Displaying items by tag: LafargeHolcim
Jordan: Residents have protested outside a court against the Jordan Cement Company on environmental grounds. The protestors allege that the cement producer’s plants have caused ‘severe’ pollution that has negatively effected the health of those living nearby, according to the Jordan Times newspaper. In a statement the demonstrators claimed to represent thousands of local stakeholders and plaintiffs in a long running campaign against the subsidiary of Switzerland’s LafargeHolcim.
Guy Edwards appointed head of Aggregate Industries
12 December 2018UK: Aggregate Industries UK has appointed Guy Edwards as its chief executive officer (CEO) starting in January 2019. He succeeds François Petry, who was recently appointed Country CEO of Lafarge France and Market Head for France and Belgium.
Edwards holds over 30 years of experience in the construction industry, with 25 years of this in the UK. He is currently CEO for the company’s Aggregates and Construction Materials (ACM) business in the US. Over the years, he has held a variety of senior roles within Aggregate Industries, both in the UK and US. In 2013, Guy served as a UK Executive Committee member responsible for European operations and, in 2014, was named chief operating officer (COO) for the AI US business.
Edwards received a Bachelor of Science in Engineering from Leeds University in England, graduating with honours in 1988. He has also completed the International Leadership Program at the International Institute for Management Development in Switzerland.
ACC to build new plant in Madhya Pradesh
12 December 2018India: The board of ACC has approved plans to build a new cement plant at Ametha, District Katnl in Madhya Pradesh. The unit will have a clinker production capacity of 3Mt/yr and a cement production capacity of 1Mt/yr. The subsidiary of Switzerland’s LafargeHolcim plans to expand a 1.6Mt/yr grinding plant at Tikaria, Uttar Pradesh and a 2.2Mt/yr grinding plant also in Uttar Pradesh. The board also agreed to build a 1.1Mt/yr grinding plant at an existing unit at Sindri in Jharkhand. The projects are expected to cost around US$417m.
Holcim Deutschland’s Lägerdorf cement plant wins training award
12 December 2018Germany: Holcim Deutschland’s Lägerdorf cement plant has won a training award from the Chamber of Industry and Commerce (IHK). Peter Krohn of the IHK praised the plant’s quality of training, focus on younger people and attention to worker development. Holcim Deutschland employs around 2100 people in Germany and the Netherlands. Around 40 young people are undergoing training at Lägerdorf in various engineering and mechanical disciplines.
Huaxin Cement to build plant for Holcim Philippines
11 December 2018Philippines: China’s Huaxin Cement is preparing to sign a US$245m engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract with Holcim Philippines to build a new production line at its Davao plant. The Kalayaan 2 project includes a 6000t/day clinker production line, a 7MW waste heat recovery unit and upgrades to a 3000t/day production line. The contract follows a previous project between the companies on a mill at the plant.
LafargeHolcim Guinée orders modular grinding plant from CBMI
06 December 2018Guinea: LafargeHolcim Guinée has ordered a modular grinding plant from China’s CBMI. The deal was signed in late November 2018 and was launched in early December 2018. The project will be based at Dubréka, north of Conakry. For CBMI it is the first modular grinding plant it has officially sold.
LafargeHolcim shifts to growth?
05 December 2018Fascinating information came out of LafargeHolcim last week as part of its Capital Markets Day 2018. The building materials company said it is expecting sales growth to slow in 2019 but earnings to grow. Jan Jenisch, the chief executive officer (CEO), said that the group was ‘aggressively’ moving forward in aggregates and ready-mix concrete. Alongside this, its recent divestment of its Indonesian operations was declared a ‘major’ milestone in focusing its portfolio and cutting down on debt.
Graph 1: LafargeHolcim’s major product lines by sales (%), 2015 – 2017. Source: Company reports.
Graph 1, above, gives a good idea of how LafargeHolcim has been changing its business. Cement sales as a percentage of total sales have been cut to 60% in 2017 from 67% in 2015. Ready-mix concrete and other sales (including asphalt) have risen to 26% from 19%. Aggregate sales have stayed at around 14%. If the world is making too much cement then LafargeHolcim is switching to concrete and balancing out its supply chain. Naturally, this was backed up in one of its investor presentations showing a more even split in the world building materials market between cement, concrete and aggregates. This fits with Jenisch’s background as the former head of Sika. That company manufactures a wide range of specialty chemicals for the construction and automotive industries.
That shift in focus could also be seen at the inaugural Global Cement and Concrete Association (GCCA) event in late November 2018 where concrete was very much the centre of attention from a sustainability angle. The main companies involved with the GCCA are vertically integrated ones and, by switching its product balance, LafargeHolcim seems to be moving in the same direction. In a sense this is a continuation of the synergy-seeking that was promised when Lafarge and Holcim merged in 2015.
Graph 2: Forecast cement demand growth in LafargeHolcim markets. Source: LafargeHolcim investor presentation 2018.
The other interesting question for LafargeHolcim is where next for growth? The graphic above shows a number of promising areas, including India and east Sub-Saharan Africa. Also, note the slowdown forecast for China. That renewed faith in India is timely this week given the expectation by the Indian Cement Manufacturers Association that cement demand growth in the country will rise by at least 10% in the current financial year to March 2019. If the momentum holds up after a strong first half then it will mark the fastest increase for the region since the market slowed down in 2011. LafargeHolcim doesn’t appear to be on course to grow significantly in India anytime soon but it has major ‘skin in the game’ in a promising market.
Another indication of the vibrancy of the Indian market also came this week from the Cement Sustainability Initiative (CSI) with the results of a status review from its low carbon technology roadmap (LCTR). The results were fairly good for such a large industry, with falling CO2 emissions intensity, growing co-processing rates and a decreasing clinker factor. This report carried a sad note given that the work that the CSI does will be taken over by the GCCA in January 2019. However, if this is the last we’re going to hear from the CSI, then they’ve left on a high note.
Lastly, leafing through old financial reports may not be everybody’s idea of a good time but it does let one see how LafargeHolcim’s product mix has changed. It also gives one time to catch up with old faces. Like Bruno Lafont and Eric Olsen. Once again those two former executives popped up in the latest twist of the on going Lafarge Syria legal case as a group of Yazidi women have applied to become ‘civil parties’ in the case. Whether the war crimes inflicted upon the Yazidis can be pinned on Lafarge Syria remains to be seen. Yet, for all of the LafargeHolcim’s business reorganisation, its predecessor’s conduct in Syria continues to make headlines. However much progress the company makes in turning around its fortunes, if it can be, this will continue to overshadow everything. Once a line is drawn under the affair then LafargeHolcim can move on properly.
Belgium/France: LafargeHolcim has appointed François Petry as the chief executive officer (CEO) of LafargeHolcim France and Head of France - Belgium. He succeeds Bénédicte de Bonnechose, who has decided to leave the group.
Petry has been the managing director of Aggregate Industries, a subsidiary of LafargeHolcim in the UK, since 2015. Prior to this he was the CEO of LafargeHolcim Romania since 2014 and the general manager for Aggregates in Holcim France since 2008. Before that, he held senior positions across the infrastructure, construction and waste industries in France.
He holds degree in Engineering from the École Nationale Superieure D’Arts et Metiers, ParisTech, as well as an executive MBA from the École des Hautes Etudes Commerciales de Paris.
Ambuja Cement introduces accident insurance for truck drivers
05 December 2018India: Ambuja Cement has introduced a comprehensive Group Personal Accident Insurance (GPA) policy for truck drivers. The new policy has a policy cover of around US$7m. It is set to benefit nearly 12,000 drivers, who are third-party employees, in case of accidental death or permanent disability. The subsidiary of Switzerland’s LafargeHolcim says it is the first cement company in the local sector to start such as a plan.
“Road safety has been a big challenge as we have little control beyond our plants’ premises. Introduction of Group Personal Accident Insurance policy for the truck drivers – who operate for round-the-clock dispatches – is yet another step by Ambuja Cement to exhibit how much we value them and their work,” said Ajay Kapur, the managing director and chief executive officer (CEO) of Ambuja Cement.
Yazidis apply to join criminal case against Lafarge
03 December 2018France/Syria: A group of Yazidi women have applied to become ‘civil parties’ in a criminal case brought in France against Lafarge and several of its executives for complicity in crimes against humanity and financing a terrorist organisation. The women survived rape and slavery at the hands of the Islamic State (IS) group in Iraq and Syria, according to the Agence France Presse. Lafarge allegedly made multi-million dollar payments to IS in order to continue operations at one of its cement plants in northern Syria in 2013. Lawyers on behalf of the Yazidi said that the case would allow the women, "to have their voices heard in a court of law."
Lafarge Syria is suspected of paying nearly Euro13m to IS and other militant groups to keep the Jalabiya plant running. Payments by the cement company were considered a ‘tax’ in exchange for which militants allowed free movement of the company's staff and goods inside the warzone, according to investigators.