When cement is distributed by water, terminals are required to load the ships on one side and to unload them on the other side.
Loading or export terminals
The loading terminal (or export terminal for international shipments) in general consists of a system to receive cement from the cement plant, a storage facility and a shiploading system.
When the cement plant is located on the waterside, the loading
terminal can be close to the cement plant and only a conveying
system is required to transport the cement from plant to
terminal. In many cases the cement plant is not located on a
waterside with sufficient draft for a seagoing ship and cement
has to be transported to the terminal by means of trucks, train
or inland barges.
Loading terminals in general require a storage facility. This storage facility is a buffer between the regular (constant) supply of cement from the plant and the irregular and discontinuous shipments. The required storage capacity is determined by logistics. The factors that influence the required storage capacity are (amongst others) the annual througput shipsize(s) to be loaded and capacity of the shiploading system. Sometimes the storage facility is omitted and cement is loaded into ships directly from trucks, trains or barges. To reach economic shiploading rates this puts tremendous pressure on the transportation system.
To load (seagoing) ships a wide range of shiploading systems are available. The choice of the loading system is dependent on the annual tonnage to be loaded into the ships, the size(s) and type(s) of the ships to be loaded and the dock situation (or lack of a dock).
Cement Distribution Consultants is quite experienced in the logistics, economics, terminal design and operations of these loading or export terminals. Please check our references.
Further information can also be obtained from the article "Export terminals from Asia".
Information on various types of storage facilities can be
found in the articles
"Improved dome
systems" and "Flatstorage -
the low cost storage alternative for storing cement".
For equipment manufacturers of loading storage and handling systems please check our links page.
If you have specific questions or projects please contact us for further information.
When the ships are loaded with cement they sail across the sea or inland waterway system to the unloading terminal. For more information on this please go to transportation.
Unloading or import terminals
The unloading terminal (or import terminal when receiving cement from other countries) in general consists of a ship unloading system, a storage facility and systems to load the cement in trucks, trains or barges for onward distribution to the final customers. Onward distribution can be in bulk, big bags or small paper bags, or a combination.
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Ship unloading systems unload the cement from the incoming ships and convey it either to the storage facility or directly to trucks, railcars or barges. Information on available types of shipunloaders and their operation can be found in the article 10 Guidelines to select a shipunloader.
Most import terminals have a storage facility. This storage facility acts as a buffer between the irregular arrival of (large) ships with cement and the regular (daily) despatch of small quantities. There are several types of storage facilities. For cement terminals the most popular storage facilities at present are domes and flat storage. Less used are silos and floating terminals.
This website contains a lot of information on logistics and economics of cement terminals and their concsequences on the selection of the storage facility. Please read:
Terminal logistics and economics
Build your own import terminal
How big is your cement terminal
For further information on types of storage facilities please read:
Flat storage - the low investment cost alternative for storing cement
From the storage facility (or directly from the shipunloader) the cement then is despatched to the final customers. In the US and West Europe, despatch from cement terminals is almost entirely in bulk. In other areas in the world it is a mixture of bulk and bags (25-50) kg). In some countries despatch is almost entirely in bags. Some terminals also despatch in big bags (Jumbo bags) of 1,5 tonnes. Most despatch of cement from terminals is by trucks. Only some terminals despatch by train or barges.
Cement Distribution Consultants is very experienced in the logistics, economics, terminal design and operations of these unloading or import terminals. Please check our references.
Examples of cement import terminals and information on terminal design can be found in the following articles.
Designing cost effective cement terminals
Expansion of Riverside Construction Materials terminal completed
For equipment manufacturers of shipunloading, storage, handling and despatach systems please check our links page.
If you have specific questions or projects please contact us.
This website also provides information on terminal operations.
