September 2024
Angola: The Nova Cimangola cement plant will get US$116m from the Angolan government to boost its cement production capacity, as per a presidential decree. The funds will be transferred by the Finance Ministry and will ensure a greater cement supply to the Angolan market and reduce cement prices.
The presidential decree described the importance of cement in the process of repairing and building manufacturing and social infrastructure in Angola, as well as for execution of house building programmes. The shareholders of Nova Cimangola are Ciminvest (49%), the Angolan State (40%) and the state bank Banco Angolano de Investimentos (10%). The remaining 1% is in the hands of individual shareholders.
EAPCC staff suspended after cement theft probe 09 June 2014
Kenya: Three employees of East Africa Portland Cement Co (EAPCC) have been suspended while three more have been put under further investigations in the ongoing forensic audit into the theft of cement. The six are said to be mid-level managers in the company's procurement and supplies department.
Another two employees have been cautioned following the audit of EAPCC sales and procurement books. "A number of staff who were found culpable were disciplined according to the gravity of their offences," said EAPCC. "Three people were interdicted, three were asked to explain their actions and why disciplinary action should not be taken against them and another two were cautioned."
The investigations into suspected theft by staff at EAPCC revealed massive manipulations of sales records leading to the fraudulent shipment of large consignments of cement from the factory premises in Athi River. Sources at EAPCC said that the audit revealed rampant manipulation of product quotations and Local Purchases Order (LPO) prices, rendering the company's products more expensive in the market hence depressing sales. This has had a direct impact on the business and raised the cost of production.
"We are not relenting on this one," said an EAPCC spokesperson. "A lot of dirty things have been going on here and we have resolved to kill the illegal deals once and for all."
EAPCC expects its profits to dip by more than 25% over the financial year that ends in June 2014. The company attributed the expected dip in profit to reduced sales and rising costs. EAPCC also attributed the outlook to reduced export sales and loss of market share in Kenya.
India: It has been reported that the Adhunik Cement factory in Jaintia Hills, Meghalaya State has been working without clearance from the Ministry of Forests and Environment ever since its inception in 2008. Not only is the plant working without clearance, there have been serious violations of the environment, according to local media.
In a report sent to the Ministry of Environment and Forests, dated 18 January 2013, the then scientist who was appointed by the ministry to check into the clearance, S C Katiyar, found major violations within the plant and passed the information to the Central Ministry. The project consisted of a 20MW captive power plant and a 1.5Mt/yr cement plant. Even though the report was submitted to the Ministry in 2013, the plant is still in operation.
"We believe that none of the cement plants have valid clearances from the Environment and Forest Department," said Agnes Kharshiing, the president of the Civil Society Women's Organisation (CSWO). "They have been flouting rules and destroying the place without any care for the region. This is a serious violation and shows what we have been hinting at – that the plants are not cleared for operation. The scientist has made a fair report and our Pollution Board is also violating norms when they did not close down these cement plants with major violations."
The CSWO has demanded the immediate closure of all the cement plants of the region and a proper check to be done on the validity of their papers before operations are allowed to continue. Kharshiing also alleged that "The government has been working hand in glove with them and is now even trying to provide them land for reforestation. This is not fair and is making life for the people of the region difficult. We demand that the clearance certificates be checked for all of the companies working in Jaintia Hills, because we believe none of them are working through legal norms."
Update - 11 June 2014: Adhunik Cement have responded to the original source of this news story in the Meghalaya Times and asked Global Cement to publish it.
10 June 2014
Subject: Article in your publication
Dear sir,
This is in context of an article published in the Meghalaya Times datelined Tura, June 7th 2014 titled 'Adhunik Cement Factory Working Without Environmental Clearance'. The article alleges that the factory has "been working without environmental clearance... ever since its inception". And "...there have been serious violations of the environment..."
1. We would like to submit that the Adhunik Cement factory at Jaintia Hills has been in compliance of all clearances. It was granted environmental clearance vide Environment Clearance Letter No. J-110111/109/2007-IA-II (I) dated June 19th 2008.
2. The MoEFF nominee referred to in the article, Dr SC Katiyar had pointed out certain areas of improvement, these have been met. Regular reports on compliance status are being formally submitted, per protocol to the concerned authorities including the MoEF.
We are a mature, responsible corporate citizen, sensitive to the environment. We adhere to best-in-class business practices and high thresholds of environmental and safety standards. We are disappointed that a publication of your stature did no consider checking out perspective. In the interest of factual accuracy to present a correct perspective, we required you to publish this letter.
Yours sincerely,
LN Mishara
Adhunik Cement Limited
Nigeria: Lafarge Cement WAPCO, Ashaka Cement and Unicem have established suits against the Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) over its recent decision to employ a new Mandatory Industrial Standard Order for the field of cement manufacturing, distribution and effective usage in Nigeria.
The cement producers are also seeking an order of the court restraining SON, their privies, agents and whosoever is involved in purporting to act through the respondent from implementing the Mandatory Industrial Standard NIS 444-1 2014.
PPC Zimbabwe domestic sales drop 5% 06 June 2014
Zimbabwe: PPC Zimbabwe reports that its domestic sales for the first five months of 2014 have fallen by 5% compared to the same period in 2013. Managing director Njombo Lekula blamed the drop on a decrease in housing projects.
"For the past few years there has been significant growth in housing, which boosted cement demand, however, the current economic situation is beginning to have an impact on home building activities," said Lekula in comments reported by The Herald.
PPC Zimbabwe now intends to sell its excess production in neighbouring countries. However, Lekula pointed out that Mozambique has a 'very competitive' market due to imports from the Far East via the port of Beira. In addition the cost of logistics to reach this market is an issue for the cement producer. PPC Zimbabwe are also considering targeting Zambia but logistics and the fluctuating price of the Kwacha have posed challenges.
PPC Zimbabwe intends to start building a US$200m cement plant in the north-east of Zimbabwe in 2014. The company has also started constructing clinker grinding plants near Harare and Tete, Mozambique. Currently, PPC Zimbabwe has a cement production capacity of 0.76Mt/yr. The new projects are expected to increase capacity to 1.2Mt/yr.
Germany: Holcim has received unconditional clearance by the European Commission (EC) for its proposed acquisition of Cemex West in Germany. The decision follows a detailed Phase II review by the EC. Closing of the transactions is expected for the second half of 2014.
The acquisition in Germany is part of Holcim's strategic portfolio optimisation in Europe that includes a series of transactions together with Cemex, which is separate from the intention to merge with Lafarge.
Holcim said that the decision marks a further milestone towards the optimisation of its strategic portfolio in Europe, which was announced in 2013. It will allow Holcim to create value through an optimised footprint in north-western Germany. It will also allow it to further improve the service and support of existing and new customers.
The transaction includes one cement plant and two grinding stations with a total cement production capacity of 2.5Mt/yr, one slag granulator, 22 aggregates locations and 79 ready-mix concrete plants. They would be combined with Holcim's existing Northern German operations.
India: According to the latest data from the Gujarat Pollution Control Board (GPCB), the utilisation of hazardous waste as an alternative fuel and raw material (AFR) in cement kilns has increased by a factor of 35 since 2009 – 2010 from 15,693t/yr to 543,569t/yr in 2013 - 2014.
This follows the GPCB's measures to strike a balance between the disposal of toxic hazardous wastes, environmental protection and economic interests. Safe disposal of toxic hazardous waste posed a major challenge before the state pollution regulator took up disposal through cement kilns under controlled conditions.
In 2011 Gujarat State generated 109Bnt/yr of incinerable waste, 1107Bnt/yr of land-fillable waste and 577Bnt/yr of recyclable hazardous waste. These included plastic waste, spent carbon, tar, mixed waste liquid, pharmaceutical waste, tyre chips, agricultural waste, solid waste, chemical gypsum, iron sludge, copper slag and fly ash.
The GPCB encouraged major industrial clusters and cement plants to provide waste collection centres and pre-processing facilities for hazardous waste for co-processing. "It is a recovery of energy and material from waste," said Hardik Shah, member secretary of the GPCB. "The challenging task was to convince the top management of cement plants." The GPCB facilitated cement makers with access to its data on the waste generated in the State via Extended Green Node (XGN) software, which ensured the supply of suitable wastes.
"This involves some additional investment, but in the long run it repays as there are savings on fuel costs," said an Ambuja Cement spokesperson. Ambuja has invested US$16.7m to set up a pre-processing facility of solid/semi-solid waste at its Ambujanagar plant in Junagadh District, Gujarat State.
Similarly, Sanghi Industries is in the trial phase for using hazardous waste. "From a legal standpoint, we need to get clearance from the GPCB for co-processing any new waste material in our plant," said Alok Sanghi, director of Sanghi. "We have submitted the results of the trials conducted and are awaiting clearance from them." Sanghi has been doing trials for last 18 months.
"The use of alternative fuel in Indian cement industries has been limited," said GPCB's Shah. "The thermal substitution rate (TSR) in the cement industry is less than 1% in India as against 10% in Japan and 40% in European nations. The GPCB has set a target of three years to achieve a TSR of 10% by using AFR."
Germany: The European Commission (EC) is expected to give the green light to Holcim's planned acquisition of Cemex's German operations without conditions, according to Reuters, which cited two knowledgeable sources.
The transaction is part of several interconnected deals between the companies that were agreed in August 2013. The EC is currently examining the agreement to determine whether it could threaten competition and prompt price hikes. Its decision is due by 8 July 2014.
Under the terms of the agreement, Cemex will combine its cement, ready-mix and aggregates operations in Spain with those of Holcim and will hold a 75% stake in the enlarged firm. In addition, Cemex will take over Holcim's operations in the Czech Republic. Holcim will spend a total of Euro70m in cash on the deals.
In April 2014 the EC started an in-depth probe into Cemex's deal with Holcim in Spain and is due to unveil its decision until 5 September 2014. The local anti-trust watchdog approved the transaction in the Czech Republic in March 2014.
India: According to local media, the Jammu and Kashmir State government has ordered an enquiry of the managing director of JK Cement regarding the alleged embezzlement in the purchase of polypropylene bags. According to the allegations, US$156,857 was to be shared by JK Cement's managing director and a few of his trusted lieutenants.
JK Cement had placed an order to purchase cement bags from a factory outside of the state at exorbitant rates. The company had earlier ordered 3 million bags at a price of US$0.156/bag (US$469,052 total), of which 33% was to be supplied by Gopinath Enterprises Ahmedabad. The remaining supply was yet to be determined. The managing director of JK Cement later allegedly approved the purchase of 4 million bags from Bihar Raffia at a rate of US$0.18/bag (US$720,000 total). The former supplier, Gopinath Enterprises, was asked to stop the supply.
Sri Lanka: Nearly 500 contract workers at two Holcim Lanka cement plants in the towns of Puttalam and Galle in Sri Lanka have been on strike since 19 May 2014 demanding job permanency, better wages and improved working conditions. The striking workers and their families are occupying the cement plant premises. The Inter Company Employees Union (ICEU) called the strike.
The protesters at the Puttalam plant have blocked the main gate, halting the transport of cement. The company and contractors are trying to break the picket with the help of Sri Lanka's president Mahinda Rajapaksa. The government is determined to end the strike and has deployed police and the riot squad. The police are threatening to arrest union leaders and activists.
On 1 June 2014 the striking contract workers and their families at the Puttalam and Galle plants were attacked by hired thugs with swords and clubs, allegedly organised by the local ruling party politicians. At the Puttalam plant nine people, including an eight year old girl, were injured and sent to hospital. Four are still hospitalised. Protestors asked for police protection, who were present during the attack, but their appeals were allegedly refused. At the Galle plant one protester was injured.
The mother of the eight year old girl who was injured said that her daughter had been thrown to the ground by the thugs. "I'm afraid for my husband, who has been working for eight years as a contract worker. That's why we joined the protest."
Holcim established its Sri Lankan operations after the privatisation of the state-owned Puttalam Cement Corporation in 1996 under former president Chandrika Kumaratunga. After Holcim took over, the workforce was cut from 1500 to less than 900, with only 370 permanent workers. Some of the contract workers have worked for the company for more than 20 years. Keeping workers on contract basis is a means employed to deny the rights they would have as permanent employees and to subject them to harsher working conditions.
Workers in the production and transport sections are employed on a 12 hour shift system. Their basic monthly wage is less than US$115. In the loading section, six workers have to load 4500 cement bags during a 12 hour shift with the assistance of a conveyor belt. The workers on 'general duties' work nine hour shifts and are on daily wages of US$16.02.
Holcim Lanka dominates has more than 40% of the local market. In the recent period, it has increased the price of a 50kg bag of cement several times and profits have soared, even after paying the government's increased taxes.