September 2024
Dangote Cement appoints new CEO 27 January 2015
Nigeria: Dangote Cement has appointed Onne van der Weijde as CEO, effective from 1 February 2015. Van der Weijde, ex-Holcim India head, will take the helm from Dangote Cement's Devakumar Edwin.
New board and CEO for PPC 27 January 2015
South Africa: The board of PPC has been newly-constituted following the company's annual general meeting. Shareholders have elected six new board members. From a reduced list of 10 nominees, shareholders elected former Reserve Bank governor Tito Mboweni, former PPC finance director Peter Nelson, Nicky Goldin, Timothy Leaf-Wright, former Afrisam CEO Charles Naude and Daniel Ufitikirezi. Ufitikirezi is chairperson of PPC's Rwandan business. The appointment of Darryll Castle as CEO was also approved by shareholders and Tryphosa Ramano retained her position as CFO.
KKR expresses interest in Lafarge Tarmac sale with CRH 26 January 2015
UK: An American private equity firm, KKR, is in talks to buy a stake in one of Britain's biggest building materials companies. KKR is understood to have teamed up with CRH. Together, they will bid for Euro6bn of assets put up for sale by Holcim and Lafarge.
CRH is in a strong position to win the race for the LafargeHolcim assets, although it is likely to be hit by regional competition issues if it is successful. As a result, it is said to have held discussions with KKR about an agreement that would see the private equity firm take control of some divisions of Holcim and Lafarge to assuage regulatory concerns.
Insiders have said that KKR has shown particular interest in the British assets of LafargeHolcim, which include Lafarge Tarmac, allegedly worth Euro2.27bn.
LSR completes cement plant divestment to Eurocement 26 January 2015
Russia: LSR Group has completed the sale of its cement plant in Slantsy, Leningrad to Eurocement. Following the closure of the deal, Eurocement has acquired full operating control over the facility. The plant, which began operations in September 2010, operates a 5000t/day clinker line and a 1.86Mt/yr cement line.
LSR reiterated that the divestment is part of its strategy of focusing on projects 'with the highest returns on invested capital and the fast-growing real estate development business.' As a result, LSR has significantly reduced its debt and made it 100% Ruble-based.
Qatari investors plan US$500m cement plant in Ethiopia 26 January 2015
Ethiopia: A Qatari business group plans to invest US$500m in Ethiopia. The group met with Ethiopia's president to discuss their investment plans, which include a cement plant in Dire Dawa, as well as other industrial facilities. No specifics have been announced as to the capacity of the cement plant.
Ecuador: Cementera Nacional (33.5%) has formalised a strategic partnership with Cementos Yura (63.5%) to expand its installed production capacity for cement and clinker at the Riobamba cement plant. The US$230m investment project will extend over the next 40 months. Ecuador presently imports more than 1Mt/yr of clinker. The expanded Riobamba plant will have a 2400t/day of clinker production capacity, allowing foreign exchange savings of US$75m.
Cementos Andino Dominicanos suspends 170 staff 23 January 2015
Dominican Republic: Cementos Andino Dominicanos has temporarily suspended around 170 workers. Company executives have said that the decision was made to save financial resources and use them instead to speed up completion of its new clinker plant.
CRH confirms interest in LafargeHolcim divestments 23 January 2015
Europe: Responding to the recent press speculation, Ireland-based building materials group CRH plc has confirmed that it is in discussions with Lafarge and Holcim regarding the potential acquisition of certain assets being disposed of by Lafarge and Holcim in advance of their proposed merger.
In December 2014, The European Commission, the European Union's antitrust authority, said that it approved the proposed merger of French cement giant Lafarge SA with Swiss peer Holcim Ltd, subject to asset sales by both companies in regions where their activities overlap.
The European Commission or EC's approval of the merger was conditional upon the divestment of Lafarge's businesses in Germany, Romania and the UK. Holcim was required to divest its operations in France, Hungary, Slovakia, Spain and the Czech Republic.
Trinidad Cement’s manager appears on US$50m fraud charge 22 January 2015
Trinidad & Tobago: The manager of Trinidad Cement Limited's Employees Credit Union, Darren Singh has been denied bail after he appeared before a Port-of-Spain Magistrate charged with fraudulently transferring US$50m from the credit union's Unit Trust Corporation account to a Republic Bank account.
It is alleged that Singh, with intent to defraud, caused the transfer of US$50m from the credit union UTC's account to a Republic Bank account at Tropical Plaza, Pointe-a-Pierre in the name of TCL Credit Union on 18 January 2013, using a forged UTC wire transfer.
Prosecutor Callister Charles objected to bail being granted on the basis of the nature and seriousness of the offence, as well as allegations that threats had been made to witnesses in the case. Singh's attorney Candice Lopez countered that her client was a married man with five children and was the sole breadwinner of the family. She also said that Singh was the manager of the TCL Credit Union, had no previous convictions and was prepared to abide by any condition laid down by the court.
India: Cement companies that operate in East Jaintia Hills District, Meghalaya State face a precarious situation due to a ban imposed by National Green Tribunal (NGT) on the extraction and transportation of coal. As coal is a major fuel used by the cement plants in the region, its non-availability threatens to close the plants.
"Coal demand from cement plants is huge and if there is no supply, all the cement companies will have no other option but to shut down their plants," said a representative at one of the cement plants affected by the ban. He lamented that the NGT court had lifted the ban on transportation of the assessed and extracted coal for transportation to Beltola District, Assam State, only. "However, the cement plants in East Jaintia Hills have not received any coal due to the non-availability of a weighbridge in the district," he said. "Approximately 2000 - 2500 trucks are seen transporting coal to Assam every day."