19 June 2017
Cemex expands Construrama retail network 19 June 2017
Colombia: Cemex has opened its 300th store of its Construrama retail network. The network is present in 190 municipalities and it plans to reach 500 stores by 2020, according to the El Financiero newspaper. In 2016 the brand opened 130 branches in Mexico and 60 in Colombia. The network is also growing in other Latin American countries.
India: The Assam Real Estate and Infrastructure Developers' Association (AREIDA) says that the Competition Commission of India (CCI) has appointed an officer to investigate ‘unjustified’ rises in the price of cement. The AREIDA had filed a case with the CCI against Star, Topcem and Dalmia Cements in September 2016, according to the Assam Tribune newspaper. After a preliminary inquiry, the CCI had registered a case against the three companies with Case No. 77/2016, under Section 19 (1) (a) of the Competitions Act 2002, for violation of Sections 3 and 4 of the Act.
Eagle Cement orders coal mill from Loesche 19 June 2017
Philippines: Eagle Cement has ordered a coal mill from Loesche for its Barangay cement plant in San Ildefonso. The vertical roller mill is intended for the third line at the plant and it is designed for grinding 54t/hr of mixed coal or 34t/hr of pet coke. The grist is ground to a fineness of 12% (coal) or 3% (pet coke) sieving residue with 90µm. The scope of supply also includes an LSKS-classifier and corresponding filters, blowers, an inertisation unit, the gas analysis and the main drives. All components are scheduled to be delivered before the end of 2017.
Buzzi Unicem buys Zillo group 19 June 2017
Italy: Buzzi Unicem has agreed to buy Cementizillo for Euro60m plus 450,000 shares in Buzzi Unicem. The agreement also foresees a variable payment of up to Euro21m, payable to majority shareholders in Cementizillo, depending on the average price of Buzzi Unicem cement in Italy from 2017 to 2020. Buzzi Unicem has purchased 47.9% of the share capital of Cementizillo directly from the minority shareholders. The remaining 52.1% is expected to be acquired in early July 2017, following the prior settlement of some non-core assets that do not lie in the interest of Buzzi Unicem.
Zillo Group operates two integrated cement plants at Fanna and Este and about 40 concrete batching plants in northeast Italy. It reported cement and clinker sales volumes of around 1.1Mt and ready-mix concrete sales of 440,000m3 in 2016. Its net sales was Euro90m and its earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) were Euro10m. However, it reported a net debt of Euro46m in December 2016.