Cement’s assets in Tanzania and finally ignit-
Alongside this the Global Cement and Concrete ing the kiln at its new integrated plant in Uzbekistan
Association (GCCA) published its 2050 Climate in the middle of the year. Notably, Nigeria-based
Ambition, a joint industry commitment to net- Dangote Cement started to export clinker from its
zero carbon dioxide emissions by 2050 from its 40 new Lagos cement terminal internationally to West
members. Africa. Countries in North Africa pushed on with
Sustainability announcements in 2020 also in- finding destinations for large production surpluses
cluded frequent low-carbon product launches, a but producers in Egypt are stuck waiting for either
plethora of renewable power plant projects and the local market to improve or the government to
plenty of new projects. These include Cemex’s solar- initiate an export subsidy programme. Based on that
heated clinker production pilot with Synhelion (See sector’s struggles with the removal of fuel subsidies in
Page 26) or LafargeHolcim’s CO2MENT project in 2014, this could be a long wait.
Colorado (See Page 20) or the inauguration of Buzzi In Europe, markets recovered as economies reo-
Unicem’s Cleanker project at its Vernasca plant in pened with two major stories being coronavirus and
Italy, to name some of the more recent ones. sustainability themes, as covered above. Generally,
producers reported that markets in eastern Europe
Regional highlights performed better than those in western Europe due
Ongoing regional trends have continued mostly to stronger underlying growth and less severe Covid-
in spite of the disruption caused by the Covid-19 19 outbreaks. However, the recovery in the Russian
pandemic. Looking at selected countries around the construction material market that started in 2019
world, Brazil, for example, has seen its cement sales was dented with production down by 5% year-on-
rise by 9.4% year-on-year to 44.6Mt in the first nine year to 37.4Mt from January to August 2020.
months of 2020 from 40.8Mt in the same period in In West Asia, Turkey continued to face general
2019 as the sector has recovered from a slump in the economic problems but cement sales rose by 10%
mid-2010s. Elsewhere in South America, Peru’s ce- year-on-year to 27.8Mt in the first seven months of
ment despatches in September 2020 surpassed those 2020 from 25.3Mt in the same period in 2019. Ex-
ports grew faster, by
42% to 9Mt. In Saudi
Arabia cement des-
patches rose by 24%
year-on-year to 36.6Mt
in the first nine months
of 2020 from 29.6Mt
in the same period in
Right: A CO2ntainer CO2
capture unit from UK-based 2019. Across to India,
Carbon8 Solutions arrives the market has mostly
at the Vicat Montalieu plant recovered from the
earlier in 2020. lockdowns as Septem-
Source: Carbon8 Solutions,
in Global Cement Magazine - ber 2020 production
September 2020. was only 3.5% year-on-
year behind the figure
in September 2019.
In East Asia, Chi-
nese producers had to
contend with serious
floods over the summer
once coronavirus had

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been suppressed. CNBM, the world’s largest cement Brazilian business to Companhia Nacional de Ci-
producer, has also announced various corporate mento (CNC), a joint venture between Italy-based
restructuring initiatives for its cement production Buzzi Unicem and Grupo Ricardo Brennand, for
and engineering assets that may follow the govern- US$218m. The deal covers three integrated and two
ment’s desire for market consolidation. In Indonesia, grinding plants that CRH originally picked up in the
Semen Indonesia said in September 2020 that it wake of the formation of LafargeHolcim in 2015 as
expected a 14% year-on-year decline in domestic part of a much larger package. This marked the con-
cement demand to 50Mt in 2020 from 58Mt in tinuation of CRH’s refocus on ‘safe havens’ in Europe
2019. The country suffered a 7.7% year-on-year and North America and Buzzi Unicem’s gradual
first-half decline in cement consumption to 27Mt build-up in Brazil since 2018 when it agreed to buy
from 29Mt. Finally in Australia, Boral reported lower a 50% stake in the Brazilian company BCPAR from
cement revenue as disruption by the bush fires in Grupo Ricardo Brennand for Euro150m.
December 2019 and January 2020 were followed by Other acquisitions of note include Nuvoco Vistas’
the pandemic. purchase of Emami Cement for around US$730m
following a long sale period where lots of potential
Mergers and acquisitions buyers were linked to it. This one is noteworthy for
Eurocement was reportedly put on sale in October being the last larger Indian sector asset sale before
2020 after Sberbank took control of the company, the coronavirus crisis hit. It has added one inte-
through its parent organisation GFI Investment, due grated and three grinding plants to Nuvoco Vistas’
to its debts running out of control. This is a major portfolio, making it a serious regional player in the
story given that Eurocement is Russia’s largest ce- Indian market.
ment producer and it operates 19 cement plants Meanwhile in Europe, Çimsa and its parent
Russia, Ukraine and Uzbekistan. It said that it pro- company Sabancı Holding formed Cimsa Sabanci
duced 16.5Mt of cement domestically in 2019 but this Cement in October 2020 when the Spanish com-
compares to a production capacity of around 50Mt/ petition authorities approved Çimsa’s purchase of
yr suggesting a very low utilisation rate. The size of Cemex’s white cement business in Spain. The move
the current debt is unknown but in 2016 the com- helps the Turkey-based company’s ambitions to be-
pany owed the bank Euro700m. The bank currently come the world’s largest white cement producer that
says that Eurocement is facing a ‘difficult financial it has steadily worked towards in recent years.
situation.’ While Sberbank has said so far that it does
not have operational control of the group, it is seek- Concluding remarks
ing a strategic investor for the asset. The global cement sector has faced new challenges
The other two large-scale divestments so far in during 2020, both due to external forces such as the
2020 by cement companies also show the motives Covid-19 pandemic, but also due to its own sustain-
driving them. Cemex has been working to reduce its ability choices. Overcapacity remains an elephant
debts and went some way to rebalancing its portfolio in the room in many markets, with continued con-
in its core markets when it agreed to sell certain as- solidation distinctly possible. As well as the usual
sets in the UK to Breedon Group for Euro211m in economic factors, the sector’s increased attention to
January 2020. This including 49 ready-mix plants, sustainabiltiy will become an increasingly important
Below: Many cement plants, 28 aggregate quarries and a cement terminal. Later differentiating factor used to decide which plants
and their workers, have had in the year it also mothballed its South Ferriby in- are bought and sold, kept and closed in 2021 and
a tough time in 2020. Let’s
tegrated plant also in the UK, despite only repairing beyond, regardless of what the Covid-19 pandemic
hope that 2021 will be an
improvement. it in 2014 after a serious flood in late 2013. It was may bring.
Source: Shutterstock.com. revealed in October 2020 that CRH was selling its

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Peter Edwards, Global Cement Magazine
Global cement producer round-up
Global Cement presents a numerical analysis of our sector ahead of the print release of the
Global Cement Directory 2021.
T here were 156 countries and territories

in which cement was produced in 2020,
either in integrated cement plants, via grind-
ing imported clinker, or both, according to
research conducted towards the publication
of the Global Cement Directory 2021. There
Bottom - Table 1: The Top 10 were 141 countries with integrated capacity
countries by installed cement and 94 that had grinding plants. Excluding
capacity at the close of 2020. China, data for which can be unreliable, there
Source: Research conducted
was a total of 1503 integrated plants that
towards Global Cement
Directory 2021. share a total cement capacity of 2.59Bnt/yr.
There were 556 grinding plants, contributing
* China was by far the largest
cement producer by installed
a further 420.2Mt/yr of cement capacity. This
capacity and production in brings the overall total to 3.01Bnt/yr across
2020. However, the sheer 2059 plants outside of China. There were 16
scale of the industry and countries and territories that only produced
the apparent unreliability of No Country 2019 Production (Mt)
Chinese statistics means that
cement by grinding imported clinker and 63
1 China 2200
the true capacity is likely to be that only had integrated cement plants.
far higher. The United States 2 India 320
Geological Survey (USGS) Cement capacity by country 3 Vietnam 95
gives a capacity of 2.5Bnt/yr
for China and some sources
The 10 countries with the most installed ce- 4 US 89
place Chinese cement produc- ment capacity are shown in Table 1. Figure 1
5 Russia 84
tion capacity as high shows the capacities of all cement-producing
as 3.5Bnt/yr. countries. The totals are of integrated and 6 Egypt 76
cement grinding capacity active at the end 7 Indonesia 74
of October 2020. Plants under construction, 8 Iran 60
Right - Table 2: Top 10
currently being commissioned or planned are
cement producing 9= Brazil 55
countries in 2019. not included. The Top 10 cement producing
9= South Korea 55
Source: USGS. countries are shown in Table 2.
No Country Integrated Totals Grinding Totals Overall Totalsw

Number of Plants Capacity (Mt/yr) Number of Plants Capacity (Mt/yr) Number of Plants Capacity (Mt/yr)
1 China* >803 >1500 >57 123 >860 >1623
2 India 161 319.4 97 117.2 258 436.6
3 Vietnam 80 141.1 14 12.1 94 153.2
4 USA 94 126.0 11 6.8 105 132.8
5 Russia 65 114.8 4 3.2 69 118.0
6 Turkey 53 97.3 19 7.7 72 105.0
7 Indonesia 27 95.6 9 7.0 36 102.6
8 Brazil 69 85.3 20 11.3 89 96.6
9 South Korea 13 67.4 26 26.0 39 93.4
10 Iran 73 85.7 4 2.2 77 87.9

Figure 1: Cement
producing countries,
colour-coded by cement
capacity (Mt).
>2500
>200
100-200
50-100
25-50
10-25
5-10
2.5-5
1-2.5
<1
None
MIDDLE EAST
S Arabia 72.7 Jordan 8.2
UAE 39.7 Israel 6.2
Iraq 29.1 Kuwait 6.0
Qatar 14.5 Lebanon 6.0
Yemen 10.6 Syria 5.4
Oman 8.9 Bahrain 1.2
AFRICA
EUROPE Egypt 77.7 DRC 3.5
Nigeria 58.9 Zimbabwe 3.4
Russia 118.0 Albania 3.5 Algeria 29.9 Rep of Congo 3.3
THE AMERICAS Turkey 105.0 Netherlands 3.5 Morocco 28.1 Benin 2.5
Spain 55.0 Sweden 3.4 South Africa 18.9 Mauritania 2.4
USA 132.8 Costa Rica 3.2 Italy 45.8 Denmark 3.0 Tunisia 13.7 Mali 1.5
Brazil 96.6 Panama 3.1 Germany 37.2 Slovakia 2.7 Ethiopia 12.7 Niger 1.2 ASIA
Mexico 60.2 Paraguay 2.6 France 30.7 Croatia 2.7 Tanzania 10.6 Guinea 1.1
Colombia 20.2 Jamaica 2.0 Poland 20.3 Serbia 2.7 Angola 9.4 Gabon 1.0 China >2500 Australia 15.8 Tajikistan 4.0
Argentina 18.3 Puerto Rico 2.0 Ukraine 16.5 Belarus 2.3 Ghana 8.6 Malawi 1.0 India 436.6 Kazakhstan 15.7 Kyrgyzstan 3.6
Canada 18.0 Nicaragua 1.3 Greece 14.4 Finland 2.1 Senegal 8.0 Namibia 1.0 Vietnam 153.2 Uzbekistan 12.7 Armenia 2.1
Venezuela 15.4 T&T 1.2 Romania 14.0 Latvia 2.0 Togo 7.9 Liberia 0.8 Indonesia 102.6 Laos 10.7 Bhutan 2.0
Peru 11.9 Haiti 0.6 UK 13.3 Moldova 2.0 Cameroon 7.8 Chad 0.7 South Korea 93.4 North Korea 8.0 Macau 0.6
Uruguay 11.5 Guyana 0.5 Portugal 12.0 Norway 1.8 Libya 7.7 Rwanda 0.7 Iran 87.9 Myanmar 7.2 Afghanistan 0.5
Chile 11.1 Barbados 0.3 Belgium 11.3 B&H 1.6 Burkina Faso 7.5 Botswana 0.4 Pakistan 70.1 Cambodia 6.4 Singapore 0.3
Dom Rep 7.8 Suriname 0.1 Austria 6.3 Lithuania 1.5 Sudan 7.4 Eritrea 0.4 Japan 58.1 Nepal 6.4 PN Guinea 0.2
Global Cement Magazine December 2020

Guatemala 6.4 Hungary 5.4 Slovenia 1.5 Ivory Coast 7.0 Madagascar 0.3 Thailand 57.8 Turkmenistan 5.1 Fiji 0.1
Cuba 5.7 France 0.9 Bulgaria 5.3 Luxembourg 1.4 Mozambique 6.1 Djibouti 0.2 Bangladesh 52.9 Azerbaijan 4.7
Bolivia 5.4 Guadeloupe 0.4 Zambia 5.4 eSwatini 0.2 Philippines 36.6 Sri Lanka 4.6 France 0.8
Czechia 5.2 N Macedonia 1.4
Ecuador 4.8 Martinique 0.4 Kenya 4.9 Burundi 0.1 Malaysia 31.3 Mongolia 4.2 Réunion 0.6
Switzerland 4.6 Estonia 0.8
Taiwan 29.6 Georgia 4.0 N Caledonia 0.2
17
El Salvador 3.4 French Guiana 0.1 Ireland 3.8 Kosovo 0.5 Uganda 4.9 Sierra Leone 0.1
No Producer Capacity No Producer Capacity No Producer Capacity No Producer Capacity
(Mt/yr) (Mt/yr) (Mt/yr) (Mt/yr)
1 CNBM 519 26 Siam City Cement 18.3 51 SungShin Cement 9.7 76 Shah Cement 6.5
2 Anhui Conch 359 27 Lucky Cement 17.3 52 Ghadir Investment 9.3 77 Saudi Cement 6.4
3 LafargeHolcim 208 28 The Ramco Cements 17.1 53 SECIL 8.9 78 Yamama Cement 6.4
4 HeidelbergCement 146 29 Cementos Argos 16.9 54 Colacem 8.7 79 Long Son Cement 6.2
5 Ultratech Cement 117 30 The India Cements 16.2 55 Qatar National Cement 8.6 80 Nesher Cement 6.2
6 China Resources 105 31 S Province Cement 15.7 56 JK Lakshmi Cement 8.5 81 Elementia 6.1
7 Cemex 89.3 32 Cementir Holding 15.3 57 Mitsubishi Cement 8.5 82 Prism Cement 6.1
8 Taiwan Cement 81.0 33 Ssangyong Cement 15.0 58 Bank Melli Iran 8.1 83 Najran Cement 6.0
9 Votorantim 67.1 34 GICA 13.9 59 Hanil Cement 8.1 84 Orient Cement 6.0
10 CRH 58.9 35 Chettinad Cement 13.1 60 Novoroscement 8.0 85 Yanbu Cement 5.9
11 Buzzi Unicem 49.7 36 El Arish Cement 13.0 61 Çimsa 7.8 86 Yemen Corp 5.9
12 Semen Indonesia 48.0 37 TPI Polene 13.0 62 Tamin Cement 7.8 87 Asia Cement Corp 5.8
13 InterCement 44.7 38 OYAK Group 12.8 63 Hyundai Cement 7.7 88 La Cruz Azul 5.8
14 Eurocement 42.6 39 JSW Cement 12.8 64 Cementos Molins 7.5 89 Arkan 5.7
15 Dangote Cement 42.4 40 JK Cement 12.4 65 BUA Group 7.5 90 Maple Leaf 5.7
16 Vicem 42.1 41 Asia Cement 12.2 66 Xuan Thanh Cement 7.5 91 Nuh Çimento 5.7
17 Dalmia Bharat 29.9 42 Sumitomo Osaka 12.1 67 Al Shamal Cement 7.4 92 United Cement Group 5.7
Global Cement Magazine December 2020

18 Vicat 29.3 43 Limak Group 11.7 68 Kesoram Industries 7.3 93 GCC 5.6
19 Siam Cement Group 27.8 44 PPC 11.5 69 DG Khan Cement 7.1 94 Sibisrky Cement 5.6
20 Taiheiyo Cement 27.2 45 Sampyo Cement 11.0 70 Eagle Cement 7.1 95 Cementos Progreso 5.5
21 Titan Cement 25.0 46 Vissai Group 10.5 71 Cimento Nassau 7.0 96 Emami Cement 5.5
22 Shree Cement 24.9 47 Cem Portl. Valderrivas 9.9 72 Ube Industries 7.0 97 Semen Bosowa 5.4
23 Fars & Khuzestan 20.0 48 Bestway Cement 9.8 73 UNACEM 7.0 98 Southern Cement 5.3
24 YTL Cement 19.7 49 FNC Venezuela 9.8 74 Wonder Cement 6.8 99 Afrisam 5.2
25 Aditya Birla 18.5 50 CIMAT 9.8 75 Penna Cement 6.5 100 Jaiprakash Associates 5.2
This Page - Tables 3-6: Top 100 cement producers by installed capacity.
18
Source: Research towards Global Cement Directory 2021.
GLOBAL CEMENT
Integrated & grinding plants Country reports Production statistics Cement Associations
gl bal
cement
TM
DIRECTORY 2021
Cement-producing companies
Research conducted towards the publication of the

Global Cement Directory 2021 indicates there were
750 companies that produced cement at the end of
2020, from AAA Cement to Zementwerk Leube.
This figure includes the largest Chinese players op-
erating in China, as well those that operate outside
of China. The largest is China’s CNBM.
The Top 100 cement producers, ranked by ca-
pacity, are shown in Tables 3-6. The Top 10 control
more than 1820Mt/yr of capacity and the Top 100
control 2983Mt/yr. The remaining 650 control just
855Mt/yr.
More information will be available in the print
version of the Global Cement Directory 2021 and
other future publications from Global Cement.
Go to www.globalcement.com/directory to find
out more.
Global Cement Magazine 19

GLOBAL CEMENT: CARBON CAPTURE
Interview by Peter Edwards, Global Cement Magazine
LafargeHolcim and Svante:

Preparing for the future carbon economy
LafargeHolcim in the US (LafargeHolcim) and CO2 capture technology firm Svante

are developing a full-scale CO2 capture and storage solution at the Holcim Portland
plant in Florence, Colorado, US. Global Cement found out more about the project from
LafargeHolcim’s Derick Dreyer and Svante’s Claude Letourneau, plus how the parties are
preparing for the future carbon economy...
Global Cement (GC): Please could you outline the GC: How is this used in an industrial context?
origins of Svante?
CL: The process extracts CO2 from process flue gas
Claude Letourneau (CL): Svante traces its history using a temperature swing. A feed with ~16% CO2 is
back to 2007, when it was established as Inventys fed at a relatively low temperature to the top of a cir-
Thermal Technologies. The company’s four found- cular platform that contains the sorbent and rotates
ers wanted to adapt the technology of an earlier firm at 1rpm - See opposite. The sorbent rapidly binds
that selectively purified hydrogen for use in fuel cells. around 90% of the CO2 selectively in preference over
They switched the gas target to CO2 from flue gases. the dominant gas, N2. Then, as the platform rotates,
Inventys then scaled up this technology with a range the CO2-rich sorbent reaches the other side of the
of industrial partners. The company was renamed system. Here, high-temperature steam removes the
Svante in 2019. CO2 from the sorbent. The sorbent then continues
its journey back to the other side of the system via
GC: How does its technology work? a cooling zone. It then goes back to the adsorption
Below: The Holcim zone to bind more CO2 and the process repeats.
Portland plant in Colorado.
CL: Svante has developed what is essentially an in- The separation of the captured CO2 from the
Originally established
in 1897, the plant has dustrial filter for CO2 that uses very high surface area steam is then relatively straightforward compared to
undergone numerous sorbents. This can be activated carbon, amine-doped dealing with a stream full of N2, NOx, SO2. These all
changes over the years and silica or, more recently, a metal-organic framework pass to the main stack.
today operates a 20-year-
(MOF) that we have developed, which has an exceed- It was clear relatively early on that this process
old 5-stage preheater
line with calciner that can ingly high surface area. The MOF has a surface area could be extremely useful for the cement sector,
produce more than 5000t/ of 7000m2/g. That’s metres, not centimetres! which is hard-to-abate. It represents the biggest po-
day of clinker (1.6Mt/yr). The sorbent is arranged in a structured tential user for this technology going forward.
laminate architecture that has an area of more
than 2500m2/g. This provides a parallel pas- GC: You said that 90% of the CO2 is captured by
sage flow with minimum pressure drop in the sorbent. Does that mean 10% goes to the stack?
order to allow very fast diffusion of CO2 into
the sorbent. CL: At present this would go to the stack, but Svante
has another project with Climeworks
that is looking to capture this CO2.
GC: Could you loop the scrub-filter

gas back to the top of the filter?
CL: No, as the scrub-filter gas is only

1.5-2.0% CO2 and it would start to di-
lute the incoming gas flow. This would
reduce the efficiency of the separation
process. Remember that we are using
the entire exhaust of the cement plant,
not a slip-stream.

The CO2MENT Project
Left: Derick Dreyer was appointed
GC: Svante and LafargeHolcim recently announced LafargeHolcim US’ Director of
some developments in their joint CO2MENT pro- Corporate Manufacturing & Slag
Operations, including the CO2MENT
ject. Can you outline its origins and next steps?
project in early 2020. He began
working for Holcim in 2001 and has
CL: The CO2MENT project is a large undertaking since worked for the company (now
involving Svante, LafargeHolcim and a number of LafargeHolcim) in project planning
and execution, plant management
industrial partners. It aims to capture 2Mt/yr of CO2
and process optimisation in both
from the Holcim US plant in Florence, Colorado, US. his native South Africa and the US,
Above: Claude Letourneau has been President and CEO of Svante where he spent time at the
Derick Dreyer (DD): The current partners are since 2017. A chemical engineer by training, he was brought in by Holcim Portland plant during
the Board of Directors to help develop the company’s CO2 capture the early 2000s.
LafargeHolcim, which provides the site and the CO2,
solutions. He has previously taken a number of products to
Svante, which provides its CCS technology, Occiden-
market, including lithium polymer batteries in the 1990s, and has
tal Low Carbon Ventures, which contributes its CO2 also worked on the establishment of major industrial complexes
transport and storage expertise, and Total, which is across a range of sectors.
a funding partner and observer. The United States
Department of Energy’s National Energy Technol-
ogy Laboratory (DOE-NETL) recently provided
US$1.5m of funds. GC: Why was the Holcim Portland plant selected?
CL: Svante is currently working with LafargeHolcim DD: As we looked for a suitable site for a full-scale in-
Below: Schematic of Svante’s
at its Richmond plant in British Columbia, Canada, stallation, the US provides some unique advantages.
rotating solid sorbent-based
which is the first time the MOF sorbent has been This is due to the 45Q tax credit, which provides CO2 capture technology.
used in the field. (Previous Svante plants have used US$50/t for sequestration and US$35/t for CO2 cap- CO2 enters as part of the flue
amine-doped silica). The construction of a 1t/day tured and used for enhanced oil recovery (EOR) This gas (1) and is selectively
bound by the solid sorbent in
trial CCS plant is ongoing and initial results from the is a major incentive that is driving a lot of innovation
the rotating platform (2). As
gas separation trials are very promising. in the US. the platform slowly rotates,
As far as the Holcim Portland plant goes, it is a the bound CO2 is introduced
GC: What are the drivers for the project modern facility with a 5-stage preheater and calciner to a hot steam flow (3). This
causes the CO2 to desorb from
from LafargeHolcim’s perspective? that was commissioned in 2000. It has a good future
the solid sorbent (4) back
ahead of it and, at more than 5000t/day, it is also out the top of the system (5).
DD: The ultimate driver is sustainability, which has fairly large. Crucially, it is the closest of LafargeHol- The solid sorbent continues
always been a major priority for LafargeHolcim. At cim’s US plants to an existing CO2 pipeline, less than to rotate, heading through a
cooling step before adsorbing
the Climate Week NYC in September 2020, the group 100km, as well as potential sequestration sites in the
more CO2 from the flue gas.
committed to net-zero CO2 emissions by 2050 and it Permian Basin.
is the first cement producer to commit to meeting the
Svante CO2 Capture System
objectives laid out by the 1.5°C scenario in the Paris (Exploded View)
Climate Agreement. 5
While we have taken many steps to reduce our Pure CO
FlueFlue
gas Gas Pure 2
CO2 intensity globally so far, we recognise that 1 (+ steam)
CCS is going to be a major part of the solution for
(N2(CO
+CO22)+N2) C02
LafargeHolcim’s 2050 target, as well as its interim
target to reduce specific CO2 emissions by 40% com-
pared to the 1990 baseline by 2030. The CO2MENT
project is a big part of that.
2 4
GC: How will the project develop from this point?
Filter
Filter platform
z
platform
DD: We ran a scoping study from January 2020 to rotates
turns at 1 at 1rpm
June 2020, which involved all of the partners. Now we adsorbed
CO2Gas as through
passes
RPM
are in the pre-feasibility and feasibility stage, which gasnano-structured
passes through solid
sorbent
nano-structured
will last until February 2022. Then we will move into
a Front End Engineering Design (FEED) study and solid sorbent
design stage so that a US$300m-plus investment can
be justified. That will take another 18 months.
We hope to be shovel-ready by mid 2023. That’s 3 Steam (H2O)
how long it takes to develop such projects. The pro- ScrubFilter Steam
ScrubFilter
ject should be up-and running in 2024 or 2025. gas (N2) Gas
6
(N2)

MOF Matters
M etal organic frameworks (MOF) are a class of chemi-

cal compounds characterised by metal centres that are
linked by multiple carbon-based molecules known as ligands.
Many MOFs have voids large enough to host solvent molecules
or small gas molecules. By tuning the length of the ligands, the
voids can be made more likely to favour a target molecule, e.g.,
CO2, rather than other molecules, even if the undesired mol-
ecules are more abundant than the target ones.
GC: How long did it take to develop the MOF sorbent?

Metal centre Organic CO2
CL: The MOF, known as MOF CALF-20, has been developed ligand
by Professor George Shimizu’s lab at the University of Calgary
since 2014. We knew relatively early on that it was what we
needed for our process, but the cost was too high. In 2018, the
researchers found a different way to make it, which lowered the CL: Traditionally treating cement plant flue gases with
production cost to US$20-30/kg. Svante negotiated an exclusive sorbents has been very difficult due to the presence of SO2, NOx
license to use the material and scaled up the production process. and O2. All of these kill a wide range of sorbents, rendering
them ineffective. The successful development of MOF CALF-
GC: How much MOF CALF-20 is for the Portland project? 20, a chemically- and thermally-stable structure, gets around
this issue.
CL: We need 1t of MOF CALF-20 per 30t/day of CO2 to be cap-
tured, which translates to 220t of material. This is not a small GC: How long does the MOF filter last?
machine. We are working now with industrial partners to de-
velop MOF and filter production plants. These will be sizeable CL: The laminated MOF filters will operate for 3-5 years before
undertakings that lead to an entirely new industry. they need to be changed. The replacement cost of the filter is
US$2-3/t of CO2 on an annual basis. This is in stark contrast to
GC: Cement flue gas streams have many components. Does the amine approach where there is rapid degradation. You have
this present the MOF filter with any stumbling blocks? to top up the amine every single day.
GC: How much space will the CCS plant use? US$187m of capital investment to capture and liquify
0.4Mt/yr of CO2. This works out at a unit investment
CL: This is an end of the pipe solution and is a lot cost of US$467/yr/t of CO2.
smaller than some other proposed solutions for CCS. In contrast, the CO2MENT project at Florence will
However, the process does require auxiliary fans and cost US$325m to capture and compress 2.0Mt/yr of
a hot steam generator, so it will take up some space. CO2. The unit investment cost is US$162/yr/t. That’s
However, we expect this to not be prohibitive. 65% lower! We are working to a capture cost of
US$50/t of CO2 removed because that’s what comes
GC: Does this extra equipment eat into the green from the 45Q tax credit. The Norwegian government,
credentials of the CCS process? however, has chosen to subsidise the project, which
works out in the US$80-90/t range. The country
CL: The steam generator requires fuel, but the CO2 wants to develop its CCS capabilities, which it sees as
generated will be fed to the CSS unit. The fans will an investment in the future.
use renewable energy, most likely solar in the case of
the Holcim Portland plant. The CCS plant will have a Beyond the Portland plant
capacity of 2Mt/yr so these emissions can be accom- GC: How applicable is the cement plant to other
modated. plants in the US, and further afield?
GC: How do the economics of the process stack up? CL: The map on Page 24 shows the location of exist-
ing CO2 pipelines and cement plants in the US. There
CL: We anticipate that this approach will be less are clearly a number of candidates that could be easily
expensive than other CCS options. Take for exam- connected to the existing network. At the same time,
ple the well-publicised Norwegian project, which we can expect the network to expand over the next
will use amine-based liquid solvent. This will cost 5-10 years, so there are clearly many opportunities.

ADV-Plastretard-2018-297-210.pdf 1 27/06/2018 13:10
CM
MY
CY
CMY
K
GC: Where will the captured CO2 be stored? company committing to net-zero CO2, is a voluntary
price on CO2 emissions. Take Microsoft, which
DD: There are two options. Most of the existing directly emits around 40Mt/yr of CO2, as much as 20
pipelines take natural CO2 from the ground and pipe Florence plants. It is now committed to eliminating
it into a depleted oil reservoir for enhanced oil re- those emissions and is willing to pay up to US$100/t
covery (EOR). Instead, the natural CO2 could be left to do so. This money will feed into the development
in the ground and the captured CO2 used in EOR. and deployment of large-scale CCS.
Alternatively we could pump the CO2 into a natural I think we are five years away from seeing the
saline reservoir. This locks in the CO2 irreversibly. implications of the commitments we have made over
This is the approach taken by the Norwegian project, the past 12 months. The industrial players are creat-
a massive investment that will take waste CO2 from ing a market where demand for CCS technology will
industrial plants all over northern Europe. vastly outstrip the availability. We have cracked the
technology side, now we need to work out how to ad-
GC: What is the minimum level of CO2 capture minister real-world, full-scale CCS projects that can
that LafargeHolcim would view as a success? provide a return-on-investment.
DD: Ultimately, we would not be considering a GC: What does the longer term future hold for
2Mt/yr CCS facility if we didn’t think it was feasible. CO2 prices?
Indeed, by 2030 LafargeHolcim has committed to op-
erating at least one cement plant meeting the net zero CL: I believe that the cost of CO2 emissions will pla-
commitment. I honestly don’t see why it cannot be teau at around US$150/t, globally. This will be due to
the Holcim Portland plant. That said, every step along Border Carbon Adjustment mechanisms (BCA) that
the way is a success because it informs the group and take into account the cost of the embodied CO2 when
its partners about the next steps and opportunities in a product crosses a border. The EU is in the process
Below: North America cur- our continued work to reduce emissions. of developing this at the moment with reference
rently has more than 7500km Further into the future, I think the Portland site to its Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS). This ap-
of CO2 pipeline infrastructure
that transports some 68Mt/ can act as an example to other LafargeHolcim plants, proach across multiple jurisdictions will lead to a full
yr of gas. There are many as well as those of other producers. Each plant has CO2 market.
locations where cement plants unique geology and CO2 pipelines. It may be that Of course, it is impossible for LafargeHolcim and
could connect into the existing not all plants can do this, but we don’t see this as an other producers to take the full burden of the price
network, providing a new
source of CO2. isolated case going forward. increase. We need each part of society to take a small
piece of the cost increase.
Markets and the Future
Existing CO2 pipeline GC: What is the best way to incentivise investment GC: Where will the Portland plant stand in the
in CCS? pantheon of CCS projects?
General CO2 sources
Cement plants (US only) CL: There are different government-led approaches DD: There has been a great acceleration in CCS
Chemical plants (H2, Urea, in different jurisdictions and they are all welcome. research in recent years in the cement sector and
Ammonia (US only) However, what we are seeing now, with company after elsewhere. However, if we look at full-scale CCS in
the cement sector, references are still
lacking. We hope that ours will be the
first and, as the largest announced
to date, that it gains recognition as a
major milestone in CCS technology in
the coming years.
To conclude, LafargeHolcim has set
some ambitious goals and we intend to
achieve them. As our CEO Jan Jenisch
says, “We need solutions that work for
people and the planet.” I see no reason
why the cement industry can’t have a
fantastic future in which we meet both
our sustainability and business goals.
GC: Thank you for your time today

gentlemen.
CL/DD: You are very welcome indeed.

15 DECEMBER 2020 ON YOUR DESKTOP
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GLOBAL CEMENT: SOLAR POWER
Towards full solar-powered cement production
Mexico’s Cemex and Switzerland-based concentrated solar thermal (CST) technology firm
Synhelion recently announced the signing of a collaboration agreement, through which
the pair aim to develop the use of solar power as an alternative heat source to fuel in clinker
production. Global Cement spoke to both companies to find out more...
GC: What is the history of Synhelion? GA: Synhelion has recently demonstrated the op-
eration of a 250kW solar receiver that can generate
Gianluca Ambrosetti (GA): Synhelion was es- process heat at temperatures in excess of 1550°C. This
tablished in 2016 as a spin-off from ETH Zurich, is 350°C higher than any previous receiver and 550°C
with the aim to develop synthetic fuel production more than any receiver of comparable size. As read-
Below: Computer-gen- processes using concentrated solar thermal (CST) ers will be aware, 1550°C is a critical temperature for
erated representation of technology. The process we use converts CO2 and cement clinker formation.
a CST-fired cement plant.
The receiver is positioned
H2O, both greenhouse gases, into syngas, a mixture
atop a preheater tower of hydrogen (H2) and carbon monoxide (CO). These GC: When did Cemex become aware of Synhelion?
around twice as tall as precursors are then turned into synthetic fuels, for
normal. A large field of example kerosene. Davide Zampini (DZ): We came to know Synhelion
solar reflectors is required
to gather sufficient
through a colleague who was involved in another
radiation. GC: How does Synhelion’s work relate to cement? project we were working on.
We quickly set up a meeting, which I remember
vividly. It was in early 2019. We literally sketched out
the ways that the Synhelion approach could be ap-
plied to cement manufacturing right there. It was a
very exciting meeting and within six months we had
completed feasibility studies, including the 250kW
receiver.
GC: Can you take us through the technology?
GA: The process starts with a classic solar tower con-

figuration, in which solar radiation is focused on a
single point from a large number of reflectors. The
solar radiation is absorbed by the black internal walls
of the receiver and re-emitted at a lower wavelength,

which can be absorbed by the CO2 and H2O gases in- Left: Davide Zampini is Global
side, a combination of greenhouse gases. The receiver Research & Development Head at
is essentially an extreme greenhouse. The walls reach Cemex, as well as Managing Director
of Cemex International Holding AG.
1800°C and the gases hit 1550°C.
He is a civil engineer and materials
In the project with Cemex, the hot gas mixture scientist by training and has worked
will be fed to the calciner, where it will perform es- at Cemex since 2003.
sentially the same task as a conventional burner - just
without any fuel! The gases will impart energy in the
usual way as both are extremely radiative gases. It’s
like an invisible flame! It is important to point out
that the gases are only being used as a heat trans- Above: Gianluca Ambrosetti is the CEO of Synhelion, which he co-
fer agent in the cement application. They do not founded in 2016, following various positions in the concentrated
solar power and photovoltaics industry. He obtained his PhD in
form syngas.
Physics/Nanotechnology from EPFL Lausanne in Switzerland.
Unlike normal cement production, however, there
are no gases in the process other than CO2 and H2O.
The CO2 and H2O for the Synhelion process will be
recirculated back to the solar receiver to be reheated. GC: Where will the project be located?
A key design element of the receiver is the introduc-
tion of the cool gases from the kiln at the front of DZ: Now that we have completed the first step and
the receiver, where the radiation also enters. This pre- have confirmed that it is feasible, the next step is
vents the internal heated walls, which reach 1800°C to complete a pilot at a cement plant. We have not
on the surface, from dissipating energy back to the decided where that will be yet, but there are some
ambient air, a common issue with other receiver obvious requirements due to the need for reliable
designs. The overall efficiency of the receiver is 80%. and high-intensity sunshine. This means that sites
in California and Mexico would be ideal, but some-
GC: What about the process CO2 from the where like Spain could also be appropriate.
decarbonisation of limestone?
GC: What technical considerations are there
GA: The process CO2 from generating the clinker regarding plant suitability?
will be sent to a stack. However, this will be an almost
pure CO2 stream, free of N2, NOx and SO2 and other DZ: I think that plant technology will be a secondary
impurities that complicate the capture and removal consideration to location. The plant will most likely
of CO2. This stream would make an ideal feed stock be chosen from a business, regulatory and logistics Below: The internal black
for a nearby synthetic fuel plant or it could be sold on standpoint. The solar plant will have to fit around it. walls of the Synhelion
radiation receiver absorb
for other industrial applications. The onward development of the process will sunlight and re-emit it at a
involve looking at both the clinkerisation and calcin- lower wavelength, which
GC: Could the plant consume the fuel made from ing steps, both of which are being simulated using a can be absorbed by the
Synhelion’s synthetic fuel process? ‘mini cement plant’ at the moment. By March 2021 CO2 and H2O gas mixture.
This leaves the chamber
we hope to have completed this step and be in a more at >1500°C, as ‘fresh’ gas
GA: The goal of this technology is to replace the use of informed position to know whether one type of plant enters from the cement
fuels in cement plants with solar process heat. How- is more or less technically suitable than any other. production process.
ever, if fuels are needed in some situations, we
could consider using renewable synthetic ones.
Gas from process
GC: This sounds fantastic, when it is sunny...
What happens at night or when it is cloudy?
Gas heated
GA: The receiver will be fitted with a thermal
energy storage unit filled with ceramic refrac- Wavelength
tory material. This will be heated during the Gas heated changes
day and it will release thermal energy at night. To process
The gases will continue to be heated after @1550°C
sunset and production can continue 24/7 in Incoming solar Gas heated
radiation
summer. To cover those rare cloudy days or in
regions with shorter days in winter, the plant
would be fitted with a conventional burner. Gas heated
We would expect most plants using this
technology to run for 85-90% of the time on
solar energy and stored energy.

trading schemes are in force. In the future these will

become more prevalent.
GC: How will this technology be rolled out?
DZ: There is a lot of research into capturing CO2

and decarbonising the fuel, which is to be welcomed
of course. However, these are essentially retrofit
approaches to plaster over the emissions of a fairly
CO2-intensive process. This project takes a different
approach by doing away with the fuel entirely and
valorising the CO2, which becomes a fundamental
element of the technology. It is fundamentally more
Above: Synhelion’s 250kW GC: What does the subsequent timeline look like? sustainable, indeed hopefully simpler. This is why, as
solar receiver has recently Cemex, we want to pioneer its use. However, in the
achieved gas temperatures in
excess of 1550°C. It is shown DZ: Towards the end of 2021 we will build a scale longer term we want to open it up to the global ce-
glowing after use. prototype for cement production to demonstrate ment industry. We would want to retain some first
proof of concept. From there, if everything goes well, mover advantage, but there are a huge number of
we will put the big money on the table and start work cement plants that could take advantage of this tech-
on a pilot unit. The location of the industrial-scale nology. We could license it to interested parties that
plant will be chosen by the end of 2021. are located in the right regions.
GC: Is there a latitude cut-off north and south GC: How does the project with Synhelion rank in
where this technology becomes unviable? terms of Cemex’s ‘next step’ projects?
GA: As well as those mentioned above, regions with DZ: We have a number of projects that look at new
highest direct normal irradiation include Australia, technologies and this project is definitely a big one. It
Southern Africa, North Africa, the Arabian Penin- is a totally new approach, which is inherently risky.
sula and selected areas in South America. This is not However, the potential gains in the longer term are
a technology suitable for Scandinavia or the tropics. huge and too big to ignore.
GC: What is the biggest potential stumbling block GC: How long will it be until we see widespread
to this project? adoption of CST technology in the cement sector?
DZ: The biggest challenges at the moment are tech- GA: It takes time to develop new technologies and
nical ones, but we are confident that these can be in this modern world we can be very impatient.
overcome. At some point in the next 12-18 months Technology does not develop overnight and the low-
the challenges will switch to business and logistical hanging fruit has gone. We need to be humble and
steps. This includes arranging suitable funding in appreciate the technical challenges ahead. It is a steep
what could be quite a tight timeframe. We need to learning curve.
get ready to have strategic discussions with potential
partners. DZ: I am optimistic that we will see commercial
production of cement using this approach within 10
GC: How will the economics of this type of plant years. After the first plant with Cemex, a plant might
stack up against a traditional cement plant? ‘go solar’ on the preheater and/or calciner but not the
main burner, a kind of hybrid car approach. Then, we
DZ: We anticipate that the cost of building a green- would hope that the economic and political drivers
field CST cement plant will be broadly comparable to would shift the sector towards full CST.
a greenfield plant today, perhaps US$50-100m more. At the end of the day, the development of this
However, there are big savings to be had in terms of technology and others like it, is kind of a ‘space race’
operational expenditure. Fuel costs drop to around against climate change. We hope that, as the project
10-15% of the previous level and the CO2 is in a gains validation, this approach to cement production
‘ready-to-capture’ form, unlike a costly retrofit CCS will take its place among many strong technologies
solution on an existing plant. This will enable a CST that will enable the sector to produce cement with
cement plant to open up new revenue streams from much lower-CO2 emissions in the future.
synthetic fuels. The far lower use of chemical fuels,
significantly lower CO2 emissions and capture and GC: Thank you for a very interesting discussion.
use of CO2 due to the CST-driven technology will
pay dividends in markets where CO2 taxes, limits and GA/DZ: You are very welcome.

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GLOBAL CEMENT: REFRACTORIES
Heather Harding, Bricking Solutions
Stealing back profits with

aluminium bricking machines
To minimise profit-stealing downtime, cement plant managers need reliable, efficient

maintenance methods that get production back up and running quickly. This requires the
right equipment that is made from the best materials.
B ricking machines, suspended platforms and

kiln access ramps safely speed up the refractory
installation process, saving thousands of dollars in
aluminium can be the best choice for a facility’s bot-
tom line and efficiency. Here’s how...
lost revenue. These useful tools are available from Get going fast
equipment manufacturers but can also be engineered With every minute of downtime leading to a loss in
in-house. Small differences in construction and revenue, the performance of a bricking machine or
materials can add up, though, so it’s important to kiln access ramp during refractory installation is a
thoroughly consider all options. manager’s top concern. Setup and teardown times
Many cement and lime producers use their in- are equally important when it comes to overall pro-
house engineers to construct kiln maintenance ductivity. Getting crews in and out faster requires a
equipment from steel because it is readily available. machine that is just as easy to put together as it is
However, there are more efficient materials. Light- to remove once the job is done. Much of this comes
weight, high-strength aluminium, for example, isn’t down to construction materials: heavier materi-
typically used by in-house engineers, but offers als like steel simply take more time and energy
productivity and safety benefits that make it an ideal to erect.
Below: Lightweight, high- choice for kiln maintenance equipment construction. For example, a steel kiln access ramp can take a full
strength aluminium is as This material is as strong as steel but only 40% of the crew 6-12 hours to assemble, increasing downtime
strong as steel and only 40% weight, providing a power-to-weight ratio that in- both before and after maintenance and negatively
of the weight, providing a
creases safety, productivity and return on investment. impacting cost efficiency. The weight of the steel
power-to-weight ratio that
increases safety, productivity Partnering with an equipment manufacturer components also requires the use of heavy-duty
and return on investment. that uses high-strength aircraft-grade 6061-T6 equipment and complex hoists and rigging methods,
increasing cost and risk of injury.
A similar ramp manufactured with lightweight,
heavy-duty aluminium can be assembled in as little as
90 minutes, depending on burn floor configuration,
with a small crew and only light equipment, such as a
forklift truck. Maintenance equipment that employs
a modular design can further increase installation
efficiency. These lightweight components can be
transported into the kiln by just one or two people
and can be quickly erected using pin connections,
rather than nuts and bolts. By eliminating the need
for extra equipment and manpower in the assembly
process, aluminium ramps, bricking machines and
platforms increase productivity and safety while re-
ducing overall costs with every setup and teardown.
More durability; more productivity

In addition to faster setup, plants will see increased
durability from high-strength aluminium kiln
maintenance equipment. With equal strength and
significantly less weight, equipment manufactured
with aircraft-grade aluminium offers some of the
30 Global CementMagazine December 2020

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Above: With equal strength and significantly less weight, equipment

manufactured with aircraft grade aluminum offers some of
the highest load capacities on the market.
highest load capacities on the market. Some custom-

made bricking machines can hold as much as 6t, with
an optional capacity upgrade, allowing them to easily
handle three full pallets of brick. This is up to twice
the capacity of the alternative steel machines, max-
imising productivity without risking safety.
Industry-leading specialty manufacturers that
incorporate high-strength aluminium into their
kiln maintenance support equipment designs do
so because of its increased load capacity over other
metals. These companies use certified engineers and
aluminium welders to ensure that their products ad-
dress the unique needs of each kiln site. The products
are manufactured to international safety standards
and are subjected to rigorous safety tests to ensure
that the materials and designs won’t falter even when
working at capacity.
The result? Custom-engineered bricking ma-
chines with a 3-to-1 safety factor. Crews with that
kind of assurance can work with confidence knowing To advertise in
that their bricking machine, kiln access ramp or work Global Cement Magazine
platform can comfortably handle heavy loads. please contact Paul Brown:
Greater profits
When it comes to increasing efficiency during
refractory installation and in other areas of kiln To download the latest
maintenance, strong, lightweight aluminium Media-Book scan the QR code:
equipment is an easy decision for plants looking
to minimise downtime and get processing back
on track.
Global CementMagazine 31
GLOBAL CONCRETE: NEWS
Mexico: Net-zero CO2 Vertua concrete to be launched worldwide
C emex plans to launch its net-zero CO2 Vertua

concrete product worldwide following its release
in Europe. It said that customers in several European
footprint of up to 70%, The compensation of the
remaining CO2 is achieved by participating in refor-
estation projects, among other initiatives.
countries are using Vertua in infrastructure projects
and climate-friendly building projects.
“We believe that climate change is one of the big-
gest challenges of our time, and we are committed to
doing our part to address it,” said Fernando A Gonza-
lez, CEO of Cemex. “Vertua is clear evidence that we
can transition to a carbon-neutral economy, where
concrete is an essential component in the develop-
ment of climate-friendly urban projects, sustainable
buildings and resilient infrastructure.”
Vertua uses a geopolymer binder solution cre-
ated by Cemex’s Research and Development Center
in Switzerland. This solution has a reduced carbon
Switzerland: LafargeHolcim
Mexico: Holcim Mexico supplies refinery announces EcoLabel
H olcim Mexico says that it supplied a record 70,000m3 of

concrete to the Dos Bocas oil refinery in September 2020,
L afargeHolcim has announced the
launch of EcoLabel, a brand to
encapsulate its green cements and
bringing the total volume supplied since major infrastructure concretes. All products bearing the
work began at the site in March 2020 to 300,000m3. El Norte label must have either a 30% lower
News has reported that the company is supplying the project carbon dioxide footprint compared to
from three sites with a total capacity of 4000m3/day: the Par- the local industry standard or use 20%
aíso, Refinería and Dos Bocas concrete plants. Holcim Mexico recycled content. The company says
noted that, of the 215 employees involved in the project, 50% that the reason behind EcoLabel will
are women. support builders in making greener
Chief executive officer Jaime Hill Tinoco said, “Dos Bocas is choices and will accelerate the com-
one of the most important infrastructure works in the history pany’s ‘Net Zero Journey.’
of LafargeHolcim and Holcim Mexico.” Upon completion in
late 2022, the company expects to have delivered 2.14Mm3 of
concrete to the project.
Canada: Giatec launches Roxi
concrete visualisation tool
UK: Breedon to sell 10 ready-mix sites
B reedon Group will sell 10 ready-mix plants to Tillicoultry

Quarries, along with a cement terminal and two quarries
T esting specialist Giatec has launched
Roxi, an artificially intelligent (AI) con-
crete visualisation programme for builders.
in Scotland and an asphalt plant in England. The deal, worth PR Newswire has reported that Roxi
Euro13.5m, satisfies a Competition and Markets Authority “Provides insights regarding the amount
(CMA) request regarding Breedon’s takeover of part of Cemex of cement that is needed, including the
UK’s ready-mix and aggregates operations. amount that can be removed without
compromising the concrete’s setting time
or strength development.” This aids project
completion while diminishing extraneous
cement demand.
The company thanked Sustainable
Development Technology Canada for its
US$1.83m grant towards the development
of Roxi, part of the fund’s US$44.6m total
contribution to ‘clean technology projects’
so far in 2020.

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GLOBAL CEMENT NEWS: PRODUCTS & CONTRACTS
Contents
Portugal: Massive Outão upgrade awarded to ThyssenKrupp Industrial Solutions
G
Subscribe
ermany-based ThyssenKrupp Industrial So-
lutions has announced its appointment by
Ad Index
Secil to modernise its 2.0Mt/yr Outão integrated
cement plant. The supplier says that it will modify
the existing rotary kiln and preheater tower,
install a new AS-MSC calciner equipped with a
Prepol SC-S calcining system to increase fuel flex-
ibility and maximise the use of a wide range of
alternative fuels with a minimum substitution rate
of 85%.
Additionally, a new Polytrack 7T/5-3R grate
cooler, including a new cooler dedusting system,
will replace the existing planetary cooler. The
upgrade aims to bring the plant to the highest
energy efficiency, low nitrous oxides and the low- technologies in the cement industry. Secil is aware of the
est carbon dioxide emissions among European stakes for tomorrow and beyond and places great value
cement producers and is partly funded by the on sustainability. With our energy-saving and emissions-
Portuguese government. reducing technologies, we are proud to play our part in
ThyssenKrupp Industrial Solutions chief ex- the transition towards carbon-neutral cement produc-
ecutive officer (CEO) Samir Abi Ramia said, “This tion.” He added, “Secil can be confident that, with this
project marks a milestone for our Grey2Green ini- investment, its Outão plant will rank among the top 10%
tiative and is proof of the rising demand for green of the most efficient cement plants in Europe.”
Poland: New Aumund conveyor for Iraq: Erbil contract for Chinese firm
Cementownia Warta
C ementownia Warta has ordered a BPB-SF

heavy-duty arched plate conveyor for the new
C hina-based China Machinery Engineering has secured
a contract for the establishment of an integrated ce-
ment plant in Erbil, Kurdistan. The plant is scheduled for
limestone crushing facility at its Warta integrated completion in April 2023, at a total investment cost of
cement plant from Germany-based Aumund. The US$210m.
supplier says that it will deliver the equipment
before the end of 2020.
Aumund said that it has delivered more than
20 machines to the Warta plant since the producer
placed its first order with the company in 1998.
In 2020 it delivered five KZB pan conveyors of a
total capacity of 2300t/hr as part of a project to
construct a 120,000t steel-roofed concrete silo at
the plant.
UK: New Lafarge packaging from

Aggregate Industries
L afargeHolcim subsidiary Aggregate Industries

has launched three Lafarge branded packed
cement and concrete products: High Performance
India: Paytm solution for Dalmia Cement
Concrete; Instant Concrete; and Premium Cement.
The company says that the products are a response
to rising demand from merchants and their custom-
D almia Cement has awarded a contract to payment
solutions specialist Paytm for digitisation of its pay-
ment processes. Paytm will enable customers to use
ers alike to offer more specialised packed cement Paytm Wallet, Unified Payments Interface (UPI) and other
solutions and that they are suited to various domes- cashless means in purchasing Dalmia Cement’s products
tic applications. from over 30,000 dealers and retailers across 22 Indian
states and union territories, according to the producer.
34
GLOBAL CEMENT NEWS: PRODUCTS & CONTRACTS
UK: Cemex invests in rail Ireland/UK: Quinn renews NBG deal
C emex UK invested around Euro650,000 in

its UK rail transport network between 1
January 2020 and 31 October 2020, as it up-
Ireland’s Quinn Building Products has renewed its cement
exclusivity contract for the British market with National
Buying Group (NBG) until the end of 2024. NBG will sell the
graded its Crawley, Cambridge, Dove Holes, cement under Quinn Building Products’ new Mannok brand.
Salford, Selby and Sheffield railheads. It said
that the investments were part of a rolling
four-year programme, with plans in place to
spend similar amounts each year.
US: Hagerstown goes solar
L afargeHolcim subsidiary Holcim US has

opened a 10MW solar power plant at its
Hagerstown, Maryland, cement plant in part- Austria: Low CO2 product for RHI Magnesita
nership with Greenbacker Renewable Energy
Company. The producer says that the power
plant will supply 25% of the cement plant’s
energy needs, reducing its CO2 emissions by
R HI Magnesita has launched Ankral Low Carbon, a 14%
reduced carbon dioxide refractory brick. Instead of raw
magnesite, Ankral Low Carbon bricks contain used refractory
12,400t/yr. bricks as a dead-burned magnesia source.

GLOBAL CEMENT NEWS: EUROPE
Switzerland: Net sales down for France: Vicat sales rise over nine months
LafargeHolcim
L afargeHolcim’s like-for-like net sales fell by 2.6%

year-on-year to Euro6.04bn in the third quarter
V icat recorded net sales of Euro2.07bn in the first nine
months of 2020, up slightly from Euro2.06bn in the
first nine months of 2019. Sales rose in Africa by 23% to
of 2020 from Euro6.68bn in the same period in Euro198m from Euro161m, in Europe (excluding France)
2019. However, its recurring earnings before inter- by 8% to Euro317m from Euro294m and in the Americas
est and taxation (EBIT) rose by 10% to Euro1.35bn by 7% to Euro471m from Euro442m.
from Euro1.33bn. It attributed recurring EBIT margin Cement sales constituted 51% of sales at Euro1.05bn,
growth to margin increases in its cement business up by 5% year-on-year from Euro991m. Cement volumes
and cost management under the ‘Health, Cost & rose by 8% to 18.0Mt from 16.7Mt, while concrete vol-
Cash’ action plan. For the first nine months of 2020 umes fell by 2% to 6.65m3 from 6.78m3.
net sales fell by 7.9% year-on-year to Euro16.0bn Chair and chief executive officer (CEO) Guy Sidos said,
from Euro18.9bn in the same period in 2019. Its EBIT “The impact of the Covid-19 outbreak on the group’s op-
decreased by 7.2% to Euro2.47bn from Euro2.88bn. erating profit was eliminated by the end of July 2020. The
“Our third quarter results demonstrate the good momentum observed since then, particularly in the
resilience of our business and the strength of our group’s most recent operations in India and Brazil, leads
decentralised, empowered operating model,” said us to envisage that operating profit may increase sig-
chief executive officer Jan Jenisch. “In addition, the nificantly at constant scope and exchange rates in 2020.
group saw an increase in revenues from its branded Nevertheless, the group is continuing its efforts to reduce
products, which are sold across its broad distribu- structural costs, signified by the relocation on 1 October
tion and retail network. For example, the company 2020 of its head office to l’Isle d’Abeau in Isère.”
recorded a volume increase of 5% in its cement bag
sales.”
Third quarter sales and earnings were either sta-
ble or improved in most regions with the exception
of North America and Middle East Africa. In North
America volumes were reduced by the pandemic
and a slowdown in the oil and gas industry in west-
ern Canada. Overall sales fell in Middle East Africa
but earnings were aided by sales volume growth
in Nigeria. Elsewhere, cement market recovery was
noted in Mexico and Brazil, with weaker markets
seen in the Philippines and Australia. Russia: Sberbank acquires
100% of Eurocement
S berbank has acquired a 100% stake

in GFI Investment Limited, owner of
Eurocement, the largest cement
Your new coal grinding system Full STOP • producer in the Russian Federation. Ros-
BusinessConsulting News has reported
To a specialist in the know, the GA drawing of that the acquisition followed an increase
your supplier’s proposal is a clear forecast of in GFI Investment Limited’s overdue debt
possible incorrect fire and explosion protection. to Sberbank in mid-2020. Sberbank in
turn reported the largest increase in its
overdue corporate loans in its history in
Let Coal Mill Safety Pte Ltd comment on July 2020. The bank says it does not have
the proposed GA free of charge. You will be operational control of the group and is
surprised! looking for a strategic investor.
Do this in the earliest possible project stage,

before it is too late for corrections.
www.coalmillsafety.com
info@coalmillsafety.com
Coal Mill Safety also evaluates existing situations.

NEWS: EUROPE
Germany: Nine month sales slip 8%

for HeidelbergCement
H eidelbergCement recorded net sales of

Euro13.1bn over the first nine months of 2020,
down by 8% year-on-year from Euro14.3bn in the
corresponding period of 2019. Sales fell in most
regions during the nine month period but rose in
Africa-Eastern Mediterranean by 4% to Euro1.31bn
from Euro1.26bn. Group cement volumes totalled
17.9Mt, down by 2% from 18.3Mt, while concrete
volumes fell by 12% to 4.40m3 from 5.00m3.
Speaking of the third quarter of 2020, chair
Dominik von Achten said, “HeidelbergCement has
achieved an excellent result. In an environment
that continues to be characterised by major re-
gional differences and great uncertainty, we were
able to increase earnings before interest, taxation,
With
HARDTOP
depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) by 17% in
comparison to the third quarter of 2019.“ He added
that the group expected earnings to grow in 2020
compared to 2019.
Wear Castings
you always hit
the bull‘s eye!
Spain: CCS project for Carboneras
L afargeHolcim España has signed an agreement

with Carbon Clean, ECCO2 and gas systems
specialist Sistemas de Calor for the installation
of a carbon capture and storage (CCS) unit at its
Carboneras integrated cement plant in Almeria.
The company says that the installation will start to
capture 10% of CO2 emissions in 2022. The eventual
aim is to capture 0.7Mt/yr of CO2 and achieve 100%
decarbonisation at the plant. The producer will sup-
ply the captured CO2 to Sistemas de Calor for use
in agricultural greenhouses, reducing the soil and
water intensity of crop production.
Chief executive officer Isidoro Miranda said,
“Within the framework of our Ecological Transition
Strategy, we are tackling climate change through
innovative initiatives that allow us to develop
Reichelstrasse 23
low-carbon products and solutions. In our journey 39124 Magdeburg
towards carbon neutrality, these types of collabo-
rations are key. We hope that, working with our
Germany
partners Carbon Clean, ECCO2 and Sistemas de
Calor, we can develop this innovative circular model phone: +49 (0) 391 532969-0
with the potential to revolutionise the cement sec-
tor and agriculture.” fax: +49 (0) 391 532969-21
e-mail: sales@hardtop-gmbh.com
Global Cement Magazine 37 web: www.hardtop-gmbh.com
GLOBAL CEMENT NEWS: EUROPE
Germany: Vision Rüdersdorf launched
C emex Zement has announced the start of carbon-

neutral building materials development at its
1.9Mt/yr Rüdersdorf, Brandenburg, cement plant.
Managing director and plant manager Stefan Schmor-
leiz said, “In an interesting approach, the CO2 that we
capture is used as a raw material for downstream pro-
Called Vision Rüdersdorf, the project consists of ‘the cesses in the chemical industry. Another approach is to
comprehensive investigation of various approaches innovate in the storage of CO2. With these efforts, and
to breakthrough technologies in order to prevent our commitment to review and invest in these tech-
process-related carbon dioxide from entering the nologies, Cemex Zement is making a contribution to
atmosphere, but to use it for beneficial purposes.’ The the decarbonisation of the cement industry.”
investigation areas can be divided into capture, storage
or use of CO2. This will help towards Cemex’s target of
55% CO2 emissions reduction across Europe by 2030
and its commitment to deliver carbon-neutral concrete
by 2050.
Cemex Zement’s CEO Rüdiger Kuhn said, “For years,
sustainable success has been achieved here in the re-
duction of fossil fuels and in the selection of alternative
recipe ingredients for cement. The experienced team
is always looking for possible improvements. When it
came to determining the best possible CO2 emission
values, the Rüdersdorf plant was always at the forefront
of the European cement industry and has thus also
earned an excellent reputation in the global Cemex
organisation.”
In order to realise Vision Rüdersdorf, the producer
has partnered with companies from other industries.
www Turkey: New CEO for TÇMB
POSITION SOUGHT T he Turkish Cement Manufacturers’ Associa-

tion (TÇMB) has appointed Volkan Bozay
as its chief executive officer (CEO). Outgoing
CEO Ismail Bulut will continue his activities
Highly experienced Mechanical Engineer (IMECHE) as an advisor to the chairman of the board of
strong history of site management, installations, directors.
commissioning within cement, energy, waste and power Bozay has held a mixture of public and
private sector jobs during his career includ-
industries seeks suitable position. ing a role at the R&D Unit of Undersecretariat
of Treasury and Foreign Trade, head of the
Chief Mechanical Engineer Finance Department of the Housing Develop-
15 years with a Global Cement Engineering group ment Administration of Turkey (TOKI) and as a
board member of the Emlak Konut Real Estate
Investment Company.
• Over 25 projects and sites around the world, including cement
plants/mills in Ireland, Ukraine, Pakistan, Vietnam, Uganda,
Turkey, Algeria, Indonesia, Slovenia, etc, Ireland: Ecocem appointment
• Handled customer orders and queries from fabrication issues
through to construction,
• Assessed commissioned works for maintenance and upgrade needs,
• Supervised a variety of sites and construction projects,
E cocem Group has appointed John Reddy as
Group Quality and Innovation Application
Manager. In the new role he will lead a grow-
• Carried out maintenance and fault repairs, ing technical team across Europe including
• Currently based in Southern UK, able to relocate, Ireland, UK, Sweden, Benelux and France. He is
• Languages: Romanian / English / Spanish / Italian. tasked with developing the product pipeline
for the group and assisting with product com-
mercialisation across Europe.
Enquiries to: PO Box 200, GLOBAL CEMENT
38 Global Cement Magazine
NEWS: EUROPE
Denmark: FLSmidth reports con-

tinued Covid-related disruption
F LSmidth has continued to report disruption

to order intake, revenue and earnings due
to the coronavirus pandemic. Its nine-month
revenue from cement sector supply and service
contracts was US$680m, down by 28% year-
on-year from US$940m in the first nine months
of 2020. The cement division’s loss before in-
terest, taxation and amortisation (LBITA) was
US$14.1m, compared to previous earnings be-
fore interest, taxation and amortisation (EBITA)
of US$50.7m. Its gross order intake fell by 39% to
US$569m from US$932m. However, order intake
in the third quarter of 2020 improved from the
second quarter of the year.
Your project,
our solution
We deliver customised solutions for
operators and investors of cement
Poland: Małogoszcz upgrade plants throughout the world. Intercem is
the competent and experienced partner
L afarge Poland has shared plans to mod-

ernise its 2Mt/yr Małogoszcz cement plant
in Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship. The company
for planning, detail engineering,
project handling of greenfield projects
and the conversion/modernisation of
says its planned investment of Euro100m will,
production systems. Our 3-level system
‘increase technical efficiency and minimise
environmental impacts by reducing CO2 emis- makes it possible for us to offer both
sions by 20% and energy consumption by used and modernised products, to
33%.’ The project, which will partly be carried compile new solutions made from used
out in partnership with Krakow Technology and new
Park, is scheduled for completion in 2023. components
Lafarge Poland president Xavier Guesnu or to create
said that the modernisation is part of the com- completely
pany’s effort to meet its commitment of 55%
new systems.
emissions reduction to 300kg/CO2/t of cement
in 2030 from 667kg/CO2/t in 1990.
And all that: FastFairFlexible

Italy: Cleanker pilot inaugurated
T he pilot plant for the Cleanker project was

inaugurated at Buzzi Unicem’s Vernasca ce-
ment plant in early October 2020. The purpose
of the calcium looping technology project is Intercem Engineering GmbH
to demonstrate a technology for capturing Intercem Installation GmbH
carbon dioxide in cement plants. Tests will be Carl-Zeiss-Straße 10 | 59302 Oelde
run for around 10 months with a total actual Germany | Tel.: +49 2522 92058-0
operating time of one month at most. E-Mail: info@intercem.de | www.intercem.de
Global Cement Magazine 39

GLOBAL CEMENT: WEAR PROTECTION
Stefan Kurtenbach, Kalenborn
Update on alternative fuel equipment projects
Wear-protection expert Kalenborn reports on some of its recent activities...
W ith the use of alternative fuels becoming more

and more important for manufacturers, the
variety of challenges the sector sets suppliers gets
Pipelines for feeding the main burner
In the same plant as the first case-study, which now

bigger. Here are four examples of what Kalenborn uses up to 80% alternative fuels, Kalenborn also
does to help saving efforts and costs for equipment supplied several different lines to feed the fuels to
operators. the main burner. This included the use of Abresist
(fused cast basalt) lined bends and spools for the coal
Screws for reclaiming refused-derived fuel line. Kalenborn also supplied a feed line used for
(RDF) at a truck unloading station bone meal (and/or similar seasonal materials) with
For a cement plant in Poland, Kalenborn supplied Abresist fused cast basalt lined parts.
two screw sections. Running as a pair and both Initially for one line conveying RDF - and later a
approximately 8m long, these were installed after second line - Kalenborn needed to take into account
the receiving hopper in the plant’s truck unloading the higher wear rate and the often higher conveying
building. The screws were coated using a combina- velocities of this material. To do this, it used either
tion of Kalocer high-alumina ceramics for the shaft its Kalcor fused cast corundum or Kalocer high-
and the flights and Kalmetall W hard overlay for alumina ceramic linings for the bends. Hard overlay
the higher pressured edges of the flights. This as an Kalmetall spools were used for the connections to
improvement to the prior hard overlay screws, which feeders, valves and other confined spaces. Abresist-
were also supplied by Kalenborn. By making this lined pipes were used for the longer runs. This is a
change, the customer aims to extend the lifetime by a very smooth lining that prevents blockages and can
factor of at least two. The same was already done with save money by saving significant amounts of energy.
the first set of screws, replacing a version with hard
plate that had only partial overlay.
This page: Screws for

reclaiming RDF at a truck
unloading station at a
Polish cement plant.

GLOBAL CEMENT: WEAR PROTECTION
Screw conveyors to feed the calciner Above and Above Left:

repaired or turned every six weeks, the new hoses Pipelines feeding the
In another cement plant in Poland, Kalenborn re- have now operated for more than 10 months without main burner at a
Polish cement plant.
placed both the screw and the trough of two rotor special maintenance.
weighing RDF systems that fed the calciner. Our The same plant had also previously experienced
parts replaced the original OEM supplied conveyors, blockages at the start of or within the flexible
taking the now much higher tonnage of conveyed sections. This is no longer the case with the Kalflex-
material and the wear coming from it into account. hoses, regardless of whether the lines convey fine
lignite dust, RDF, or shredded tar roof shingles and
Flexible solutions to connect fuel pipes to Styrofoam!
main burners
At a cement plant in Germany, Kalenborn added its
wear-protected Kalflex hoses to the fuel piping sys-
tems at two main burners. While the plant’s original
Below Left: Flexibles for conveying Below: Screw conveyors
and already wear-resistant flexible hoses had to be fuel to main burners at a German to feed a calciner at a
cement plant. Polish cement plant.

GLOBAL CEMENT NEWS: THE AMERICAS
Contents
Mexico: Cemex sales fall by 4% year-on-year
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C emex’s net sales in the first nine months of 2020 were US$9.4bn, down
by 4% year-on-year from US$9.9bn in the corresponding period of 2019.
Operating earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation
(EBITDA) were US$1.82bn, in line with the first nine months of 2019. Cement
volumes fell by 2% to 46.2Mt from 47.2Mt. The group said that sales volumes
increased in most regions in the third quarter of 2020 as economies began to
reopen following Covid-19 lockdowns.
Fernando A González, the chief executive officer of Cemex said, “We are
pleased with our performance in the third quarter in which all regions par-
ticipated in earnings recovery. Indeed, during the quarter, we experienced
EBITDA recovery from the second quarter decline, due to Covid-19, as well as
strong year-over-year growth. Operation Resilience played a key role in this
performance.”
Mexico: Cemex joins forces with Carbon Upcycling
C emex has signed an agreement with Canada-based Carbon Upcycling

Technologies to ‘improve the processing of residue or by-products of in-
dustrial processes to produce nanomaterials.’ Carbon Upcycling Technologies’
equipment increases the cementitious properties of residues such as fly ash
and steel slag by physically processing them into nanomaterials and adding
captured CO2, enabling the partnership to produce concrete additives with
‘greater reactivity and a lower carbon footprint’ than their raw materials.
Cemex Ventures Head Gonzalo Galindo said, “This agreement with Carbon Colombia: CLH sales
Upcycling Technologies is yet another example of our determination to deliver slump by a quarter
net-zero CO2 concrete products globally by 2050. Our roadmap to achieve
this global ambition involves continuing to innovate our technology inter-
nally while continuing to seek complementary innovation outside of Cemex
through investments in start-ups, consortia and high-value collaboration
C emex subsidiary Cemex
Latam Holdings (CLH) re-
corded net sales of US$571m
agreements such as the one reached with Carbon Upcycling Technologies.” in the first nine months of
2020, 24% down year-on-year
from US$752m in the cor-
responding period of 2019.
Mexico: GCC nine month sales almost static Operating earnings fell by
14% to US$69m from US$87m,
G rupo Cementos de Chihuahua (GCC) recorded nine-month net sales of

US$705m in 2020, down slightly from US$706m in the same period of
2019. Operating earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amor-
while consolidated cement
volumes fell by 20% to 3.9Mt
from 4.9Mt.
tisation (EBITDA) fell by 10% to US$227m from US$206m. Jesus Gonzalez, chief ex-
Chief executive officer Enrique Escalante said “We experienced mixed ecutive officer of CLH said,
demand for our products in most of our markets in Mexico and the US, “Our operations could run
however both exceeded our expectations from the beginning of the Covid- relatively normally during the
19 pandemic. Looking forward, our backlog remains encouraging, while third quarter in Colombia,
overall macro conditions show mixed signs and short-term uncertainty Guatemala, Nicaragua and El
prevails, mainly regarding Covid-19 outbreaks and weather. Therefore, our Salvador, while restrictions
goal is to maintain our financial strength, keep people safe and employed, impacted in Panama and to
and to continue to serve GCC’s life blood - our invaluable customers.” a lesser degree in Costa Rica.”
He added that the company
improved its operating earn-
ings before interest, taxation,
depreciation and amortisation
(EBITDA) by 19% on a like-for-
like basis to US$51m in the
third quarter of 2020.

GLOBAL CEMENT
US: Eagle results improve

„
E agle Materials recorded sales of
US$875m in the six months between The Blaine - Master“
1 April 2020 and 30 September 2020, the
first half of its 2020 financial year, up by
The only producer of six
16% year-on-year from US$756m in the different Blaine apparatus
first half of the 2019 financial year. Net
earnings were US$192m, up by 70%
from US$113m. Total cement shipments Including demo film:
rose by 28% to 4.27Mt from 3.33Mt.
President and chief executive officer
How to use the Blaine apparatus
Michael Haack said, “We are pleased to
have delivered another quarter of re-
cord revenue and net earnings growth
while further strengthening our balance
sheet. Our end markets remain resilient Blaine, manual
as Covid-19-related uncertainty persists:
and Blaine,
the housing market continued its strong
rebound and cement demand remained semiautomatic
robust, despite wet weather in the first
half of September.” He added that the
company shipped a record 2.2Mt of ce-
ment during the quarter.
Blaine,
PC operated,
fully automatic
Blaine Dyckerhoﬀ,
semiautomatic,
Brazil: CRH to leave market
Ireland-based CRH has agreed to sell its

Brazilian business to Companhia Na-
cional de Cimento (CNC), a joint venture
between Italy-based Buzzi Unicem and
Grupo Ricardo Brennand, for US$218m.
The assets in question include three inte-
grated cement plants and two grinding
plants. The sale is subject to approval Blaine Dyckerhoﬀ,
by the Brazilian Competition Authority
PC operated,
(CADE). CRH Brazil sold approximately
2.5Mt of cement in 2019.
fully automatic,
In 2019 CRH sold its 50% stake in 1 or 2 cells
India-based My Home Industries for
US$354m. Outside of Europe and North
America it retains subsidiaries in the Phil-
ippines and China.
TESTING Bluhm & Feuerherdt GmbH
Motzener Straße 26b • 12277 Berlin / Germany
Global Cement Magazine 43 Phone: +49 30 710 96 45-0
www.testing.de • info@testing.de
GLOBAL CEMENT NEWS: THE AMERICAS
US: PCA forecasts contraction in 2021
Source: Lev Radin / Shutterstock.com.

T he Portland Cement Association (PCA) has forecast
a fourth-quarter cement demand decline of 1.5%
year-on-year in 2020, slowing to 0.9% throughout 2021.
It said that all three of its post-coronavirus economic
recovery scenarios involved a decline until mid-2021,
primarily due to ‘weak construction sectors specifically
within retail, hotel and office’ non-residential markets,
though in the best-case scenario a vaccine could
prompt a recovery in these sectors, reducing total
demand decline to 0.1% in the second half of 2021. A
worst-case ‘W-shaped’ scenario would result from state
governments implementing second lockdowns.
Senior vice president and chief economist Ed Sul-
livan said “We think that the gradual sustained recovery quarter of 2021 would be essential to prevent ‘a deep
– the ‘U’ – has the largest likelihood, followed by the and prolonged downturn in economic recovery,’ as it
‘vaccine’ scenario. The growth-interrupted ‘W’ scenario did in the second and third quarters of 2020.
is the least likely. He said that in each case Federal The forecast came before the election of Joe Biden
spending in the fourth quarter of 2020 and the first as America’s 46th President.
Brazil: Cement sales finally rise Mexico: Sales fall by 2%
C ement sales rose by 21% year-on-year to 5.8Mt in September 2020

from 4.8Mt in September 2019. Data from the National Cement In-
dustry Union (SNIC) shows that sales increased by 9.4% year-on-year to
J aime Rocha Font, the president
of the National Cement Chamber
(CANACEM), says that cement sales
44.6Mt in the first nine months of 2020 from 40.8Mt in the same period fell by 2% year-on-year in the first
in 2019. Particular gains for the year to date were noted in the North- half of 2020 due to low demand from
East and Central-West regions. SNIC has attributed the sales growth to construction companies and the pri-
government support for civil construction. vate sector. He added that sales fell
“The results are surprising so far, but that doesn’t give us security by 6.3% year-on-year in the second
in the long run,” said Paulo Camillo Penna, president of SNIC. “Sales quarter of 2020, according the El
are being sustained, in the great majority, by real estate construction, Financiero newspaper. Annual sales
the maintenance of the pace of works and small residential reforms were 43Mt in 2018 and 40Mt in 2019.
and also in the commercial activity that already presents a decline in
consumption due to its operation.” However he also noted that activity
had been ‘subjected to a huge and unexpected pressure of demand,
especially since June 2020.’ As such SNIC has called for resumption of
infrastructure work to stabilise demand.
Canada: Alextra to be made in Bath plant
L afarge Canada, Geocycle Canada and Rio Tinto

are working together to reuse waste from the alu-
minium smelting process to make cement. The three
companies have developed a new product called Alex-
tra, made from used potlining, a part of the aluminium “This partnership shows how Rio Tinto is innovat-
electrolysis process that would otherwise go to landfill. ing to find new ways to reuse waste, generating value
Lafarge Canada plans to produce on average 1Mt/yr of from our operations and reducing their environmental
cement at its plant in Bath, Ontario, using Alextra as an footprint,” said Rio Tinto Aluminium manager valorisa-
alternative to raw materials such as alumina and silica. tion and marketing Stéphane Poirier. “We have worked
The companies will also explore options to further closely with Lafarge Canada and Geocycle Canada
expand the supply of Alextra from Rio Tinto’s Potlining over the past two years to develop a product that
Treatment Plant in Saguenay-Lac-St Jean to Lafarge meets their needs and look forward to building on
Canada’s network of cement plants. this partnership,”

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GLOBAL CEMENT: PLANT REPORT
Melón Cementos’ Puerto Montt grinding station
Melón Cementos is the oldest cement producer in South America, having been in
continuous production at its La Calera site since 1908. The company spent time as part
of Blue Circle and then Lafarge, but has been part of the Peruvian conglomerate BRECA
Group since 2009. Today it operates three sites and will shortly open a fourth. Iván
Marinado, Melón’s CEO for Cement and Aggregates, recently took time out of his busy
schedule to talk to Global Cement about the company’s Puerto Montt grinding plant.
Profile: Ivan Marinado is a Global Cement (GC): Please could you introduce GC: What led to the change of supplier?
Chemical engineer. He joined the Puerto Montt plant and why it was built?
Melón Cementos in 1996 as
a Process Engineer and has
IM: The team at Melón had become familiar with the
been CEO of cement business Iván Marinado (IM): Melón Cementos has been Plug&Grind concept and had visited such a plant in
and aggregates businesses very well established in Chile for over 100 years, but Mexico. I met with Cemengal in Madrid and I was
since 2016. Chile is a very long country - 4000km! Around 15 really impressed with the innovation of the product
years ago the company started to look for ways to and the performance of the mill. I proposed to the
improve its logistics, as it had previously relied on Melón board that we install a Plug&Grind Xtreme at
its La Calera integrated plant, around 100km north Puerto Montt instead of the planned Chinese mill. At
of Santiago. It decided to set up clinker grinding sta- 0.6Mt/yr, this is the largest that Cemengal produces
tions in strategic locations along the coast. in this modular concept. The board thankfully agreed
The first of these was the Puerto Montt plant, to go with my suggestion. There was some trepida-
which came online in 2008. It is located around tion, as this was the first order for a Plug&Grind
1000km south of Santiago. It was joined by the Xtreme anywhere in the world, but we are very happy
Ventanas plant in 2011. Puerto Montt originally with the mill indeed.
consisted of a Chinese-built ball mill with a capacity
of around 0.3Mt/yr, while Ventanas has a 0.7Mt/yr GC: How did the modular project differ from a
vertical roller mill. conventional mill?
Due to production selling out from the Puerto
Montt plant in the mid 2010s, the decision was taken IM: The raw material storage and handling, plus
Below: An overview of to upgrade it via the installation of a second ball mill. dispatch, are identical to the traditional mill. What
the Melón Cementos The site was ready for expansion using an identical differs is the mill-shop, which is completely different.
Puerto Montt plant in
Chile during erection Chinese ball mill, but Melón decided to opt instead This was the major attraction compared to a conven-
of the new mill. for the Plug&Grind solution from Spain’s Cemengal. tional mill. It was much quicker and cheaper to erect
than the previous mill. The machine comes electri-
cally and mechanically ‘ready to go.’ It took about half
as long to install as a traditional mill and it cost less
too. Normally one could expect to spend US$2-3m in
erection costs for every US$1m of equipment being
installed. With Cemengal it is more like US$1m per
US$1m, so the cost is at least halved too. The cost of
the equipment from the supplier was very similar, so
the savings on installation costs are very noticable.
GC: How was the commissioning process?
IM: Commissioning was very interesting and very

smooth. There was only one issue, with the separa-
tor, which was damaged by rainwater. It needed to
be cleaned out and then we could re-start the com-
missioning process almost immediately. It was not
long before the mill achieved Cemengal’s guaranteed

performance values and we now routinely

exceed these.
Production process
GC: What is the production process at the Puerto
Montt plant?
IM: As Puerto Montt is a grinding station, its raw

material is clinker. Over the past 10 years, this has
been from Asia, predominantly South Korea and
China. It is received from the ship to a 50,000t
dome at the port. We then truck the clinker to the
plant, where there is a 10,000t silo for day-to-day
production.
After it is fed to and ground by the Plug&Grind
Xtreme there are three cement silos. There are two
cement products: ‘Extra,’ which is a high grade ce-
ment with high early strength, and ‘Especial,’ which
is a standard grade. Around 60% of sales are of Extra Markets Above: Cemengal Plug&Grind
mill at the Puerto Montt plant.
cement, around 95% of which leaves the plant in bulk GC: Where are Puerto Montt’s main markets?
tankers, with 5% in bags and big bags. The other 40%
of total sales are of Especial cement, which is bagged IM: The Puerto Montt plant typically serves markets
to the tune of around 95%, with 5% in bulk. up to 300-400km away. The main market is Puerto
The bagging plant dates from 2008. It is a Haver Montt, north to Temuco and south to Coyhaique.
& Boecker Rotopacker with a Metral palletiser and Some destinations are served by our trucks going
film-wrapping machine. Many of our clients like on public ferries, for example to Puerto Chacabuco.
their bagged cement well wrapped due to the rainy Some of the destinations represent small markets,
weather conditions in this region. maybe taking two deliveries per month, but each
location is important and we serve them all to a high
GC: When was the most recent maintenance shut- standard.
down and what was done?
GC: Do you export cement?
IM: The Cemengal mill has been in operation for
almost two years and it has so far not had a big IM: No. Chile is a continental island. It is cut off by
shutdown. We currently maintain the plant via the mountains to the east and the Pacific to the west.
monthly stoppages, typically for around 12 hours. In the south the Antarctic, to the north the desert. To
This is for preventative maintenance. We don’t have get anything out of Chile takes significant effort.
plans for a big maintenance shut-down on this plant Below: Cement is despatched
at the moment. GC: Have you seen any changes in the markets to Puerto Montt or
In contrast the Chinese mill has some issues that since the new mill came along? surrounding towns and cities.
need to be solved. There are cracks in the shell of the
mill and the main motor and reducer are also experi-
encing some issues. The main motor and reducer will
be replaced in early 2021 and we may also replace the
entire shell, as we have a spare available.
GC: What would you do to the plant if you had an

infinite budget?
IM: When we installed the Cemengal Plug&Grind

Xtreme mill, we also improved our gypsum storage
area, paved new roads for trucks to enhance site
safety and installed a casing on the mills to reduce
noise pollution. As far as Puerto Montt goes, we are
very happy! If I had a huge budget I would continue
to grow the company to develop Chile by developing
other sites.

IM: The strong performance of the Cemengal mill In terms of staffing, we sent everyone home that
has improved our competitive position within the could work from home. Secondly, we split the shifts
Chilean market. We are more competitive in some into exclusive groups that don’t mix. This means that
areas and obviously there is an increase in capac- if one team is infected, the other can continue to op-
ity. We are increasingly seen as ‘the’ supplier, with erate. Thirdly, we applied very strict rules regarding
around 70% of all cement sales around Puerto Montt. segregation within teams. There are no longer com-
Our closest ‘local’ competitors are Cementos Bío Bío munal areas and we have relaxed various pre-existing
and Cemento Polpaico, both of which are 500km rules, for example to permit eating in the control
north of Puerto Montt. room. Up until now we are happy with our approach,
as we have recorded no cases within our workforce
GC: How was the construction market, and hence and have also seen zero cases in contractors.
cement demand, affected by the Covid-19 pan-
demic in the first and second quarter of 2020? GC: What is the biggest threat to the Puerto Montt
plant over the next five years?
IM: When Covid-19 hit South America, various au-
thorities acted to shut down major cities and a lot of IM: We are dependent on imported clinker and this
construction activities were halted, at least for a pe- is our key ‘unknown’ in the years ahead. Up to now
riod. As far as Melón is concerned, this is only part of we see opportunities because freight costs and im-
the pandemic story, as we serve four major markets. ported clinker costs little, around US$55/t delivered
Cement demand from the mining sector was almost to our port-side dome. It is very reasonable consider-
unchanged, by far the most ‘normal’ market for us. ing how far it has come! However, we cannot control
House-building in contrast almost stopped com- capacity and production in Asia, which may reduce
pletely. However, public construction was considered further, limiting supplies of clinker at this price point
‘essential’ for the country, so around 80% of those in Chile. The second big unknown in Chile is how the
activities continued. Finally, the industrial sector was economic and social crisis will develop. Even after
around 50% of normal levels. Covid-19 is behind us, this will affect confidence
among investors.
GC: How did this affect the Puerto Montt plant
specifically? Does it rely more on one of these mar- GC: What about the major opportunities?
kets than others?
IM: At the moment, many countries, including Chile,
IM: The Puerto Montt plant was not as badly affected are rethinking their approach to industry and enact-
as our plants further north, as the further north you ing policies to ‘bring manufacturing back,’ rather
go in Chile, the worse the Covid-19 situation has than buying everything from China. Such policies,
been. This plant is set to achieve 80% of the pro- if successful, will generate activities and economic
duction that we expected for 2020, around 0.3Mt. drivers that demand cement.
Elsewhere it is more like 70%.
GC: What’s next for Melón Cementos?
GC: How did the outbreak affect production?
IM: Even before the project with Cemengal was
Below: A Cemengal
IM: We usually worked from Monday to Sunday but completed at Puerto Montt, the company was so
Plug&Grind Xtreme arrives
at the Punta Arenas site. during the worst of the outbreak we decided to work impressed with Cemengal that it has ordered a sec-
Monday to Saturday due to the reduction in demand. ond Plug&Grind Xtreme for a new grinding station
in Punta Arenas, around 2200km south of Santiago.
When it is built in 2021, it will be the most southerly
cement plant in the world.
A Plug&Grind Xtreme may be a bit big for the
south of Chile right now, but there are benefits of
sharing spare parts and expertise across the Puerto
Montt and Punta Arenas sites. It represents a very
exciting development for the company. We hope our
continued growth will contribute to the further de-
velopment of Chile and maintain Cementos Melón’s
position as the leader in the most developed country
in South America.
GC: Iván Marinado, thank you for your time!
IM: You are very welcome indeed!

GLOBAL CEMENT NEWS: ASIA
China: CNBM’s nine month sales drop 1% Pakistan: Record October for
cement producers
C hina National Building Materials (CNBM) recorded operating
sales of US$27.2bn in the first nine months of 2020, down by
1% year-on-year from US$27.4bn in the first nine months of 2019. C ement producers dispatched a record
5.74Mt in October 2020. Exports rose
Net profit rose to US$2.82bn, up by 22% from US$2.31bn. by 12% to 875,000t from 784,000t. The
Earlier, the group submitted a letter of intent of cooperation Nation newspaper has reported that the
to its subsidiary Sinoma International Engineering, in which it figure brings Pakistan’s total dispatches for
proposes the sale of several engineering businesses to the latter. the first four months of the 2021 financial
ET Net News has reported that the assets in question are under year, from 1 July 2020 to 31 October 2020,
negotiation, but may include Beijing Triumph Building Materials, to 19.3Mt, up by 20% from 16.1Mt in the
Nanjing Triumph International Engineering and Sinoma Mining first four months of the 2020 financial year.
Construction. The All Pakistan Cement Manufacturers
Association said that cement consumption
may increase further if the government ra-
tionalises duties and taxes and withdraws
India: Results round-up excise duty.
U ltraTech Cement’s consolidated net sales grew by 8%

year-on-year to US$1.39bn in the second quarter of its
financial year to 30 September 2020 from US$1.29bn in the
India: Production falls by 18%
same period in 2019. Its profit after tax more than doubled to
US$167m from US$78.5m. The group attributed its progress
to ‘strong quarterly performance on the back of operational
C ement production fell by 18% year-on-
year to 209Mt in the first nine months
of 2020 from 255Mt in the same period
efficiencies and its ability to serve all India markets.’ in 2019. Data from the Ministry of Com-
merce and Industry shows that production
in the third quarter of 2020 dropped by
H eidelbergCement India’s net profit in the six months to 30

September 2020 – the first half of its 2021 financial year –
was US$15.1m, down by 19% year-on-year from US$18.6m in
11% year-on-year to 69Mt from 78Mt.
Monthly production has consistently fallen
year-on-year since March 2020, when
the first half of the 2020 financial year. Its revenues fell by 17% coronavirus-related lockdown measures
to US$125m from US$151m. started.
D almia Bharat’s earnings before interest, taxation, deprecia-

tion and amortisation (EBITDA) rose by 15% year-on-year
to US$177m in the first half of the 2021 financial year, from
US$154m in the first half of the 2020 financial year. Overall
sales were US$591m, down by 8% from US$644m, while ce-
L afargeHolcim subsidiary ACC’s profit in the
first nine months of 2020 was US$130m,
down by 13% year-on-year from US$149m
ment sales fell by 5% to US$567m from US$596m. in the corresponding period of 2019. Sales
also dropped, by 17% to US$1.31bn from
US$1.58bn. Cement sales totalled US$1.24bn
from US$1.45bn. An 18% decline in expenses
to US$1.14m from US$1.39m failed to offset the
effects of a price drop in the first half of 2020
due to decreased demand.
L afargeHolcim subsidiary Ambuja Cement’s

profit in the first nine months of 2020
was US$176m, up by 21% year-on-year from
US$146m in the first nine months of 2019. Its
revenues dropped by 7.8% to US$1.07bn from
US$1.16bn, primarily due to the impacts of the
Coronavirus outbreak. It said that this was likely
to continue to affect results into the fourth
quarter of 2020.

India: New plant for Dalmia Bharat India: Shiva expansion
D almia Bharat plans to build an integrated cement plant in Kalaburgi,

Karnataka. BusinessLine Online News has reported that the plant
will cost around US$270m.
S hiva Cement is preparing to
break ground on an expansion
project to set up a 4000t/day clinker
The company already operates the 2.5Mt/yr Belagavi plant in the unit and a 1Mt/yr grinding unit. The
state, which it commissioned in March 2015. Chief Minister Bookanakere subsidiary of JSW Cement will spend
Yediyurappa said, “Karnataka is proud to be home to Dalmia Bharat around US$208m on the works from
group and look forward to strengthening the relationship further.” a mixture of debt and equity.
Myanmar: Production halted at Kyaikmayaw
T hailand-based Siam Cement Group (SCG) and Pacific Link

Cement Industries (PLCI) joint-venture Mawlamyine Cement
has suspended production at its integrated cement plant in Kyaik-
mayaw, Mon State, amidst a dispute between its owners. SCG says
it has resorted to arbitration to resolve the matter and that PLCI
has filed a lawsuit against it. In a statement SCG said that “MCL
continues to work with distributors and customers to alleviate the
supply shortage due to the temporary suspension.”
Tajikistan: Export report Pakistan: Lucky results rebound
D ata from the Ministry of Industry and New

Technologies (MOINT) shows that Tajikistan
exported 0.99Mt of cement in the first nine
L ucky Cement recorded a profit of US$13.8m in the first
quarter of the 2021 financial year, which began on 1 July
2020, up by 130% year-on-year from US$5.95m in the first
months of 2020. 0.56Mt of cement was exported quarter of the 2020 financial year. Net sales rose by 49% to
to Uzbekistan, 0.39Mt to Afghanistan and US$89.0m from US$59.8m. The cement producer said that
43,000t to Kyrgyzstan, according to Asia Plus. the rise resulted from, ‘a massive recovery in margins amid
Local cement companies produced over 3.2Mt in improvement in retention prices and robust off-take.’
the same period. The country has 16 registered The company added that its upcoming 1.2Mt/yr inte-
cement plants with a total production capacity grated Samawah cement plant in Iraq is on schedule to
of 5.6Mt. begin commercial production in December 2020.
Kazakhstan: Steppe up 5% Thailand: Sales fall at Siam Cement Group
S teppe Cement’s sales in the first nine months

of 2020 were US$26.0m, up by 5% year-on-
year from US$24.7m over the corresponding
S iam Cement Group’s sales in the first nine months of
2020 were US$9.73bn, down by 9% year-on-year from
US$10.7bn in the first nine months of 2019. Its profit rose by
period of 2019. Dow Jones Institutional News 8% to US$891m from US$826m, while its cement and build-
has reported that cement sales volumes fell by ing materials business recorded revenues of US$4.22bn,
4% to 556,000t from 535,000t. Steppe Cement down by 6% from US$4.49bn. The group attributed this to
forecast full-year cement market growth of 2% coronavirus-related lockdown measures. However, its earn-
to 9.0Mt in 2020 from 8.9Mt in 2019. ings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation
(EBITDA) rose by 9% to US$574m.
China: CRC profit rises by 28%
C hina Resources Cement’s nine-month profit for the pe-

riod that ended on 30 September 2020 was US$954m,
up by 28% from US$747m in the corresponding period of
2019. Reuters has reported that the company’s turnover was
US$3.51bn, up by 1.7% from US$3.45bn.

Nepal: Permits for two plants Indonesia: Cement demand could fall 14%
T he Investment Board Nepal has granted

approval to Samrat Cement and Dang Ce-
ment for cement production at their upcoming
S emen Indonesia has said that it expects a 14% year-on-year
decline in domestic cement demand to 50Mt in 2020 from
58Mt in 2019. The Jakarta Post newspaper has reported that
integrated cement plants. New Business Age the coronavirus outbreak was the primary cause of a 7.7% first-
has reported that Samrat Cement will begin half decline in cement consumption to 27Mt from 29Mt.
production at its 1.3Mt/yr cement plant in Marketing and supply chain director Adi Munandir said
Dang Region in December 2020, and plans to “Our projection is based on the delay in private construction
increase the plant’s capacity to 1.6Mt/yr after a projects and the government’s infrastructure development as
total investment of US$132m. Dang Cement’s a result of the Covid-19 crisis. This has caused demand to slump
2.0Mt/yr cement plant, also in Dang region, is by 8.8% in July 2020, and we expect this slump to continue to
due for commissioning in late 2023 at a total the end of the year.” He noted the retail housing market as a
investment cost of US$277m. potential sales boost, saying “We saw an uptick in cement bag
sales during the first half of 2020, as home renovations rose
due to the pandemic.”
Uzbekistan: Production slows
C ement sales volumes have decreased by

29% to 5000t/day from 7000t/day at the
Akhangarancement cement plant in Tash-
Indonesia: Semen Padang exports 1.6Mt to
Australia
kent and by 55% to 5000t/day from 11,000t/
day at the Almalyk Mining and Metallurgical
Combine cement plant in Jizzakh. Uzbekistan
S emen Indonesia subsidiary Semen Padang says that it has
dispatched a 25,000t batch of cement for Australia. Bisnis
News Sumatra has reported that the company is targeting
Newsline has reported the cause of the decline total shipments of 1.58Mt to the country in 2020.
as the breakdown of two kilns at the plants.
This has led to a decrease in domestic ce-
ment production to 37,000t/day and sales to
35,000t/day, resulting in a slight price increase.
Prices had previously been falling due to the
effects of the post-coronavirus lockdown eco-
nomic recovery.
Maldives: Former Lafarge assets renamed by Raysut
L afarge Maldives has been rebranded to Raysut

Maldives Cement following its 75% acquisition by
Oman’s Raysut Cement. State Trading Organization
Raysut Cement group chief executive officer Joey
Ghose said, “Our foray into the Maldives will help drive
self-sufficiency of cement in Maldives, which currently
retains its 25% stake in the joint venture, which oper- is predominantly an import market. Raysut is looking
ates the 75,000t/yr-capacity Thilafushi Island cement at adding local value in the Maldives by installing pro-
terminal. The company says that it plans to expand the duction facilities to ensure there is at least 40% local
terminal’s capacity by 167% to 0.2Mt/yr by 2022. content. This will also make the market more competi-
tive from a price point of view, which will have a positive
impact on infrastructure development in the country.”
Image: Malé, capital of the Maldives.

Plant Report: DG Khan Hub plant
Global Cement speaks with Dr Arif Bashir, Director (Technical & Operations) at DG Khan
Cement, about the construction of its Hub plant, the local market and its technology, with
a focus on its Loesche vertical roller mills for raw meal, coal and clinker grinding...
Global Cement (GC): Please could you outline the Plant & Process
history of the plant?
GC: Please could you outline the production
Dr Arif Bashir (AB): DG Khan purchased the land process used at the plant?
the plant now occupies in 2007. The site, almost on
the sea, was selected due to availability of raw materi- AB: Raw materials are crushed in a combination of
als and its suitability for export of clinker and cement. jaw and cone crushers at the quarry site, supplied
The company then carried out an extensive geo- by FLSmidth. It is then transported via a 3km SIG
logical survey, core drilling and raw material reserves belt conveyor to the covered storage yard equipped
estimation to assess the quality of raw materials and with stacker and reclaimers. From storage area, raw
study the ideal mix design. The company also sur- materials are taken to hoppers and after proper pro-
veyed water sources, electricity transmission design, portioning on weigh feeders these are introduced to
Above: Dr Arif Bashir is layout preparation and sought government approv- the Loesche LM 70.5 RM raw grinding mill. At 654t/
Director (Technical & als. Infrastructure and civil works began in 2015 and hr, it is the largest raw mill for cement in the world.
Operations) at DG Khan
commercial production began in June 2018. Ground raw meal is stored in a 25,000t raw meal
Cement. He is responsible for
project and production plan- silo from FLSmidth. From the silo, the raw meal is
ning, execution, operations introduced to the top of the six-stage
and maintenance. Over a 37 preheater tower, equipped with an
career in the cement sector he
in-line calciner, using a bucket el-
has developed special inter-
ests in energy conservation, evator. After the preheater tower,
supplementary raw materials, calcined material is introduced into
alternative fuels, renewable the rotary kiln to produce clinker.
energy and emission control.
The pyro-processing line is from
FLSmidth and is rated at 9000t/day.
Clinker discharges from an
FLSmidth Cross Bar Cooler into a
pan conveyor and is transported to
a 110,000t clinker storage building.
From here, clinker is taken to verti-
cal cement mill hoppers for cement
Right: The huge Loesche
grinding and bulk clinker export.
LM72.4+4CS clinker mill
at the DG Khan Hub plant. Clinker and gypsum for OPC,
limestone for limestone cement, and
pozzolana for pozzolana cement
are all extracted from their respec-
tive hoppers and fed to the vertical
cement mill. This is a Loesche LM
72.4+4 CS with LDC classifier and
Cope Drive system. The mill is
equipped with eight rollers, four
grinding rollers and four supporting
rollers to maintain a uniform grind-
ing bed during the grinding process.
After classification, the cement
product is collected at the main bag

ISLAMABAD GIL
G
200km BAL IT-
KHYBER TIS
TAN Far Left: Map of DG Khan’s
PAKHTUNKHWA * JAMMU & cement plants with location of
AZAD JAMMU & KASHMIR • KASHMIR major cities and States shown.
PUNJAB
FATA * = Jammu & Kashmir, admin-
• Khairpur istered by India, but claimed
by Pakistan and India.
2.1Mt/yr
AN
FATA = Federally
ST
Administered Tribal Areas.

I
CH
Lahore
LO
SIN
BA
DG Khan Left: Loesche’s Ansgar

DH
Korz plants a tree at

• 2.1Mt/yr a ceremony to commemorate
Hub the company’s participation
2.7Mt/yr in the Hub project.
Karachi
house and fed to a bucket elevator, which takes the Left: Loesche vertical roller
Material Type Classifier Table mills installed at the Hub plant.
material to be stored in silos.
diameter (m)
The total cement storage capacity is 90,000t across
Raw Meal LM 70.5 RM LDC 7.0
three cement silos. Two of these have two compart-
ments, which enable us to store five different types of Clinker LM 72.4+4 CS LDC 7.2
cement products. Below: View of the Loesche
Coal LM 28.3 D LSKS 2.8
LM72.4+4CS clinker mill.
Cement extracted from silos is conveyed to the six
132t/hr Haver & Boecker Rotopackers with ultra-
sonic bag sealing capabilities, where it is packed into
50kg bags, and dispatched in trucks. The plant can
also pack cement into jumbo bags and bulk tankers.
GC: Why did the plant select Loesche as the main

supplier of mills?
AB: Loesche offered new state-of-the-art COPE tech-

nology, with low power consumption, from RENK.
This uses eight smaller drives to power the grinding
table rather than one large drive. This significantly re-
duces the risk of breakdowns and lowers kick load at
start up.
We selected similar raw meal and clinker mills
that have common spares in order to reduce in-
ventory. Due to their common features it is easier
for operators and maintenance staff to transfer
between them.
GC: How was construction and commissioning?
AB: The civil, mechanical and electrical construc-

tion and commissioning of the Loesche mills was
generally quite smooth. We did observe some high
vibrations, with peaks up to 20mm/s on the raw mill,
but these were resolved in due course.
GC: When was the last maintenance shutdown and

what work was conducted?
Global CementMagazine December 2020 53

AB: I would make the plant and civil buildings

slightly more robust to reduce the transmis-
sion of vibrations emanating from the raw
mill to mitigate the vibration effect on the sur-
rounding buildings.
Markets & Future

GC: Where are the plant’s main markets?
AB: The Hub plant’s main markets are the

southern part of Pakistan and export through
Karachi port. Local dispatch is carried out by
bags in trucks and bulk cement silo trucks.
Bulk exports, which contribute around 50% of
sales, are by ship.
GC: How have sales changed since the plant

was established?
Above: A 1MW solar plant is AB: The most recent plant shutdown was 5-25 August
in operation at the Hub plant, 2020. As far as the mills are concerned, all grinding AB: The plant has had somewhat unfortunate timing
with solar panels supplied by
rollers, tyres and table liners were rebuilt in the raw in that it was just beginning to establish itself when
AE Solar of Germany.
mill and coal mill. The coal mill feeding screw con- the Covid-19 pandemic hit. Following strong growth
veyor was overhauled and its inlet hoisting damper in 2019, sales fell substantially between March and
was repositioned. The raw mill’s rotary feeder was May 2020, but have since improved.
overhauled. There was also a general internal inspec-
tion of the raw mill and coal mill. GC: How has the pandemic affected day-to-day
production at the plant?
GC: Have there been any recent changes to the
plant or any ongoing projects? AB: The Hub plant maintained production with the
implementation of extreme precautions and safety
AB: We are currently building a 10MW waste heat measures. Planned production targets were achieved
recovery system and a 30MW captive coal-fired and the only stoppage was for the planned annual
power plant. maintenance work.
Below: Charminar rounda-
bout in Karachi, a bustling
port metropolis of 15 million, GC: What one thing would you change about the GC: What is the biggest threat to the plant
35km east of the Hub plant. plant if you had an infinite budget? over the next 1-5 years?
AB: Since the plant was built there has been a

massive rise in economic uncertainty all over
the world due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The
general geopolitical situation is also unstable at
the moment. This is an issue around the world.
GC: What is the biggest opportunity for the

plant over the next 1-5 years?
AB: There are opportunities for the plant to

reduce its production costs due to the con-
struction of the two captive power plants. We
also use renewable energy and will take on
supplementary raw materials and alternative
fuels with an aim to reduce carbon emissions.
For a plant as big as Hub, incremental gains in
these areas will make the plant more sustain-
able and more profitable.
GC: Thank you for your time today.
AB: You are very welcome indeed.

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Asian Cement Dec 2020.indd 1 13/11/2020 20:13

GLOBAL CEMENT: AUTOMATION
Max Tschurtschenthaler, Andreas Eckert, NguyenThang Son & TranAnh Tu, ABB
Industry 4.0 to the fore in Vietnam
Authors from ABB discuss how digital solutions are optimising performance and electrical
supply at Tan Thang Cement’s new plant in central Vietnam.
V ietnam is one of the leading manufacturers of

cement in the world, producing approximately
100Mt/yr. To optimise operational efficiency and
The US$211m facility is on track to produce 2Mt/
yr of cement, with low energy consumption and a
minimal environmental footprint. It features special-
maintain strict quality control during high-volume ist equipment imported from companies based in
production, Vietnamese cement plant operators are the EU and G7. For example, the 60.7m-long, two-
increasingly turning to Industry 4.0 solutions that pedestal kiln is 5m in diamater and holds 484t of
offer unparalleled levels of control and visibility at material at any one time. Danish and German com-
every stage in the production chain. panies were involved in the supply chain, including
Working with ABB, Tan Thang Cement is install- for provision of the clinker mill and high-precision
ing the latest digital and automated technologies to bagging machines.
ensure operational efficiency and reliable electri- Tan Thang divided the equipment tendering
cal supply at its new production plant in Nghe An process into five packages, with ABB selected as the
province, 250km south of Hanoi, while also keeping supplier of electrical equipment and automation. In
personnel safe amid the Covid-19 pandemic. contrast to other cement industry greenfield projects
– which are assigned on an engineer-
ing, procurement and construction
basis – Tan Thang chose to secure a di-
rect contract with a single supplier that
was also the equipment manufacturer,
with the aim of equipping its Nghe An
facility with future-proof digital solu-
tions.
ABB Ability™ System 800xA

ABB provided the ABB Ability™ Sys-
tem 800xA DCS (distributed control
system), which integrates process
control, electrical and communication
systems for optimal visibility into all
processes for stable production and
Right: Digital solutions are the efficient use of raw materials and
optimising performance and energy. The package also included ABB
electrical supply at Tan Thang Ability™ Expert Optimizer and ABB
Cement’s new plant in
central Vietnam. Ability™ Knowledge Manager, which
are closely integrated with the DCS.
ABB not only provided the tightly
integrated software solutions but also
engineered and provided all related
hardware infrastructure, ensuring full
connectivity of electrical and process
devices while minimising the footprint.
Unlike other cement production
projects that employ different process
suppliers, and therefore multiple sub-
automation systems, throughout the
factory, all facets of operations at Nghe

Left: ABB Ability™ Expert

Optimizer is the autopilot that
drives a cement operation to
its optimum state.
An are visualised using a single ABB Ability™ System On the electrical side at Nghe An, ABB provided
800xA automation system, which contextualises the a 110kV air insulated substation, with a Supervisory
various data sets. Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) system
For example, with one click of a mouse, the opera- based on ABB Ability™ System 800xA for Power Con-
tor can access multiple pieces of data from a single trol, as well as telecommunications, and high voltage
motor, everything from temperature trends to lining primary and secondary equipment to support the
temperature parameters, as well as related documen- electrical infrastructure. ABB also delivered power
tation. This granular insight optimises operations, transformers, distribution transformers, an intel-
resulting in significant productivity gains. ligent motor control center, auxiliary control center,
From the ABB Ability™ System 800xA, the op- emergency diesel generator, DC power supply, vari-
erator has a direct link to the Overall Equipment ous field devices and related commissioning services.
Effectiveness (OEE) information of a specific motor
or machine through the integrated connection with ABB Ability™ Expert Optimizer
ABB Ability™ Knowledge Manager. With other Advanced process control (APC) - such as ABB
systems, the operator would have to switch from Ability™ Expert Optimizer - can be conceptualised
the DCS human-machine interface (HMI), to the as the autopilot that drives a cement operation to its
Information Management System (IMS) HMI and optimum state. Using model predictive control, it
look for the respective motor/machine to access this reduces process variation and moves it closer to the
information. constraints. It does this by understanding process
The operator also has direct access on the ABB interactions and delays through data-driven empiri-
Ability™ System 800xA HMI to access the parametri- cal models, then makes small changes much more
zation details of the intelligent motor controller frequently than a human operator could to create a
within the Motor Control Center (MCC). If this was more stable process environment.
not in place, the engineer would have to visit the e- ABB Ability™ Expert Optimizer utilises a range
room with a laptop computer and connect directly to of advanced process control technologies to manage
the MCC panel. critical cement plant components at Nghe An, such
The integration of ABB Ability™ System 800xA as the kiln, alternative fuels, mills and blending. It
with two other Industry 4.0 platforms, ABB identifies the optimum operating conditions to max-
Ability™ Expert Optimizer and ABB Ability™ Knowl- imise productivity and reduce costs. By acting as an
edge Manager, adds value. In cases when further autopilot for the cement plant, the platform enables
devices are periodically added to the plant control personnel to focus on other tasks, alleviating work-
system at Nghe An, the necessary parameters will load around constant process optimisation, as well as
automatically be created in the database, reducing reducing shift to shift variation.
engineering complexity and securing data consist-
ency when changes are made to the process.
Global CementMagazine December 2020 57

ABB Ability™ Knowledge Manager

was obliged to source a relatively large portion of
ABB Ability™ Knowledge Manager is a digital solu- the supply and manufacturing in Vietnam itself, and
tion that provides visualisation of large volumes of thanks to its strong engineering base in the country,
complex plant data, allowing Tan Thang plant op- was able to satisfy the client’s requirement.
erators and management to optimise efficiency. The
system delivers relevant, timely information to work- A digital future at Nghe An
ers at Nghe An via web and mobile interfaces. ABB aims to complete much of the remainder of the
The latest version of Knowledge Manager 9.1 of- two-phase ABB Ability™ Expert Optimizer commis-
fers new features to improve usability with visually sioning process – an initial phase where ABB experts
improved dashboards. It also supports engineering analyse the process and programme the logic on site,
based on standard ISA-95 equipment models. followed by tuning to optimise the logic - remotely,
It provides engineering synchronisation with with completion scheduled for April 2021.
other ABB solutions, for easier integration. In ad- ABB’s involvement in the Nghe An project began
dition, new data collection mechanisms using the when it supported Tan Thang in drafting technical
Open Platform Communications United Archi- solutions on how to power and run the new plant.
tecture (OPC UA) standard are now also available, The public tendering process concluded in 2016
enabling simpler and more secure integration with when project financing was secured, and commis-
other systems and solutions. sioning began in 2019.
In addition to providing a highly-skilled techni-
Remote possibilities: The impact of cal team to operate the various digital and automated
Covid-19 applications at the Nghe An plant, ABB carried out
The benefits of digitalisation were further highlighted on the job training with Tan Thang staff during com-
when the Covid-19 pandemic struck in March 2020, missioning and installation, allowing them to run the
just as the Nghe An plant was due to come online. plant and maintain cement production after plans
ABB worked with the other European process equip- for overseas training in Switzerland were put on hold
ment suppliers and a consortium of ABB Switzerland due to Covid-19 travel restrictions.
and ABB Vietnam on a complete plant power supply “Tan Thang Cement is proud to complete this
and automation system, providing engineering sup- project even though Covid-19 did not make it
port through a remote platform to ensure the project straightforward,” said Mr Hoang Anh Tuan, General
remained on track. This approach involved coordi- Director, Tan Thang Cement. “With ABB’s expertise
nation points with the various mechanical suppliers in the cement industry and its technology, the plant
to ensure the interfaces and control and electrical now has the latest digital solutions to strengthen its
systems were correctly integrated. position as one of the most modern cement produc-
Another key factor in the success of the project tion plants in the region and which will help us reach
was ABB’s local supply capability. Contractually, ABB our business and production goals.”
Right: Operators benefit from

an integrated connection ABB
Ability™ Knowledge Manager.

CEMENT NEWS
South Africa: PPC results finally

released
P PC has finally released its financial re-

sults for the year to 31 March 2020. It
recorded sales of US$618m, down by 2.4%
year-on-year from US$634m in the 2019
financial year. Earnings before interest,
taxation, depreciation and amortisation fell
by 17% to US$97.0m from US$118m.
PPC CEO Roland van Wijnen said “The
2020 financial year was characterised by dif-
ficult trading conditions, especially in South
Africa. The global Covid-19 pandemic,
which emerged during the last month of
the financial year, further exacerbated an al-
ready difficult trading cycle. While we have
seen a decline in our financial performance,
we also see that the actions we have taken
to reposition PPC to deliver sustainable
value for all our stakeholders are beginning
to yield results.”
He added, “After the resumption of
trading in the 2021 financial year, the per-
formance across all of our core businesses
has been encouraging. The group’s capital
restructuring remains a key priority. Over
the next nine months, we will take the
strategic and operational actions needed
to improve the group’s financial position
and performance. It is encouraging to see
how PPC employees have come together to
drive performance to sustain our purpose
to empower people to experience a better
quality of life.”
Contents
Togo: Dangote gains exploration permits
Subscribe
T he government of Togo has granted two mineral explo-

ration permits to Dangote Cement to assess carbonate
phosphate reserves in Kpomé Apéyémé, Zio prefecture and
Ad Index
Akoumapé, Vo prefecture. The licences are valid for three

years with options for renewal. If suitable deposits are found
then they could support plans by the cement producer to
build an integrated cement production plant in the country.
Dangote Cement received government clearance to build a
1.5Mt/yr grinding plant for US$60m in late 2019.
Egypt: Cement sales rise 10%
C ement sales rose by 10% month-on-

month to 3.8Mt in September 2020, the
highest figure since April 2020. However,
year-on-year sales for the month fell by
12.5%, according to the Daily News Egypt
newspaper. Naeem Research said that ce-
ment demand remains 15% below where
the market should be due to the coronavi-
rus pandemic. The local cement production
capacity utilisation rate is estimated to
be 56%.

GLOBAL CEMENT NEWS: MIDDLE EAST & AFRICA
Oman: Duqm construction to begin Uganda: Moroto Ateker ready to

start plant construction
D uqm Cement Projects International (DCPI) is set to
begin construction of its new 3.5Mt/yr-capacity inte-
grated cement plant at the port of Duqm. The Times of T he Uganda Development Corporation has
announced that its subsidiary Moroto Ateker
Oman newspaper has reported the value of the compa- Cement is ready to begin construction of a 1.2Mt/
ny’s investment in the plant as US$435m. DCPI said, “The yr integrated cement plant in Moroto District. The
economy of scales resulting from the envisaged capacity New Vision newspaper has reported that employ-
of 10,000t/day, coupled with the latest technology, would ees are clearing land and erecting a fence around
help us in achieving our aim of becoming one of the most the site. The company says that cement production
efficient cement producers in the region.” will follow 18 months after the start of construction
of the complex, which will also produce lime and
marble. Senior engineer David Ekanya said that 600
Niger: Kao plant build starts local people will be directly employed in the plant’s
operations.
P resident Issoufou Mahamadou has launched the con-

struction of the upcoming 1Mt/yr Kao cement plant at
a ceremony at the integrated plant’s site in Kao, Tahoua
Region. Minister of Industry Adeniyi Adebayo said that
the US$290m plant will generate 314 jobs, according to
the Angola Press Agency. It is expected to be completed
by early 2022. Kao Cement is 33% owned by private inves-
tors from Niger and Mauritania.
Kenya: New UAE-backed plant
N airobi Business Ventures has shared plans for the es-

tablishment of a 1.0Mt/yr-capacity integrated cement
plant following its 84% acquisition by UAE-based Delta
International Holdings. Arab Finance News has reported
that the former footwear producer is in the process of
selecting a location for its upcoming plant and securing Kenya: EAPCC defaults on loan
a source of clinker imports for the plant’s preliminary
grinding-only phase.
E ast Africa Portland Cement Company
(EAPCC) has defaulted on a long-term loan
from KCB Bank. The bank has demanded im-
mediate repayment of the full loan, according
Saudi Arabia: Arar plant starts oil well to the Business Day newspaper. The cement
producer’s current liabilities grew by 70%
cement production
year-on-year to US$126m in the financial year
N orthern Region Cement has begun oil well cement pro-

duction at its 2Mt/yr-capacity Arar integrated cement
plant in Northern Borders Province. The company will begin
to June 2019. In a report made to parliament
Auditor-General Nancy Gathungu said, “This
movement was largely due to the transfer of
sale of the cement in early 2021. The American Petroleum long-term loans to current liabilities on account
Institute (API) has certified the product. of default on existing loan covenants.”
Rwanda: National Cement launches Simba cement
K enya-based National Cement has begun selling its Simba brand cement
on the Rwandan market. The New Times newspaper has reported that
the company is aiming to compete against importers from further afield
with cement produced at its Nakuru cement plant in Salgaa, Nakuru County
in Kenya, thereby alleviating supply chain bottlenecks.
National Cement reportedly selected the market due to the ‘pace of de-
velopment and infrastructure establishment,’ and is offering its cement at a
promotional price.

89 DECEMBER 2020 ON YOUR DESKTOP
middle eastern MiddleEasternCement.com

Virtual
cement
#middleeasterncement
Co-organised by
gl bal
cement
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CONFERENCE & EXHIBITION MAGAZINE
vMECC Enquiries
MENA cement and clinker markets Exhibition and sponsorship:
Free paul.brown@propubs.com
Technology trends Registration! Programme and speakers:
State-of-the-art case studies
VIRTUAL
Aït Baha Cement Plant, Morocco,

by Ottavio Tomasini, Turboden SpA
MECC 2020 FP - Virtual.indd 1 11/09/2020 08:48

GLOBAL CEMENT NEWS: MIDDLE EAST & AFRICA
Algeria: Ministry draws up 20Mt/yr export plans

Image: Port of Oran, Algeria.
T he Ministry of Trade has drawn up a plan for the export of Alge- Source: Anton Ivanov/Shutterstock.com
ria’s 20Mt/yr surplus cement, over 1.0Mt/yr of which is already
being exported to Niger and other West African neighbours. The
plan involves fully opening the country’s sea and land borders to
export this massive volume of cement, around 50% of the country’s
40Mt/yr cement production capacity.
Trade Minister Kamel Rexig said “The surplus production will be
exported and will thus guarantee an inflow of money amounting
to US$900m/yr. The ministry has identified 10 national zones of
production, including the export of cement, as a strategy for the
year 2021.” He added “The efforts made by economic and industrial
operators to increase the volume of production intended for export
in cement deserve to be encouraged.”
Nigeria: Lafarge Africa
Algeria: GICA to export to Dominican Republic sales rise 10%
T he Ain El Kebira (SCAEK) cement plant near Setif, part of the

Industrial Cement Group of Algeria (GICA), has launched an op-
eration to export 40,000t of clinker to the Dominican Republic. The
L afargeHolcim subsidiary Lafarge
Africa recorded sales worth
US$471m in the first nine months of
company has already marketed its products in Senegal, Ivory Coast, 2020, up by 10% year-on-year from
Guinea, Peru and Brazil, according to the Algeria Press Service. US$427m in the corresponding pe-
SCAEK has already exported 0.55Mt of clinker to countries in Africa riod of 2019. Its recurring earnings
and South America. The cement producer plans to export 0.75Mt of before interest and taxation (EBIT)
clinker in 2020. increased by 15.7% to US$108m from
US$93m.
Lafarge Africa CEO Khaled El
Dokani said, “Our robust results for
Nigeria: Dangote driver dispute the first nine months reflect the
strong recovery of the demand in
D angote Cement truck drivers have used their vehicles to block en-
tries to the company’s Obajana cement plant and a public road in
protest at alleged illegal employment practices. The Daily Independent
the third quarter and the successful
implementation of our ‘Health, Cost
& Cash’ initiatives.” He added that this
newspaper has listed the drivers’ alleged grievances as: salary deduc- was despite the impact of coronavirus
tions, including for damage to cement bags; arrests for no reason; and and negative local currency effects.
the sacking of 6000 drivers since 2016. The drivers are demanding the
removal of National Director Transportation Juan Carlos Rincos and his
deputy Babadinga Mohammed. Saudi Arabia: New CEO for
In response to the situation Dangote Cement said that ‘the issues Southern Province
have been resolved.’
Cameroon: Cimencam donates Covid-19 kits

S outhern Province Cement has ap-
pointed Aqeel bin Fateis bin Saeed
Kadsa as its chief executive officer. He
was assigned to the position in July
C imencam has donated 2000 Covid-19 test kits, 15 respirators and

10 reanimation beds to the Ministry of Public Health to help in its
fight against the Covid-19 outbreak. The Journal du Cameroun news-
2020. He holds a degree from the
King Fahd University of Petroleum &
Minerals and joined Southern Prov-
paper has reported that chair Pierre Moukoko Mbonjo formally handed ince Cement in 1997. Most recently
over the supplies, worth US$179,000, to Minister of Public Health André he worked as the Executive Vice Presi-
Mama Fouda at a ceremony in the Cameroonian capital of Yaounde. dent for Manufacturing Services.

GLOBAL CEMENT MAGAZINE: PRICES
White Cement (Super Sinai) = US$157.25/t;

These pages give Global Cement Magazine‘s El Menya Cement (Super Royal) =
monthly review of global cement prices US$152.78/t; El Menya Cement (Royal
- in US$ for easy comparison. Some price Elada) = US$155.33/t; Menya Hel-
information is only available to subscribers wan Cement (Alwaha Alabiad) =
to Global Cement Magazine. Subscribe on US$155.01/t.
Page 64. In this issue subscribers receive Blended cement prices as at
information from: Nigeria, China, the EU 10 November 2020: Sinai Ce-
ETS, Rwanda, Bangladesh, Uzbekistan and ment (Al Nakheel) = US$39.63/t;
Paraguay. El Menya Cement (Al Omran) =
Prices are for metric tonnes unless other- US$39.18/t; Helwan Cement (Al
wise stated. US$ conversions from local Waha) = US$40.46/t; El Sewedy
currencies are correct at the time of original Cement (Sewedy Tashtibat) =
publication. US$40.91/t.
Sulphate-resistant cement prices as
at 10 November 2020: Arabian Cement Com-
pany (Moqwem Mosalah) = US$48.26/t; Cemex (Al
Mukawem) = US$47.30/t; Minya Portland Cement
Tanzania: Dangote Cement has apologised to (Asec Sea Water) = US$46.34/t; Lafarge (Kaher Al
the government of Tanzania after failing to com- Behar) = US$47.94/t; Suez Cement (Al Suez Sea
municate a planned stoppage at its Mtwara plant. Water) = US$47.62/t; El Sewedy Cement (El Sewedy
The temporary stoppage reportedly caused prices Al Mukawem) = US$47.13/t.
to rise in the region surrounding the plant as
speculators capitalised on the lack of supply. Prices
rocketed to US$7.76-8.62/bag (50kg), from around India: Industries Minister EP Jayarajan has de-
US$4.74/bag in the week to 10 November 2020. manded a rollback of the ‘unjust’ increase in
Mtwara Regional Commissioner, Gelesius cement prices by manufacturers, accusing them of
Byakanwa ordered the management of the plant ‘daylight robbery’ and warning them of ‘stringent’
to immediately publish the ‘actual prices’ of the ce- consequences for such ‘illegal actions.’ In a state-
ment to their customers to stop further inflation. ment he said the ‘indiscriminate’ price increase was
intended simply to increase producers’ profits at a
time when cement sales had slumped due to the
Egypt: Ordinary Portland Cement prices as coronavirus pandemic.
at 10 November 2020: Arabian Cement Co (Al According to Jayarajan, average cement prices
Mosalah) = US$46.05/t; Arabian Cement Co (Al rose from US$5.09/bag (50kg) to US$5.96/bag dur-
Nasr) = US$45.58/t; Cemex (Al Nasr) = US$45.38/t; ing the outbreak. He added that manufacturers
Cemex (Al Fahd) = US$43.14/t; Minya Portland had also discontinued the practice of providing
Cement (Minya) = US$44.29/t; El Nahda Cement company discounts to dealers, prompting the lat-
(Al Sakhrah) = US$44.30/t; Wadi El Nile Cement = ter to transfer the additional financial burden to
US$45.38/t; Lafarge (Al Makhsous) = US$45.57/t; consumers.
Medcom Aswan Cement (Aswan) = US$44.36/t;
Arish Cement (Alaskary) = US$44.44/t; Sinai
Cement (Sinai) = US$44.44/t; Suez Ce- South Africa: PPC’s South African cement seg-
ment (Al Suez) = US$46.34/t; ment saw its average selling prices rise by 8-10% in
Helwan Cement (Helwan) = the year to 31 March 2020.
US$46.98/t; Misr Beni Suef
= US$47.30/t; El Sewedy
Cement = US$47.50/t;
Misr Cement Qena
(Al Masalah) = Do you have your finger on the cement
US$44.11/t; South price pulse where you are?
Valley Cement If so, Global Cement Magazine needs you!
(Ganoub Elwady) =
US$44.11/t. Contact: Peter Edwards
White cement peter.edwards@propubs.com
prices as at 10 No-
vember 2020: Sinai Regular contributors receive a free
White Cement (Alabid El- subscription to Global Cement Magazine!
nada) = US$159.81/t; Sinai

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National & Regional Reports • Interviews • Technology

GLOBAL CEMENT: THE LAST WORD
The power of typefaces...
Peter Edwards Editor, Global Cement Magazine (peter.edwards@propubs.com)
I have recently finished reading Just my Type, a book

about typefaces by Simon Garfield. Its striking cover
uses no less than 10 typefaces in the title alone, one for
lives. They are on food packaging, clothes’ labels, credit
cards, bank-notes, airport signage and transport net-
works like the New York Subway. They are the ‘face’ of
each letter. There are 200 more inside, taking the reader the internet too, rendering them almost unavoidable
from antiquity to the digital age. in the modern age. It is not surprising to see them as
A typeface has to walk a tightrope. It has to be the main body text on the HeidelbergCement, Cemex,
clear enough to be easily understood, while also being Ultratech and Votorantim websites. CNBM’s English
so ‘invisible’ that the reader doesn’t really notice it at site and Global Cement both plump for Arial. Lafarge-
all. Indeed, they are most easily noticed when they Holcim uses a tailored version of Noto Sans.
are ‘bad.’ Thankfully, there are now at least 550,000 to While any of these typefaces would work for Global
choose from. Many will be familiar with the difference Cement, others could look jarring, be illegible or bring
between serif fonts (those that have small lines and ticks unwanted associations. You can’t read about kilns
at the top and bottom of the main strokes) and sans- in School House or Mesquite because you eyes will hurt.
serif fonts (those that don’t). Minion Pro, which you are Cooper Black is best when big, bold and far away,
reading now, is a serif font from Adobe. It is recom- like on the side of an EasyJet. OPTIMA screams
mended for body text and extended reading. Hopefully ‘luxury lifestyle products.’ Zapfino is great for an Italian
you’ve never really noticed it until now. The other type- restaurant but not for reading the latest cement news.
face in Global Cement is the sans-serif Myriad Pro, also Of course, no typeface discussion can be complete
from Adobe. Its variety of widths make it adaptable for without Comic Sans, the only font that gets hate mail.
graphical text like globalcement and the news. Don’t worry, we are not going to use it.
Beyond serif and sans-serif, typefaces can vary enor- Just my Type points out that, while typefaces
mously. How far does the lower loop of the g descend are critical to companies, they can also be key to
below the rest of the letter? How tall are the shoulders national identities and political ideologies. Even a
of the letters h and n? How far does the extender of pleasant Guten Morgen written in a gothic type-
a lower-case f reach above those shoulders? Letters face (Barloesius Schrift) comes loaded with overtones
that have similar elements may not be the same. The of Teutonic heft. The use of such typefaces was consid-
thickness of the vertical parts, for example of an r and ered an essential part of German culture, but, like the
p, might differ. The width of a b and d could be subtly Nazis, gothic text was defeated in Europe in 1945. The
different. Look at the l and t of Minion Pro. Without writing was actually already on the wall before then, as
inspecting them, you’d probably say they are the same gothic presses couldn’t keep up with demand for printed
height, but even at 9pt there is a big difference. materials. Occupied Europeans couldn’t read it anyway.
Typeface designers’ decisions are often subjective. KREMLIN BOLSHEVIK is also tricky, but takes
They carefully sculpt each letter individually and check the reader to a different time and place. Underground,
how they look together on the page. When they are as fresh today as in 1916, is an integral part of London
finally happy, they release their new alphabet to the and is instantly recognisable.
world, hoping that it is simultaneously familiar enough Surprisingly, it was not until 2008 that a US
and different enough to grab attention and gain wide- Presidential Candidate, Barack Obama, used a
spread use. consistent campaign typeface. His team chose
Of course, Global Cement could use other GOTHAM, a solid sans-serif typeface that sought to
typefaces. Arial is a Microsoft stalwart dating convey Obama’s clarity and authority, right from the
from 1982. It would be totally readable, but is primaries to his Presidential acceptance speech.
beginning to look dated, which is why Calibri, qui- For 2020, Joe Biden commissioned Hoefler&Co
etly replaced it as the MS Word default in 2007. to produce Decimal and Mercury Text. I cannot use
Verdana (Arial for screens) is different again, while them here, but you are very likely to have seen them
Garamond (France, 1530s), Gill Sans (UK, 1928) and in recent months. More angular than Obama’s choice,
Futura (Germany, 1927) are some perennial favourites they nonetheless develop the bold and clear theme.
with staying power. The President-elect has over 75 million US citizens
By far the most popular typefaces, however, are to thank for victory... and maybe some well-designed
Helvetica (Switzerland, 1957) and Helvetica Neue typefaces too.
(1983). Garfield says that these have taken over our

GLOBAL CEMENT: ADVERTISERS DECEMBER 2020
gl bal
News 2020 in Cement Top Producers CCS Solar Cement Mélon Cementos Wear Protection DG Khan Refractories
cement
gl bal
December 2020
cement
TM

TM
REACHING
Refractories
NEW HEIGHTS
DG Khan
Wear Protection
Mélon Cementos
MAGAZINE
Solar Cement
CCS
Top Producers
2020 in Cement
News
US HOLCIM STE. GENEVIEVE PLANT

Advertising Paul Brown: +44 (0) 7767 475 998 / paul.brown@propubs.com
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globalcementMAGAZINE
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a single kiln in 24 hours... see Page 4
Editorial Peter Edwards: +44 (0) 1372 840 967 / peter.edwards@propubs.com

enquiries: Jacob Winskell: +44 (0) 1372 840 953 / jacob.winskell@propubs.com
American Cement VIRTUAL Conference 45 rob@propubs.com • www.AmericanCement.com

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Cimbria Unigrain A/S 35 cbe@agcocorp.com • www.cimbria.com
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CURRAX GmbH & Co KG 19 info@currax.net • www.currax.net
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KettenWulf IBC service@kettenwulf.com • www.kettenwulf.com
KIMA Process Control GmbH 9 schmidt@kima-process.de • www.kima-process.de
LafargeHolcim FC www.MaterialsThatPerform.com
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Total Lubricants 13 flora.konstantopoulou@total.com • www.lubricants.total.com
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Wintech Industries GmbH 59 contact@wintech-industries.com
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issue: January 2021 Advertising deadline: 8 December 2020
Reports: Top 10 Cement Producers, Global Cement Trends Features: Tips for 2021
Global Cement Photography Competition 2021 Winners
Regional report: Northern Europe
Technical: Fans, Condition Monitoring, Bagging, Industry 4.0,
Plant report: Big Boss Cement, Philippines Sustainability, Grinding Optimisation, Concrete Additives, Health & Safety

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News 2020 in Cement Top Producers CCS Solar Cement Melón Cementos Wear Protection DG Khan Refractories

Contents Subscribe Ad Index

DECEMBER 2020 MAGAZINE

US HOLCIM STE. GENEVIEVE PLANT

DALOG DPS November 2020.indd 1 13/10/2020 17:10

Online Condition Monitoring

For more information contact:

DALOG DPS November 2020.indd 2 13/10/2020 17:10

The Holcim Ste. Genevieve plant in Missouri, part of the

LafargeHolcim network of cement plants in the US, recently

products to leveraging alternative fuels and renewable

4 Global Cement Magazine December 2020

16 Global cement producer round-up

26 Towards full solar-powered

30 Stealing back profits with

32 Global Concrete News

34 Products & Contracts News

6 Global Cement Magazine December 2020

52 Plant report: DG Khan’s Hub plant

56 Industry 4.0 to the fore in Vietnam

Middle East & Africa

Regulars & Comment

63 Global Cement prices

65 The Last Word

66 Advertiser Index & future issues

Global Cement Magazine December 2020 7

Virtual Middle Eastern Cement

Virtual Global CemProducer 3

Virtual Global Concrete Seminar

interpack 2021 Virtual American Cement

Virtual Global CemTrans 2 RWM 2021

Download 2021 Media Information from: www.propubs.com

8 Global Cement Magazine December 2020

KILN SHELL COOLING

THAT‘S WHAT WE CALL THE KIMA PROCESS.

KIMA December 2020.indd 1 13/11/2020 14:04

David Perilli, Global Cement Magazine

10 Global Cement Magazine December 2020

The financial effects of national lockdowns

Global Cement Magazine December 2020 11

12 Global Cement Magazine December 2020

14 Global Cement Magazine December 2020

CONFERENCE • EXHIBITION Global CemEnergy Enquiries

CemEnergy 2020 FP - Virtual.indd 1 11/09/2020 08:51

Peter Edwards, Global Cement Magazine

Global cement producer round-up

T here were 156 countries and territories

No Country Integrated Totals Grinding Totals Overall Totalsw

16 Global Cement Magazine December 2020

Global Cement Magazine December 2020

Global Cement Magazine December 2020

Research conducted towards the publication of the

Global Cement Magazine 19

Interview by Peter Edwards, Global Cement Magazine

LafargeHolcim and Svante:

LafargeHolcim in the US (LafargeHolcim) and CO2 capture technology firm Svante

GC: Could you loop the scrub-filter

CL: No, as the scrub-filter gas is only

20 Global Cement Magazine December 2020

Global Cement Magazine December 2020 21

M etal organic frameworks (MOF) are a class of chemi-

GC: How long did it take to develop the MOF sorbent?

22 Global Cement Magazine December 2020

GC: Thank you for your time today

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