14 June 2018

Italy: The Administrative Regional Court of Lazio has confirmed fines on local cement producers for cartel-like behaviour after an appeal process. Italcementi has been fined Euro84m, Buzzi Unicem has been fined Euro60m and Cementi Moccia has been fined Euro0.69m, according to the ANSA news agency.

The Italian Competition Authority (AGCM) originally imposed total fines of over Euro180m in late 2017 upon Italcementi, Buzzi Unicem, Colacem, Cementir, Sacci, Holcim, Cementirossi, Barbetti, Cementeria di Monselice, Cementizillo, Calme, Cementi Moccia, TSC and the Italian Cement Association (AITEC) for allegedly coordinating sales prices and agreeing market share from June 2011 to January 2016. The other cement companies are currently awaiting the outcome of their own appeals.

Spain: LafargeHolcim has chosen its Carboneras cement plant in Almeria as a refrence training centre for its European operations. The plant was selected due to its port and high level of staff expertise amongst other reasons. A group of LafargeHolcim engineers from Poland, France, the UK, Romania, Croatia, Greece and Serbia have all recently visited the site for a training course.

Russia: Yakutcement has started the third kiln at its plant at Mokhsogollokh in Khangalassky. The new production line has a clinker production capacity of 0.5Mt/yr, according to Sakha Life. Representatives of local government and the management of the cement plant’s owner’s Vostokcement attended the opening. Cement from the new line is intended to support local demand in the region.

Mozambique: The Mozambican customs service has defended the seizure of a 1440t import consignment of cement from South Africa in early June 2018. Fernando Tinga, the press attaché of the National Customs Directorate, said that the seizure of the cement was because the importing company Kawena did not present the legally required documentation at the time, according to the Noticias newspaper. Kawena has defended its actions saying that it has imported cement from South Africa for ‘many years’ and that its goods belonging to Mozambican migrant workers living in South Africa are exempt from taxes. However, it admitted that it did not have the correct documentation for the consignment.

Pakistan: Germany’s Aumund Fördertechnik is supplying equipment for a new 8000t/day production line that Flying Cement is building at its Mangowal plant in Punjab Province. Aumund is providing bucket elevators, pan conveyors and silo discharge gates for the project.

One belt bucket elevator will feed raw meal to the silo. It is designed with a centre distance of 87.6m and will reach a capacity of around 650t/hr. The other belt bucket elevator will also have a capacity of 650t/hr. Its centre distance is 115m and it will take raw meal to the heat exchanger. Flying Cement will use an Aumund KZB 1200/400 pan conveyor to transport clinker to the main silo. This conveyor will be approximately 115m long, with a lift of 43.5m, and a capacity of up to 580t/hr. The off-spec silo will be served by an Aumund KZB 1200/400 pan conveyor which is 42m long and has a capacity of 580t/hr. The order also includes 13 silo discharge gates.

The bucket elevators will be dispatched to Pakistan at the beginning of August 2018 and the pan conveyors will be supplied in a second consignment at the end the year.