Pakistan: DG Khan Cement secures loan for new projects

Pakistan: DG Khan Cement secures loan for new projects
25 November 2011


Dera Ghazi Khan Cement (DGKC) recently signed an agreement with the Economic Cooperation Organisation (ECO) Trade and Development Bank for a loan for three projects with the intent of slashing fuel and power costs.

The ECO-TDB is a multilateral development bank established by Pakistan, Iran and Turkey in 2005, with the mandate of financing development programmes and projects, similar to those undertaken by the World Bank and Asian Development Bank.

According to Inayatullah Niazi, CFO of DG Khan Cement, the loan, around US$21m, will be used to finance a Waste Heat Recovery (WHR) project at Kalar Kahar as well as two Refuse Derived Fuels (RDF) projects. The total cost of these projects comes to about INR3.5bn (US$40m).

DGKC has already received plenty of good press for its environmentally friendly processes.

DGKC already has a WHR plant, which started operations in June 2010, and the new WHR project-the one being financed by ECO-TDB-is expected to commence operations by mid-2012. Currently, Lucky Cement, Bestway Cement and Maple Leaf Cement also boast WHR plants, besides DGKC.

As for RDF, while one phase of the project has already commenced in Khairpur, the second one-to be set up in DGKC-is likely to see the light of the day come December, this year.

WHR will be instrumental in trimming down the company’s power costs, and RDF will help replace coal-a key raw material in cement production-helping bring foreign exchange savings for the company.
Published under Cement News