The Ministry of Agriculture, Rural Development, Climate Emergency and Ecological Transition has certified the death of the gray cement kiln at the old Valenciana de Cementos factory in Buñol (Valencia), which Cemex is dismantling.
Through the integrated environmental analysis technical commission, it has approved the new operating regime of the Buñol cement plant, which will only have the white cement kiln to maintain its activity. According to the Ministry, the company is already in the disassembly phase of the gray cement line, as incorporated in the authorization.
The decision to close and dismantle the gray cement kiln by the Mexican multinational Cemex, which acquired the former Valenciana de Cementos from the Serratosas in 1992, occurred at the same time as the sale of the other kiln, the white cement kiln, was agreed. , as well as its business linked to that material to the Turkish group Çimsa. An operation valued at 180 million dollars.
The gray cement kiln was the largest capacity of the two that the Buñol plant had. In total, the facility had the capacity to produce 1,093 million tons of gray clinker -raw cement- per year, compared to about 600,000 tons of the white cement kiln now in the hands of the Turkish group, according to data from the Spanish employers’ association. of cement manufacturers Oficemen.
But also, the end of this facility marks a before and after for the construction materials industry in the Valencian Community. With its end, the community will lose almost 25% of its total clinker cement production capacity, which stands at around 4.45 million tons per year according to Oficemen. In addition to the Buñol plant, two other facilities currently operate in the region: Lafarge Holcim’s in Sagunto and Cemex’s in San Vicente del Raspeig (Alicante).
Less industry and fewer emissions
This heavy industry has seen how its competitiveness in European countries has been reduced by the costs of CO2 emissions, which have more than tripled in the last few years, in addition to environmental requirements. With its closure, the combustion of petroleum coke will be reduced by some 374,000 tons per year in the nominal operating regime of the facilities, which implies a reduction of more than 1,000,000 tons of CO2 equivalent per year, according to the Ministry.
In the Valencian Community there are also mills that in their case do not produce clinker, but rather transform this product brought from other countries.
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