Displaying items by tag: Algeria

Algeria: Lafarge Algeria has launched Chamil cement, a 40% reduced-CO₂ cement, which contains locally sourced clay and ferrous materials. The producer developed Chamil cement based on technology from the Rouiba Construction Development Laboratory.

Lafarge Algeria aims to achieve export volumes of 3Mt across its product range in 2022.

Spain: Oficemen has blamed falling exports of cement on high electricity prices. The cement association reports that exports fell by around 25% year-on-year to 3.76Mt for the first eight months of 2022 from over 5Mt in the same period in 2021. Local consumption of cement slowed to an increase of just 0.2% to 9.88Mt from 9.86Mt.

Aniceto Zaragoza, the general director of Oficemen, said “Electricity costs in our sector have increased by 400% in the last two years, a situation that worsens every day due to the energy crisis we are suffering. Without competitive electricity costs, it is impossible for our industry, which for many years has led the cement export market, to continue competing with other producers in the Mediterranean area that pay much less for their energy inputs, such as Algeria, Turkey or Egypt.”

Algeria: Groupe des Ciments d'Algérie (GICA) has obtained a certificate of conformity with European standards (CE) for three types of cement. The certification should allow the company to export more products to Europe, according to the Expression newspaper. It applies to its Gica Moudhad and Gica Béton products. The move follows similar certification of products with the Association Française de Normalisation (AFNOR) from the company’s Aïn El Kebira plant in July 2021. At the same time the Minister of Industry said it was helping the group with its export strategy.

In 2021 GICA exported 2.25Mt of cement to countries including the Ivory Coast, Gambia, Ghana, Mauritania, Senegal , Cameroon, Benin,  Guinea, Brazil, Peru, the Dominican Republic, Haiti and a number of European countries.

Algeria: The Entreprise des Ciments et Dérives d’Ech-Cheliff (ECDE) plant plans to export 1.5Mt of cement in 2022. Exports will be sent to countries in Europe, Africa and Latin America, according to the Algeria Press Service. The subsidiary of Groupe des Ciments d'Algérie’s (GICA) opened a third production line at the site intended solely for exports. The unit has a production capacity of 4.2Mt/yr.

Switzerland: Holcim has appointed Toufic Tabbara as Region Head North America and a member of the group executive committee. He succeeds René Thibault, who has decided to leave the company.

Tabbara was most recently working as the chief executive officer for US Cement. He joined the group in 1998 as Director Strategy & Development in the US and has led Holcim’s ready-mix concrete, aggregates and cement businesses in the US, Canada, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon and Algeria.

He holds a Master of Business Administration from the Thunderbird School of Global Management in Arizona, US and a Bachelor of Business Administration from the American University of Beirut in Lebanon.

Algeria: Lafarge Algeria says it exported 2.6Mt of cement in 2021, more than double the 1.18Mt it exported in 2020. It aims to export over 3Mt in 2022. The subsidiary of Holcim also announced that it will carry out two new large simultaneous shipments from the port of Oran, one of 35,000t of cement in bulk, and the other of 30,000t of white cement in big bags. Both shipments will be exported to the Americas.

Algeria: Some cement truck drivers have launched protests against a change in the law which limits their vehicles’ loads below the previous maximum weight. The L’Expression newspaper reports that protests include refusals to depart and the establishment of roadblocks. The actions have prevented the export of some Algerian clinker. Lafarge Algérie said that it raised drivers’ pay per tonne of goods following the law change. The company stated that the new level of pay ensures that transporters will not lose out as a result.

Algeria is targeting cement and clinker exports of 10Mt in 2022.

Algeria: Ali Bey Nasri, the president of the National Association Algerian Exporters, says that his country exported 5Mt of cement in 2021 with a value of US$200m. Local cement production exceeded 40Mt in 2021 and a rise in exports is expected in 2022, according to the Horizon newspaper. Groupe des Ciments d'Algérie (GICA) operates half of the country’s cement production plants.

UK: Ecocem has appointed Olivier Guise appointed as its Executive Director for Strategy, Technology and New Business. The newly created role will see him join the Ecocem executive team to develop and operate the company’s strategy and to accelerate progress in bringing products to the global cement and concrete market.

Guise holds over 17 years of experience working in the construction materials industry, having been General Manager of Cement and ExCo at LafargeHolcim France until 2021. Prior to this, he held various roles at LafargeHolcim across both its French and Algerian markets, including General Manager of the Aggregates Business in the South of France, Innovation and Route to Market Director and Cement Capacity Development Director.

Algeria: BMSD Chaux Algeria has commissioned a 100,000t/yr lime plant. Italy-based QualiCal supplied the plant. It is powered by natural gas and relies on CogiTech bulkmaterial handling equipment, Mathios Refractories’ refractories, Laife steel structures and Sysware and Tecnoelettra automation systems.