Mexico's Cruz Azul has begun construction of its No 10 production line at the Hidalgo cement plant. thyssenkrupp Industrial Solutions, Fives and Loesche GmbH are the suppliers of equipment and engineering development for this project, which will be completed in 22 months.

"Cooperativa La Cruz Azul has taken the initiative to modernise its cement production plants to optimise production processes, increase their competitiveness and, in addition, provide their workers with better working conditions. With this investment, we guarantee our productive capacity, our quality, our service position and our commitment to national consumers," said Guillermo Alvarez Cuevas, general director of the cooperative.

This unit has the capacity to use waste-derived alternative fuels and replace up to 40 per cent of the petcoke needed for production, which means having the possibility to co-process around 8tph. It will also target reducing CO2 emissions by around 70,000tpa.

thyssenkrupp Industrial Solutions México and Cooperativa La Cruz Azul also held a groundbreaking ceremony for the construction of production line No 5 at the Lagunas Cement plant in Oaxaca at the end of last year.