September 2024
Iran: Iranian cement producers owe €600m to the country's National Development Fund, according to Abdolreza Sheikhan, the secretary of the Union of Iranian Cement Industry Employers. Sheikhan also cited studies supporting that the price of cement should be increased by 17%, due to transportation and production costs, in order to present cement plants being closed.
"Presently, Iran with an output capacity of 70 million tons of cement a year is the world's fourth largest producer of cement after China, India and the United States," said Sheikhan. Iran could become the world's third largest cement producer if its 75Mt/yr nominal production capacity becomes its actual capacity, he noted. In May 2014, Sheikhan said that cement prices might be increased by 22%.
Dangote Cement to start Ethiopian production in May 2015 20 April 2015
Ethiopia: Dangote Cement's new cement plant in Ethiopia will open in May 2015. Minister of Mines, Tolosa Shagi visited the plant and commented that new plants and upgrades to existing plants will enable Ethiopia to meet local demand, according to local media. The new cement plant in Oromia cost US$400m and it will have a cement production capacity of 2.5Mt/yr making it one of the largest in East Africa.
Currently, cement demand in Ethiopia is estimated to be around 7 – 8Mt/yr with cement production at 5.4Mt/yr. Once fully operational the Dangote Cement plant is hoped to raise the country's cement production to 8Mt/yr.
Ghana: Savanna Diamond Cement Co has launched operations of a 0.44Mt/yr integrated cement plant in Buipe, in northern Ghana. President John Mahama officially inaugurated the US$90m project, according to local media. The new plant uses limestone from Buipe. The plant holds a partnership with state power company GRIDCo with a 25MW substation from which 7MW is used by the cement plant and the remaining 18MW is used by the local community. Diamond Cement also owns two other cement plants in the country.
Protest against Semen Indonesia Rembang cement plant 17 April 2015
Indonesia: Former Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) commissioner Bambang Widjojanto joined a protest on 16 April 2015 against the construction of Semen Indonesia's new cement plant in Rembang, Central Java. However, the Semarang State Administrative Court (PTUN) ruled on the same day that PT Semen Indonesia could operate in the area.
Bambang said that the construction and operation of the cement plant could pose a threat to the ecosystem in the region. The former KPK commissioner joined the rally in front of the PTUN, which is currently holding a trial on the legality of the local government's decision to allow PT Semen Indonesia to start mining activities in the area. "We hope that the judges listen to their consciences and side with the people," said Bambang.
Residents of Rembang, Central Java, have staged a series of rallies since 2014, protesting the plan to build a cement plant in Watu Putih. They claim that a plant would impact nearby water resources and directly degrade their livelihoods. The Indonesian Forum for the Environment (Walhi), an environmental non-government organisation (NGO) that has assisted the locals, has estimated that the potential loss of water could reach 51ML.
Semen Indonesia to acquire second Vietnamese cement firm 17 April 2015
Vietnam: The Indonesian state-owned cement manufacturer Semen Indonesia plans to acquire a second Vietnamese cement company.
Semen Indonesia's finance director Ahyanizzaman said that the company has allocated a total capital expenditure of US$546 – 857m in 2015 to expand its operations, which includes the acquisition of the Vietnamese company. He said that the company was currently conducting a due diligence audit on the Vietnamese firm and that this was expected to be completed by the end of the first half of 2015. "The Vietnamese company is a private firm, which has a local market share of about 4%," said Ahyanizzaman.
If Semen Indonesia goes ahead with the acquisition, it will be its second subsidiary in Vietnam. Through its Vietnamese subsidiary Thang Long Cement Company, it produces about 2.5Mt/yr a year in the country. Ahyanizzaman said the company would borrow up to US$77.9m to support the expansion plan.
Semen Indonesia president director Suparni said that the acquisition plan was part of the company's strategy to take advantage of the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC), which would be implemented before the end of 2015. "Domestic and regional operations cannot be separated when the AEC is implemented, so we want to synergise our business," said Suparni.
Spain: Cementos Portland, a subsidiary of Spanish builder FCC, saw its loss grow by 21.2% year-on-year to Euro29.5m during the first three months of 2015.
The company boosted its revenue by 9.4% year-on-year to Euro122m, while its earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) slumped by 59.9% to Euro6.3m. Cementos Portland attributed its negative results to a reduction in CO2 emission sales on the secondary market and its new accounting procedures concerning costs generated by the annual renovation of its cement plants.
Should the aforementioned effects be neglected, Cementos Portland would have boosted its results by some Euro7m for the period to a loss of Euro25.7m, versus Euro32.7m a year earlier.
McInnis Cement warehouse for New York 17 April 2015
US/Candada: Montreal-based McInnis Cement plans to build a US$40m distribution warehouse along the East River in the Bronx, New York, in the hopes of reducing truck traffic in the borough as well as developing its waterfront, according to local media.
McInnis Cement will transport cement down the river from Quebec in 35,000t loads. McInnis will still use trucks to deliver cement from the warehouse to customers, but the new facility should decrease the trucking situation in the borough. "We've done a pretty thorough analysis of the trucking effect in the local community and, in general, we believe that trucking will go down," said Jim Braselton, senior vice president of sales, marketing and logistics at McInnis Cement.
As part of the project, McInnis Cement plans to build a pedestrian pathway on the waterfront. It aims to break ground on the project by the end of the summer of 2015, with completion by the end of 2016.
US: Lafarge and Holcim have announced further details on the package of assets that they propose to divest in the US as part of their planned merger to create LafargeHolcim. The divestments include:
- Lafarge's 1.1Mt/yr Davenport cement plant in Iowa and seven terminals along the Mississippi River. The units will be sold to Summit Materials for US$450m in cash plus Summit's Bettendorf, Iowa cement terminal;
- Holcim terminals in Michigan and Illinois;
- Holcim Skyway 600,000t/yr slag grinding station in Illinois;
- Holcim Camden 700,000t/yr slag grinding station in New Jersey, along with a terminal in Massachusetts.
The proposed divestments have been negotiated with the staff of the Federal Trade Commission and remain subject to review and approval by the commission. The divestments will be completed subject to acceptance by the commission and to the closing of the merger between Holcim and Lafarge.
Lafarge Republic to hike output by 17% in 2015 16 April 2015
Philippines: Lafarge Republic Inc expects to raise its cement output by 17% with the opening of new mills at its plants in Rizal and Bulacan. Lafarge Republic president Renato Sunico said that the company expects to produce >7Mt/yr of cement by the end of 2015, up from 6Mt/yr at present.
The US$20.1m grinding mill at the plant in Teresa, Rizal that was inaugurated in April 2015 is expected to produce 850,000t/yr of cement. This increases the plant's output to 2Mt/yr. The new mill will also contribute to Lafarge Republic's commitment to sustainability as it reduces the plant's energy consumption by 40%. A similar 850,000t/yr capacity mill will also be installed at the plant in Norzagaray in Bulacan by December 2015. "The reason why we put up a new mill in Teresa and why we want to put up a new mill in Norzagaray, is because we want to make sure that we can serve demand," said Sunico.
With regards to the LafargeHolcim merger, no consolidation of the two companies' operations in the Philippines is required as Holcim has expressed plans to purchase some of LafargeRepublic's assets such as Lafarge Iligan Inc, Lafarge Mindanao Inc, Lafarge Republic Aggregates Inc and the Star Terminal at the Harbour Centre in Manila. CRH has also been given rights to acquire the remaining assets of Lafarge Republic, including the plants in Rizal, Bulacan, Batangas and Cebu.
Eurocement proposes boss Galchev for LafargeHolcim board 16 April 2015
Europe: Eurocement Holding AG, the second-largest shareholder in Holcim with a 10.8% stake, has said that it is nominating its owner Filaret Galchev for a position on the LafargeHolcim board. Galchev's name was not on a list of candidates for the post-merger board released earlier in April 2015, but Holcim's chairman had previously said that Holcim was open to giving Galchev a seat.