Asian market prospects profiled in new report The recent financial and economic crisis in much of Asia has impacted most severely on the cement sector of several individual countries. With many nations in the midst of large-scale domestic capacity expansion, the prospects for cement supply and demand have been completely changed. A new study, entitled Asian Cement Markets: A Re-assessment of Prospects for 2000-2010, analyzes recent, current, and likely future patterns of cement supply and demand in Asia on a country-by-country basis, and assesses the likely and potential impact on other markets.

For each Asian country, annual cement supply and demand volumes are forecast through 2010. The report also offers a complete reassessment of cement supply and demand prospects throughout the continent in the wake of the Asian Crisis.

Subjects covered include: Asian cement production/consumption and trade; outlooks for cement activity to 2010 for Japan, the People's Republic of China, East Asia, Southwest Asia and Southeast Asia; implications for trade and other markets; and a summary of forecasts and conclusions.

The cost of the report is UK$535 or US$940. To order a copy of the report, contact:

Study Sales Department

Ocean Shipping Consultants Limited

Ocean House, 60 Guildford St.

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(+44) 1932-560332

fax: (+44) 1932 567084

e-mail: oceanshipping@compuserve.com

Indian company to expand India's Associated Cement Companies Ltd. plans to expand capacity to 15 million mtpy over the next two years from the current 12 million mtpy, a senior official said.

The firm produced 9.15 million mt in FY1998, compared to 8.8 million mt in the previous fiscal year. The official said the expansion would be funded through asset disposals and capital issues.

Sri Lanka gets new terminal India's Gujarat Ambuja Cement Ltd. will build a US$5 million bulk cement terminal in Sri Lanka's southern port town Galle, according to the Daily DAWN Karachi. The terminal would initially release 425,000 mt of cement to the market per year, and would increase to 500,000 mtpy by the third year of operation. No scheduled date for completion of the project was announced.

CBR publishes environment report on Belgium operations A recently published report, produced in close cooperation with a team of scientists from the University of Liege, contains an objective analysis of the environmental impact of CBR's cement-producing activities in Belgium. It provides answers to questions raised not only by people living near its operating sites, but also by staff and political decision makers. The environmental report is available in French, Dutch, and English. Examples of the content of the report include:

* In 1998, as a result of the policy geared to the long-term conservation of mineral resources, the quantities of raw materials extracted from quarries were reduced by nearly 2.1 million mt. This is equivalent to extending the life of the quarries more than 30%. This reduction was achieved through a combination of recycling industrial byproducts and using the remaining ash.

* During the past few years, CBR has reduced its energy consumption. Since 1973, the amount of fossil fuel used to produce 1 mt of clinker has been cut by 50%. This has been achieved by the increased use of renewable sources of energy and energy-efficient technological investments.

* Emissions also have been reduced, particularly of CO2. The readings taken at each of the kiln stacks indicate that nearly all the targets have been met. In the case of dioxin, for example, the readings showed low values, below 0.1 ng Teq/Nm3. This is due to the specific characteristics of the cement kilns and particularly the high operating temperatures.

* CBR is actively promoting more environmentally friendly means of transport, such as water or rail. In 1998, 59% of the raw materials for manufacturing clinker were delivered to the plants using facilities other than road transport.

* European environmental directives entail increasingly substantial investments. A significant portion of CBR's BEF $4.5 billion (US$113.4 million) investment program has been earmarked for environmental matters. This latest investment, about BEF $185 million (US$4.7 million), was the installation of a sleeve filter at the Antoing plant.

ABB supplies electronics to Nigerian firm ABB has signed a 42.3 million Swiss Francs (US$26.7 million) contract with the partly state-owned Nigerian company, West African Portland Cement (WAPCO). ABB will supply electrical equipment, design, and electrical services for a 3,000-mtpd clinker production line. Included in the order are switchgears, distribution transformers, medium- and low-voltage motors, drives as well as cables and installation material, earthing and lightning equipment, lighting and fire detection and protection. The equipment delivery began in March 2000.

The new production line will be built at WAPCO's cement plant in Ewekoro, in southwest Nigeria, 60 km northwest of the country's largest city, Largos. The Ewekoro cement plant was constructed in 1960 and has a production capacity of 690,000 mtpy. Due to the more energy efficient dry process method, the new production line will increase the plant's annual clinker output to 1 million mt.

Egypt's Misr places order Misr Cement Co. (Qena) of Egypt has placed a turnkey contract with F.L. Smidth-Fuller Engineering A/S (FFE) for a cement plant in the Nile city of Qena with a total value of 1.1 billion Danish kroner (US$150 million).

FFE will build a plant for Misr with a rated capacity of 4,500 mtpd, or 1.4 million mtpy. Located in a newly developed industrial area near Qena, 50 km north of Luxor, this will be Egypt's southernmost cement plant.

The contract comprises a complete production line, including the following machinery and equipment: raw material crushers and stores; a raw grinding plant including vertical mill for 450 mtph; a pyroprocessing installation, including precalcining and preheater with a 4.75-meter-diam Yen 74-meter-long rotary kiln; a cement-grinding installation including two UMS ball mills, each for 140 mtph in closed circuit with O-Sepa separator; and a packing plant with four packing machines from Ventomatic for dispatch of cement in bags and in bulk. In addition, two electrostatic precipitators and a complete process control system will be installed.

The new plant is scheduled to go onstream around the end of 2001 and will be equipped with the latest environmental technology.

Assiut Cement to upgrade Egyptian cement producer Assiut Cement Co. will modernize and revamp a production line-one of three, with a capacity of 5,000 mtpd-at its Assiut plant situated on the Nile, 300 km south of Cairo. The contract also includes three electrostatic precipitators (ESP) and an FLS Automation control system.

FLS's share of the contract amounts to nearly US$14 million, with US$6.36 million of equipment contracts awarded to FLS's cooperation partners in the project, the Egyptian engineering group, Arab Swiss Engineering Co. (ASEC) and its subsidiary, Aresco, both of which are responsible for all local supplies.

The contract comprises equipment to overhaul the kiln and the preheater, an ESP to serve the raw mill and the kiln, and an ESP to serve a flue gas bypass installation. An existing rotary cooler will be replaced by a grate cooler, including an ESP to dedust the fuel gases. All three ESPs will be supplied by FLS miljo a/s. Finally, FLS Automation A/S, in cooperation with ASEC Automation, will supply a control system to serve the entire production line, which is due to go onstream by the end of 2000.

Madras Cements plans $25.76 million expansion India's Madras Cements Ltd. plans to spend over Rs1.1 billion (US$25.76 million) to boost production capacity. "By the end of this year, our capacity would have increased to more than 3.5 million mtpy," the firm's vice president of finance,A.V. Dharmakrishnan reported.

The company currently produces about 2.85 million mtpy. Dharmakrishnan said capacity at the Alathiyur plant south of Chennai was being stepped up to 1.1 million from 900,000 mtpy, while output at its Jayanthipuram site will increase to 1.6 million from 1.1 million mtpy. The work was scheduled to be completed by March 2000. He said the firm also was modernizing a third plant at a cost of Rs50 million (US$1.15 million).

China to build operation in Kandhar China will build a cement plant in Kandhar, Afghanistan, said senior Chinese engineer Luo Feng. The facility will be a 1,000-mtpd-capacity plant supplied by local raw material.

"We have prepared a technical report and submitted it to Taliban authorities for consideration. If they agree, the plant would take two years to complete," the official said.

Feng said that the Chinese have selected a site, some 10 km from Kandhar for the plant. "We would also train Afghans to operate the plant as it would be a problem for us to run it," he added.

Lebanon bans cement imports for five years Lebanon has banned cement imports for the next five years to help push its ailing cement producers out of the red.

Lebanon has four major cement producers with a combined capacity of 5 million mtpy. Sales in 1999 were forecasted at only 3 million mt. For the first half of 1999, cement sales stood at 1.675 million mt, down 8.7% from the same 1998 period.

Ciments Francais ups Thai presence Ciments Francais entered into a joint-venture agreement with a group of existing shareholders of Asia Cement Public Co. Ltd, led by Bangkok Bank for the ongoing management of the company. The joint venture will flow approximately US$220 million into the new venture as investment capital.

Thai group shelves $645 million share offer Siam Cement, Thailands largest manufacturing conglomerate, pulled an offer of 30 million new shares, citing poor market conditions.

Analysts warned that the scrapped offer, which would have raised at least US$645 million, could prompt other Thai companies to scrap cash-raising plans. The move also underscores investor worries about the intractability of the debt problem and pace of Thai corporate restructuring.