Akmenes Cementas, Lithuania’s sole cement manufacturer, was to sign on Tuesday three contracts worth over LTL141m (EUR41m) in total to supply it with equipment for its planned new production line.

Under the contracts, Akmenes Cementas will buy furnace equipment from Germany’s KHD Humboldt Wedag, a clay crusher from Italy’s Bedeschi and filters from Italy’s CTP Team S.R.L., the Lithuanian company said in a statement. The signing of the contracts marks the completion of the first phase of a three-phase modernization project, it said.

"We are launching a huge modernisation project that will require a considerable amount of funds and time," said Akmenes Cementas CEO Arturas Zaremba. Now that the company has signed the contracts to acquire equipment for its new cement production line, it plans to finalize the details of and sign a design work contract with Sweco BKG LSPI. 
 
Akmenes Cementas has obtained LTL212m in bank loans to finance the biggest modernisation project in its history, which involves shifting from wet to dry cement production technology.

The total value of the project is estimated at around LTL290m. The company expects to complete the investment project in 2012. It is planned that the new line will boost the plant’s annual production capacity by one-fourth up to 1.5Mt of cement. 

Akmenes Cementas raised total sales by three per cent last year to 1.078Mt, with sales in Lithuania up by 16 per cent to 935,000t. Its annual revenue grew by 31 per cent in 2007 to LTL247.1m.