September 2024
Tanzania: January Makamba, the Minister of State in the Vice-President's Office, Union and Environment, has ordered that the Moshi Cement plant close whilst it implements the recommendations of the National Environment Management Council (NEMC). Following a visit by the council the management of the plant were asked to observe the Environment Management Act of 2004, according to the Daily News newspaper. Recommendations the plant has been asked to take action on include reducing dust emissions at the site.
Cimencam to build third cement plant in Cameroon 29 March 2017
Cameroon: Cimencam, a subsidiary of LafargeHolcim via LafargeHolcim Maroc Afrique (LHMA), has announced that it will build a 0.5Mt/yr cement grinding plant at Nomayos, near Yaoundé with a budget of Euro42.6m. The plant will be the cement producer’s third in the country, according to the Échos Quotidien newspaper. Cement from the new plant will be sold locally as well as elsewhere in Central Africa. LHMA owns a 54.74% share in Cimencam.
European Commission set to block HeidelbergCement and Schwenk purchase of Cemex Croatia 29 March 2017
Croatia: The proposed acquisition of Cemex Croatia by HeidelbergCement and Schwenk is set to be blocked by the European Commission according to sources quoted by Reuters. The commission started investing the deal in October 2016 following plans by HeidelbergCement and Schwenk to buy Cemex Croatia via their jointly owned subsidiary Duna Drava Cement (DDC). The deal would see the largest producer in the area merged with the largest importer. However, a final decision on the transaction has not been made yet and the European Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager could still rule in favour of it. The commission is expected to make a final decision by 18 April 2017.
US: The Portland Cement Association (PCA) has supported President Donald Trump’s executive order (EO) on energy independence. The EO instructs federal agencies to review and either revise or withdraw a number of actions taken by the Obama administration, including the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Clean Power Plan. The EO also immediately rescinds other federal policies, such as the social cost of carbon figures developed by the Interagency Working Group on Social Cost of Greenhouse Gases.
“The PCA applauds President Trump for revisiting regulations that have a significant impact on the nation’s cement manufacturers, such as those in the EO issued today,” said PCA Executive Vice President Todd Johnston. He added that the EPA’s Clean Power Plan had ‘exceeded’ the agency’s statutory authority and that the social cost of carbon figures were developed without necessary transparency and public input.
Despite supporting measures that rollback environmental policy in the US the EPA said that it and its members were committed to manufacturing products with a ‘minimal’ environmental footprint.
UK: Laurence Millington has been appointed the managing director of Vortex’s operations based from Darlington in the UK. He succeeds Travis Young, who managed the company’s international operations in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) and Asian markets since 2008. Young will become the Executive Vice President of Marketing and Global Strategy at Vortex’s corporate headquarters in Kansas, US.
Millington has been employed with the company since 2009 and was promoted to the role of Sales Director, EMEA and Asia, in 2015. Young has been with the company since 2004. Founded in 1977, Vortex designs and manufactures valves and dustless loading equipment for handling dry bulk material in the mineral, chemical and food industries.
Australia: Adelaide Brighton has appointed Zlatko Todorcevski as a non-executive director. He has a Bachelor of Commerce (Accounting) and holds an MBA. He has worked for more than 30 years in the oil and gas, logistics and manufacturing sectors in Australia and overseas and has a background in finance, strategy and planning. He has previously held the position of Chief Financial Officer with BHP Billiton’s Energy business, Oil Search Limited and most recently at Brambles.
US: HarbisonWalker International (HWI) plans to build a new monolithic refractories plant at the Point Industrial Park in South Point, Lawrence County, Ohio. The site is subject to completion of the company’s due diligence and finalisation of one additional grant application that is in process. HWI announced in February 2017 that it was spending US$30m on building a new 80,000t/yr refractory plant to start operation by early 2018.
Mordovcement commissions new bagging line 28 March 2017
Russia: Mordovcement, part of Eurocement Group, has commissioned a new bagging line using equipment from Newtec Bag Palletizing and OMS Systems. The pallet-free palletiser has a rate of 130t/hr or 2600 bags/hr processing bags of 40kg or 50kg. The cement producer invested over Euro950,000 on the new line and the upgrade is expected to increase the plant’s cement delivery volume to 9000t/day.
LafargeHolcim establishes new European Works Council 28 March 2017
Switzerland: LafargeHolcim and employee representatives in Europe have established a new European Works Council (EWC). The forum for consultation and dialogue at a transnational level will bring together worker representatives from 19 countries with senior leaders from LafargeHolcim.
“People are essential to the success of LafargeHolcim and our commitment to social dialogue through the new European Works Council is testament to this. During a period of transformation, we recognise that ensuring the full commitment, mobilisation, and engagement of our employees is a key building block for success,” said Eric Olsen, chief executive officer of LafargeHolcim.
The EWC was established based on an agreement signed by Olsen and Executive Committee members Caroline Luscombe, responsible for Organisation and Human Resources and Roland Köhler, responsible for Europe, Australia / New Zealand and Trading as well as Sam Hägglund, General Secretary of the European Federation of Building and Woodworkers EFBWW, among other management and employee representatives. Chaired by Köhler, the EWC replaces the previous European Works Councils. Countries represented in the EWC include Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland and the UK.
Afghanistan: A Czech company plans to invest US$70m towards building a cement plant in Zenda Jan district of Herat province. A deal is expected to be signed in early April 2017, according to a Sirus Alaf, an Afghan presidential adviser on the economy, quoted by the 1TV Afghanistan television channel. Local companies are also expected to match the foreign investment. The planned plant will have a cement production capacity of 1600t/day.