September 2024
Hungary: Lafarge Cement Magyarorszag has inaugurated a Euro2.28m alternative fuel warehouse at its cement plant in Kiralyegyhaza in the south-west of Hungary. The warehouse will store waste rubber and plastic, as well as industrial and farm waste.
Ashaka Cement plant attacked again 05 December 2014
Nigeria: Nigerian police officers and soldiers repelled an attack on 4 December 2014 by gunmen on Lafarge's Ashaka Cement plant in northeast Nigeria, where security forces are battling an Islamic uprising, according to a police official.
The gunmen tried to shoot their way into the Ashaka Cement compound. The same plant in Gombe State was attacked in November 2014 by gunmen suspected of being Boko Haram extremists. A Lafarge spokeswoman in Paris said that no one was wounded in the latest attack. Boko Haram has been blamed for numerous deadly bombings and has taken control of around 25 towns and villages along the northeast border with Cameroon in recent months.
UNACEM completes Ecuador acquisition 04 December 2014
Ecuador/Peru: Peruvian cement producer Union Andina de Cementos (UNACEM) has completed the purchase of Lafarge's cement operations in Ecuador. "We are pleased with the closing of the transaction, which represents an important step in our growth strategy," said Carlos Ugás, managing director of UNACEM. The company closed the acquisition, which was initially announced in May 2014, for approximately US$517m. The deal involves the purchase of a 1.4Mt/yr cement plant located in Otavalo, in the north of Ecuador.
Saudi City Cement Co to invest US$6.7m in alternative energy project 04 December 2014
Saudi Arabia: Saudi cement producer City Cement Company has announced that it intends to invest US$6.7m in an alternative energy project. The Chinese engineering company Sinoma will carry out the project, anticipated to be completed by 30 June 2015. Without providing further details on the nature of the project, City Cement said that it will use its own funds and/or Murabaha financing to fund it.
Tokyo Cement to merge with Fuji Cement 04 December 2014
Sri Lanka: Fuji Cement, one of the subsidiaries of Tokyo Cement, which functions as independent company, will go for a strategic merger as a single entity with effect from February 2015. Harsha Cabraal has become the new chairman of the company.
After the merger, the new entity will be named Tokyo Cement Company Lanka Plc. For the merger the companies will cancel the status capital and asset and liability of Fuji Cement and are now waiting for the Company Registrar's approval to go ahead with the merger.
Tokyo Cement (Lanka) plc is a Sri Lanka-based company engaged in the manufacturing and selling of cement and ready mixed concrete to the local market. Its product lines include Nippon Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC), Tokyo Super Ordinary Portland Cement, Tokyo Super Portland Pozzolana Cement and Tokyo Super Masonry Cement.
As of 31 March 2012, Tokyo Cement had four subsidiaries, namely Tokyo Super Cement Company Lanka (Pvt) Limited, Fuji Cement Company (Lanka) Limited, which were both engaged in manufacturing and selling cement; Tokyo Cement Power (Lanka) Limited, which was still in gestation stage and Tokyo Cement Colombo Terminal (Pvt) Limited, which was active in the import and distribution of cement.
UNICEM orders Loesche Mill type LM70.4+4 with Cope drive 04 December 2014
Germany/Nigeria: United Cement Company of Nigeria (UNICEM) has ordered the largest Loesche mill to date, a LM 70.4+4. The new LM 70.4+4 will have an output of 370t/hr at 4,700 Blaine in UNICEM's new line in Calabar, Nigeria. The delivery period is 14 months.
The 4+4 concept follows mill types with 2+2 and 3+3 rollers. The 4+4 grinding concept is intended to allow high throughput capacity or it can run in 2+2 roller operation, generating a mill output of 60%.
Loesche will use the Cope gearbox, which was developed in cooperation with Renk and offers a redundancy of up to eight motors at the motor end. With all eight motors in operation, a capacity totaling 8.8MW is achieved. The new Cope gearbox contributes the feature of working without a variable speed drive and operating with a reduced number of motors
Dalmia Bharat buys out SAIL in Bokaro Jaypee Cement 03 December 2014
India: Dalmia Bharat has acquired the final 26% stake that it did not already own in Bokaro Jaypee Cement from the Steel Authority of India (SAIL), for US$150m. Bokaro Jaypee Cement has become a wholly-owned subsidiary of Dalmia. In March 2014 Dalmia acquired Jaypee's 74% holding in the company.
Bokaro Jaypee Cement was formed as a 74:26 joint venture project between Jaiprakash Associates and SAIL, for the operation of a 2.1Mt/yr capacity grinding plant at Bokaro, Jharkhand. The cement produced in the unit was sold through Jaiprakash's distribution network under the brand name 'Jaypee Cement'. However, Jaypee exited the venture and used the proceeds to address its debt.
Kazakhstan to meet domestic demand for cement 03 December 2014
Kazakhstan: Kazakhstan intends to meet its domestic demand for cement, according to Albert Rau, Vice Minister for Investments and Development and local media.
"Given that at the start of 2015 a cement facility capable of producing 500, 000t/yr will be launched in Rudny, production capabilities of 2Mt/yr will be launched at Kokshe-Cement Enterprise, BI Cement facility is to be started in Akmolinsk Oblast and a number of cement making facilities based in Shymkent are to be modernised, we are ready to meet the domestic demand for cement," said Rau.
Rau added that Kazakhstan had imported over 1Mt of cement in 2013. "Most of the issues geographical. All the production facilities are concentrated in the east, in Karaganda and in the south. The west of Kazakhstan relies on imported cement." He explained that President Nazarbayev had set a target for the country to meet 80% for all types of construction materials by 2014. In 2014 this figure was 74 – 75%.
Worker dies at Shayona Cement plant in Malawi 03 December 2014
Malawi: One worker has died and three others have been injured at the Shayona Cement Factory in Kasungu. Hot clinker caused the injuries due to an open door at the plant according to local media. Three of the injured workers, including the deceased worker, were from Malawi. The fourth worker was from India.
"When they switched on the furnace, the cement stone busted from the clinker and produced hot ashes which covered them. One died in the process of receiving treatment, while the other three are in critical condition," said local police.
Pakistan: Cement producers in Pakistan are considering sourcing their coal from Indonesia instead of South Africa. The move is in response to an on-going investigation initiated by the International Trade Administration Commission (ITAC) on alleged dumping of Portland Cement from Pakistan.
The ITAC intends to finish its investigation by the end of January 2015 with the introduction of a preliminary antidumping duty on import of Pakistan cement in South Africa, according to Pakistan local media. Pakistan's Ministry of Commerce has also raised the matter with its South African counterpart in the meeting of Joint Trade Commission (JTC) of the two countries in South Africa in November 2014 but so far no consensus has been reached between the two countries.
Industry sources have said that five to six Pakistan-based exporters of cement constitute the biggest buyers of South African coal. Pakistan is the third largest buyer of coal from South Africa after China and India. Local cement makers collectively import 3Mt/yr of coal worth US$240m from South Africa and export around 1.3Mt/yr of cement worth US$120m.