The United Cement Company of (UNICEM) Nigeria Limited, Nigeria’s third largest cement producer, at the weekend launched its new high-strength cement into the Port Harcourt construction industry, a product said to be deployable for heavy construction works.
According to Vipul Agrawal, the company’s marketing and technical assistance director, the new product, called “UniCem 42,5N Limestone Portland cement” is produced for specialised heavy construction works like high-rise buildings, long-span bridges, dams, fly-over, and silos.
Agrawal said UniCem went into production of the new cement, based on expectations and needs of customers like the construction companies into roads construction and precast infrastructure.
“We have developed the high strength performance cement (UniCem 45,5N) to take care of 10 percent of our customers needing this quality of cement for infrastructural development in our core market.
“The UniCem 42,5N is a versatile cement with many benefits such as: high and ultimate compressive strength, low heat of hydration (reduced cracking), workability, reduced bleeding, reduced porosity (enhanced strength), improved cohesion, smooth surface finish and has environmental friendliness (less CO2 emission),” he said.
He said for the past eight years, UniCem has produced and sold the UniCem 35,5R Portland Limestone cement; and has now faced a growing demand of high strength performance cement product by construction companies; which prompted a research into the product to meet these set of customers.
The product, which was launched at the Hotel Presidential, Port Harcourt, was witnessed by some major construction companies such as: Lubrik, Julius Berger Nigeria, Setraco, Alcon, Lafarge Ready Mix Concrete, Deux Project, Trans Ocean Limited, O.K Isokarari, among others.
Some building and civil engineering experts also said the new cement comes off as UniCem’s positive answer for provision of cement product that would meet a growing advocacy for use of cement-based products in building of motorways and other long-span infrastructures in Nigeria.
The UniCem marketing and technical assistance director told BusinessDay on the sidelines of the product launch that the 42,5N cement combines strength and performance at all ages with enhanced durability and environmental benefits; with a product specification of ‘CEM II/A-L 42,5N Portland limestone cement that conforms to the Nigerian Industrial Standards, NIS 444.1:2003 as equivalent to European Union’s internationally accepted EN 197-1-2000.
He informed that UniCem has a modern state-if-the-art 2.5 million metric tons per capacity integrated cement plant at Mfamosing, Cross River State; and would hit 2 million in production capacity by year-end; with an expansion work to further deliver 5 million metric tons per annum in three years.
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