Cement News tagged under: Energy fuel & power

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Egypt: South Valley to invest in expansion, coal usage

20 March 2014, Published under Cement News

South Valley Cement is due to sign a contract for a five-year long-term loan agreement worth EGP1.2bn (US$172.4m) from the Arab African Bank to increase production capacity and utilise coal. Ahmed El Miqaty, member of the board of directors, revealed that the company will spend EGP600m on expanding its factory and investing in new technology to increase capacity, according to AlMal Newspaper. The rest of the loan will be used to buy equipment to grind and ignite coal, for which the company...

Pakistan: DG Khan second-quarter profit rises

14 February 2014, Published under Cement News

DG Khan, one of Pakistan's leading cement producers, posted a 14 per cent YoY rise in profit during 2QFY14 to PKR1.61bn but higher power costs affect gross margins.   Earnings per share rose to PKR3.68 against PKR3.22 a year earlier.   Revenues increased by 10 per cent YoY to PKR6.54bn while gross margins declined to 34 per cent from 40 per cent in the comparative period of FY13 due to higher power costs.   Earnings were down 5.6 per cent YoY to PKR2.66 compared to PKR2.82bn in 2QFY13....

Lafarge awaits gov't decision on petcoke usage, Egypt

07 February 2014, Published under Cement News

Lafarge has been ordered by Egypt’s Ministry of State for Environmental Affairs (MSEA) to halt its preparations to build storage units for petcoke, according to a statement by the ministry on Tuesday. The MSEA expects the company to wait for a final decision on the use of petcoke as fuel in its industrial operations. Lafarge submitted a study to MSEA on the environmental impact of petcoke in May 2013 and awaits a government decision on its use. The MSEA does not allow cement factories to i...

Cimko to receive IFC loan, euro syndicated loan

29 January 2014, Published under Cement News

The IFC is to provide a long-term financing package to Turkish cement producer Cimko to back investments in the ready-mix concrete segment and energy efficiency, the international lender has said. The debt facility includes a US$40m loan for IFC's own account and a syndicated loan of EUR18m from BNP Paribas Fortis SA/NV mobilised by IFC. The IFC said the project is expected to strengthen Cimko's competitiveness and increase employment in the southeast Anatolia region of Turkey,...

Bolivia: gas deal for Yacuses plant

28 January 2014, Published under Cement News

A cement plant in Yacuses, Bolivia, being constructed by Itacamba has received government authorisation to take delivery of natural gas to fire its new kiln line. Yacimientos Petrolíferos Fiscales Bolivianos (YPFB) will deliver 250,000m3 as well as a US$15m-long pipeline which will be connected to Brazil, according to the agreement with YPFB. Construction of the US$200m cement line is expected to start in April and will see capacity rise by 0.2Mta to 0.85Mta by April 2015. The additional...

Pakistan production costs set to increase

10 January 2014, Published under Cement News

Pakistan cement producers fear further production costs increases after the Gas Infrastructure Development Cess (GIDC) has been increased from PKR50/mmbtu to PKR100. This will push up costs for those producers with gas-fed captive power plants, such as Lucky Cement, DG Khan Cement and Maple Leaf Cement Company. The Pakistan Tribune quoted Farhan Mehmood of Sherman Securities as saying that the increase could  lead to an increase of cement prices by PKR10-12/bag. The tax was initially...

US energy efficiency update

09 January 2014, Published under Cement News

US cement industry energy consumption in 2012 decreased by 2.1 per cent against 2011 levels, the recently released annual Labor-Energy Input Survey by the PCA indicates. This energy decrease occurred despite the third consecutive year of increases in average clinker capacity utilisation rates, the PCA highlights. The use of coal and petcoke, the primary fuels for cement production, declined from 70  to 63 per cent. Natural gas’ contribution to the fuel mix surged from around four per cent i...

Nuh Cimento subsidiary sells stake in electricity producer, Turkey

30 December 2013, Published under Cement News

Nuh Cimento announced that its Nuh Enerji Elektrik energy subsidiary has agreed to sell its 100 per cent stake in electricity producer Pamuk Elektrik to Haldiz Insaat Otomotiv, for a consideration of TRY8.2m (EUR 2.8m) The deal is subject to approval from Turkish energy market regulator EPDK and from the other related local authorities, according to a bourse statement by Nuh Cimento. The Turkish cement producer added that it would record a TRY16.6mn loss from the sale.

Germany: Renewable Energy Sources Act feared by cement sector

18 December 2013, Published under Cement News

The Renewable Energy Sources Act (EEG) is expected to be detrimental to the production of the German cement industry as well as presenting considerable risks to the sector's competitiveness, according to a recent study of the Münster-based EEFA Research Institute on behalf of the German cement association VDZ. The report entitled: ‘Wettbewerbsfähige Stromkosten. Voraussetzung für die Zementherstellung am Standort Deutschland’ [Competitive Electricity Costs. Requirements for the cement prod...

Dangote to commission Zambia power plant by end-1Q14

18 December 2013, Published under Cement News

The Dangote Group will commission a US$50m power plant in the first quarter of 2013 to supply its factory currently under construction in Ndola, Zambia Anand Kameshwar, company senior general manager responsible for the project told the Times of Zambia that construction of the power plant was progressing well and the power plant will start operating by the end of the first quarter of 2014. “This plant is intended at making its own power available to the cement plant as opposed to connectin...