The Vicat group announces today that the new kiln at the Sinai Cement plant at El Arish in Egypt entered service on 27 June 2008, in line with its "2010 Performance" plan.
 
Guy Sidos, Chief Executive Officer of the Vicat group commented: "The start-up of the new kiln just 21 months after the installations were ordered, on time and on budget, comes at just the right moment to meet the very strong growth in demand for cement in Egypt. It demonstrates the Vicat group’s ability to meet the targets set out in the Performance 2010 plan. I wish to congratulate all the teams involved in the project on this sparkling success, in particular those at Aresco, FLSmidth, RHI, ASEC Automation and ASEC Management, as well as, of course, the SCC/Vicat teams."
 
With additional clinker production running at 5000tpd, this new kiln line will double the plant’s capacity. Its annual cement production capacity has thus risen to 3.5Mt. This new installation delivers performance, especially in terms of energy performance, that ranks among the best in the Group.
 
This EUR122m investment is, following the start-up of the new kiln at the Bastas plant in Turkey, the second new line commissioned under the "2010 Performance" plan, the goal of which is to increase the Group’s production capacity by 50% and to significantly reduce its manufacturing costs. Of this new capacity, 70% is being added in emerging markets.