September 2024
Guyana’s first integrated cement plant commissioned in Berbice 16 December 2014
Guyana: Caricom Cement Company has commissioned its new US$53.1m cement plant at Everton, Region Six (East Berbice-Corentyne). The new plant will produce 500,000t/yr of cement, double Guyana's current consumption. The plant, which is the first integrated cement plant in Guyana, employs in excess of 250 persons from Berbice, Georgetown, Essequibo and Suriname.
"Caricom Cement Company has been in operation for the past four years and during that period we were bagging cement under the brand names West Indies Cement and Titan Cement," said Caricom. "The main purpose of the cement plant is to make cement affordable to all Guyanese, taking into consideration the construction boom that our country is undergoing at this time."
The plant was built in three phases and started in August 2010 at the old bauxite plant (Bermine), which was developed in phase one. The first part of the current operations saw a bagging system installed at the Everton plant. Phase two saw a Portland cement plant being added to the system while the machinery was being built for phase three, which commenced in December 2013 with the installation of the new plant. The plant was then upgraded with a kiln and cooling system and its grinding capacity was increased by 50%.
EU approves LafargeHolcim merger 16 December 2014
Europe: The European Commission (EC), the European Union's antitrust authority, has approved the proposed merger of Lafarge and Holcim, subject to asset sales by both companies in regions where their activities overlap. The EC's approval is conditional upon the divestment of Lafarge's businesses in Germany, Romania and the UK. Holcim is required to divest its operations in France, Hungary, Slovakia, Spain and the Czech Republic. The proposed transaction concerns assets worth several billion Euros and will create the world's largest cement producer with operations in 90 countries.
"The Commission had concerns that the transaction, as originally notified, would have had a detrimental effect on competition in a significant number of markets in the European Economic Area (EEA)," said the EC. "The commitments offered by the two companies address these concerns."
According to the EC, its assessment found that the merged entity would have faced insufficient competitive pressure from remaining players in many markets. This would have brought a risk of price rises. In order to prevent a negative impact on competition, the companies have committed to divesting most of the operations where their activities overlap. Further, the EC said that Holcim and Lafarge will not be allowed to close the deal until it has approved the buyers of the assets put up for sale.
In April 2014, Holcim and Lafarge announced their plan to combine through an all share merger of equals to create LafargeHolcim, with nearly Euro32bn in sales. The proposed combination would be structured as a public exchange offer initiated by Holcim for all outstanding shares of Lafarge on the basis of a 1 for 1 exchange ratio. The companies also agreed to have equal dividends on a per share basis between announcement and completion. The offer would be subject to Holcim holding at least 2/3rd of the share capital and voting rights of Lafarge.
Graymont to buy Holcim’s McDonalds Lime for an undisclosed sum 15 December 2014
Canada/New Zealand: Canadian lime company Graymont has agreed to buy McDonalds Lime from Holcim New Zealand and Bluescope Steel, owned New Zealand Steel, for an undisclosed sum. The McDonald's sale is subject to regulatory approvals and should be completed in 2015.
Holcim plans to close its Westport cement plant in 2016 and will also sell its Taylor's Lime assets to Graymont. McDonalds Lime is 72% owned by Holcim New Zealand, with the remainder owned by New Zealand Steel. It has the country's largest lime quarry at Oparure, north of Te Kuiti.
Graymont is North America's second-largest supplier of lime and lime-based products and also has an investment in Grupo Calidra, Mexico's largest lime producer. This is the Canadian company's first investment in the New Zealand market.
Holcim has been trying to sell the lime business, which it no longer considers a core business, as it plans for imported cement to replace local production at Westport. It wrote down the value of its Westport cement plant ahead of the coming closure, booking US$24.1m of charges for the plant. The plant will close by the second half of 2016 when new US$77.6m import facilities at Waitemata in Auckland and Timaru are fully operational. Plans for a new cement manufacturing plant at Weston in North Otago remain on hold, but Holcim is keeping the assets so it has the option of 'eventually building a new cement plant.'
India: The government has asked Coal India Ltd (CIL) to stay away from the initial rounds of coal block auctions due in January 2015 that are meant for the cement, power and steel industries. The state-run monopoly miner has, however, requested the government to reallocate a few blocks to it, including two that it had lost that were being jointly developed with private firms.
"We are a commercial producer of coal and we do not fit into the category for which the blocks are being auctioned," said a senior CIL official. "CIL will stay away from the first rounds of auctions." However, CIL is likely to participate in bidding when coal blocks are auctioned for commercial mining.
The company has requested that the government return the blocks that it lost following the Supreme Court's order rendering almost all allotments illegal 'because substantial investment has already been made by all parties in these blocks.' CIL had floated majority joint ventures with two private companies to undertake mining projects in those two blocks.
Cade establishes conditions for LafargeHolcim merger 12 December 2014
Brazil: The Conselho Administrativo de Defesa Econômica (CADE) has approved, with conditions, the merger of Holcim and Lafarge in Brazil. CADE has stated that the companies would have to sell 31% of their installed capacity. The plants to go are based in the States of Minas Gerais (Pouso Alegre, Arcos, Matozinhos, Santa Luzia) and Rio de Janeiro (Cantagalo, Santa Cruz), which have a total of 3Mt/yr of cement production capacity.
Nigeria: Lafarge Africa made a US$122m offer on 10 December 2014 to buy out minority shareholders in its Nigerian business, Ashaka Cement. The offer follows the US$1.35bn merger of Lafarge Africa's Nigerian and South African businesses, which received approval from shareholders in July 2014.
Lafarge Africa said that as part of the merger deal it had acquired a 30% stake in Ashaka Cement, the trigger point for making a full takeover bid under Nigeria's securities and takeover rules.
Under the terms of the offer, shareholders who accept it will receive 57 Lafarge Africa shares for every 202 held in Ashaka Cement and an additional cash payment of US$0.0111/share. The offer will run from 10 December 2014 to 16 January 2015. Shares in Ashaka Cement have gained 17% in 2014.
The consolidation will enable Lafarge, which faces intense competition in Africa, to accelerate growth on the continent. Lafarge Africa owns60% of Lafarge Wapco, its listed subsidiary in Nigeria, 58.6% of Ashaka Cement Plc and 100% of the Atlas cement company. In November 2014, Lafarge Africa entered into an agreement to buy a 30% stake in United Cement Company from Flour Mills of Nigeria, which will give Lafarge's Nigeria Cement Holdings complete control.
Tuban plant to start in first half of 2015 11 December 2014
Indonesia: PT Holcim Indonesia has said that it expects its new plant in Tuban, East Java, to start operations during the first half of 2015. Spokesperson Deni Nuryandain said that the plant would increase the company's production capacity by 3.4Mt, or 40%. "Our total production capacity will reach 12.5Mt /yr," he said. Deni added that currently, Holcim has started operating its new plants in Narogong, West Java, and Cilacap, Central Java.
Holcim boss says that El Salvador is stalling 11 December 2014
El Salvador: The cement industry in El Salvador is expected to grow by just 1% in 2014, according to the executive director of Holcim in the country, Ricardo Chavez Caparroso. Holcim itself will grow very little, with lower exports expected. Investments into property projects have been low and planning permission rules are 'too tight' according to Chavez Caparroso.
Chavez Caparroso believes that the government should come up with a new strategy to boost the cement sector and that housing projects should be supported via clear and well-defined policies, especially given the country's current housing deficit. He added that Holcim hopes to secure a lucrative road contract in the country, which would help its sales.
PPC receives merger proposal from AfriSam 11 December 2014
South Africa: PPC, South Africa's largest lime and cement maker has said that AfriSam, its competitor, has proposed a merger between the two companies. AfriSam's proposal was conditional and non-binding and prompted PPC's shares to surge on 10 December 2014. This was reported by local media as a sign that the market likes the idea of the merger.
PPC said that its board of directors was currently considering the proposal and would make a further announcement in due course once it has concluded its consideration of the proposal. The firm has been in a state of flux in 2014 due to protracted boardroom wrangling.
UltraTech ‘pulling back’ from LafargeHolcim bids 10 December 2014
India/Brazil: UltraTech Cement is re-evaluating its decision to bid for the Brazilian assets of Holcim SA, according to local media. The Aditya Birla group company had submitted non-binding bids for the cement assets in October 2014. Any binding bids are due in January 2015.
The Brazilian assets on sale include three integrated cement plants and two grinding stations that share a total capacity of 3.6Mt/yr. There is also one ready-mix plant. Now, rather than investing in those assets, the UltraTech plans to focus and expand its domestic cement production, according to local media, but an UltraTech spokeswoman said that company does not comment on market speculation.
The decision to re-think the Brazilian investment may stem from weak demand conditions in the market. The Brazilian economy has seen sub 2% growth in the last 11 quarters. For the three months ending 30 September 2014, the Brazilian economy actually contracted by 0.24%.