NeoCem to build 100,000tpa calcined clay plant

Following four years of research NeoCem will install the company's first calcined clay production line in Saint-Maximin, near Senlis, France. The facility will have a capacity of 100,000tpa.

To produce the cement, the company will use a flash calcination process, whereby the clay is crushed, dried and heated to 750˚C. It is then mixed with clinker and limestone and no longer needs to be reheated, according to Christophe Deboffe, founder and president of NeoCem and its parent, Neo-Eco group, based in Hallennes-lez-Haubourdin, near Lille.

The plant will provide employment for around 20 people. It represents an investment of EUR23m (US$24.9m) and is mainly financed by a consortium of regional institutional investors and Bpifrance. There is also land available to double production capacity at a later date. For now, it is expected that the new line will be commissioned in the 1Q25.