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Upgrade & new plant projects across the MENA region: Luc Rudowski, Polysius SAS/ThyssenKrupp (France)

Filmed at Cemtech MEA 2015, 8-11 February, Grand Hyatt Dubai, UAE

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Thank you. Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. I will start my presentation say a few words about our group ThyssenKrupp. As a result of several accusation over the last years ThyssenKrupp was composed of several companies. Each having it's own culture, identity, know how, and it was just a matter of time before common sense would get to a reorganization, targeting clear and common strategy for all the entities. With a significant strategy between them and having the same type of activities, at the end giving a strong identities for the group.

The first step was to define four business areas representing the sector activity of the ThyssenKrupp Group as you can see on this graph. The component technology, the elevator technology, material services steel Americas and steel Europe. And eventually industrial solutions that was created by developing all the engineering companies of ThyssenKrupp that you might know of for sure very well is Polysius in the cement. [xx] was active in the quarry and mining industry but also [xx] mainly acting in the [xx] chemical.

So there is obviously significance energy in all these activity working process, equipment portfolio and customers. And the merge of [xx] and Polysius was an evidence and already took place giving birth to this ThyssenKrupp industrial solutions. In order to be closer to the market and better serve our customers, each existing entity now step by step will merge together, country by country into TKIS country entitity. Hence, KH Mineral and Polysius SAS of France are currently merging and will become TKIS France in 2015 in June.

So, from now we are all acting as cheese and cook company with a common mission statement or entry around the technology and material companies that we meet the challenge of tomorrow with our customers. We hold ourselves to the highest turn out in terms of quality, safety, etc, and we share common values. With customer oriented culture it's well known recognized flexibility and as a pioneer with the group to handle big, challenging EPC projects successfully. It's naturally that Polysius France, so TKIS France in the future, is finding its way in this new organization in continuity with values that made Polysius success.

Let's now few words about the market condition in MENA and West Africa, so Tony and other speakers in the morning explained fairly well as experts of the countries. So you certainly can evidence that there was a constructed situation over the last years in the country on the background of instability, political and economic uncertainty in the Mediterranean realm.

The situation is for sure very different from one country to the other as explained by Tony a few minutes ago. But however we can point out that favorable demographics, humanization with a need for new housing, infrastructure and industralization we might remain a strong driver to fuel cement event in MENA. And we could observe that during the last 10 years, the growths in the cement consumption was very high in MENA, and now it's the case for Sub-Saharan Africa where the cement producers are seizing opportunity to complete and balance their portfolios.

So, for sure that in this uncertain and challenging environment some of the entrepreneur's risks can also be reduced and the cement producer entrusted Polysius SAS with the execution of several challenging projects in the region mostly on EPC basis. So, I will highlight some recent case study where we can demonstrate our ability to take up this challenge in different conditions and environment.

I'd like to point out that in 2014 all the intake was as high as, higher than half billion, you order and take in countries like Algeria, Saudi Arabia, West African countries that I will detail and also recently in Egypt. We'll start with a project that is ongoing in Algeria. So this is a state owned company Societe des Ciments d'Ain El Kebira. This is on the Eastern Part of Algeria close to a city Frenda[sp?]. So, we are building there a second line of 6000 tonnes per day on EPC basis that the Brownfield and existing line has been built late 70s. So, it's a complete cement line from raw material grinding to the cement dispatch, including the latest technology of Polysius but also all let's say auxiliary, administration building, roads, utilities, networks etc.

So, the specificity projects. It's a Brownfield project, so as all the Brownfield projects there are some tie ins with the existing cement plants and definately additional challenges. We have to revamp several existing equipment such as crushers. There was an international tender so with the very competitive context, and we have to follow very strict and demanding public biding process under the rules of Algerian Public Market Code.

So, the bid evaluation was made under an identified and transparent rating procedure. So this contract has been put in first early 2014. So these are some 3D pictures of the existing layout of the plants with the new facilities that we'll plan to be built. As you can see there on the left side the existing plans and write the new plans that will also feed some raw mill to the existing kiln. So, the raw mill has been over sized because there are some, let's say margin on the existing clinker to produce more clinker.

So, these are recent pictures of the site, it was early 2015 so as you can see in Algeria we can have snow. So, it's an additional challenge for the site works. So, the works civil work is progressing, you can see here the pre-blending silo. Here the cement silos, I will switch now to Tunisia with a completely different project still on EPC basis, still with state owned company Societe des Ciments de Bizerte. The tender has been awarded in 2011 and the startup and the performance has been completed in late 2014. So, it's an upgrading of an existing old kiln that was producing 2100 tonnes per day, so we upgrade the kiln to 4000 tonnes per day on an EPC basis.

So, the plant was along dry klin [xx] with the vertical raw mill and we had to erect new pre-heater underneath the existing kiln under operation. To change the blend re-cooler in the new grate cooler POLYTRACK to upgrade the existing raw grinding mill and also to install new common dedusting system. So, as you can see this is a sketch of a existing kiln, it was the long 6P kiln that we transform in a 3P modern kiln. So, as far as the specificity are concerned so for sure we have to start with a political and social instability because their upbringing started in Tunisia at that period. So, we have some social demonstrations and shut down in the plant for several months. We have a very very narrow space in order to erect or pre-erect the equipment and also erect the kiln shutdown. Also the kiln shutdown was a limited duration.

Last but not least we had to perform some piling for the foundation because soil bearing capacity was quite low. So this is a time lapse of site works, you can see here the long dry kiln. On the left side you have the foundations of the new bag house system. Here you have the existing duct coming from for the full grinding and here you can see the foundations of the pre-heater tower [xx]. And step by step the pre-heater tower is erected and you can see here the [xx] cooler and the new cooler building that is pre-erected. We show that on the next slide. So, this has been erected along the clincker production. So, this a slide showing that this is a world premiere for the first time, we build the complete clincker cooler building including all the fans, all the refractory but also the kiln hood and the exhaust [xx]. The old building was pre-elected and slide in the finally position in less than one hour aggregated time.

Saudi Arabia
now with also a different project, EPC basis [xx]. It's for Al Safawa Cement Company where Lafarge has minority share of 25%, and the Al Hayat family also has 25%. We built the first line in 2010. It was commissioned in 2010, and we have been been awarded by the contract last year on the replica basis let's say and the specificities definitely is that the time schedule is quite short when it mounts to execute this replica [xx] and also with higher intake of secondary fuels.

Also for shortly optimize budget solution without compromising quality. The [xx] has been easy let's say made in collaboration with [xx] construction of Egypt with whom we are with in the fast line in 2010. This is some pictures of the first line and these coming pictures are on the site works of the second line.

I'd like to highlight a picture on the features that we adopt for safety, that is a very, very important value in ThyssenKrupp Group and also the value that is shared with Lafarge that has one of the highest stand off in the industry. As you can see here, the working path equipped with the conveyer belts in order to avoid some falling people and all this rear will indicate. So, these are the first pictures of end of last year with the earth works in the very hard and rocky soil.

Preparation of the platform of the second line. Here are pictures of late 2014 with excavation and starting of the farm work for blending silo pre-heater and the 3P Kiln and here excavation for the cooler. This is pictures from two weeks ago where we are starting very actively to pour concrete, blending silo but also a cooler and all the [xx] and pre-heater.

And now I would like to introduce also all the works we have been performing in some countries of the Sub Saharan Africa. Burkina Faso, Guinea Conakry, Ivory Coast, Gabon, Congo and Cameroon. So, about one year after commissioning the two green field plants in Morocco of CIMAF, Mr Sikhwi[sp?] that is the owner of CIMAF launched several investments in Subsaharan Africa staring with Ivory Coast and Pennacci in late 2011. And then step by step here world with additional four green filed EPC plants on the same let's say design in other counties of West Africa.

This are quite let's say conventional plants I would say with 75 tonnes per hour cement ball mill with a high efficiency separator to 1, 000 tonnes cement silo, metalic, two packing plants and 30, 000 tonnes of clean care storage. So, for so the specific cities are ranging from one country to another.

Very difficult, very different let's say, but what is common to all of those is that to perform EPC in this countries sometimes difficult because there are no experienced construction companies. Unlike Egypt, Morocco, Algeria for example, that there is a high level of bureaucracy that the time schedule and that we have the variable soil conditions. For example in Cameroon we have the pilling, it was the [xx] in Ivory Coast. And also one of the specificity is that we had coffee plant except the formations that led us to start with a time schedule of 20 mills for Ivory Coast that you can see here or Conakry and reduce to a lower time schedule in Cameroon, Burkina Faso, we perform 17 mills and this is some pictures of Gabon, and Congo that are presently under construction.

So, as conclusion, I'd like to point out that in this very risky and unstable environment you need insurance policy as mentioned by Tony. So, we propose you as to be your partner as insurance policy also because we have first of all, one of the highest standard in quality and safety with our product and services. But also we have a wide range of experience in various types of projects as you can see [xx] new Greenfield plants , old projects big projects on EPC basis all around MENA and West African region. I thank you and invite to refer to an article in the last issue of International Cement Review called Supplying Certainties.

Thank you very much.

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