In the period from January to October, the plant produced 711.5 thousand tons of cement – 4.5% more than in the ten months of last year. 691.2 thousand tons of products were sold, which is 1.1% more than in the ten months of 2021. Of these, 354.6 thousand tons were shipped by rail (22.2 thousand tons less than last year), 336.5 thousand tons were shipped by road (+30.3 thousand tons). Including the plant's own cement trucks, 40 thousand tons of products were delivered to consumers.
Traditionally, bulk cement was in high demand in the construction season – 2022 - 363.1 thousand tons of it were shipped. Delivery in soft containers of 1 ton amounted to 261 thousand tons, in paper bags of 25 and 50 kg – 67.1 thousand tons.
For 10 months, 880 thousand tons of cement were consumed in the Irkutsk region, which is 1.7% lower than in January–October 2021. Recall that last year the capacity of the regional cement market reached a record high in recent years – 1 million tons. In 2022, the volume of consumption of products is decreasing due to new economic conditions, as well as the completion of major projects. In general, the Siberian Federal District (in the former borders – taking into account the Republic of Buryatia and the Trans-Baikal Territory) shows a drop in demand for cement by 3.7% to 5.75 million tons, although last year its market grew at the fastest pace compared to other federal districts.
The market of the Far Eastern Federal District, on the contrary, demonstrates the maximum growth in demand (+14% to the level of 2021 for the first nine months), which is associated with the implementation of major infrastructure projects. The volumes of cement consumption separately in the Republic of Buryatia increased significantly – by 15.3% – to 236 thousand tons. This is due to the high rates of housing construction, primarily individual.
Angarskcement currently supplies products for the construction of the Udokan Mining and Metallurgical Combine, technological lines at the enterprises of the Ilim Group in Bratsk and Ust-Ilimsk, Ozerny GOK in Buryatia, the Power of Siberia gas pipeline facilities, the second branch of the Baikal-Amur Mainline (BAM-2) and other facilities.
Since the beginning of the year, the company's product range has been replenished with two new types of special cements, for which certificates have been issued by the certification body of SibNIIcement. This is Portland cement CEM I 42.5N DP, used in the manufacture of concrete road surfaces, as well as Portland cement CEM I 42.5N AP. It is designed for the production of concrete for airfield coatings. In 2022, Angarskcement began shipping Portland cement CEM I 42.5N AP for the construction and reconstruction of facilities.
The company met the construction season of 2022 by actively implementing a technical re-equipment program. 617.3 million roubles with VAT will be allocated for the re-equipment of the Angarsk cement and Mining Plant by the end of the year – 185 million roubles more than in 2021.
Among the most ambitious completed projects is the modernization of the closed–cycle grinding system with the installation of a separator on cement mills No. 6 and 7. The total cost of the project amounted to 316 million roubles with VAT. Its goal is to increase the production efficiency of all types of cement, especially high–quality ones: to reduce the specific consumption rates of electricity and grinding media for grinding, to increase hourly productivity, to increase the competitiveness of products.
The implementation of projects aimed at improving the level of energy security continues. Work is underway on the technical re-equipment of the RU-6 kV transformer substation No. 5 with the replacement of high-voltage cells. Also, the construction of a cable overpass from the RU-6 kV transformer substation No. 5 to the electrical equipment of the Roasting shop and a cable overpass from transformer substation No. 5 to substation 110/35/6 "Tsemzavod" does not stop. By the end of the year, about 220.5 million roubles with VAT will be allocated for the implementation of projects. It is planned to complete the work in the first half of 2023.
Planned equipment repairs were carried out efficiently and on time in all departments of the plant, the total costs for them will amount to about 892.5 million roubles – 519 million roubles more than last year. Timely execution of these works reduces the risk of accidents and downtime.
An important event in 2022 was the commissioning of rotary kiln No. 4, which has not been used for 12 years. Since its launch in April, the kiln has produced 111.1 thousand tons of clinker. In general, the clinker production plan has been 100% completed in ten months. The key works carried out in the Roasting workshop for the construction season are the repair of kiln No. 1 with the replacement of the lining shell on the eighth support and the laying of a new RMAG refractory brick, which increased the durability of the furnace lining up to 270 days. The Emis-Vortex 200 air flow meter is installed on the dusty system of the rotary kiln No. 3, it allows real-time monitoring and regulation of air flow when dust is returned to the furnace.
In the Raw Materials workshop, repairs and cleaning of vertical sludge basins No. 5 and 7, horizontal basins No. 2 and 3 were carried out, the armour lining of the third and fifth raw mills was updated, the inter-chamber partitions of the second and fourth mills were replaced. The gearbox of the raw mill No. 3 has also been repaired.
By the beginning of the season, two new pneumatic chamber pumps with lower unloading under silos No. 12 and 13 were installed in the Finished Products workshop. They help to reduce the consumption of compressed air when cement is supplied to the loading lines in MKR and cement trucks. In addition, specialists repaired electric forklifts for the transportation of MKR and palletized products.
At the crushing and loading site "Quarry Pass", the worn conveyor belts on conveyor No. 3 of the primary and secondary crushing factories have been completely replaced. At the mining site, the bucket on the excavator ECG No. 12353 and the handle beams were replaced with ECG No. 7777. In March, two new mining dump trucks with a lifting capacity of up to 60 tons each arrived at Pereval. They are used for technological transportation of rock mass.
The quality of products at all stages of production is controlled by a factory laboratory equipped with modern equipment. The company has implemented a quality management system in accordance with GOST R ISO 9001-2015, its certification will be completed in December.
Improving the level of environmental safety of production remains one of the priorities in the activities of the plant. In 2022, 18.8 million roubles with VAT were allocated for environmental protection measures. Of these, 9.4 million roubles were allocated for the technical re–equipment of the dedusting system behind the rotating furnace No. 1 (replacement of transformers), the remaining 9.4 million for similar work on furnace No. 2.
