Displaying items by tag: Dispute

Malaysia: A court has granted Associated Pan Malaysia Cement (APMC) the right to evict Buddhist monks from the Gunung Kanthan caves monastery in Hulu Kinta, Perak. The land is part of a site where APMC has leased 146 hectares of land for limestone extraction. New Straits Times News has reported that the producer operates quarries in Zones A and B of the site, but has yet to commence extraction from Zones C and D. Local authorities had previously given assurance that mining operations ‘would not disturb’ the monastery.

Monks from the Thudong tradition established the Gunung Kanthan caves monastery across two caves in Gunung Kanthan hill in the early 20th century. Today, it contains numerous artefacts and works of art.

India: Dalmia Cement (Bharat) faces a potential stumbling block to its planned acquisition of Jaiprakash Associates’ cement business for US$683m due to an on-going shareholder dispute at subsidiary Jaypee Bhilai Cement. The Economic Times newspaper has reported that a court has frozen Jaiprakash Associates’ 74% shareholding in the company, and ordered it not to create new third party rights. State-owned Steel Authority of India Limited holds the remaining 26% stake in the cement producer, which operates the 2.2Mt/yr Bhilai Jaypee grinding plant in Durg, Chhattisgarh.

Dalmia Cement (Bharat) and Jaiprakash Associates concluded multiple separate agreements for the transfer of ownership of Jaiprakash Associates’ cement subsidiaries on 26 April 2023. Besides Jaypee Bhilai Cement, these include cement plant and limestone mine operator JP Super and grinding plant operator Jaiprakash Power Ventures.

Kenya: A court has authorised an auction of East Africa Portland Cement Company (EAPCC)'s moveable property to proceed, in order to pay former staff. The Nation newspaper has reported that EAPCC owes the employees US$10m in unpaid wages. The court allowed the auction in favour of 60 claimants. It instructed a further 150 claimants to seek redress by other means, due to insufficient available proceeds from the sale.

Kenya: A court has prevented the takeover of a US$47.8m parcel of land belonging to East African Portland Cement Company (EAPCC) by the government. The court found that the government had not followed proper consultation processes. The East African newspaper has reported that the government had already concluded a deal with China and Oman-based investors for affordable property developments on the land.

EAPCC says that it now plans to use the site to build its own green smart city. The cement producer says that this will help to diversify its income streams.

Mexico: President Andrés Manuel López Obrador has accused the US government of funding environmentalists' challenges to the government's planned Tren Maya tourist railway project. AP News has reported that López Obrador has declared the project a matter of national security.

Cemex is currently embroiled in a dispute with Vulcan Materials subsidiary Sac-Tun over use of the latter's Punta Venado terminal in Quintana Roo. The terminal sits along the planned route of the Tren Maya line. The Mexican State Prosecutor's Office supported Cemex's re-entry into the terminal on 14 March 2023. The government previously rejected Sac-Tun's application to renew its quarrying licence for its quarry at the site of the terminal.

For more on this story, read our Global Cement Weekly analysis.

Mexico: Cemex says that it is within its rights to have continued using the Punta Venado terminal in Quintana Roo beyond the expiry of its contract with owner Sac-Tun at the end of 2022. Cemex says that it obtained an injunction to continue using the facilities after it began to have difficulty accessing them in late 2022. It subsequently obtained a contempt of court order against Sac-Tun when it tried to prevent it from accessing the terminal.

The Mexican State Prosecutor's Office supported Cemex's re-entry into the Punta Venado terminal on 14 March 2023.

Mexico: US-based Vulcan Materials has accused Cemex of illegally entering and unloading materials at its Punta Venado terminal in Quintana Roo. Vulcan Materials' subsidiary Sac-Tun operates the terminal, which serves its nearby Playa del Carmen quarry. Sac-Tun previously provided handling and unloading services at the terminal for Cemex, under a contract which expired on 31 December 2022. A local court ruled in favour of Cemex in the dispute over its continued use of the facilities on 5 March 2023. A high court intervened with an injunction in favour of Vulcan Materials on 16 March 2023.

Vulcan Materials now plans to take further legal action, according to Forbes. It is currently engaged in another legal dispute against the Mexican government for the latter's refusal to renew Sac-Tun's licence to operate the Playa del Carmen quarry. The producer is seeking damages of US$78.9m. The government said that the quarry had ceased to operate in line with requirements under its environmental impact licence and local land use plans.

Bolivia/Mexico: Compañía de Inversiones Mercantiles (CIMSA) has signed a settlement agreement with GCC in the parties' dispute over a transaction affecting shares in Sociedad Boliviana de Cemento (SOBOCE). Law360 News has reported that the settlement does not preclude GCC´s option to recover the settlement amount from other third parties, if necessary.

GCC failed to grant CIMSA a right of preference before selling its 47% stake in SOBOCE in 2011. The Inter-American Commercial Arbitration Commission (CIAC) subsequently awarded compensation to CIMSA. Since this time, the matter has passed through courts in both Bolivia and the US.

Guinea: Employees from Diamond Cement began a strike on 2 March 2023. Sékouba Kouyaté, 1st delegate of the Diamond Cement workers' union, said “We have decided to go on strike under articles 431.1; 431.2; 431.3 and following of the labour code of the Republic of Guinea. To this end, it should be reiterated that the reason for this strike is the categorical refusal of the general management to open a framework for frank and credible dialogue. We pitifully deplore the fate of the workers working in this company from construction until now, more particularly in its intermediary companies that no longer comply with article 135.7 of the labor code. Enough is enough.”

India: The state government of Himachal Pradesh has announced the forthcoming reopening of Adani Group's Darlaghat and Gagal cement plants. Reuters has reported that truck drivers' unions agreed to a reduced freight rate offered by Adani Group. The producer shut the plants on 15 December 2022, claiming that it faced prohibitively high operating costs, including high freight charges.

Truck drivers will now receive rates of US$0.12/t/km for despatches in small delivery trucks and US$0.11/t/km for dispatches in articulated trucks. Drivers operating at the Darlaghat cement plant previously earned fees of US$0.13/t/km, while those operating at the Gagal cement plant had earned fees of US$0.14/t/km. Adani Group had reportedly sort to lower rates to US$0.07/t/km. Unions have criticised the newly negotiated rates, pointing out the UltraTech Cement recently raised the wages of drivers at its Baga cement plant in the state to US$0.13/t/km.