September 2024
Canada: McCinnis Cement's US$1.1bn cement plant, which is under construction in Quebec's Gaspe region, could be cancelled if work is suspended in order to conduct environmental hearings.
Lafarge Canada and two non-profit groups mounted a legal challenge in the summer of 2013 after Quebec's environment minister authorised the project without an environmental assessment hearing. In a legal filing McInnis said that the project is subject to old environmental rules that were in place when it was first proposed more than 20 years ago.
Successive provincial governments have confirmed many times that the project is not subject to current rules that require such hearings.
PPC lawyers demand Gordhan's silence 28 October 2014
South Africa: PPC's lawyers have moved to silence the company's former CEO, Ketso Gordhan, to stop him making 'offensive statements' about PPC and have threatened to make Gordhan pay with a possible damages claim. Gordhan has been locked in a battle with the PPC board to regain his job and has been at the centre of a shareholder revolt that could see the entire board removed.
PPC's attorneys told Gordhan that the company had been faithful to the terms of Gordhan's departure and had 'refrained from divulging the true reasons behind his resignation' which, if revealed, would be 'extremely embarrassing and detrimental to his career.' The lawyers demanded that Gordhan respond within a day to confirm that he would desist from making such further statements. Tshisevhe Gwina Ratshimbilani Incorporated (TGR Attorneys), on behalf of PPC, said that Gordhan's resignation agreement, which was signed five weeks ago, required him to stick to the company's internal brief and public announcement regarding the reasons for his resignation.
Caribbean Cement to start 240,000t Venezuelan shipment 28 October 2014
Jamaica: Caribbean Cement Company Ltd (CCCL) has commenced supply of a new 240,000t clinker order to Venezuela. The US$20.5m contract will run over an 18-month period and will help boost export revenues from the Rockfort cement plant.
The new order from Caracas extends a previous agreement that saw CCCL ship 100,000t of clinker between December 2013 and April 2014 in a US$8.5m deal. The new contract is said to signal 'business as usual' at the works, which recently saw the replacement of Brian Young as board chairman by Christopher Dehring.
In September 2014, CCCL recorded clinker exports of 80,373t, compared to 6757t in September 2013. Cement exports also increased during the January – September 2014 period, from 178,643t in 2013 to 191,556t. In addition, CCCL noted a 10,000t rise in domestic sales to 458,644t as the construction market recovers.
"The recent trend in the domestic market is expected to continue as well as improvement in the export earnings," said Caribbean Cement's chairman Dehring and director Hollis Hosein.
"In addition, we have entered into a new agreement to supply 240,000t of clinker to Venezuela, starting shipments in October 2014. We, therefore, remain cautiously optimistic that these favourable results can be sustained."
Semen Indonesia builds Tuban power plant 28 October 2014
Indonesia: Semen Indonesia has commenced the construction of a 30.6MW waste heat recovery power generator (WHRPG) in an effort to reduce the company's electricity costs.
The facility will be located at Semen Indonesia's cement plant in Tuban, East Java and will cost US$52.9m. The power plant will make use of the heat generated from the cement plant. Construction is expected to take 26 months. Operations are expected to start in the second half of 2016.
In 2013, Semen Indonesia signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Japan's JFE Engineering Corporation for the WHRPG construction. "This will be the first project in Indonesia where waste heat in the whole area is utilised to supply the power plant," said Semen Indonesia president director Dwi Soetjipto. The company has applied similar technology at its Indarung facility in Padang, West Sumatra, on a smaller scale. Indarung power plant's capacity is 8.5MW and it started operation in 2011.
Once the power plant is completed, Semen Indonesia will be able to supply about one third of the company's energy needs at the Tuban plant. It could save US$9.95m/yr in electricity costs.
Asia Cement considers buying Ssangyong Cement 28 October 2014
South Korea: Asia Cement is considering the acquisition of South Korea's Ssangyong Cement. According to investment banking sources, Asia Cement is currently discussing the feasibility of purchasing a 46.8% stake in Ssangyong Cement for US$762m.
In terms of shipments, Asia Cement is the seventh-largest cement producer in South Korea with a market share of 6.9% in 2013. During 2013 it posted sales revenue of US$418m. During the same period, Ssangyong Cement recorded US$1.96bn in sales revenue and a market share of 22.0%.
Paraguay president meets Holcim executives for Industria Nacional del Cemento plant upgrade 28 October 2014
Paraguay: President Horacio Cartes met with the head of the country's cement company Industria Nacional del Cemento (INC) and executives from Holcim and KBR Group on 23 October 2014. The meeting was arranged to discuss a new 4000t/day cement production line for INC at its Puerto Vallermi Plant capable of meeting a production rate of 90,000 bags/day. Cartes has also met with executives from Paolini Hnos and Loma Negra. Construction of the new line is intended to start in 2015.
Cementos Pacasmayo’s profit drops by 17% in Q3 28 October 2014
Peru: Cementos Pacasmayo has reported a 17% drop in profit year-on-year for the third quarter of 2013 due to fall in cement sales. Its profit fell to US$13.9m in the July to September 2014 quarter from US$16.7m in the same period of 2013. Profit for the nine-month period rose by 3.4% to US$41.6m.
Net sales from the Peruvian cement producer fell by 6% year-on-year to US$108m for the third quarter of 2014. Sales remained static for the year to date. Consolidated adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) fell by 3.4% to US$29.9m for the third quarter of 2014. A similar fall in consolidated adjusted EBITDA was noted for the year to date. Cement production fell by 7.5% to 578,000t for the third quarter. Overall for the year to date cement production remained static at 1.73Mt.
In its earnings release Cementos Pacasmayo reported that its new cement plant in Piura should begin operation in the second half of 2015. The US$385m plant will have a production capacity of 1.6Mt/yr of cement and 1Mt/yr of clinker.
Egypt: Suez Cement has started trial production using coal at its Kattameya plant, with commercial production expected to start in November 2014, according to its chairman. Preparations for coal usage at the company's Suez plant are expected to be completed before the end of 2014.
Canada: The Lafarge cement plant near Brookfield, Nova Scotia has been deemed a 'viable disposal solution' for getting rid of treated hydraulic fracturing wastewater being held in storage ponds at Atlantic Industrial Services (AIS) in Debert, Nova Scotia.
The pilot project, which was approved in April 2013 by the Nova Scotia Department of Environment, permitted the transport of 2ML of treated wastewater from the AIS holding ponds for use as a coolant in the kiln at the Lafarge plant, where it was evaporated at 700°C.
"When I met with the community last April, I said that we would update people on the results of the pilot and making the results available online is a good way to keep everyone informed," said the Environment Minister Randy Delorey. "I'm pleased with the findings from the pilot. The results confirm that evaporation provides Nova Scotians with a viable disposal solution."
Before being evaporated in the kiln, the wastewater had been treated for naturally occurring radioactive materials (NORMS) and put through reverse osmosis. The water was analysed and it meets the Canadian Council of Environment Ministers and Health Canada guidelines for release into a freshwater source. As part of the project, Lafarge did water testing before, during and after evaporation. The tests showed comparable results for cooling water normally used by the plant from the nearby Shortts Lake.
AIS is now requesting approval to remove and treat another five million litres of the waste water at the Lafarge plant. A decision is expected from the department in the near future and, if approved, any terms and conditions would be the same as the pilot project, requiring dual treatment of the wastewater before evaporation.
Approximately 10ML of wastewater remains in two ponds at the AIS site. Triangle Petroleum also has 20ML of wastewater in two holdings ponds in Kennetcook, Nova Scotia. The wastewater at both areas is from high-pressure hydraulic fracturing that took place in 2007 and 2008.
Cemex will not make offer to buy Holcim and Lafarge assets 27 October 2014
Mexico: Cemex has announced that it will not make an offer to buy the assets being sold by Holcim and Lafarge in light of their merger. Instead, Cemex plans to focus on organic growth, generating more cash flow and reducing its leverage, according to general manager Fernando A Gonzalez Olivieri. Cemex's aims are to once again reach earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) of US$4.70bn in 2016 or 2017 and to recover its investment grade via leverage reduction.