Cement producer Sephaku Cement reports that it has experienced a further kiln stoppage owing to preheater refractory material damage caused by a corrosive element in one of the raw materials, which was subsequently replaced with an alternative option that mitigates the risk of future damage.
The outage was necessitated by the requisite repair of the kiln internals to prevent damage to major components. This second plant stoppage started on October 16 and is expected to be completed on October 26.
The kiln was inspected and well attended to in previous maintenance stoppages; therefore, this damage was unexpected, the company notes.
Sephaku's management has, however, identified a long-term solution to this issue.
The outage is expected to impact on sales volumes, with the exact extent of that impact still being assessed.
This further kiln stoppage is unrelated to the previous event announced on September 30. Sephaku Cement resumed production as scheduled on October 6, following this unplanned plant outage in September.