Novada Cement, the U.S. arm of Türkiye’s Medcem Cement Group, is planting a serious flag in Tampa Bay, bringing in ABB to electrify and automate a new cement manufacturing facility in the area. It is Novada’s first U.S. investment, and the company says the plant will be capable of producing more than 600,000 tons of cement a year at full output, putting a major new supplier within reach of contractors and concrete producers across the Gulf Coast.
ABB has been tapped to design, supply, install and commission integrated plant-wide electrification, automation and drives systems, and to provide engineering, project management and long-term operational support, according to Automation.com. The announcement flags ABB Ability™ System 800xA as the distributed control system tying the facility together, giving operators real-time visibility into plant processes. Company materials say the package is expected to lift energy efficiency, keep processes steadier and improve product quality.
State corporate filings list Novada Cement FL, LLC at the Agunsa Manatee Terminal in Palmetto, better known locally as Port Manatee, and show Isa Eltez as the company’s local manager, per Florida Department of State records. Industry reporting also links the move to Medcem’s broader U.S. expansion. Platts/S&P Global reported that work on a nearby brownfield clinker-grinding mill began in February 2025, with commissioning and testing scheduled for August ahead of commercial production in September 2026. Taken together, the filings and trade coverage suggest Medcem is pairing deepwater port access with local grinding capacity as it scales up.
What It Could Mean For Tampa Bay
At an expected capacity above 600,000 tons a year, the Novada facility would represent a sizable bump in regional cement supply and could shorten haul distances for area builders and concrete suppliers, as reported by CemNet. Trade coverage leans on sustainability and digitalisation as key selling points, with vendor materials and company statements repeatedly stressing the energy and process gains they expect from the setup. Novada’s plant manager, Isa Eltez, said the collaboration with ABB will “accelerate commissioning and operational readiness,” according to Machine Maker. For Gulf Coast contractors watching every dollar and delivery window, a fully tuned-up, nearby supplier could be a notable shift in the market.
ABB Technology And Experience
ABB’s System 800xA platform is already a regular presence in cement plants, used for advanced process control, laboratory-to-production integration and energy optimisation, according to the company’s technical materials on kiln process control available from ABB. The company says it brings more than 140 years of industrial experience and a workforce of around 110,000 employees worldwide, per ABB, which gives Novada a fairly heavyweight partner for a first foray into the U.S. market.
Timeline And What To Watch
ABB’s public announcement did not spell out a firm start date for commercial production at the Tampa Bay facility. For now, anyone trying to gauge when the plant will really start pushing volume will be watching local permit activity, port logistics and the timetable for clinker shipments from Türkiye. Platts/S&P Global reported that Medcem plans to source clinker from its Turkish network, and the pace of those imports will play a big role in how quickly the facility ramps up to full output. We will be keeping an eye on filings and statements from Novada and Medcem, ABB and local regulators as the project moves from paperwork to production.
