LILAMA : Manufacturing local equipment for the cement industry

3:26:22 PM | 7/8/2005

The Vietnam Machinery Installation Corporation (Lilama), Construction Materials and Consulting Company (Ministry of Construction) and Tianshin Cement Industry Designing Institute (China) have recently signed an agreement on the establishment of a consulting group headed by Lilama regarding the design and technology transfer of cement production lines manufacturinh upwards of 2,500 tonnes of clinker/day. According to the Ministry of Construction, with a forecast increase of 12 per cent a year, the cement demand of Vietnam in 2010 will be over 48 million tonnes. To make the cement industry a strong sector of modern technology and competitive with the same products in the region and around the world from now to 2020, Vietnam must invest in dozens of cement projects with a total investment capital of USD5,583 million and mostly in the import of equipment. As most equipment is imported, the required investment capital for the production of a tonne of cement is as high as US$160-200. There is so far no plan for domestic equipment to substitute imported parts. Most of the design consultation for cement projects in the past was done by foreign countries resulting in high production costs. The newly formed consulting group not only aims to implement the mechanics development programme of the government but also the five-year plan of Lilama to become a strong industrial group.

According to Mr Pham Hung, Director General of Lilama, without the capability of designing Vietnam would not be able to implement its programme of equipment manufacture. The formation of the consulting group will unite local and foreign enterprises, consulting and design companies to step up mechanical manufacturing in Vietnam. The group has completed a list of projects and equipment according to design and manufacture by Vietnam, by the group and by foreign countries. The group will design and manufacture technical tubing, ventilation tubing, silos and tanks. Lilama and local mechanical enterprises will design and manufacture conveyor belts, dredgers, pumps, fans and lifting equipment. Lilama is one of the three investors in Hung Vuong cement plant (Phu Tho), with the manufacture of required equipment clearly defined between Vietnam, China and developed countries. The plant will start operation in April 2005.

Lilama and Hanoi Mechanics Company (Hameco) have signed an agreement with Loesche Company (Germany) to manufacture special equipment for cement grinding with maximum possible useage of local components. The equipment will be installed in the cement plants managed by the group.

The group and investors will implement five cement projects each with a capacity of 2,500 tonnes of clinker a day (or 900,000 tonnes a year) namely Hung Vuong, Son La, Yen Bai, Tuyen Quang and Dong Banh (Lang Son). Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung has chaired a meeting between investors and the ministries of industry and construction emphasising the importance of domesticisation of mechanical products in the coming years. The group plans to increase the proportion of locally made equipment to 70 per cent in volume and 50 per cent in value, thereby reducing the investment capacity rate to less than US$80 a tonne of cement. The group will then move to implement the plan in larger plants such as Tay Ninh and My Duc.

At a recent conference on vertical furnaces convened by the Ministry of Construction, Lilama also pledged to manufacture and install complete equipment for a 200,000-300,000 tonne/year plant in 12-16 months as it has done in Huu Nghi cement plant (Viet Tri). With its experience and prestige, Lilama can also transform the technology from vertical to horizontal furnaces and from wet to dry methods as it has succeeded in doing in the modernisation of two production lines in Bim Son cement plant (Thanh Hoa).