The high demand for cement during 2005 and the prospect of such demand being sustained in the future through major infrastructure projects like the Gautrain rapid rail link, and the 2010 soccer World Cup tournament have confirmed the need for Holcim South Africa to keep all of its kilns in production in future. A substantial R169-million refurbishment project on kiln 2 at Dudfield started in 2005 in order to improve the efficiency levels at the plant. The project, which is sche-duled for completion in May, should improve production capacity by about 15 per cent.

The R347-million refurbishment project at Dudfield kiln 3, which improved production capacity of this unit by 50%, was commissioned early in 2004 and focused attention is now being given to this kiln to further improve its efficiency level.

Holcim is reportedly largest producer of construction-related materials in Southern Africa and the second-largest cement producer in South Africa with a market share of more than 30%. It also manufactures about 7.5Mt of aggregate (sand and crushed stone) and 1.4-million cubic metres of readymix concrete annually.

The company has two cement plants at Dudfield and Ulco, in South Africa, as well as one plant at Tanga, in Tanzania. The completion of a new coal-mill installation at the Tanga plant is not going to directly lead to an increase in capacity, but it will certainly reduce fuel costs and improve efficiency at the plant. Tanga has about 40 per cent market share in Tanzania.
Advertisement