Test operation has started at the cement plant completed in Királyegyháza (SW Hungary) by Lafarge and Strabag through investment of €270 million.

Lafarge Country Manager Frederic Aubet said on Thursday that the plant is operational, the construction work has been completed, and only the landscaping is yet to be done until the September 15 inauguration.

Plant manager István Mikita said experience gained in the first days of the six-month test operation is good, the quality of the cement produced so far at the plant is above average.

Econews reported earlier that the Királyegyháza plant is the first new cement plant to be built in Europe for 30 years. The plant uses the most modern technology available and has capacity to turn out 1m tonnes of cement and 750,000 tons of clinker a year.