The Hindu Business Line : Clinker exports hold promise for cement units

FOR the cement industry, it's a clinker-led export boom. Even as cement exports have more or less stagnated due to sluggish demand, cement companies such as ACC and Sanghi Cement are betting heavily on clinker exports to Western Europe, West Asia, Africa and neighbouring countries.

Clinker, which is a semi-finished form of cement, has been in demand in a number of countries that have manufacturing capacities but lack limestone and silica deposits, industry sources said. In volume terms, clinker exports have shown a sharp growth over the past couple of years, overtaking cement exports altogether.

During 2003-04, nine million tonnes of cement and clinker were exported from the country, against 6.92 million tonnes during the previous fiscal. The growth of 30 per cent in overall exports has largely been on account of clinker exports to countries such as the UAE, Nepal, Bangladesh and Qatar. UAE alone imported 8,70,000 tonnes of clinker from the country last fiscal, while Bangladesh and Qatar imported 4,22,000 tonnes and 3,29,000 tonnes respectively. In fact, several countries such as Spain, Bangladesh, Qatar, Oman, Iran and Kuwait import only clinker from the country and do not import any cement.

Clinker is formed at the penultimate stage of cement manufacture, which involves mixing, drying and grinding of limestone, clay and silica into a composite mass. This is then heated in a kiln and cooled subsequently to form clinker. The clinker is then ground with gypsum to form cement.

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