Cement News tagged under: Fuel

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Petcoke ban lifted for the cement industry

14 December 2017, Published under Cement News

The Supreme Court of India has relaxed its ban on the use of petcoke and allowed it to be used in the cement and limestone industries. The Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) and the Environmental Pollution Control Authority (EPCA) both agreed that the use of petcoke in cement is not harmful due to the absorption of sulphur in the cement production process, according to the Financial Express. This decision has arrived after MoEF submitted that petcoke is mainly used as a feedstoc...

Luanda cement plant resumes production after HFO shortage

16 November 2017, Published under Cement News

China International Fund (CIF) has resumed production of its Luanda cement plant after four months of non-acitivity, because of the heavy fuel oil (HFO) shortage in the country. With the resumption of production, the 3.6Mta plant should start distributiong cement again in December or January. The Luanda Refinery stepped to supply HFO directly to CIF and Fábrica de Cimento do Kwanza Sul (FCKS) on 10 November. Several adjustments have been made by the Luanda Refinery to improve the quali...

Shree Cement sees narrowing margins despite drop in fuel cost

09 November 2017, Published under Cement News

Shree Cement Ltd’s power and fuel cost per tonne has dropped, according to a report by Mint. However, the falling cost of fuel over the third quarter of 2017 has not had much of a positive impact on the company’s earnings. The company’s cement sales volume increased seven per cent YoY to 4.8Mt over 3Q17, whilst its stand-alone net profit decreased by 27 per cent in the same period. Operating margins narrowed to 26.2 per cent in September from 32.7 per cent a year ago as the company's powe...

Caribbean Cement limits its risk of rising fuel consumption

01 November 2017, Published under Cement News

Caribbean Cement Company Ltd is now hedging its fuel bill to stabilise its costs. The company started to invest in hedges in the second quarter, amid rising sales and profit at the Rockfort-based operation and has spent US$70.76m on the hedges so far this year. Caribbean Cement entered into forward contracts through its ultimate parent company, Cemex of Mexico, to hedge the price of estimated fuel consumption. The cement producer's fuel and electricity bill remains its main production c...

India: Prism Cement receives part-fuel requirement for 5 years

01 March 2017, Published under Cement News

Prism Cement Ltd has successfully bid for 18,300tpa of coal from South Eastern Coalfields Ltd, a subsidiary of Coal India Ltd, in a recently-held auction of coal linkages for the cement industry, according to a filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange. With the bid, the cement producer has secured part of its fuel requirement for the next five years. The allocation was made at a nominal premium over the floor price.

Optimising a dynamic process

04 January 2017, Published under Cement News

The cement production process is dynamic, with substantial opportunities for optimisation, improving plant productivity as well as profitability. Cemtech Technical Workshops are an important way of disseminating this information among plant staff and have proven highly successful. We take a look at what lies ahead in the 2017 programme of Cemtech Workshops. By Dr Michael Clark, UK. Participants can nominate their own priorities during some aspects of the Cemtech Technical Workshops ...

Developing AF in Egypt

16 November 2016, Published under Cement News

With the increasing scarcity of natural gas and the hike in gas prices, Egypt’s cement producers are seeking alternative ways of firing their kilns. The availability of MSW and agricultural waste provides a good foundation, but several challenges need to be overcome. By MVW Lechtenberg, Germany. The need for waste management and the development of its related infrastructure provides Egypt's cement industry with an opportunity to support society Cement consumption in Egypt rea...

Coal classification

07 November 2016, Published under Cement News

Dr Clark understands that the accepted ways of classifying different types of coal have led to complications when plant personnel have been required to estimate the specific thermal energy consumption of cement kilns. The accepted ways of coal classification are not always useful in estimating the volume of this fuel required to fire the kiln Cement manufacturing is a capital-intensive industry where control of costs is paramount. To recover the capital investment required to...

Dangote

27 September 2016, Published under Cement News

Despite a 15 per cent increase in sales in Nigeria in July and August this year, Dangote Cement has been forced to increase its cement prices in the country due to escalating costs. Disruptions to the domestic gas supply have resulted in the producer increasingly turning to LPFO and coal to power its plants, despite these fuels being up to three times more expensive than gas. The naira has also experienced a significant devaluation against the US dollar, further increasing costs.  “The pr...

Dangote

24 August 2016, Published under Cement News

Dangote Cement has reported a 20.6 per cent increase in revenue to NGN292.2bn (US$925m) for the first half of 2016, compared to the same period last year. EBITDA, however, has fallen by 10.2 per cent to NGN132.5bn due to lower selling prices, higher fuel costs and the impact of Pan-African plants in the ramp-up phase. The six months saw the company sell nearly 13Mt of cement, up by almost 60 per cent YoY.  The Nigerian market has achieved record sales of just under 8.8Mt over the period, ...