INDONESIA: Chinese companies to build cement plant

Two Chinese companies signed an agreement on Thursday to jointly invest in an Indonesian cement factory as part of investment cooperation measures agreed by the two countries in 2013.

State Development and Investment Corp. (SDIC) and Anhui Conch Cement Company (Conch) will fund the project of building production lines and relevant facilities of the factory located in West Papua Province.

After the construction is completed, the factory will have annual capacity of three million tonnes, serving for Indonesia's economic corridor and neighboring countries including Papua New Guinea.

SDIC and Conch will have a stake of 51 percent and 49 percent, respectively, of the factory, according to the agreement.

During Chinese President Xi Jinping's visit to Indonesia last October, cooperative investment agreements worth 20 billion U.S. dollars were inked by over 40 companies.

SYRIA: Lafarge cement evacuates Syrian plant

Lafarge employs around 250 people in Syria - the majority at the northern plant and the rest in office buildings in the capital Damascus.

French cement maker Lafarge has evacuated its Syrian factory and halted all operations there indefinitely for security reasons, a company spokeswoman said on Thursday.

The cement plant is 160 km (100 miles) northeast of Aleppo, near the Turkish border, an area where the United States has carried out air strikes against ISIL militants.

Lafarge employs around 250 people in Syria - the majority at the northern plant and the rest in office buildings in the capital Damascus.

The plant was evacuated on Sept. 18 and all operations have been halted until workers' security can be guaranteed, the spokeswoman said. The factory has the capacity to produce up to 2.6 million tonnes of cement a year.

Rami Abdulrahman, who runs the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said the ISIL took control of the plant five days ago after militants carried out a suicide bomb attack on a Kurdish checkpoint and made their way to the factory.

Lafarge declined to comment on whether the plant, located in Raqqa province, had been besieged by ISIL militants. A spokeswoman only said "no major damage" appeared to have been incurred to the factory and that the group had asked its workers not to return to the site.

ETHIOPIA: Power supply shortage forces Chinese cement factory to produce half its capacity

A sister company of the Eastern Industry Zone, East Cement SC, which was established some six years ago and had commenced operations four years ago to produce some 2,000 tons of cement and 1,500 tons of clinkers has said that it has limited its production because of shortages of electric power supply. 

Making matters worse, the interruptions are making it difficult to be engaged in the business of cement making, according to Wei Watao, deputy general manager of East Cement factory located at the North of Addis, some 100 km away and near to Fiche town. East Cement has two production lines Portland Pozzolana Cement (PPC) and Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC), for the latter, the factory says it will bump on massive production. However, the factory is forced to switch production lines at a time due to power shortage. 

Watao told The Reporter that the factory has settled a payment of some 60 million birr to have a special electric power line stretching from the Sululta substation, some 20 km north of Addis. By November, the special lines are expected to reach the factory gates with 12 MW. 

Out of the existing 18 cement factories, East Cement has been favored with few others to supply for the construction of the Addis Ababa Light Railway project. Previously, the factory was supplying building materials for the construction of the African Union Commission headquarters. Yet, East Cement remains to be one of the smallest factories with annual production capacity less than 730,000 tons. OPC is mainly used for huge construction activities and for which East Cement bids for major state-owned projects.

According to Matao, the existing price, together with the power cut and fluctuation, has made Ethiopia less favorable for the cement industry. Two years ago, following the surge in production in Ethiopia, factories like East Cement were looking to tap into neighboring markets, particularly the South Sudan market. However, the poorly conditioned roads to the other side forced both the Chinese and factories like Mugher Cement to halt exports. Accordingly, the growing production and the decreasing price for cement forced mini-factories to cease production and close down. Operations costs and production capacity and the current state of technology are some of the reasons for mini and small factories to be forced to be kicked out of the industry. For some like Watao, it is the increasing production and the declining price of cement which is playing the central role. 

According to the recent study made by the Nigeria-based Eco bank, Ethiopia stood third next to Nigeria and South Africa for leading in cement production in 2013 in sub-Saharan Africa. Eco bank noted that Ethiopia produces some 12.6 million metric tons per year. The demand for cement has also been said increasing, registering six million metric tons or 61 kg of per capita consumption. However, the government in its five-year economic plan stipulated that the current total production to reach some 27 million tons and the per capita consumption to reach at 300 kg by the end of 2015. 

East Cement has made some 1.8 billion birr capital investment. Currently, East Cement is finalizing to fulfill the natural coal usage instead of using heavy fuel oil for the clinker production. 

The Chinese government owns 40 percent stake of the Eastern Industry Zone, located at Dukem town, 40 km east of Addis. The owners are planning to build a giant, five-star rated hotel, according to information obtained from Bizualem-Kids general trading – the exclusive agent and transporter of East Cement. Now, top officials of the Eastern Industry Zone are in town bidding to acquire land.

INDIA: Govt opts for cement over bitumen for all new road projects.

The government has decided to abandon bitumen—the popular raw material for road construction—in favour of cement for all new road projects, in line with a proposal by transport minister Nitin Gadkari. 

The detailed project reports for new road projects will assess the project cost factoring cement as the raw material, according to two ministry officials, who declined to be named. The ministry has also changed the model for assessing the project cost. The projects will now be evaluated on the basis of the life cycle cost of the project, against the current model of using just the cost of construction. 

“We have decided to now start using cement for all new projects that are in the pipeline as long as the cost of construction of a concrete road is not more than 20% higher than that of a road made using bitumen. The idea is that using cement will bring down the cost of maintenance significantly,” said one of the officials cited earlier. “So, the consultant will now evaluate the project on the basis of the cost over the life cycle of the project instead of how much it would cost to construct it, which means incorporating the maintenance cost of the project,” he added. 

Gadkari has proposed the use of cement for road construction on the grounds that it is more durable and cheaper to maintain than bitumen in the long run, even though it is more expensive. 

To be sure, cement will be used as the raw material for the project unless the government-appointed consultant for evaluating the project makes a case against it. 

“The consultant will have to demonstrate why cement or concrete cannot be used in a particular project, say in case the climatic conditions or topography do not support the use of cement,” said the second official. 

Further, the ministry has floated a tender to fix an annual rate for cement that will help explore a competitive price for the raw material. The developers will be able to purchase cement for road construction at this price from the cement manufacturer. 

Abhaya Agarwal, a partner at EY who oversees the infrastructure practice at the consulting firm in India, said: “We need to experiment with cement roads in India. The life cycle cost of roads made using cement could be better. However, we need to be very clear about the raw material in the bidding documents and be sure the road is for the long term and not dug up frequently. Also, the availability of raw materials for the cement industry like coal and limestone should be taken stock of.” 

The use of cement will be supported for all projects bid under all models—BOT (build-operate-transfer) toll, EPC (engineering-procurement-construction) and BOT annuity. 

“Concrete roads are better in many ways, and if constructed well, the life is much better. While the upfront cost is higher, the life cycle costs can be similar to bituminous roads, provided the cement can be sourced at reasonable rates. Designing a concrete road though is a little more complex. Also, driving on a concrete road can be rougher and tyres’ wear-and-tear can be more, but with suitable covering, that can also be taken care of, at least partly,” said Parvesh Minocha, group managing director at infrastructure consultancy Feedback Infra Pvt. Ltd. “The real issue is of laying concrete roads—equipment, expertise and the care it needs. Not many construction companies are well-experienced in this. And removing construction defects is a lot tougher.”

WORLD: Cement which reduces CO2 emission developed

The researchers of Switzerland, India and Cuba have come together to develop limestone calcined clay cement (LC3) which will help reduce carbon dioxide emission (CO2) by almost 30 percent.

The research aided by the Swiss government is a new blend which substitutes up to half of the carbon intensive materials traditionally used to make cement.

"The LC3 project is an example of scientific and technical collaboration between Switzerland and India. The innovative cement production process on which these institutions are working is of great economic and environmental significance," Switzerland Ambassador Linus von Castelmur, told IANS Tuesday.

The LC3 is a synergetic hydration of clinker (a dark grey nodular material made by heating ground limestone and clay at a temperature of about 1400-1500 Celsius), calcined clay and crushed limestone to achieve the performance required from commercial cements, with clinker factors as low as 0.40.

It is also said that the raw materials are easily available in many of parts of India and Cuba.

Having completed with the first phase, the new cement also has lower processing and capital investment which can be economically favourable to standard cement production.

India is the first country where cement was tested in laboratory and in the field. India is the second largest producer of cement accounting for around eight percent of the country's industrial carbon dioxide emissions.

"The testing and application phase is over, now it has to pass through standardisation committee before it is accepted by the industries. The research which has been done will not be a patent protected but available to everyone," Castelmur said.

The project is at the tune of $4.3 million and has researchers from Federal Institute of Technology, Lausanne; Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, and Technology and Action for Rural Advancement.

CONGO RD: Des chantiers à l’arrêt faute de ciment gris à Kalemie

Plusieurs chantiers de construction à Kalemie, dans le nord du Katanga, sont à l’arrêt suite à une pénurie de ciment gris dans cette ville. Depuis une dizaine de jours, les dépôts de ciment sont tout simplement vides. Le prix du sac de 50 kg est passé de 18 à 20 dollars américains. Pour certains opérateurs économiques, la récente grève à la Société nationale des chemins de fer congolais (SNCC) explique en partie cette pénurie.

Pourtant, l’usine de ciment de la société Interlacs n’est qu’à 60 km de Kalemie.

Selon un syndicaliste de cette entreprise, La SNCC est le transporteur ferroviaire, puis lacustre du charbon qui alimente le four de la cimenterie d’Interlacs.

En un mois, tout ce que l’entreprise possédait comme stock de ciment s’est épuisé.

La même source évoque aussi une augmentation sensible de la demande en ciment, due essentiellement aux grands travaux de modernisation de la ville et de ses environs par le gouvernement, par le biais des sociétés Malta Forrest, Safricas et Synohydro.

En outre, une forte clientèle de la même entreprise provient aussi de la province du Sud-Kivu.

Du coup, selon ce syndicaliste, les 150 tonnes de ciment gris de production journalière ne suffisent plus.

AFRICA: Dangote's cement rivals

Africa's economic growth is driving demand for building materials. Nigeria's Dangote Cement and Europe's Lafarge and Holcim are the top players fighting for dominance in Africa's cement trade.

Cement giants Lafarge of France and Dangote of Nigeria have skirmished before, but they are now crossing swords in earnest as Swiss group Holcim prepares to merge with Lafarge to form the world's largest cement-producing group.

In April, Holcim announced its plans to merge with Lafarge to form LafargeHolcim, but the deal faces some obstacles from anti-trust authorities, especially in Europe, and could be settled in the second half of the year.Indigenous companies and foreign firms are setting up new plants all over the continent. But while Africa certainly needs more building materials to feed its infrastructure drive, will the fight lead to oversupply?

If it is approved, the company will provide intense competition for Nigeria's Dangote Cement, which is ramping up production.

The cement magnate Aliko Dangote's expansionist policy in Africa over the past couple of years includes the rolling out of new capacity in 13 countries across the continent.

The Holcim-Lafarge deal has also sparked merger and acquisition speculation across the globe as both companies look to divest operations in order to avoid problems with competition commissions.

In the meantime, a number of other companies are also plan- ning to extend their footprints on the continent in the shadows of Dangote and Lafarge.

The International Finance Corporation (IFC), the World Bank's private-sector arm that has a $1.1bn global cement portfolio, estimates that Africa needs to add capacity of 10-15m tonnes per annum (mtpa) for each of the next 10 years to meet the market's growing demand.

Production in Africa rose by 33mtpa over the previous four years to reach 88mtpa in 2013.

Consumption of cement per capita is around 100kg in Africa, compared with around 570kg globally or 285kg if China's consumption is excluded.

Although many African countries have a large unmet demand for cement, some analysts suggest there might be too much new capacity.

"Given all the projects that are in the pipeline today, it's very difficult to think that Africa will absorb all this capacity projected to come on stream in the next three to five years," says Andy Gboka, equity research analyst at London-based Exotix.

Prices in sub-Saharan Africa have averaged around $180/tn in recent years, compared with around $100/tn worldwide. New capacity is likely to push prices down further.

The companies that are set to be affected adversely are those that export to Africa – companies such as Pakistan's Lucky Cement.

According to Exotix, two thirds of sub-Saharan African countries rely on imports to meet half of their demand, with imports worth $5bn in 2012.

The new capacity should help boost interregional trade in cement, which was only at 13% of consumption in 2012.

Across the continent, demand and supply remain unevenly spread. Demand is not strong in countries such as Côte d'Ivoire, while in Ethiopia there is a large amount of supply due to come online.

In 2012, Ethiopian- Saudi businessman Mohammed Al Amoudi's MIDROC opened a cement plant at Derba, adding 2.5mtpa of capacity. Rising supply in Ethiopia pushed down prices, which plummeted from $250/tn in 2011 to $150/tn in 2012.

They are now hovering at around $120- $130/tn, according to Exotix.

Dangote catches up

For now, Lafarge remains the largest cement manufacturer in Africa, and it also operates in 64 countries around the world.

Lafarge has the capacity to produce 44mtpa in Africa, much of it in North Africa, where it has large operations in Egypt, Algeria and Morocco.

"Lafarge has not invested anything over the past three to four years in Africa," says Michel Folliet, industry analyst for the building materials sector at the IFC. "They were concentrating on reducing their debt," he explains.

"Lafarge will not be caught [up] by Dangote over the next five to 10 years," Folliet says, because of Lafarge's large base in North Africa.

In sub-Saharan Africa, however, Folliet predicts Dangote will take over as the largest manufacturer this year. "I can see [Dangote] with 25% of the total sub-Saharan market," he says.

Dangote currently has 20.3mtpa of capacity in Nigeria, 1.5mpta in South Africa and a 1mpta import terminal in Ghana.

The company plans to commission another 7mtpa in the rest of the continent this year, including another 2.5mtpa in South Africa.

Strengthening its rivalry with Dangote, in July Lafarge shareholders approved a merger of its Nigerian and South African operations to create an entity called Lafarge Africa.

The company will have 12mpta of capacity and will be listed on the Lagos Stock Exchange.

The merger between Holcim and Lafarge could also bring some consolidation in countries where the two companies operate as separate entities.

Lafarge's operations in sub-Saharan Africa are considerably larger than Holcim's, although the Swiss firm has plants in Côte d'Ivoire, Guinea and a few other countries.

Nigerian consolidation

The proposed merger raises some interesting questions in Nigeria, where the two companies already have a joint venture, Nigerian Cement Holding, that owns a controlling 72% stake in United Cement Company of Nigeria (UniCem).

"The big question mark is will they buy out the minorities," says Exotix's Gboka. The other 28% of UniCem is owned by Flour Mills of Nigeria, which did not respond to our request for comment.

Both Holcim and Lafarge have paid fines for anti-competitive behaviour, mainly in Europe, and are likely to be keen to avoid paying out again.

In Morocco, the question of competition comes into sharper focus. Combined, the two companies' operations – Holcim Morocco and Lafarge Morocco, which Lafarge runs as a joint venture with the state-owned Société Nationale d'Investissement – control more than 50% of the cement market.

The country does not have strong anti-trust authorities, but Holcim and Lafarge may still come under some pressure to reduce its dominance.

While Dangote Cement has emerged as the most high-profile local player on the continent, there are other pretenders to its crown. The winners going forward will be those companies that can keep down their production costs.

One model for companies to do this is to control the supply of clinker – a mixture of limestone and aluminosilicates that is used to make cement.

In Ghana, for example, companies have to import clinker because of the very limited local limestone reserves.

Ghana consumed 5.25m tonnes of cement in 2013, according to the IFC, and three quarters of it arrived in the country as clinker that was then ground into cement.

South African firm PPC is on a drive to expand its business into the rest of the continent. It is already expanding into Ethiopia, Rwanda, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Algeria and recorded first-half profit growth of 52% in 2014.

Its model is to build integrated plants, where it controls both clinker production and grinding.

Moroccan contender

Another company aiming to increase its footprint is Ciments de l'Afrique, owned by Morocco's Groupe Addoha.

It is adding capacity in eight countries and plans to send clinker from Morocco to West Africa, where it will build grinding capacity.

"They are going much faster than Dangote," says Gboka. However, few see Ciments de l'Afrique as a rival to Dangote. "Nobody is interested [in the company's expansion]," says Gboka.

Addoha's cement strategy is tightly linked with that of its real estate arm, which is working on low-income housing projects in countries such as Ghana.

Not put off by competition, players such as China's Jidong Development Group are moving into the continent.

In May, Jidong and its partners announced plans to build a R1.8bn ($167m) greenfield plant with more than 1mpta of capacity in South Africa's Limpopo Province through a vehicle called Mamba Cement.

Although the expansion priority of China's huge cement companies – including Anhui Conch and China National Building Material Company – is still Southeast Asia, Jidong's entry shows that they are beginning to look at the African market.

Dangote and LafargeHolcim look set to dominate the continent's cement market for the foreseeable future. But their ef- forts are opening up the way for newcomers with an eye on the continent's long-term demand.

NIGERIA: Lafarge asks court to stop SON from sealing up factory

Lafarge Cement WAPCO Nigeria Plc has filed a suit before a Federal High Court sitting in Lagos, seeking an order to stop the Standard Organisation of Nigeria (SON) and its agents from closing the business premises of the firm over alleged non-compliance with the recent directive on product labelling and traceability.

The company is seeking an interim order to restrain SON carrying out the threat of sealing the business premises pending the hearing and determination of the suit.

Lafarge, a cement manufacturer, which is challenging the power of SON to pre-approve all advertisement/commercials of the plaintiff as well as certify block makers in Nigeria, is alleging that the directive by SON was to confer unfair advantage to its competitors and thereby bringing about monopoly in the cement industry.

The company, which is also contending that it had no complains about the product labelling, also noted that deadline for same was too short, as it required more time to calibrate its machines to achieve same.

The company, in an affidavit in support of the suit, averred that SON convened a meeting of stakeholders of the Cement manufacturing sector and at the said meeting, the defendant came up with an action plan termed “The Standards Organization of Nigeria’s Directives on Product Labelling and Traceability Requirements, a set of new policies to be observed by cement manufacturers.

“After the July 21, 2014 meeting of stakeholders of Cement industry with officials of the defendants, the defendant’s Director-General addressed the media, where he issued a 60 day ultimatum to Cement manufacturers to comply with her said directives on product labelling and traceability requirements and has reiterated its readiness to sanction cement manufacturers for failure to comply with the directives/policies.

“This is further corroborated by the defendant’s letter dated August 5, 2014 which is addressed to the plaintiffs Managing Director”.

The defendant’s published directives/policies are designed to de-market the plaintiff’s 32.5 grade cement, and confer unfair advantage to the plaintiff’s competitors and enthrone monopoly in the cement industry.

“The defendant in an attempt to confer unfair advantage to the plaintiff’s competitors and enthroning monopoly in the cement industry has arrogated itself the powers to pre-approve all advertisement/commercials of the plaintiffs as well as certify block makers in Nigeria.

“The plaintiff has reasons to believe that the published policies and directives by the defendants are not within the ambit of their enabling law/statute, hence the substantive suit instituted by the plaintiff against the defendant.

“The plaintiff has consequently approached this court in order to prevent the defendant from implementing the said directives as they were issued in violation of/non-compliance with the provisions of the SON Act,” Lafarge argued.

The plaintiff further submitted that the sole issue arising for determination of the suit was “Whether in the light of the circumstances of this case, the plaintiff has made a case for the grant of this application for interlocutory injunction in this suit.

“The plaintiff submits that this court has the requisite jurisdiction and power to grant the present application in order to preserve the res (subject matter) of this litigation.

“The “Res” here is the non-implementation of the defendant’s decision on traceability of products, pre-approval of advertisements/commercials as well as the plaintiff’s label on her products.

“There is also the need to halt the implementation of the defendant’s decision to act as a certifying body to sellers of building materials (especially cement and block makers) pending the determination of this suit.

“The Plaintiff is a producer of cement and therefore, has a right to market and sell its products unhindered by the defendant or any other person,” Lafarge stressed.

SAUDI ARABIA: Kingdom cement industry not out of the woods yet

Even with a number of big ticket infrastructure and real estate projects being slated for 2014, the Saudi cement sector "is not out of the woods yet with the labor shortage continuing to impact the construction sector," Al Rajhi Capital said in its latest analysis on the Kingdom's cement sector.

The Saudi cement sector is currently passing through a difficult patch as the labor issues continue to plague the construction industry. Sales volumes have declined, while inventory balances have hit a record high. High import volumes have hurt margins.

Nevertheless, the report said, the sector is likely to recover gradually as construction activities pick up steam once again as new laborers enter the Kingdom via the legal route.

Though the Q2 figures for cement dispatches are not very strong, there are signs of some improvementon a q-o-q basis lately, with a lesser decline in y-o-y dispatches than in Q1.

Though inventory balances continue to remain on the higher side owing to soaring imports, we can expect companies to rid themselves of this excess inventory going forward since they have now fulfilled their import requirements. However, companies could face falling margins and a slide in utilization rates in this bargain.

The Saudi cement sector is trading at a 2015E PE of 15.6x, slightly above TASI's PE of 15.4x. SPCC is trading at a multiple of 17.2x, and appears to be marginally stretched at the moment. YCC, on the other hand, is trading at a multiple of 16.7x.

Based on Al Rajhi Capital's valuation methodology, YCC is given a fair value of SR88.5 per share, which offers an upside potential of about 11 percent, making it an attractive opportunity at the moment.

For SPCC, it has a fair value of SR124.2 per share, which offers an upside potential of about 6.6 percent. Although the company is fundamentally strong, we have assigned it a Neutral rating due to the high stock price and limited upside from current levels.

Finally, both companies offer a dividend yield of about 6 percent (which is one of the highest yields in the sector) and boast high margins given their strategic locations.

"We expect muted Q3 results for cement companies in the absence of near-term growth catalysts, although dividend yields will remain high. However, companies are likely to continue recovering from the labor crisis-related issues, although a full recovery is likely to take a few more quarters. Our new stock initiations will now expand our coverage universe to seven stocks, which will offer investors ample choices to pick from," the report noted.

Despite a recent slowdown in sales, Yanbu Cement Company (YCC) presence in the high-demand western region of KSA coupled with adequate scope to improve its utilization rates could drive its growth over the medium-term.

Southern Province Cement Company (SPCC), on the other hand, is expanding aggressively with a couple of major production lines in progress at Tihama and Bisha, which once completed, will make it the largest cement producer in KSA, overtaking Saudi Cement. "We anticipate an interest in the stock as news pertaining to the expansion rolls in, but caution investors to wait for more clarity on the proposed plans," the report added.

VENEZUELA: Iran begins pilot cement project in Caracas

Iranian Mines & Mining Industries Development & Renovation Organization (IMIDRO) announced that Venezuela's Iran-built cement plant, with a capacity of 1m tons per year, started its pilot production.

The plant's launching ceremony was attended by Iranian Industries, Mines and Trade Minister Mohammad Reza Nematzadeh, the head of IMIDRO's Board of Directors, Mehdi Karbasian, and a number of Venezuelan officials.

IMIDRO began the implementation of the project eight months ago.

The plant was launched concurrent with the Eighth Iran-Venezuela Economic Commission meeting in Caracas.

The plant, which will officially go on stream in the near future, was established by Ehdas Sanat Company, an IMIDRO affiliate.

Speaking in the ceremony, Venezuelan Industries Minister Wilmer Barrientos thanked Iran for resuming the plant's executive operations.

Raúl Pacheco, the Venezuelan vice minister for management and productivity, requested Iran not to change the project's contractor and allow it to complete the plant.

Last week, Nematzadeh travelled to Caracas at the head of a delegation to take part in the commission's meeting.

In this visit, Iranian and Venezuelan industry ministers signed a cooperation document.

Another cooperation document was signed by Karbasian and Pacheco to extend the contract of Iran's Ehdas Sanat Company to complete the project.

Addressing the same ceremony, Karbasian said the project is near completion and will become operational in the near future.

He added that establishment of a cement plant in Venezuela indicates the capabilities of Iranian experts.

Iran has gained valuable experiences in the implementation of cement projects and intends to export techno-engineering services to promote its national and regional credibility.

Venezuela has invested €273m in the project.

USA: Holcim cement plant mines limestone, other materials on-site

The Holcim (US) Holly Hill cement plant opened in 1966, ready to supply much-needed cement to the Southeast.

Prior to the opening of the plant, Home Branch, a tributary of Four Hole Swamp, ran through what is now the company’s quarry.

Holcim’s existing diversion canal re-routed Home Branch around the quarry in the late 1970s and early 1980s in order to divert water away from the mining operations.

Currently, a new stream channel through the middle of the quarry is being designed in an effort to protect it from potential flooding.

The on-site natural resources at the Holly Hill plant contribute to its production.

The quarry on the 3,700-acre property, a multiple bench limestone mine, holds more than 70 percent of the raw materials needed for making cement.

Material is quarried by bucket wheel excavator, conveyed to a belt wagon, crushed, transferred to a belt conveyor system and stockpiled in a storage facility.

The limestone is combined with other materials and used at the mine site to produce cement that is sold in bulk and bag for use in the construction industry.

Sedimentary textures and fossils indicate the limestone that is mined at the Holly Hill plant is in the Eocene Santee Formation, which was formed in a shallow marine and lagoonal environment.

Holcim’s Holly Hill cement plant has grown along with demand. The first shipment left the plant in May 1966. In 1972, a second kiln was added; a third kiln was added in 2001. In December 2001, the name of the plant at the time — Holnam — was changed to Holcim.

In 2003, a single dry-process kiln replaced the plant’s two wet-process kilns, boosting production to about 2 million metric tons of cement per year — nearly six times the plant’s original output.

The Holly Hill plant currently employs 188 people.

Parent company Holcim Ltd. is considered one of the nation’s leading manufacturers and suppliers of cement and mineral components. Holcim (US) has approximately 1,800 employees and operates 12 manufacturing plants and more than 50 distribution facilities in the United States.