Akmenes modernisation project nears completion, Lithuania

Akmenes Cementas, Lithuania's sole cement producer, is due to bring its new dry-process kiln line into operation shortly.

“Representatives of equipment suppliers are visiting the facility now. They are checking, fine-tuning and testing the equipment, adjusting the programmes,” Arturas Zaremba, Akmenes Cementas CEO, told the Baltic Business Daily.

The Akmene's plant's nominal grinding capacity currently stands at 1.35Mta, with a clinker capacity of 1.2Mta. However, the new project will replace the present wet production method which should increase cement capacity to 1.5Mta. In terms of practical capacity, this would imply an effective increase of almost a quarter. The expansion works was started in 2007, but was put on hold because of the economic downturn.

The commissioning of the new kiln should also enable a considerable increase in the use of alternative fuels which currently account for 12-14 per cent of the total fuel mix.