Cement clinker is the semi-manufactured material which needs to be ground into powder to make ordinary Portland cement. Global demand for cement clinker is forecast to increase by 4.1% per year between 2015 and 2020, driven by improvements in construction spending in developing countries as well as ongoing recovery in developed economies.
As of 2013, there were 710 cement clinker production plants worldwide, with China accounting for a majority of global capacity at an estimated 250 million metric tons (Mt). China is also the world leader in consumption, followed by the United States and India.
For investors who are looking for exposure to this market space, there are a number of companies that can be considered. Cemex SAB de CV (NYSE:CX) is one of the largest cement producers in the world. The company has an extensive portfolio that includes ready-mixed concrete and aggregates operations globally.
The company’s revenue has increased from $15 billion in 2009 to $17 billion in 2013, but its net income has fallen from around $2 billion four years ago to $200 million last year. The stock price has remained fairly stagnant over this period as well, trading at around $9 currently compared to $8 four years ago.
Every day, millions of tons of cement clinker are produced, and cement clinker producers worldwide are seeking investment opportunities in the cement industry. The cement industry has boosted the development of the construction industry, but what is cement?
Cement is a fine powder which sets after a few hours when mixed with water, and then hardens into a solid, strong material. Cement is mainly used to bind fine sand and coarse aggregates together in concrete. Concrete is a construction material composed of cement (commonly Portland cement), fine aggregate (sand), coarse aggregate (gravel or crushed stone) and water.
Cement clinker is the primary product in cement production. It is a chemically inert material made by heating limestone and red shale to high temperatures and spinning the resulting clinker into small pellets. Cement clinker is then mixed with gypsum and ground into cement.
Cement clinker can be bought in bulk from cement producers, or it can be purchased on the futures market through commodities brokers. Because of its unique properties, cement clinker has a wide range of uses, including:
Cement clinker is used to make concrete, which is poured over gravel to form a roadbed. Concrete trucks are able to hold up to 20 tons of cement clinker, allowing them to carry large amounts of cargo. Cement clinker can also be used for decorative applications such as creating statues or pictures with a 3D printer.
Cement clinker is also used in the manufacture of bricks and tiles. When mixed with water, it becomes a fine paste that can be poured into molds and allowed to dry. When it hardens, the bricks are ready to use in construction projects or to sell as a finished product.
Cement clinker is the semi-finished material that needs to be ground into powder to make cement.
Cement clinker is a kind of industrial solid waste. It is produced in the process of making cement by limestone, clay, iron raw materials such as raw material ingredients and fuel firing into clinker.According to the composition and hydration products can be divided into five categories: alite, belite, calcium sulfate alite, belite calcium sulfate and mixed alite.
Clinker production is the main link in cement production. Clinker production accounts for more than 60% of the total power consumption of cement production. In the recent years, with the rapid development of national infrastructure projects, domestic cement production has increased sharply and demand for cement has also increased rapidly. Thus, the requirements for energy conservation and emission reduction have been put forward in order to reduce production costs and improve competitiveness.
Cement clinker or simply “clinker” is the product of the calcination of limestone and clay at temperatures above 1,450°C. Clinker is a granular material composed primarily of calcium silicates with minor amounts of other minerals such as aluminate and ferrite.
The main sources of calcium are clay, marble, and limestone. The clinker is prepared by subjecting the raw materials to high temperature (1,450°C) that causes the chemical compounds in the raw materials to undergo chemical reactions. During this process a lot of energy is consumed and a lot of waste gases are emitted. The clinker is cooled to about 100°C then stored in a storage facility until it is ready for use. The end product has to be cooled very slowly so that its level of porosity can be controlled and to obtain the desired composition of minerals. For quality purposes, certain types of clinkers need to be chilled at low temperatures to reduce their reactivity during grinding.
Cement clinker is a solid material produced in the manufacture of Portland cement as an intermediary product. Clinker occurs as lumps or nodules, usually 3 millimetres (0.12 in) to 25 millimetres (0.98 in) in diameter. It is produced by sintering (fusing together without melting to the point of liquefaction) limestone and aluminosilicate materials such as clay during the cement kiln stage.
Cement clinkers are usually ground with gypsum (CaSO4·2H2O) to produce the fine powder later mixed with liquid to produce cement.
Cement clinker is the semi-manufactured material which needs to be ground into powder to make ordinary cement. It is also known as Portland cement clinker.
Cement clinker is made by sintering limestone and alumino-silicate (clay) in a kiln at 1450°C. The product of the calcination process is clinker—the main ingredient of cement—that is finely ground with gypsum and other chemical additives to produce cement.
Portland cement clinker is ground to a fine powder and used as the binder in many cement products. A little gypsum is sometimes added. It may also be combined with other active ingredients or chemical admixtures to produce other types of cement including: ground granulated blast furnace slag cement pozzolana cement silica fume cement
Cement users need also to know about some properties of clinker in order to optimize the use of clinker in cement manufacturing. These properties are related to the chemistry, mineralogy and textural characteristics of the clinker mineral phases.