New grinding plant in Russia reaches testing phase

In Russia, Mechel OAO has completed construction of a new cement grinding plant. The 1.6 million t facility is located in the Chelyabinsk Metallurgical Plant industrial zone and reportedly required an investment of US$174.4 million.

The plant was built to modern European standards, including environmental equipment to keep dust emissions to below 30 mg/m3. It will grind the cement mix to between 4500 and 6000 Blaine fineness, utilising blastfurnace slag from the Chelyabinsk Metallurgical Plant. Mechel Materials OOO’s CEO Nikolai Parkhomchuk noted that the location of the cement plant enables the company to ‘establish a highly profitably complete-cycle production, based on rational use of the (metallurgical) plant’s byproduct – waste from steelmaking’. Startup and commissioning works have been completed, and product testing is underway.

Mechel is a domestic steel and coal producer and owns the largest coal reserve base in Russia. Cement produced from the new plant can be used in construction of hydropower stations, ferrous metallurgy and heavy industry facilities, as well as more regular uses.

Russian cement demand reaches record levels

Last month it was reported that Russia’s cement production output hit a record level in July 2013. At 6.5 million t, production was 6.6% above the previous record, which was achieved in August 2007. As a result of the boom, many companies are upgrading their existing plants or building new ones. For example, Eurocement is building a new 1.8 million tpa plant in Samara province at a cost of €432 million. Transport facilities in Russia put a dampener on an otherwise promising industry – transport costs are high and there is a limit to the weight of vehicles that can be driven on federal highways in certain temperatures. Investment in transport infrastructure, including rail, is needed in order for the industry to thrive.

Lafarge Russia appoints new CEO

Elsewhere in Russia, Lafarge has appoint a new CEO to its Russian division. André Martin joins Lafarge Russia from the group’s industrial customer segment in Paris. “To come to Russia and serve as the CEO of Lafarge Russia is an honour I find humbling and motivating,” he said in a statement. Lafarge is in the process of building a new cement plant in the Kaluga region of Russia, which will add 2 million t to its existing capacity in the country when it opens next year. Lafarge has another plant in the Moscow region and one in the Chelyabinsk region, as well as the Novoaleksandrovsky aggregate plant and four aggregate quarries.

Edited from various sources by Katherine Guenioui

Read the article online at: https://www.worldcement.com/europe-cis/01102013/russian_grinding_plant_in_testing_phase_234/