The Cebu Portland Cement Company

Philippine Cement: The Cebu Portland Cement Company
By WALTER ROBB
THE AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE JOURNAL
Vol 5 No 8 August 1925

The cement industry in the Philippines is at present confined to one company owned by the government, the Cebu Portland Cement Company operating a plant producing 1000 barrels a day at Naga, Cebu, the government having put capital into the venture to the amount of P2,780,000. The islands use 400,000 to 500,000 barrels of cement annually. The plant could be built for much less, now that prices of machinery have gone down, but it is a good plant in a good location. Ninety-five per cent of its raw material is right at the plant and can be scooped up and handled with steam shovels. Silica is only 2-1/2 miles away. The small amount of gypsum required to perfect the cement comes from a deposit in Batangas. Several other deposits of this material are available in the islands. Coal is obtainable from the Uling-Naga coal mines and can be run down to the mill by gravity. At present the affairs of the company are in a state of uncertainty. From the outset it has experienced administrative difficulties and high costs of supervision. It emerged from its tangle with the builder, C. F. Massey, by buying him out. It reduced its overhead costs last year and during the first part of this year, according to statements of the president, Mr. Alberto Barretto, but it is not yet turning a profit. The cement it makes is good, tests at the bureau of science show. Opposed to the plan to sell, is the project now pending in the legislature to grant the company P2,800,000 more for extensions including a second rotary kiln that would bring its capacity to 2,000 barrels daily and provide a substantial margin for export. The industry is protected by a tariff of P1.20 a barrel. The former rate was P0.60 a barrel, which was doubled to accommodate the company after it begun operations. This tariff does not apply to cement from the United States. Dependable labor a; the splendid co-operation which was given moderate wages is a matter of course in by American manufacturers of machinery Cebu. The following description of the and supplies all along the course of the plant was furnished to a trade journal in work. In fact, he has come home an enthe United States by the man who inducei thusiastic booster for American trade in the government to go into the venture, C. the Orient, not alone as a patriotic AmeriF. Massey of Chicago: can who wants to see his own country capThe location of the plant affords splen- ture foreign business, but feeling also that did facilities for shipping, as it is on the the Orient can serve its own best interests line of the Philippine railroad and is only by buying from this country. 900 ft. from Tinaan anchorage, where a The Allis-Chalmers Mfg. Co., which dock is under construction, which will, furnished a large part of the equipment, when completed, accommodate ships draw- rave especial attention to the details of ing up to 35 ft. of water. There is also shipments, both at the Milwaukee nlant available an abundance of the best labor and at the port of shipment, checkin the islands. ing and rechecking so that there might be Before deciding on the location, about no possibility of errors which would delay 12 tons of raw material were taken to the the work. United States by Mr. Massey where ex- The mill is operating on the wet process haustive chemical analyses and physical The machinery installed was purchased in tests were made. 1921 at a total cost of approximately The company owns, under Torrens title. 1,600.000 pesos ($800,000). All of the some 125 acres of cement material land buildings are fireproof, being of steel and adjoining the plant; also it has a fore- concrete construction. shore lease from the government for all The raw material is handled at the shore land controlled by the company. quarry' with a 2-1,/2-yd. Marion steam The Cebu Portland Cement Co. was in- shovel, delivering to 4 and 6-yd. side-dump corporated under the laws of the Philip- cars which dump directly into a 24 by 60 -pine Islands on Jan. 13, 1922 with an in. Fairmount type crusher. The product anthorized capital stock of 5,000,000 pesos of this crusher is fed by means of a grizzly ($2,500,000). feeder to a No. 5 Williams mill, from The plant was designed by Mr. Massey which a belt conveyor carries it to the raw in consultation with able and experienced grinding department American engineers with the result that it The raw grinding is done in one 7 by is up-to-date in every respect and the 26-ft. wet compeb mill, complete with bins, machinery installed is the most modern and slurry elevators, regulators, etc., deliverefficient possible to obtain. ing to four 20 by 30-ft. slurry tanks, this Ground was broken March 20, 1922, and department having a capacity of 2500 bbls. the mill was in operation the latter part per day. of June, 1923, cr only 15 months after the As at present equipped, the calcining work was started. Considering the dis- department includes one kiln, 10 by 11 by tance from the base of supplies and the 175 ft. in dimensions and capable of proclass of labor to be had, this was a remark. ducing 1250 bbls. per day. The clinker is ably good performance, and Mr. Massey delivered to outside storage spanned by a sass it could not have been done without 75-ft. Milwaukee electric crane with clamshell bucket, by which the clinker is carried to the finish grinding equipment as desired. This latter consists of a Dodge type crusher and a 7 by 26-ft. compeb mill similar to the one on the raw end of the plant. This end of the mill has a capacity of finished cement of 1500 bbls. per day at 85% passing 200-mesh. The stockhouse for the finished cement consist of three 24 by 50-ft. steel tanks, equipped with screw conveyors and elevators for handling the material. These are enclosed and dust tight, as are other such conveyors throughout the plant wherever pissible, making it remarkably free from dust. Most of the product is packed in cloth bags by Bates machines, but the packing house also has facilities for assembling and filling both wood and steel barrels. Steam for power is generated in an Edge-Moor waste heat boiler, in addition to which an auxiliary boiler is installed for starting and standby purposes. The power house includes the following equipment: One 1250-kw. 3600-r.p.m. turboalternator, 3-phase 60-cycle, furnishing current at 2300 volts, with direct-connected exciter and expansion joint; one surface condenser; one 125-kw. high-pressure non-condensing steam turbine. An evaporating system of Griscom-Russel construction furnishes clear distilled water for the boiler and other needs of the plant. It is operated from the steam produced by the waste heat boiler and cleadistilled water is therefore obtained at slight cost at all times. There is a complete machine shop equipped with lathes and machine tools to make all necessary repairs for any part of the mill. The laboratory is unusually complete, fully equipped not only for routing control tests but also for analyzing the raw materials ~received and for doing experimental work. This extensive laboratory was essential because of the location of the plant so far from educational or commercial laboratories, requiring it to be able to handle any work which might come up. The same situation has had to be kept in mind in other parts of the work, so that the plant is perhaps as self-contained and self-reliant as can be found anywhere. The plant has now been in operation about 2 years and the produt has uniformly exceeded standard specifications. The Bureau of Science at Manila made tests of 100 samples of this cement, finding it running very uniform and showing average tensile strength at 7 days of 313 lbs. and at 28 days of 402 lbs. It showed uniformly 85% or better through 200 mesh, and specific gravity of about 3.10. An average analysis made at the plant laboratory is as follows: Per cent Per cent SiO......... 23.00 MgO..... 1.66 ALO 1.. 7.53 SO......... 1.37 FeO,.... 2.97 Loss on ignition 1.05 CaO....... 63.10 Insoluble......30 Due to the necessity for training an inexperienced personnel and other circumstances naturally incident to the early stages of operation of a new manufacturing plant of this magnitude, especially in an undeveloped locality, the cost of cement in the first few months of operation was comparatively high, but this has been reduced to a normal figure as machinery has been adjusted and co-ordinated and men have been trained to proficiency in their duties. The plant has a rated capacity of 1000 bbls. per day but is capable of producing 1200 to 1400 lbs. per day, and since it began operation, it has actually produced an average of over 1000 bbls. for each day the plant was in actual operation. The Philippine Islands alone have been consuming between 300,000 and 400,000 bbls. of cement yearly, and this consumption will doubtless be materially increased with the reduced prices at which the product of the Cebu Portland Cement Co. can be offered. Within a radius of 1700 miles are found the following foreign markets: Indo-China, Straits Settlements, Hongkong, China, Guam, New Guinea, Celebes, Borneo, Java and Sumatra. Favorable freight rates are obtainable to these markets, and with proposed increased manufacture and consequent reduced cost of production, it is believed that Cebu can successfully compete in these markets with other brands of cement.