Displaying items by tag: Cemex

Colombia: The Council of State has confirmed a US$0.31m fine to Holcim Colombia imposed by the Superintendent of Industry and Commerce (SIC) for fixing the price of cement. The ruling follows a similar confirmation of a fine to Cemex. The court found that an agreement between Cemex Colombia, Holcim Colombia and Cementos Argos distorted the price, supply and sales of Ordinary Portland Cement in the second half of 2005.

Colombia: The Council of State has confirmed a fine to Cemex imposed by the Superintendent of Industry and Commerce (SIC) for fixing the price of cement. The ruling found that an agreement between Cemex Colombia, Holcim Colombia and Cementos Argos distorted the price, supply and sales of Ordinary Portland Cement in the second half of 2005. In particular the tribunal found that the way in which Argos gave information about Cementos Andino’s involvement in the national market to Cemex and Holcim was be anti-competitive.

UK: Cemex UK will move its headquarters from Thorpe, Surrey to its offices in Rugby, Warwickshire from 1 July 2018. The new premises were the former global head offices for the Rugby Group until 2000. To date the Rugby offices have provided a regional centre for the company. From July 2018 the senior leadership team and all back-office functions such as taxation, communications and human resources will be based at Rugby, working alongside business areas such as the national customer service centre, Marketing and logistics.

“Rugby lies geographically at the centre of our UK business and with changing patterns of working such as increased working from home and from operational sites, it makes good business sense to consolidate our offices. Rugby and the Rugby brand are at the ‘heart’ of our business and the creation of the new headquarters will ensure greater efficiency and communication,” said Michel Andre, Country President, Cemex UK.

Mexico: Cemex says that its digital platform, Cemex Go, has reached over 10,000 customers or a quarter of its worldwide customer base. Cemex Go is currently available in Mexico, the US, Colombia, the UK, and Germany and is expected to be deployed in half of the company’s markets in the coming weeks. By the end of 2018, it is expected to be available in all of Cemex’s key locations, serving approximately 45,000 customers.

The system allows the company and its customers to will be used in real time to manage order placement, live tracking of shipments and invoices and payments for the company’s main products, including bagged and bulk cement. Cemex Go was introduced in Mexico and the US in late 2017.

Colombia: Ricardo Naya, the president of Cemex Colombia, says that he expects that the company's new US$356m cement plant at Maceo in Antioquia will go into operation at the end of 2018. At present the company is trying to guarantee with the Regional Autonomous Corporation of Antioquia environmental agency that it will have the necessary permits to operate the plant at full capacity, according to the La Republica newspaper.

In 2016 Cemex fired several senior staff members in relation to the Maceo project and its subsidiary’s chief executive resigned. This followed an internal audit and investigation into payments worth around US$20.5m made to a non-governmental third party in connection with the acquisition of the land, mining rights and benefits of the tax free zone for the project. The US Department of Justice has also investigated the project.

Cemex Colombia is also fighting a fine by the Superintendent of Industry and Commerce (SIC) for alleged market collusion in the cement business. It agreed to pay the fine but has appealed to the Dispute Tribunal.

Mexico: Cemex has launched an online retail store to sell its construction material products. The new website is part of the company’s Cemex Go digital platform.

“Cemex’s launch of the Construrama Online Store builds on our efforts to transform the construction industry into a more efficient model. Our clients will now enjoy easy access to a wider catalogue of products and be able to select, purchase, and follow up on their online order, generating significant savings in productivity for our Construrama network of retail stores, builders, and final customers,” said Sergio Menéndez, Vice President of Distributor Sales of Cemex in Mexico.

The Construrama Online Store is part of the company’s commercial digital vision which aims to offer its clients a seamless experience for placing orders, live tracking of shipments and managing invoices and payments for Cemex’s main products.

Philippines: Cemex Philippines has committed up to US$57m in 2018 towards the construction a new production line at its Solid Cement plant in Antipolo, Rizal. The project will increase the plant’s production capacity to 3.4Mt/yr from 1.9Mt/yr, according to GMA News. The overall budget for the project is US$225m. Environmental approval for the new line was obtained from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources in late 2017. The upgrade is scheduled to be operational by early 2020.

Jamaica: Cemex España, a subsidiary of Cemex, has agreed to lend Caribbean Cement US$102m to purchase assets mainly consisting of the Kiln 5 and Mill 5 processes at its plant at Rockfort plant Kingston. Any remaining funds will be used for ‘general corporate purposes.’ In May 2018 Caribbean Cement signed an agreement to buy plant equipment from its parent company Trinidad Cement for US$118m that was originally leased to it. Cemex owns a controlling stake in both companies.

Mexico: Cemex has named Volvo & SDLG as its first global supplier of the year. It has also announced the winners of its third Integrate Innovation Program. Volvo also picked up first place in the Integrate program.

The initiative included 11 global suppliers of various categories and services - including mobile equipment, paper and sacks, lubricants, additives, and refractory material - who proposed 15 creative ideas to generate more efficient processes, products, and services. To evaluate and qualify the ideas received, 70 people from different areas of Cemex and different regions of the world participated in the selection of the three winning ideas.

Sweden's Volvo won first place in the Integrate program for its competence development of machine operators with simulators. Germany's Klüber Lubrication came second with its first hydro lubricant for gears. Germany's Refratechnik followed with its idea to counteract knowledge loss and special training on site. Volvo was also recognised for health & safety, Kao Chemicals for sustainability, BillerudKorsnäs for applied innovation and RHI Magnesita for customer focus.

UK: Albert Manifold, the head of CRH, has been elected as the president of the Global Cement and Concrete Association (GCCA) at its first meeting. Fernando A González, chief executive of Cemex, and Jianglin Cao, chief executive of CNBM, were named as vice-presidents.

“We are proud to launch this new global cement and concrete advocacy platform. Cement and concrete are integral elements of the built environment around the world and the GCCA represents a strong sector-wide voice and responsible industrial leadership in the manufacture and use of these materials,” said GCCA President, Albert Manifold.

The GCCA comprises 10 cement companies including Cemex, CNBM, CRH, Dangote, Eurocement, HeidelbergCement, LafargeHolcim, Taiheiyo, UltraTech and Votorantim. All board appointments are on an interim basis until formal elections can take place of the full board comprising 15 members at the organisation’s first annual general meeting to be held in London, UK in November 2018. The association will also present a work programme, launch its sustainability charter and run a conference at the same time. The GCCA has established its headquarters in London.