Souselas Plant
Souselas Plant is located about 15 km from Coimbra’s city and is one of the 3 units operated by Cimpor in Portugal.
The main operations carried out on this site are production and dispatch of cement and clinker.
The plant has a privileged location, near to Aveiro and Figueira da Foz harbour, and favourable road and rail access leading to develop and strength the economy of this region.
Products
The 5 types of cement currently produced at the Souselas are as follows:
- Portland Cement EN 197-1 - CEM I 42.5 R;
- Portland-limestone cement EN 197-1 - CEM II/A-L 42.5 R;
- Portland-limestone cement EN 197-1 - CEM II/B-L 32.5 N;
- Pozzolana Portland cement EN 197-1 – CEM IV/A (V) 42.5 R-SR;
- Portland-composite cement CEM II/B-M /V-L) 42,5 R
History
The suitable nearby location of the Alhastro and S. Valentim hills lead to a commercial and industrial purposes, where the lime production and the development of the railway were decisive factors in Souselas pointing a clear advantage for industrial development in the late of 19th century.
One of the first reports of a factory in the Souselas area dates back to 1909. On the 28th January, the District Council approved the building of a sawmill in Fornos-Souselas road, which was to be built by the Companhia Portugueza de Phosphoros.
The industrial boom of the 1930s came in the first plant built by the Companhia das Fábricas de Cerâmica Lusitânia. Other companies such as Césol (Cerâmica de Souselas, Lda) which has been established in 1978 is the most notable one.
In the 1970s, another industrial boom would shake up the parish with the installation of a cement factory. The erection of the Souselas plant was authorised in March 1971, and CINORTE - Companhia de Cimentos do Norte, SARL founded in October of the same year.
The choice of location for this new plant based on two pillars: favourable location closed to the north of the Portugal while also remaining closed to limestone and clay deposits, which are the main raw materials required for cement production. Thus, Alhastro hill become the limestone quarry used by Cimpor.
Operations began at the Souselas in 1974 with the 1st production line, which produced 500,000 tonnes of cement clinker per year.
In 1977, CIMPOR presented an Investment Plan to the Government, in which it considered the growth perspective of the internal cement market. Having assessed its options, CIMPOR proposed to install a new production line at the Souselas Plant, increasing its production capacity to nearly one million tonnes of clinker/year.
Later, and following the company strategy growth plans, the plant 3rd production line started up in May 1982 with an annual capacity of 1.1 million tonnes of clinker, which has been updated due to a line production revamping pursuing the BAT technologies in 2001, raising its production capacity till 1.4 million tonnes of clinker/year.
In summary, the production capacity of the Souselas plant increased to 2.4 million tonnes of clinker and 3.5 million tonnes of cement per year, correspondingly.
Timeline
