Paraguay: Vallemi fuel conversion civils to start May

The civil work related to the fuel conversion of the kiln at the Vallemi plant of Paraguay’s Industria Nacional de Cemento (INC) is scheduled to start in May, said CEO Jorge Méndez.

The works will include the construction of a new coal unloading facility, concrete foundations for equipment and electro-mechanical structures. Local firm CIE was awarded the US$15m contract. Around half of the equipment has now arrived in Paraguay, he added.
The company purchased some 150,000t to tie over cement production during the kiln outage.

The fuel conversion is expected to save 50 per cent of fuel costs and replace fuel oil by alternatives including cover chips, forest waste and petcoke.