OREANDA-NEWS. In December 2012, EUROCEMENT group opened a new, state-of-the-art cement plant in Russia’s Voronezh Region. Podgorensky Cement Plant uses the dry process to produce an estimated 6,000 tonnes of clinker each day and 3 million tonnes of cement each year.

EUROCEMENT group provided the 17 billion roubles (RUB) necessary for the plant’s construction from both its own funds and bank loans (Sberbank of Russia, BNP Paribas). A return on this investment is expected within 12 years. The construction phase required only 3 years from inception to completion, and generated 1,000 jobs for residents of the Voronezh Region during its course.

The first stage of the plant launch – supplying gas to the plant furnace – took place in the presence of Alexey Gordeyev, the Governor of Voronezh Region, Filaret Galchev, the Chairman of the Board of Directors at EUROCEMENT group and Mikhail Skorokhod, EUROCEMENT group’s President.

“The new cement plant will make a significant contribution to development within the Russian construction sector, and will also provide a key extra inventive for residential and infrastructure development within the Voronezh region,” states Alexey Gordeyev, the Governor of Voronezh Region.

The plant’s equipment is provided by FLSmidth (Denmark), the leading supplier of equipment and engineering services for the global cement industry. The resulting technology is unparalleled in Russia and the CIS: labour efficiency and fuel consumption rates are improved by 3.5 and 1.6 times respectively against traditional cement production methods. Industrial emissions are similarly 2.5 times lower than statutory obligations. Special importance is also placed on product quality, with the Podgorensky Cement Plant having Russia’s first completely robotised laboratory as well as rigorous quality control measures at all stages of the production process.

“EUROCEMENT group’s Voronezh Region plant will be Russia’s most energy-efficient and environmentally-safe cement plant. It will produce special types of cement for a variety of residential, industrial and infrastructure applications. This high-quality cement will be of use to construction sites in both the Voronezh Region and other federal districts,” claims Mikhail Skorokhod, the President of EUROCEMENT group.

Commissioning and start-up works have been carried out on the plant’s production facilities since the beginning of 2013. Efforts are currently focused on the raw meal production phase, and it is hoped that this line will soon become operational. Successful completion of this task will allow a new processing line to come into service soon after. The commissioning and start-up works are being conducted by EUROCEMENT group specialists from the Voronezh Region in co-operation with NLSupervision (Denmark) supervisors and contractor representatives.

When the Podgorensky Cement Plant reaches its full operational capacity, the portion of EUROCEMENT group’s total cement output produced using the dry method will increase from 13 to 25 per cent.