September 2024
Algeria/Nigeria: CBMI Construction (Sinoma) has issued paperwork passing over completed projects to Lafarge Africa, a part of LafargeHolcim, for projects in Algeria and Nigeria.
A provisional taking-over certificate (PTC) was signed by representatives of Unicem, a joint venture partly operated by Lafarge Africa in Nigeria, at Sinoma’s Beijing headquarters on 18 January 2017. Tomas Lorent, Lafarge Africa Project Manager and Liu Xinwang, CBMI Project Manager signed the paperwork on behalf of their companies. The certificate was signed eight weeks ahead of the contract. The new production line at the Calabar cement plant in Cross River State started operation in the summer of 2016. It includes one of the world’s largest vertical roller mills supplied by Loesche.
Meanwhile, a different PTC was signed on the same day by Didier Michel, Lafarge Algeria’s Project Manager and Gu Jinjun, CBMI Project Manager at Lafarge Algeria’s headquarters in Algiers. The 2.7Mt/yr CILAS Biskra cement plant, a joint operation between Lafarge Algeria and Souakri Group, was commissioned in the summer of 2016.
India: UltaTech Cement’s net profit has risen by 20% year-on-year to US$292m for the first nine months of its financial year to the 31 March 2017 from US$244m in the same period in the pervious year. Its total income from operations rose slightly to US$3.04bn. However, net sales fell slightly in the third quarter.
The cement producer reported that its board of directors had approved the setting up of a 3.5Mt/yr cement plant at Dhar, Madhya Pradesh for a cost of around US$382m. Commercial production at the plant is anticipated to start in early 2019. The plant is intended to grow the company’s markets in southwest Madhya Pradesh.
UltaTech Cement added that it had deposited a penalty of US$17.3m, 10% of a fine imposed by the Competition Commission of India (CCI) in August 2016. It is also facing a separate fine for U$10m from the CCI in relation to alleged misconduct in Haryana. The company intends to appeal both fines.
Holcim New Zealand in talks to sell Westport plant 20 January 2017
New Zealand: Holcim is conducting negotiations with prospective buyers for its Westport cement plant and associated assets. The cement producer closed the site in June 2016 with the loss of 100 jobs, according to the Daily Post newspaper. The assets on sale include the cement plant site, a quarry, a packing plant site, wharf silos, a water treatment plant and 11 houses. The assets comprise about 500 hectares of land, including 200 hectares of farmland. Expressions of interest closed in July 2016.
Flexicon launches weigh hopper with fill-pass valve 20 January 2017
UK: Flexicon has launched a weigh hopper with a ‘Fill/Pass’ valve for dilute-phase pneumatic conveying systems. The ‘Fill/Pass’ valve allows material to pass through the valve or to fill a hopper based on weight gain signals transmitted from load cells to the system's controller.
Suspended from three small-scale load cells, the bulk handling company says that the gain-in-weight hopper delivers higher accuracy than loss-of-weight systems requiring higher-capacity load cells. Single or multiple hoppers can be positioned along a common vacuum or positive pressure pneumatic conveying line for the discharging of dry bulk solids into single or multiple process equipment, storage vessels or downstream use points by weight. Downstream of the last ‘Fill/Pass’ valve, the conveying line can be routed to the original material source point or into a dust collection device.
Najran Cement’s net profit drops by over half in 2016 20 January 2017
Saudi Arabia: Najran Cement’s net profit has fallen by 51.2% year-on-year to US$33m in 2016 from US$68.1m in 2015. Its revenue fell by 35% to US$1.89bn from US$2.9bn. It blamed the fall in earnings on lower sales volumes due to low cement demand. It said this was caused by a slowdown of construction activities, an increase in energy prices and finance expenses.
Jordan: LafargeHolcim’s Rashadiya cement plant is set to generate up to a quarter of its power from a solar plant that will start operations in July 2017. Dubai’s Adenium Energy Capital signed a deal for the cement producer to develop the photovoltaic (PV) facility, according to SeeNews. Previously the PV unit was reported to have a capacity of 15MW but this has not been confirmed. In October 2016 Adenium Energy Capital said it had commissioned four PV parks in Jordan with a total capacity of 50MW in total.
Cement producers launch Georgian Cement Association 20 January 2017
Georgia: HeidelbergCement Caucasus (HCC) and the Georgian Building Group (GBG), a subsidiary of Kavkaz Cement, have formed the Georgian Cement Association. The association intends to focus on the quality of cement sold in the country and to create a publicly-recognisable seal of quality.
Domestically produced cement will be sampled in blind tests from product purchased from the open market. Testing shall be conducted primarily by an independent and neutral laboratory, such as the Georgian Technical University, and reconfirmed by parallel testing. Additionally, the Chamber of Commerce and industry of Georgia will supervise the process. The goal of the association is to create a respected and well-recognised ‘Good Quality Seal’ that only members will be able to use on packaging and in advertising.
Other aims of the association include working with the government and appropriate official bodies to tackle industry relevant issues and to promote the industry generally through the creation of jobs and economic growth.
India: The Competition Commission of India (CCI) has found seven cement companies guilty of bid rigging and cartelisation and imposed a total fine of nearly US$30m on them. The accused companies are Shree Cement, UltraTech Cement, Jaiprakash Associates, JK Cement, Ambuja Cements, ACC and JK Lakshmi Cement, according to the Times of India. The fines are based on 0.3% of each company’s average turnover for three financial years. Each company has also been ordered to cease and desist such behaviour.
The ruling relates to a tender floated by a Haryana state procurement agency in 2012 that the CCI started investigating in 2014. Evidence cited in the CCI’s order includes text messages and phone calls made between officials of the companies.
UltraTech Cement and Shree Cement have issued statements saying that they will appeal against the fine.
France: The French government has confirmed that it is investigating Lafarge over alleged illegal activities in Syria following European Union (EU) sanctions that were imposed in 2012. The Paris prosecutor's office said that a probe was opened in October 2016 after the French Ministry of Economy and Finance filed a complaint against the cement producer, according to the Associated Press. LafargeHolcim, the company formed from a merger between Lafarge and Holcim in 2015, said that it was, “in the process of establishing the facts concerning our activities in Syria.”
A group led by the non-government organisation (NGO) Sherpa filed a complaint in Paris against Lafarge for allegedly ‘financing terrorism’ in November 2016. The complaint accused it of maintaining commercial relations with the Islamic State group in Syria in 2013 and 2014 so it could continue operating a cement plant in the country.
At the time, Lafarge denied ‘financing so-called terrorist groups.’ The company said it had launched a ‘thorough and independent investigation’ into the allegations to determine whether its internal code of conduct had been properly followed and if procedures needed to be adapted. It said it would implement ‘any remediation measures required.’
Brazilian cement body says 2017 may be worst year ever 19 January 2017
Brazil: The National Union of Cement Industry (SNIC) has said that 2017 may be the worst year on record for the local cement industry. Domestic sales of cement fell by 11.7% year-on-year to 57.2Mt in 2016. SNIC’s new president Paulo Camillo Penna described the situation as the worst in the industry’s history. He added that following capacity utilisation rates of 70% in 2015 and 57% in 2016 that he expects the rate to fall below 50% in 2017. SNIC forecasts that sales of cement will contract by 5 – 7% in 2017.