September 2024
Mahendra Singhi to work with Carbon Pricing Leadership Coalition on Asia-Pacific strategy 09 June 2021
India/US: Mahendra Singhi, the head of India-based Dalmia Cement (Bharat), has been invited to represent the Carbon Pricing Leadership Coalition (CPLC) as Carbon Pricing Champion. He will work with Feike Sijbesma, Honorary Chair of Board of Royal DSM to devise carbon pricing strategies for the Asia-Pacific region
The CPLC is a global coalition promoted by the World Bank Group. It is represented by 34 national and sub-national governments, 172 private sector organizations 100 strategic partners non government organisations, business organisations, and universities. The voluntary initiative aims to accelerate climate change mitigation by securing the place of carbon pricing on the global agenda.
UK: Aggregate Industries has appointed Kirstin McCarthy as its sustainability director as part of its executive committee. She will be responsible for the company’s ambitions to become a leading sustainable business and net-zero company. McCarthy brings over 20 years’ experience in environmental management to the role. Prior to joining the subsidiary of Switzerland-based Lafarge-Holcim business, she was Head of Sustainability at Birmingham Airport for more than six years.
Italy: Zoomlion Europe has appointed Petre Babiceanu as its general manager. He will be responsible for the development of the company’s forklift, aerial work platform, tower and mobile crane business lines, as well as for the operational coordination of the company’s production plant in Italy.
Babiceanu holds over 20 years in senior management roles. His first post at Terra Holding was as Country Manager, when he was responsible for setting up the group's business in Romania. He later acted as South-East Regional Director and then as Group General Manager for Lifting Machinery, overseeing the development and distribution of various brands in the construction sector and starting a new lifting division. He holds a master's degree in civil engineering from the Technical University of Civil Engineering of Bucharest.
China-based Zoomlion established its European subsidiary in 2018 as a regional hub for the production and distribution of its branded product lines.
Russia: Mikhailovsky Building Material Works (Mikhailovsky KSM), part of Smikom Group, has received conditional approval to acquire Eurocement. Interfax has reported that the Federal Antimonopoly Service made its approval on a number of conditions including the requirement that Mikhailovsky KSM submits to it a quarterly performance report. If prices rise by more than 5% in a month then the company will be required to explain why to the regulator. The producer will also be obliged to fulfil any existing contracts and preserve the technological capability of its production base.
Eurocement currently holds a 35% market share in Central district, the region where Mikhailovsky KSM produces its building materials.
India: Anjani Portland Cement has completed its acquisition of an 83% stake in Bhavya Cements. The transaction’s value was US$83.2m
Brazil: Companhia Siderúrgica Nacional (CSN) has entered talks to acquire Cimento Elizabeth. The Valor Econômico newspaper has reported the potential value of any future deal as up to US$250m. An agreement is reportedly expected in June 2021.
Farallon Capital acquired Cimento Elizabeth and Elizabeth Mineração from the Crispin family for US$185m in 2020. It operates the 1.2Mt/yr Cimento Elizabeth cement plant in Paraíba. CSN currently does not have a presence in the region.
Cemex to install supercritical CO2 waste heat recovery plant at Prachovice cement plant in the Czech Republic 09 June 2021
Czech Republic: Mexico-based Cemex plans to install a 2MW waste heat recovery (WHR) plant using supercritical CO2 (sCO2) at its Prachovice cement plant. The unit is intended to provide up to 8% of the plant’s electricity requirements.
The producer is part of a consortium studying new sCO2 WHR systems. The EU Horizon 2020 Industrial Heat to Power fund awarded Euro14m in financial backing to the consortium. The project is intended to demonstrate a cheaper and more flexible method of waste heat valorisation compared to the steam or organic rankine cycle approaches conventionally used in WHR.
Plant director Karol Czubara said, “The new sCO2 technology has a smaller footprint and higher operational flexibility than conventional power plant cycles, which produce power from turbines using water or steam.”
France/Syria: The Court of Cassation, a court of last resort, is considering whether a charge of crimes against humanity should be upheld against Lafarge. However, charges of financing terrorism, endangering life and violating an embargo seem set to stay. The legal case is investigating the company’s conduct in Syria between 2011 and 2014. It has been accused of financing terrorism through indirect payments to extremist groups to keep its Jalabiya cement plant operational after the outbreak of war in Syria. The Court of Cassation is expected to deliver its verdict on 15 July 2021.
Zambia: Zambezi Portland Cement has allowed retail purchases directly from its integrated Ndola plant to reduce price exploitation. Chief executive officer Gomeli Litana said that the plant had made the decision to help small consumers, according to the Times of Zambia newspaper. He added that the producer was implementing a fixed price and was not attempting to interfere in the general retail market.
CIMAF Gabon launches 32.5 grade cement product 09 June 2021
Gabon: Ciments d'Afrique (CIMAF) has launched a 32.5 grade of cement intended for masonry work. Local dignitaries, including government minister Pascal Houangni Ambourouet, Owendo mayor Jeanne Mbagou and Moroccan ambassador Abdellah Sbihi, attended the launch event, according to the Gabon Review. The subsidiary of Morocco based CIMAF already sells a 42.5 grade product on the local market for larger structures.