September 2024
Saudi Arabia: A new on-site power plant at United Cement Industrial Company's (UCIC) cement plant in Saudi Arabia will be operated and maintained by MAN Diesel & Turbo. MAN Diesel & Turbo was also responsible for building the 54MW power plant, near Jeddah, where five MAN 20V32/44 CR diesel engines provide electrical power for the new cement plant. A five-year contract with UCIC for operation and maintenance includes the option of an extension for another five years.
CRH sues for return of files seized in competition inquiry 16 November 2015
Ireland: CRH has gone to the High Court to seek the return of documents seized by the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) in a raid in May 2015.
The CCPC, supported by the Gardai (Ireland's police force), raided Irish Cement's offices as part of a probe into alleged abuse of its dominant position in the Euro50m bagged cement industry. CRH has denied the charges.
CRH has lodged court proceedings seeking a declaration that certain sections of the files seized by the CCPC were not related to the Irish Cement investigation. A spokesman for CRH said that it was seeking to have documents that were of no use to the CCPC returned to the company. "Irish Cement fully facilitated the inspection and is continuing to co-operate fully with the CCPC. In undertaking this inspection, the CCPC removed documents that are unrelated to Irish Cement and clearly outside the scope of its inspection. CRH and Irish Cement have issued proceedings to retrieve these documents from the CCPC," said a company spokesperson.
Loesche supplies two vertical roller mills to Arabian Cement Company 13 November 2015
Saudi Arabia: Arabian Cement Company (ACC) is planning to build a new 10,000t/day brownfield cement line in Rabigh.
In order to increase the cement grinding capacities in phase 1, prior to the completion of the new line in Phase 2, ACC placed an order with China National Building Materials Group Corporation (CNBM) for a grinding plant, including two Loesche vertical roller mills.
The project execution will be done on a fast-track concept, which ensures a project schedule of only 13 months. Loesche will supply two large vertical roller mills of Type LM 63.3+3 with a table diameter of 6.3m and a main drive size of 7400kW. Under the fast-track concept, Loesche will not only supply the mills, but also all process related equipment like process filters, process fans, hot gas generators, as well as the complete basic engineering of the grinding plant to ensure a state-of-the-art plant design.
Semen Indonesia commissions new cement packing plant in Indonesia 13 November 2015
Indonesia: PT Semen Indonesia will commission a new cement packing plant in Pontianak, West Kalimantan, according to company Sales Department Chief Bambang Djoko.
"The packing plant will strengthen the position of Semen Indonesia in the cement industry in West Kalimantan and in the country in general. Currently the company has a 35% share of the cement market in the province," said Djoko. "Infrastructure development in Pontianak and West Kalimantan in general has been especially fast, opening better opportunities for the cement market in this region."
Mukhamad Saifudin, the Commercial Director of Semen Gresik, the parent company of Semen Indonesia, said that sales of Semen Gresik in West Kalimantan had increased by 0.5% year-on-year to 117,000t tons in the first 10 months of 2015. Saifudin attributed the increase in sales to construction of road infrastructure, shopping malls, hotels and tourist resorts in Singkawang. Starting in August 2015, sales of Semen Gresik in the province have continued to increase. Saifudin said that bagged cement accounts for 75% of the company's cement sales, indicating that the property sector accounts for the largest part of sales.
Tianrui Group will help fix Shanshui debt if EGM vote passes 13 November 2015
China: The largest shareholder in Shanshui Cement, Tianrui Group, has said that it could help solve the debt woes of Shanshui Cement, if it is successful in a bid to change the company's board at an extraordinary general meeting on 25 November 2015, according to Bloomberg.
Shanshui, which is at the centre of a shareholder scrap for control, failed to pay US$314m of onshore notes due on 12 November 2015. It is at least the sixth Chinese company to default in the local bond market in 2015 as borrowers struggle amid an economic slowdown. Shanshui, which is incorporated in the Cayman Islands, has decided to file a winding up petition and seek the appointment of provisional liquidators there. Two banks have asked for early repayment of Shanshui's loans and the default scare has spread to the asset-backed securities market.
Li Heping, Vice Chairman of Tianrui, said that Shanshui's filing for a winding-up petition has raised potential costs for his company because it now faces finding a debt solution. Tianrui, which holds 28% of Shanshui, would get 'nothing in return' from its stake if it didn't help, he said. China National Building Material Company and Asia Cement Corporation are also shareholders in Shanshui with 16.7% and 20.9%, respectively.
Shanshui's Chief Financial Officer Henry Li said that noteholders could try and get their money back by asking the court to liquidate Shanshui's assets, which would be the worst outcome. In addition to the US$314m that Shanshui failed to repay, the company has another US$800m onshore notes outstanding, according to Bloomberg-compiled data.
Barbados government wants reduction in tariff on cement 13 November 2015
Barbados: The Barbados government has said that it stands by its decision to lower the 60% tariff rate on cement to protect Arawak Cement Limited (ACL), a subsidiary of Trinidad Cement Limited (TCL).
Commerce Minister Donville Inniss explained the rationale behind the government's decision, as both companies have expressed concerns over the decision to lower the tariff. Inniss said that the intent was not to cause any harm, but to help drive efficiencies in the system and to ensure consumers got a better price on the much-needed raw material. "We have our differences on the methodologies employed and the policies being pursued, but at the end of the day, we want to ensure that ACL remains a viable entity in Barbados," said Inniss.
Inniss said that he was supportive of the company's restructuring plans, as well as its efforts to bring its prices down, praising the company's commitment to increasing exports of Portland grey cement from Barbados. Earlier this week, ACL's Manager Rupert Greene said the company would announce the number of workers to be made redundant as part of the restructuring programme by the weekend. Greene said that at least 40 workers would be sent home and that discussions are continuing with the Barbados Workers Union (BWU) and the National Union of Public Workers (NUPW). Greene said that with a 65% drop in the Barbados market demand for cement over a 10-year period, there was a need to 'restore some balance to the equation.'
Holcim Romania to have new CEO soon 13 November 2015
Romania: Holcim Romania will announce its new Chief Executive Officer shortly, as its current CEO, French Francois Petry, was put in charge of Agreggates Industries, LafargeHolcim's operations in the UK, from 1 December 2015.
Petry has run Holcim Romania for almost two years. He took the helm of the company on 1 February 2014, after having run France's Aggregates division since 2008. Holcim Romania runs two cement plants, one grinding plant, 14 concrete stations, three aggregates stations, two special binders stations and one cement terminal. It employs around 800 people.
PT Semen Indoensia plans feasibility study for cement plant in Aceh 12 November 2015
Indonesia: PT Semen Indonesia is conducting a feasibility study in Aceh in connection with its plan to build a cement plant in Pidie, Aceh.
"Our partner is ready to build a cement plant in Aceh. We are now in the process of completing the feasibility study. The ground-breaking ceremony is expected to take place in 2016 if all the processes go well," said the company's President Director, Suparni. He noted that around US$257 – 294m will be invested to develop the 3Mt/yr cement plant, excluding the infrastructure cost. He added that the company will set up a joint venture for the project with a local company in which PT Semen Indonesia will later be the majority stockholder, with more than 70%. "It is forecast that the construction will be completed in 2019 - 2020," said Suparni.
The cement plant would target consumers in the eastern parts of Sumatra and North Sumatra, with a possibility of exporting some of its production to Myanmar, Malaysia, and Singapore. It will also target Bangladesh in view of the country's cement needs, which have so far only been met through imports. "Bangladesh only has one cement plant that cannot fully meet the country's demands. Around 85% of the country's needs are met through imports," said Suparni.
Suparni claimed that the efforts to boost exports will also be made following the completion of Semen Indonesia's 3Mt/yr Indarung VI plant in West Sumatra and a 3Mt/yr plant in Rembang, Central Java, in the third quarter of 2016.
McInnis Cement seeks tax stabilisation agreement to improve Providence Port building 12 November 2015
Canada/USA: McInnis Cement's plan to import cement through the Port of Providence, Rhode Island is scheduled for a hearing on 12 November 2015 at Providence City Hall on its request for tax incentives to improve its local facility.
McInnis USA, a subsidiary of Montreal-based McInnis Cement, has requested a 12-year tax stabilisation agreement for the property taxes it will pay on planned improvements to an industrial building at ProvPort. The company has requested a similar tax stabilisation agreement for tangible property taxes.
The site would be turned over to McInnis under a long-term lease, which would restore the facility as a taxable location. Under the property tax stabilisation agreement, the company would pay taxes of US$50,000 for the first three years. Full taxes would begin to be phased in in the fourth year, based on a projected assessment of US$5m. The full value of its Providence facility would be determined in the seventh year, after which full taxes would begin to be phased in.
McInnis Cement operates a limestone quarry in southern Quebec and is building a 2.2Mt/yr cement plant, as well as a maritime terminal, in Gaspesie, a town in Quebec, Canada.
La Unión Cement in court over 'sexist' adverts 11 November 2015
Spain: La Unión Cement has been accused of producing sexist advertising, including using bikini-clad women and close ups of cleavages, to sell its product, according to local media.
A court in Valencia is due to rule on the alleged sexist advertising after a lawsuit was filed against the building supplies company in October 2015 by the Madrid-based Institute of Women, part of the government's Ministry of Equality. It is the first time the Violence Against Women department of the public prosecutor's office has been part of a case of sexist advertising and it will rule alongside the department of trade on the case.
The lawsuit concerns various promotional videos for the cement company, which show scantily clad women for no apparent reason, according to the Institute of Women. "Our job is usually based on raising awareness of gender equality, but sometimes there are instances, such as this, when we are moved to take legal action," said the Institute´s Head of Communication, María Jesús Ortiz Gómez.
The prosecution has demanded that the cement company cease all allegedly sexist advertising and has also asked the court to ban any further usage of the images in question. The defence has argued that the images belong to an old campaign that is no longer running. La Unión has previously been keen to point out how much it prizes equality. "La Unión reaffirms its corporate vision in favour of the training of women and their inclusion in the company," it said in a press released dated August 2015. The company claims that it 'exceeds today´s standards of equality and gender parity.'