September 2024
India: Ambuja Cement, a subsidiary of LafargeHolcim, supplied over 0.3Mt of cement for the Chenani-Nashri tunnel project that was opened in early April 2017. The company’s technical services teams provided technical support for the project by conducting cement mix design trials to achieve optimised mix proportion. It also held self-compacting concrete workshops to aid engineers and to provide support at the construction site to identify, diagnose and resolve problems. The group started providing materials to the project in 2010.
The new 9km single tube bi-directional Chenani-Nashri tunnel with a parallel intermediate lane escape tunnel of 29 cross passages, is considered one of the most challenging infrastructure projects in India in recent years. It is intended to make road travel safer and reduce traffic disturbances caused by unpredictable landslides, sharp bends, vehicle breakdowns and accidents on the existing mountainous route.
China: BBMG’s net profit for the first quarter of 2017 expected to at least double to US$55m from US$21m in the same quarter in 2016. The cement producer says the jump in profit is due to bookings for its property development business, although it added that an increase in cement and clinker prices had also contributed. The company’s shares bounced in early April 2017 following the announcement of the Xiongan New Area special economic development zone.
Meghna Cement Mills to install new mill 12 April 2017
Bangladesh: Meghna Cement Mills has signed a contract with Denmark’s FLSmidth to install a vertical roller mill with a production capacity of 2Mt/yr. The contract has been valued at US$15.7m and it will be installed by mid-2019, according to the Daily Star newspaper. The cement producer is taking loans from the Infrastructure Development Company to pay for the upgrade. Meghna Cement Mills operates a 1.2Mt/yr plant at the Port of Mongla. It markets its cement under the King Brand Cement line.
Bestway cancels bid for Dewan Cement plant 12 April 2017
Pakistan: Bestway Cement has cancelled its acquisition of Dewan Cement's north plant. It blamed the cancellation on delays and uncertainty following related legal proceedings at the Sindh High Court.
US: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has awarded CalPortland with a 2017 Energy Star Partner of the Year – Sustained Excellence Award for energy efficiency achievements. CalPortland’s accomplishments will be recognized by the EPA and the Department of Energy in Washington, DC on 26 April 2017.
Its key 2016 accomplishments include a reduction of its energy intensity by 1.1% in 2016 compared to business as usual in 2015 which resulted in over US$682,000 in savings and a reduction of 14,234Mt of CO2. The company initiated a new ‘CalPortland Energy Cup’ competition that compares and quantifies energy practices and performance of its three cement plants. All three CalPortland cement plants scored in the top quartile of the Energy Performance Indicators (EPI) benchmarking tool. The Rillito plant has been certified for the past five years in a row.
CalPortland has also completed several large energy saving projects including the installation of a new US$9m clinker cooler at the Rillito cement plant, a US$14m Anchorage terminal storage dome and a US$2m preheater duct replacement at the Mojave cement plant.
Caribbean Cement granted permission to import cement 12 April 2017
Jamaica: The government has granted Caribbean Cement permission to import cement from Trinidad & Tobago in order to resolve local supply issues. The cement producer will procure cement from its subsidiary Trinidad Cement, according to the Jamaica Observer newspaper. Caribbean Cement has reported technical issues with its packing plant which have led to it being unable to support the local retail market. It has also suspended all exports.
Ireland: Ecocem Ireland has appointed Micheál McKittrick as its Managing Director for Ireland and the UK. His role involves the management of all aspects of the Irish and UK operations. McKittrick is a Chartered Engineer and graduate of Trinity College Dublin. He previously worked in several senior roles with Atkins Consulting Engineers.
Mexico: Mauricio Doehmer has been appointed as the president of the National Chamber of Cement. He is Cemex’s corporate affairs and business risk management executive vice-president, according to the El Financiero newspaper. He succeeds Billy Alvarez, an executive with Cementos Cruz Azul.
LafargeHolcim to nominate Patrick Kron to board 12 April 2017
Switzerland: The board of directors of LafargeHolcim will nominate Patrick Kron for election as a new board member at the group’s upcoming Annual General Meeting on 3 May 2017. At the same time Philippe Dauman and Alexander Gut have taken the decision not to stand for re-election. Bruno Lafont, currently co-chairman of the board of directors, has also stated previously that he will not stand for re-election. Following the election of the nominees, the board of directors will reduce in size to 12 members from 14 at present.
Kron, a French national who was born in 1953, is a graduate of the Ecole Polytechnique and the Paris Ecole des Mines, France. He began his career at the French Industry Ministry in 1979 before joining the Pechiney group in 1984. In 1993, he became member of the executive committee of the Pechiney group and was chairman and chief executive officer of Carbone Lorraine from 1993 to 1997. From 1995 to 1997, he ran Pechiney’s Food and Health Care Packaging Sector and held the position of chief operating officer of the American National Can Company in Chicago, US. From 1998 to 2002, Kron was chairman of the executive board of Imerys. He has been a director of Alstom since July 2001 and he was appointed chief executive officer of Alstom in January 2003, and then chairman and chief executive officer in March 2003, a position he held until January 2016 when he set up Patrick Kron - Conseils & Investissements.
China: Shanshui Cement has said that the Jinan properties of its Shandong Shanshui subsidiary have been illegally occupied by Mi Jingtian, the former deputy general manager of the company and his associates. When the representatives of Shanshui Cement attempted to repossess the unit they were held against their will for over two hours by a hostile crowd until local police helped them to escape. During the debacle some of the directors of Shanshui Cement were hurt. The assailants were also reported as having used pepper spray, smoke bombs and water cannons. Shanshui Cement has called upon the local authorities to investigate the occupation of the properties. Mi Jingtian along with Li Maohuan, Yu Yuchuan, Zhao Liping, Chen Zhongsheng and Liu Xianliang were all dismissed from Shandong Shanshui in early 2017.