Region’s largest cement plant to be built in Azerbaijan

Azerbaijan, Baku, Feb. 16 / Trend /

The Azerbaijani private company Norm announced a tender to engineer and construct the Qizildas Cement Plant, the company said in a press release.

The tender envisages constructing an advanced technology cement production set, supplying raw materials and storing, packing and selling goods. The equipment and technology must strictly comply with European environmental standards, the company said.

Norm was launched on May 4, 2006 as a cement company selling goods on the Azerbaijani market. Today the company occupies a niche on the South Caucasus and Caspian cement market.

The Qizildas Cement Plant will be located in the Garadag district. Norm has purchased land to develop raw material fields. Over the past two years, Norm conducted preliminary activities to determine the power and location of the future plant and develop a strategy for the project. The company completed the necessary topographical and preliminary exploration studies. A detailed calculation of raw material deposits at its sites will be completed by April 2009.

In 2008, Norm finished a tender to hold consulting services for the project. The tender involved 10 renowned cement-production consulting companies. The Indian Holtec Consulting won the tender. The company is now a technical consultant to Norm and will help develop the project and select a contractor to construct the plant.

Employing over 500 people, Holtec has operated on the cement market since 1967. The company has grown into a major engineering consulting company. Its portfolio includes over 2,500 multipurpose projects for over 600 customers in India and 73 countries around the world.

The Qizildas Cement Plant will be commissioned in three stages. The first stage will be completed and the first batch of cement will be sold by mid-2011. In the first stage, two ovens will be commissioned. One oven with a capacity of two million tons per year will produce portland cement and a second oven with a capacity of 100,000 tons per year will produce backfill cement for the oil industry. Norm will be the first company in the region to offer backfill cement meeting American Petroleum Institute standards. 

The second and third stages envisage constructing two additional lines with a capacity of four million tons of cement per year. Construction is expected to be completed within 5 years after the first stage.

The Qizildas Cement Plant, with a capacity of 6 million tons of portland cement and 100,000 tons of backfill cement per year, will be the biggest cement producer in Azerbaijan and the Caspian region.