On June 15, the National Bureau of Statistics released data that the national cement output from January to May was 771.41 million tons, an increase of 1.9% over the same period last year. In the current situation of the national real estate downturn, the slowdown of economic growth and the overall depression of manufacturing industry, this growth is noteworthy.
Recently, Zhang Zhenkun, CEO of Asia Cement (China) Holding Company, pointed out in an exchange with China Cement Network that cement enterprises can not dominate the market, increasing production is not the way to solve the current problem, blindly increasing production will only lead to "the more production, the more sales, the more losses".
"To cope with the downturn, energy saving, consumption reduction and cost reduction are things that must be done, and if the price is not good, we must review the cost problem.". "Zhang Zhenkun said that cement enterprises should find the best balance between production and cost.". Asia Cement has implemented a 10% overall production reduction since May, and will continue to increase the proportion of production reduction to find the best balance point.
Coal and electricity are the main sources of energy in the cement industry, but also the main source of cement production costs. "Coal and electricity can account for 55-60% of the cost of cement production." Zhang Zhenkun said.
In recent years, coal prices have risen, and many cement companies have focused on alternative fuels. Cement as a key area of energy saving and carbon reduction, the use of alternative fuels can not only reduce carbon emissions, but also reduce cost pressures, as if it is a good thing to kill two birds with one stone, but is this really the case?
In this regard, Zhang Zhenkun pointed out that China's alternative fuel industry chain is incomplete, the development time is short, and there are still many problems in the use of alternative fuels in the cement industry.
First, the calorific values of various alternative fuels fluctuate too much. Although straw in agricultural production and sawdust in furniture production can be used as alternative fuels, how to improve the substitution efficiency of alternative fuels is a big problem. And in the process of directly adding alternative fuels, it is easy to leak into the air, resulting in lower exhaust temperature, and ultimately still need to burn more coal, which does not play a role in reducing costs and carbon.
Secondly, the economic benefit of using solid waste and hazardous waste as alternative fuel is very low, and the hazardous waste usually has complex components and too many toxic components. The toxic components after high temperature treatment will affect the burning of clinker and reduce the output when they enter the production system, which is not worth the loss for cement enterprises.
In addition, many hazardous wastes are liquid hazardous wastes with very high water content, and a large amount of heat is wasted if they are completely vaporized, which greatly reduces the treatment efficiency of solid hazardous wastes and consumes more energy in a disguised way.
Zhang Zhenkun said that the ecological chain of alternative fuels in Europe is complete, relevant policies are perfect, and waste classification is in place. The utilization rate of alternative fuels in Germany can reach 60%, which can really reduce costs. China still has a long way to go in alternative fuels.
So in the downward market, how should cement enterprises carry out production and operation in order to effectively save energy and reduce consumption, reduce costs to cope with market risks and challenges? On July 6-7, 2023, China Cement Network will hold the "2023 China Cement Energy Conservation and New Energy Development Conference" in Chongqing. At that time , Zhang Zhenkun, CEO of Asia Cement (China) Holding Company, will share the theme of "New Thinking of Production and Operation of Current Cement Building Materials Industry". For more information, please sign up!
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