Arabian Cement Company has officially opened its Line No 2 which has doubled the capacity of the plant at Suez to 5Mta.

Speaking during the opening ceremony, Jose Maria Magrina, ACC CEO, said: “We are extremely pleased to announce opening our second production line, which will increase our production capacity, bringing us one step closer to becoming among the largest cement producers in the market. We have already finished the commissioning of the second line, and are now ready to produce high quality cement products.”

ACC has been operating in the Egyptian market since 2007, and is currently the second largest Spanish investor in Egypt. The opening ceremony was also attended by General Ismail Al Nagdy, President of the Egyptian Industrial Authority (IDA) and Fidel Sendagorta, the Spanish Ambassador in Egypt.

During the ceremony, ACC also showcased the benefits of converting to an alternative fuel system, which it's planning to implement in both production lines, aiming to reduce gas consumption to make the plant more environmentally-friendly. Using alternative fuel will reduce the consumption of gas, saving 436m3 of natural gas for every ton of Refuse Derived Fuel (RDF). ACC has obtained the required license from the Egyptian Environmental Affairs Agency (EEAA) to use alternative fuel made from waste materials in the kilns of the plant. The starting date of the fuel substitution project is expected to take place by end of 2012. 

The alternative fuel that will be used will be a mixture of agricultural wastes, municipal sludge, and RDF. Use of alternative fuel is expected to result in reducing emissions by approximately 60,000t of CO2/year on average.