Cement shortage due to increased Asian demand

by Surekha Galagoda

The shortage of cement in Sri Lanka is due to the world demand especially the increased demand from Asia, said Joint Managing Director Tokyo Cement Company (Lanka) Ltd. Kuni Yanagihara.

He said that the demand from Asia especially from China and India has increased due to the increase in construction activities in their countries. A massive construction drive is under way due to the Olympics to be held next year and the Expo exhibition to be held in 2010.

According to statistics the world cement production last year was 2.5 billion metric tons. Asia consumed 69% while the rest of the world consumed 31%. of the Asian consumption, China consumed 47%, India 7% while the rest of the Asian countries consumed 15%.

Yanagihara said that the world demand coupled with the demand in the country from August to November created the cement shortage in the country.

He said that usually during August-November prior to the rains there is a construction boom in the country.

He said that Sri Lanka consumed 4.1 mln metric tons of cement last year of which 75% is imported while the balance is manufactured locally. He said that the growth in the cement industry in Sri Lanka is 12%.

Marketing Director Cement D. S. Walpola said that there are four types of cement in Sri Lanka-the ordinary Portland cement, blended cement, Portland limestone cement and masonry cement.

The Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC) consists of 100% cement and is used for general construction and concreting and 70% of the global cement requirement is OPC. The cement industry globally contributes to 6% of the global warming due to the emission of carbon dioxide in the production process.

The cement companies are concentrating on the reduction of carbon dioxide emissions and the solution for this problem was the introduction of blended cement which contains pozzoolan a cementitious material such as volcanic ash fly ash, or blast furnace slag. This cement is recommended for application in marine structures and for structures in marshy and coastal areas.

Portland Limestone cement is a diluted form of ordinary Portland cement due to the addition of 15% limestone filler to cement clinker in the grinding process. Masonry cement is used for brick work and plastering for easy workability and is cost efficient.

Yanagihara said that Tokyo Cement believes in continuously improving their efficiency product lines and logistics and therefore are installing a vertical roller mill, the latest in cement grinding technology from Messrs Kruppe Polysius of Germany. The total investment on this plant and infrastructure is US$ 15 mln. This will increase the company's total investment to US$ 97 mln.

In addition Tokyo Cement is the first in the cement industry to own and operate a vessel to transport clinker. At present the company has three vessels and are in the process of acquiring a fourth vessel, said Yanagihara.

The Tokyo Cement Colombo terminal has also launched a converted and customised vessel to further streamline the cement delivery to the Colombo Port. The vessel is equipped with a state of the art cement loading and unloading system.

The vessel can unload cement at the rate of 425 metric tons per hour and load at 1,000 metric tons per hour. The total investment of the vessel by the Tokyo Cement Group exceeds one billion rupees.

As one of the Company's CSR initiatives they are building a biomass power plant with an investment of US$14 mln. The plant once completed will have the capacity to generate 10 MW of eco friendly power which is more than adequate to meet the requirement of the Tokyo Cement plant in Trincomalee.

The fuel used in the bio mass plant are paddy husks and dried glidiceria branches.

[email protected]