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Canada: Global Cement has taken centre-stage for delegates registering at the IEEE-IAS/PCA 2015 Cement Industry Technical Conference with copies of the April 2015 issue on offer. The conference runs from 26 – 30 April 2015 at the Sheraton Centre Toronto Hotel in Toronto, Canada.

Delegates attending the IEEE-IAS/PCA 2015 can keep informed about the conference cement plant tour by reading a feature interview with the team who run St Marys Bowmanville. The plant tour is scheduled to take place on Thursday 30 April. The April 2015 issue of Global Cement Magazine also includes a country feature on the Canadian cement industry.

Egypt: Cement producers have decided to keep the prices of cement 'stable' for the fifth consecutive month, Minister of Supply Khaled Hanafy has announced. Medhat Stephanos, head of cement companies at the Federation of Egyptian Industries (FDI), said the supply surplus is behind the price stability, according to local media.

Hanafy stated that 854,000t had been produced for the current month and that the total amount of supplied cement was 1.86Mt. Around 818,000t of cement were distributed in the local market and around 500,000t were exported between 9 and 15 April. Staphanos added to Daily News Egypt that the country's cement production capacity has increased following the introduction of coal as a source of energy, which reduced the energy problem that faced producers.

"We expected more activity in the processes of construction but those expectations were not met," said Stephanos. "Some projects were expected to start but have not started yet."

Europe: CRH has been approved by the European Commission as a purchaser of assets in the European Union from Lafarge and Holcim. CRH has also received from the European Commission the clearance for the acquisition of these assets. These divestments remain subject to the completion of the merger between Lafarge and Holcim, including a successful public exchange offering to Lafarge's shareholders and approval by Holcim's shareholders.

In France Holcim and Lafarge are divesting all of Holcim's assets, except for its Altkirch cement plant and aggregates and ready-mix sites in the Haut-Rhin region, and a grinding station of Lafarge in Saint-Nazaire. Lafarge's assets on Reunion island are being sold except for its shareholding in Ciments de Bourbon. All of Lafarge's assets are also being sold in Germany and Romania. Lafarge Tarmac assets in the UK are being sold with the exception of its Cauldon and Cookstown plants and certain associated assets. In Hungary all of Holcim's operating assets are being divested and it is selling its assets in Slovakia.

South Africa: PPC will slow its international expansion due to rising debts, says chief executive officer Darryll Castle. The South African cement producer is building cement plants in Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Zimbabwe, Algeria and Mozambique in order to generate 40% of its sales outside its home market by 2017. However, spending on these projects is pushing up its debt levels and Chief Executive Officer Darryll Castle said PPC's debt would likely hit as much as US$982m in the next two years and possibly breach agreed covenants with banks, according to Reuters.

"We wouldn't want to stretch our balance too much. The focus currently is on existing projects," said Castle. He added that PPC was in talks with banks about changing the agreed debt covenants to reflect the fact that some of the debt was ring-fenced from the South African balance sheet.

US: Essroc Italcementi Group has signed an agreement with Holcim to purchase its slag cement grinding facility in Camden, New Jeresy. As part of the transaction, Essroc will also obtain Holcim's cement terminal in Everett, Massachusetts. The acquisition will finalise when the pending Holcim and Lafarge merger completes later in 2015.

"The acquisition of the Camden slag grinding facility reiterates Essroc's commitment to the northeast market," said Francesco Carantani, Essroc's president and chief executive officer. "With the focus on sustainability and durability, there is a projected growth in the demand and usage of slag cement."

The Camden facility can produce upwards of 700,000t/yr of slag cement. Essroc currently produces slag cement at its Picton, Ontario, and San Juan, Puerto Rico, cement plants and at its slag grinding facility in Middlebranch, Ohio. With the addition of Camden, Essroc has a combined annual production capacity in excess of 1Mt/yr. Holcim's staff in Camden and Everett will join Essroc once the transaction completes.

Chile: The Superintendency of the Environment (SMA) has filed charges against the Cemento Polpaico cement company regarding environmental irregularities at the Cerro Blanco plant in Til Til, near Santiago. SMA discovered that the plant failed to comply with carbon emission directives and did not have an adequate contingency plan for the preservation of underground water sources. The company now has ten days to adjust procedures or reply to the charges laid by the entity within 15 days before SMA issues penalties.

Pakistan: Bestway Cement, a subsidiary of Bestway Group, has announced assumption of management control of Lafarge Pakistan. This follows the company's successful bid for 75.86% of Lafarge Pakistan's shares for US$329m in July 2014. Bestway Cement also acquired another 12.07% shares of the target company through the public offer process taking its shareholding in Lafarge Pakistan to 87.93%.

Acquisition of Lafarge Pakistan's 2.5Mt/yr cement plant located in Chakwal, means that Bestway Cement has now become the largest cement manufacturer in Pakistan with a total capacity of more than 8Mt/yr representing 18% of the entire industry's capacity in the country. Bestway intends to invest nearly US$30m in the acquired company including, among other things, an environmentally friendly waste heat recovery power plant.