Displaying items by tag: plant

Indonesia: Krakatau Semen is set to start producing ground granulated blast furnace slag (GBFS) at its Cilegon plant by December 2016. The joint venture between Krakatau Steel and Semen Indonesia is due to produce 300,000t/yr of slag powder, according to Bisnis Indonesia. The company has invested US$36m into building the plant. Construction started in 2014.

US: A site where Orcem California plans to build a US$50m slag grinding plant has been added to the Vallejo heritage list potentially adding planning complications to the project. Dina Tasini, the north Californian city’s planning manager, said that any possible future plans for the site must first receive a certificate of appropriateness, according to the Vallejo Times-Herald.

Orcem California, a subsidiary of Ecocem, is proposing to build and operate a slag grinding plant on the former General Mills flour mill site near to the Vallejo Marine Terminal. However, the project faces opposition from local environmental groups.

India: JSW Cement started building a 2.4Mt/yr cement grinding plant in January 2016 at Salboni in West Bengal. The US$119m plant will produce both Portland slag cement and ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBS). It is planned to be finished in the first quarter of 2017. Environmental clearance for the project was granted in mid-January 2016.

Raw materials for the grinding plant include 0.74 – 095Mt/yr of slag and 1.50 – 1.76Mt/yr of clinker. The slag will be sourced from Tata Steel and the Steel Authority of India. Originally the site was intended for a 10Mt/yr steel plant, according to local media.

India: JSW Cement has ordered eight 90t/hr roller press slag grinding units from KHD Humboldt Wedag India Private Ltd (India) and KHD Humboldt Wedag GmbH (Germany) for its plants in India.

UK: Mineral resources company Francis Flower has announced the acquisition of the Scunthorpe ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBS) plant from Hanson Cement.

The business is capable of producing more than 500,000t/yr of GGBS and supplies customers in the Midlands and north of England. GGBS complements Francis Flower's existing range of high quality powdered minerals, which originate as by-products from various industries. This reduces the need for mineral extraction and landfill, delivering sustainable environmental solutions for its customers. The acquisition reflects both Francis Flower's commitment to developing its range of products and services in this sector and the credibility it has for making the most of mineral resources.

"We are absolutely delighted and very excited to announce this new acquisition. GGBS is an excellent fit to our existing product range and will help further our longstanding relationships in this sector," said Adrian Willmott, Chairman and CEO of Francis Flower. "We have a proven track record of making the most of mineral resources, reducing the need for mineral extraction as well as landfill and delivering sustainable solutions for our customers. We are very much looking forward to working with the team in Scunthorpe and developing the opportunities in the GGBS market as the UK construction sector continues to grow."

US: Essroc, part of Italcementi, has acquired the Holcim (US) slag cement grinding plant in Camden, New Jersey, according to MarketLine. As part of the transaction, Essroc will also obtain Holcim's cement terminal in Everett, Massachusetts, US. Upon completion of the transaction, Holcim's staff in Camden and Everett will join Essroc. The transaction is expected to be completed later in 2015. The acquisition will allow Essroc to strengthen its position in the sustainable building products market.

India: According to local media, Sunvik Steels plans to expand its integrated steel plant in Jodidevarahalli, Tumakuru, Karnataka. The estimated cost of the project is US$86.8m.

The existing plant has three 100t/day direct reduced iron (DRI) kilns, a 12t/hr induction furnace based steel melting shop, a 100t/day roller mill, a 10MW captive power plant, a 2000bricks/day fly-ash brick plant and one 15t/day slag crusher and beneficiation plant. The proposed expansion will see the plant consist of one 200t/day DRI kiln, a 500t/day induction furnace based steel melting shop, a 500t/day roller mill, 5MW and 10MW captive power plants, a 300t/day blast furnace, two 100t/day tunnel kilns, a 2000t/day iron ore pelletisation and beneficiation, a 6000bricks/day fly-ash brick plant, a 100t/day fly-ash beneficiation plant and a 30t/day slag crusher and beneficiation plant. The project is waiting for environmental clearance.

US: Lafarge and Holcim have announced further details on the package of assets that they propose to divest in the US as part of their planned merger to create LafargeHolcim. The divestments include:

- Lafarge's 1.1Mt/yr Davenport cement plant in Iowa and seven terminals along the Mississippi River. The units will be sold to Summit Materials for US$450m in cash plus Summit's Bettendorf, Iowa cement terminal;
- Holcim terminals in Michigan and Illinois;
- Holcim Skyway 600,000t/yr slag grinding station in Illinois;
- Holcim Camden 700,000t/yr slag grinding station in New Jersey, along with a terminal in Massachusetts.

The proposed divestments have been negotiated with the staff of the Federal Trade Commission and remain subject to review and approval by the commission. The divestments will be completed subject to acceptance by the commission and to the closing of the merger between Holcim and Lafarge.

Vietnam: Binh Thuan Mineral Industry JSC (KSA) on 26 December 2014 was given the investment certificate to start construction on a 60,000t/yr titanium slag processing plant. The plant, located on 0.11km² of land in the Thanh Hai Industrial Cluster, plans to produce titanium slag for export to Japan and South Korea, where demand is high.

KSA has been building the infrastructure for the project for four years, from basic design and equipment selection to researching markets and preparing an appraisal for submission to the prime minister. To ensure material input, KSA acquired shares in companies that have existing mines or were already co-operating with existing mines. Thang Hai Industrial Cluster was the first in the country to specialise in titanium processing and is considered Vietnam's first titanium industry hub.

France: Holcim will sell its slag grinding plant in Dunkirk as part of divestments required by the European Commission (EC) to approve its merger with Lafarge.

The European Union's antitrust authority has required asset sales by both companies in regions where their activities overlap. The EC's approval is conditional upon the divestment of Lafarge's businesses in Germany, Romania and the UK. Holcim is required to divest its operations in France, Hungary, Slovakia, Spain and the Czech Republic. The proposed transaction concerns assets worth several billion Euros and will create the world's largest cement producer, with operations in 90 countries.

"The Commission had concerns that the transaction, as originally notified, would have had a detrimental effect on competition in a significant number of markets in the European Economic Area (EEA)," said the EC. "The commitments offered by the two companies address these concerns."

According to the EC, its assessment found that the merged entity would have faced insufficient competitive pressure from the remaining players in many markets. This would have brought a risk of price rises. In order to prevent a negative impact on competition, the companies have committed to divesting most of the operations where their activities overlap. Further, the EC said that Holcim and Lafarge will not be allowed to close the deal until it has approved the buyers of the assets put up for sale.