Warsaw welcomes Cemtech

This year’s Cemtech Europe event enjoyed the full support of the Polish Cement Association (SPC) and president of the association, Leonard Palka, and CEO, Dr Jan Deja, were both on hand to provide an overview of the domestic sector, which has a modern production base and exemplary levels of alternative fuel usage. Several new production lines have already come on-stream and further gains in cement consumption are forecast. Alternative fuels are also on the rise, noted Dr Deja, as manufacturers look to reduce their specific fuel consumption further. Overall, heat consumption in the Polish cement industry has fallen from 6000kJ/kg of clinker to 3700kJ/kg and many plants now operate with an electrical consumption of less than 91kW/t of clinker. The next challenge will be to lower CO2/t of clinker in line with future ETS targets from 823kg to 766kg, which will require an ambitious – even impossible –  biomass replacement level of around 25 per cent.

Cemtech regular, Jean-Christophe Lefèvre-Moulenq of CM-CIC Securities, then cast a wider look at global cement markets, noting that the industry has changed “without us realising it”. His analysis shows that four major lessons should be drawn from recent developments. Firstly, that countries are undergoing a harsh readjustment to the macroeconomic scenario and the world has been completely redrawn. Major headwinds facing advanced nations include the sovereign debt crisis, budget deficits and also bank funding problems. Secondly, thinking in “peak-to-trough” terms is now irrelevant as is the expectation of a fast return to pre-crisis construction spending and cement consumption levels. Economic recovery in the USA is being held back until 2013 and most analysts have similarly adjusted forecasts downwards as construction spending remains weak. Meanwhile, Europe faces austerity measures and low construction forecasts. Thirdly, active pricing management is also apparent and this is to be more challenging going forward. The unprecedented collapse in cement consumption has also increased the gap between demand and supply on the world stage. Finally, Jean-Christophe noted that the cement world’s centre of gravity has shifted eastward. Cement manufacture in mature countries (US, Europe) has seen its share in worldwide production diminish from 57 per cent in 1960 to 18 per cent today. Meanwhile, Asia has more than doubled its output over the last decade accounting for 76 per cent of worldwide demand. Furthermore, this shift has seen the mass emergence of new players like Anhui Conch, Votorantim, Camargo Corrêa, UltraTech, and Eurocement Group who are looking to expand their global presence. Such emerging predators are likely to initiate future mergers and acquisitions while the ‘Big Six’ producers need to sell assets to restore acceptable credit metrics.

Mikhail Skorokhod, president of Eurocement, outlines

his company’s multibillion dollar expansion programme

Underlining the strong development of such emerging players, Mikhail Skorokhod, president of Eurocement Group, then detailed his company’s massive US$2bn expansion drive. Russia’s largest cement producer plans to add 8.1Mta of cement capacity with four new plants. Following completion of these investments, Eurocement’s total domestic capacity will reach 38Mta by 2015, making it comparable in size with the leading independent producers in India and Brazil. Currently, the group has plants in Ukraine and Uzbekistan as well as Russia and distributes cement in Azerbaijan and Belarus. Its cement market share in Russia was 39 per cent in 2010. By 2015 Eurocement hopes to raise its percentage of dry-process kilns from 13 to 37 per cent. Moreover, it is looking to increase its usage of alternative fuels while reducing its reliance on coal. Providing an outline of the local market, Mr Skorokhod forecasts consumption to grow 11 per cent YoY in 2011. Investments in housing, commercial and industrial construction and infrastructure are expected to drive demand further and the outlook for 2020 sees consumption growing to 140Mt.

Robert Obetkon of PMR Research reviewed Eastern European cement and construction markets by cement production and consumption trends in nine countries. Noticeable developments are being undertaken in Belarus where new dry-process lines are being built at Krasnoselsk Construction Materials Co (1.8Mta, end-2012), Kirchev Cement (1.8Mta, end-2011) and at Belarusian Cement (1.8Mta, end-2011).

Yuri Serov of Morgan Stanley & Co then further explored the prospects for the Russian cement sector where demand has clearly been rebounding since the fall off in 2008-09 and is now outpacing GDP growth. Between July and August 2011 he revealed that the domestic industry had produced 6.5Mt, the highest monthly amount ever recorded in Russia. There was also good news for Russian producers on cement prices. While some regions had lagged behind, prices in the Central Federal District were up almost 50 per cent on the last 18 months.

Demand for residential housing projects and social building will be complimented with investment in road infrastructure, railways, airports and port construction with targets set for 2030. What is likely to hold Russia back is its slower economic growth forecast at around four per cent. Meanwhile, some 80 per cent of Russian cement capacity still utilises antiquated wet-process kilns, even while utilisation rates are kept up at above 95 per cent. By 2012, some 12 new dry-process plants will come on-stream, while a further 11 plants capable of producing 18Mt have been announced. The big unknown is how many of the old plants will be shut down.

Thoughts next turned to European trade developments as Ad Ligthart,  Cement Distribution Consultants, spoke on facilities for waterborne cement trade. HeidelbergCement was highlighted as the dominant operator in the Nordic trading area with some 41 terminals and five integrated cement plants. In the Iberian trading zone, Cemex has the most terminals with 12, followed by Holcim, Cimpor and Tudela Veguin. In the Mediterranean, it is Lafarge that holds the greatest influence with 11 terminals, five integrated plants and a grinding station.

Left to right: Dr Gunther Walenta of the Lafarge Research Centre,

Jim O’Brien of CSR Consulting and Trevor Sikorski of

Barclays Capital discuss emission reduction and sustainbility

A session on the pertinent issues of emission reduction and sustainability began with a presentation by Trevor Sikorski of Barclays Capital, on the carbon market and its impact on cement companies. He looked at the EU’s ETS Phase II implementation and reviewed domestic emission trading schemes and how they inter-linked on other parts of the world. Trevor concluded that the EU ETS is moderately priced for now and that free allocation to the cement industry will drop. Post-2012, when Phase III starts, the market will increase in its complexity and price and volume exposure for cement is expected.

Jim O’Brien, CSR Consulting, reviewed “best practice sustainability reporting”. Here he assessed the annual Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) reports of cement producers and the Cement Sustainability Initiative (CSI). CSR reports are important for defining the scope of projects and detailing joint venture activities and sustainability priorities. The CSI involves a global initiative by 23 producers covering CO2 and climate protection, responsibility for alternative fuels and raw materials, employee health and safety, emissions reductions, local impacts on land and communities, reporting communications and assurance. Good reporting should include codes of conduct and risk management, he noted. Future reporting is likely to feature water efficiency targets, KPIs for micro-pollutants and waste data. Biodiversity is also being extended to the quarry with non-government organisations (NGO) partnerships on the rise. Safety reporting is also carefully monitored along with employee health and training. On a broader level companies will also look to incorporate reviews of sustainable construction projects.

Dr Gunther Walenta of the Lafarge Research Centre (France) informed delegates of a Lafarge project in collaboration with the Institute of Ceramics and Building Materials and BRE. The venture involves the development of a new class of clinkers with mechanical performances similar to OPCs which could be produced in existing cement plants, while offering significantly lower CO2 emissions in production. The project is currently under industrial pilot trials in Burgundy. Aether™ cement (which replaces about 30 per cent of limestone with sulpho-aluminates) has higher alumina and SO3 content and lower LOI of the raw mix. The industrial trial has proved that Aether cement can be manufactured in existing plants at lower temperatures (1225-1300°C) than OPC and with lower grinding energy requirements. In total Aether generates 20-30 per cent less CO2 than pure OPC. Production is similar to OPC production but a higher level of control is needed at each process step and further research is required in regard to hydration and durability to develop appropriate standards.

Jerzy Walaszek then gave delegates an overview of the alternative fuel usage at Ozarów cement, the chosen location for Cemtech’s plant tour, before Richard Eimert of FLSmidth presented an update of recent projects in Russia and Eastern Europe. Heinrich Höse of Aumund Fördertechnik concluded presentations on the first day, with a look at improving operational efficiency and plant performance.

A technical focus

A full-day focus on technical advances within the cement industry began with a session chaired by Dr Michael Clark of Whitehopleman, UK. Jean-Marc Ritzenthaler of Cement Engineering led the way by explaining how to improve raw material management using geological surveying, optimisation of drill holes and geographical modelling. Martin Bächler of FLSmidth Maag Gear delivered a paper on an integrated side drive for horizontal mills. He noted that such drives cost less than central drive systems, require less civil works than conventional drives for installation and feature torque-split and self-aligning pinions. Modern clinker coolers also came under the spotlight with examples of retrofit and greenfield projects by Ansgar Reismann of Claudius Peters.

Tadeusz Radzieciak of Cemex Polska takes questions

following his popular presentation on high-level alternative fuel

substitution at the company’s Chelm works

Building on the discussions of alternative fuels usage in the Polish cement industry from the previous day, Tadeusz Radzieciak of Cemex Polska offered an interesting insight into high-level alternative fuel substitution at Cemex Chelm. The plant now has 2000t capacity of alternative fuel storage and is equipped with air cannons to prevent blockages in the cyclones. It also has a secondary liquid fuel line to the main burner, a tyre shredder system and equipment to feed dry sewage and animal meal to the main burner. The sewage can also be supplied to the precalciner.

Also following the theme of substitute fuels in operation, Wilfred Zieri of A TEC provided a case study on Leube Zementwerke where alternative fuels include plastics, sewage and tyre chips. In addition, Constantine Manias of Australia’s FCT-combustion Pty Ltd, looked at how secondary fuels could be a recipe for success. Con showed delegates how to maximise the benefits of using alternative fuels while maintaining standards and obtaining economic value from these fuels. He stressed that optimised combustion conditions are paramount when using alternative fuels and that there is a hidden cost in sub-optimal burners.

Thoughts then turned to cement chemistry as Arthur Harrisson talked on “Optimising quality in the marketplace”. He looked at case studies of clinker samples examined by microscopy and burnability testing to assess the best approach to improving early strength and workability.

Thomas Marx, ABB, took to the stage to present a paper on process and energy improvements – cement plant auditing with the ABB fingerprinting technique. Once ABB has ascertained a fingerprint of the operations through plant design, historical data, plant sensitivity tests and analysis though benchmarking, it provides a standardised process report identifying opportunities for minimising process variability in production and reductions in energy consumption and CO2 emissions.

Jörg Binner outlined KHD Humboldt Wedag’s new Comflex® grinding system which combines the company’s roller press, V-Separator and Sepmaster SKS technology for high efficiency and a flexible communition system. The Comflex can be configured in a number of ways with different separator placements and can be used for low energy, raw material or finish grinding applications.

José Grailet, Magotteaux, was next up to address the audience on innovations in wear parts technology. José specifically referred to extended lifetime and reliability of wear parts and introduced Magotteaux’s XCC® composite range of hammers for crushing applications and wear plates for clinker coolers. He also spoke on NeoX® and Xwin® technologies for improved wear-resistance on rollers and vertical mill tables.

Presentations were concluded by Jorg Schrabback of Sika Services, who explored reducing the clinker ratio with modern additive concepts. He explained that reducing the clinker factor is the sustainable solution for cement production and that additives could enhance cement strength and improve manufacture of lower clinker cements.

Extended programme

As an added extra, proceedings were supplemented with a Technical Workshop led by Dr Michael Clark in association with CemNet e-Learning, under the theme of:  “A co-processing future for cement manufacturing”.

Delegates tour Ozarów Cement

Meanwhile, delegates also had the opportunity to visit Ozarów Cement and explore the application of modern cement manufacturing technologies in a practical context. The 2.7Mta plant, owned by the CRH Group (Ireland), operates one of the largest single kilns in Europe and recently made substantial investments into plant automation and alternative fuel usage. This included a new RDF storage facility supplied by Schenck Process Polska with associated kiln delivery system. The RDF is delivered to the facility by truck and stored in one of five 1000t silos, enabling appropriate grading and control of the RDF according to specific parameters, namely moisture (at 15 per cent), chloride (<1 per cent) and calorific value (>18MJ). The system, which will operate in combination with ABB’s Expert Optimiser, is designed to deliver the RDF to the preheater at a rate of 40tph when fully commissioned.

Networking opportunities

Throughout the meeting, delegates could take advantage of an international exhibition area featuring many of the best-known equipment and service suppliers in the industry. Cocktail receptions were also hosted within this area, allowing for further interaction and discussion in a relaxed and informal atmosphere.  

Gala Dinner at Warsaw’s ‘Palac Kultury i Nauki’

(Palace of Culture and Science)

In addition, accompanying spouses and partners were treated to a two-day tour of some of Warsaw’s historic sites and cultural attractions. Finally, to mark the end of yet another successful Cemtech event, a Gala Dinner was held in the prestigious setting of the Palace of Culture and Science in Warsaw. Guests enjoyed a spectacular evening with an impressive programme of top performers and entertainers, who continued the tradition of making Cemtech an unforgettable experience for all involved.

Looking ahead...

Plans are now underway for next year’s Cemtech Europe event as we prepare to celebrate its 21st year. In the mean time, we hope to see you at the Cemtech Middle East and Africa Conference to be held in Dubai, UAE, between 12-15 February 2012.