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Johannesburg - Construction materials group Afrisam, formerly known as Holcim, has launched a R500m vertical roller cement mill which is the first of its kind in southern Africa.
Afrisam said the mill will reduce production costs and almost double the group's cement-manufacturing capacity.
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The mill uses between 20% and 30% less energy and could cushion the group from the latest Eskom electricity tariff hike.
"The plant is the first of its kind in the southern African region; the only other plant that does the same as this one is situated in Morocco in North Africa," said Afrisam chairperson Eltie Links.
He said even though there are other vertical roller mills in the country, they are not being used to grind clinker to cement but rather for grinding other raw materials in the cement-making process.
Afrisam's chief operating officer for cement, Stephan Olivier, told stakeholders there are less than 20 mills that grind clinker for cement worldwide.
The mill will increase capacity at Afrisam's Roodepoort plant from 80 tonnes to 200 tonnes per hour.
The plant has also increased its cement storage capacity by 15 000 tonnes with the introduction of a new cement silo.
And while demand has declined as a result of the recession, the company said the new addition to the plant will enable it to dispose of older, less efficient plants.
According to Olivier, the new mill saves 80 to 100 million kWh or 12 000 tonnes of carbon dioxide per year.
According to Links, the technologically advanced mill was built not with the aim of gaining market share, "but rather to save costs, and replace older assets with more efficient new ones".
The new mill is expected to bring the total production capacity of the Roodepoort plant to nearly 1.5m tonnes of cement per year.
- Fin24.com