HeidelbergCement open new Russian cement plant

€300 million TulaCement plant officially opened in city of Novogurovsky, south of Moscow

HEIDELBERGCEMENT have officially opened a new cement plant in the city of Novogurovsky, in the Tula region, approximately 150km south of Moscow.

The €300 million TulaCement plant (pictured) has a production capacity of 2 million tonnes of cement and employs around 400 people. The cement will be produced in a dry process in the highly automated plant, which is equipped with the latest environmentally friendly technology.

The entire production site – including the quarries – spans more than 100ha. To ensure optimum logistics for delivery and cement shipments, HeidelbergCement have constructed several kilometres of road and railway lines. Four modern apartment buildings have also been erected for the employees.

Dr Bernd Scheifele, chairman of the managing board of HeidelbergCement, said: ‘In the future, the new plant will primarily supply the rapidly growing market in Greater Moscow with high-quality cement.

‘We have thus reached another milestone in the expansion of our cement capacities in attractive growth regions and have increased the capacities in Russia to around 5 million tonnes per year.’

Dr Scheifele added: ‘Russia is an attractive market for HeidelbergCement. The demand for cement is rapidly increasing. It is anticipated that cement consumption will rise from 50 million tonnes in 2010 to around 70–90 million tonnes in the next 10 years.’

HeidelbergCement have been active in Russia since 2001. Among other activities, the Group operates a cement plant near St. Petersburg and is the majority shareholder of a building materials company in Bashkortostan, where dry mortar and gypsum are manufactured in addition to cement.

The company also produces aggregates in Voronezh and Novogurovsky. Cement is imported to important growth regions via import terminals in Murmansk, Archangelsk, and Kaliningrad.