About 140 lbs of raw materials, 1400ºC (2700ºF) of heat, 3 megawatts of electricity, millions of dollars in equipment and lost of manpower go into every bag of cement. We in the TCL Group operate the three Cement Plants in the English speaking Caribbean – (one wet process kiln, one dry process kiln and the other …………(check)

I will briefly share the dry process operation with you:

• We blast 108 lbs of limestone from our quarry, adjoining the plant and crush it through a machine and heap into a pile. We mine 27 lbs of shale (clay) from our clay quarry ten (10) kilometers away and transport it to our plant. That clay is also passed through a crusher and heaped together with the limestone in a pile.



• We take samples of the heaped mixture and run chemical test in the Laboratory to ensure that the necessary properties are available in the right amounts to create the cement strength and other reactions we (and you) require. This pile is “corrected” by adding limestone, shale of (1-3 lbs) iron ore (imported from Trinidad or other countries).



• The mixture is reclaimed (collected) and transported to the Raw Mill where it is crushed into a meal size power (Raw Meal) and stored until ready for use. Again chemical analyses are done to ensure compliance.


• The Raw Meal is removed from its storage and cascaded from the top of the Preheater Tower through multi-stage cyclones where it comes into contact with several gases before entering the kiln (a large, long oven). As the meal passes through the kiln it is turned into liquid (liquid phase) where its binding properties are all very well fused. The product exists the kiln via a cooling system where it solidifies into Clinker, marble-sized globules of the base cement material. Again, chemical test are done to ensure compliance. What is very important is 135 lbs of raw material have been converted to 90 lbs of clinker (mainly through heat - 1400ºC of it).

We have concluded the first stage of making cement

The second stage involves the conversion of clinker to cement but with some control over the hydraulic (cement reacts with water to develop its bonding properties) reaction process. We need three (3) megawatts of power to operate the ball mill with grinds about 90 lbs of clinker with about 4 lbs of gypsum to make cement that the construction industry can utilize in controlled conditions. Again we take samples for the chemical analysis to ensure compliance with internationally accepted standards for cement.

What is more, all of our plants are ISO-9001-2000 certified for the cement manufacturing process.

Our cement is now manufactured and stored in large bins or silos, ready for use but still to be packaged for convenient handling. Our typical packaging or channels of trade are:

1. Bulk
2. Paper sacks in slings; and
3. 1.5 tonne bags

Our packaging plant and export handing (transport and loading) ensure cement is available for use in our neighbouring territories.