Displaying items by tag: GCW202

India: Burnpur Cement started trial production from its new grinding plant at Patratu in Jharkhand on 23 May 2015. Full production, including clinker, will start from June 2015 when the clinker line is completed.

Ireland: Quinn Cement Limited has been fined Euro2000 plus costs after the company pleaded guilty to failing to control dust emissions from its plant in Ballyconnell, County Cavan.

Reports of at least three houses and cars in the nearby area being coated in a film of cement dust were made to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) after a filter bag failed at the plant on 5 – 8 September 2014. An inspector from the EPA subsequently visited the area and took statements from complainants, including an asthmatic who had raised fears in relation to the health impact the dust might have.

At Cavan District Court on 21 May 2015, the court heard how the plant was shut down while the fault was found and rectified. A number of fail-safes have since been employed at the Ballyconnell plant safeguarding against such an occurrence arising again. Judge McLoughlin convicted and fined Quinn Cement Euro2000 on one count of failure to control dust associated with activity, which resulted in an impairment of or an interference to amenities or the environment beyond the installation boundary, subject to licence. A second count was struck out on the agreement that the company also pay costs incurred by the EPA in carrying out its investigation of Euro5570.

Indonesia: Holcim Indonesia has reported that its profit for the first quarter of 2015, which ended on 31 March 2015, was down to US$2.49m from US$24.7m in the same quarter of 2014. Sales for the quarter were US$171m compared to US$180m in 2014. Gross profit was US$40.6m, compared to US$52.5m in 2014, while operating profit was US$11.9m, compared to US$28.5m in 2014.

"The cement industry as a whole faces some significant challenges, in the continued downward trend for this sector of the economy and the absence, so far, of anticipated stimulus from fiscal spending on upgrading infrastructure," said Kent Carson, CFO of Holcim Indonesia. "At the same time, competition has escalated significantly with considerable new capacity introduced, creating substantial oversupply in a market where costs continue to stubbornly climb."

France: Lafarge chief executive Bruno Lafont has been awarded a Euro2.5m bonus for the successful merger with Holcim. The board of directors of the company awarded Lafont the money 'for his key role in the merger project with Holcim' and 'his exceptional performance,' according to a document posted on its website. The board accorded the bonus at a meeting on 12 May 2015, two days after Holcim shareholders approved the merger by a vote of 94%. Lafont will receive the money in May 2015.

India: Kerneos India plans to complete the construction of its US$18.9m, greenfield 30,000t/yr calcium aluminate cement plant in Visakhapatnam within the next two years. The ground-breaking ceremony was held on 20 May 2015. The Vizag plant will be Kerneos' 12th manufacturing plant globally. Three of its plants are located in France, three are in China, one is in the UK and one is in the US.

Calcium aluminate cement is specialty cement used mostly by manufacturers of refractories. Demand for the specialty cement hinges directly on the growth of the steel industry. Segi P Idicula, managing director of Kerneos (India and Middle East), said that the Vizag plant's capacity would be taken up as the market grows. India currently consumes 50,000t/yr of calcium aluminate cement as refractory binder. Kerneos supplies about 10,000t/yr to Indian refractory makers from its French and Chinese plants.

Idicula said the Indian Government is aiming at a total steel production of 250Mt/yr by 2025. "At this rate, the Indian refractory industry will almost triple in size and there will be a corresponding rise in demand for calcium aluminate binders. We expect the refractory binder market to double from the current 50,000t/yr by 2020," said Idicula.

Currently in India, there are several small-scale merchant producers and several refractory producers manufacturing the binders for captive use. Kerneos, which has 30 customers in India, expects to double its market share in this segment in the next five years. Pierre Baillagou, Kerneos director (Industrial) said that the company plans to sell the entire production from its Vizag unit for the domestic refractory industry. "However, we do not rule out exports from this plant, as we have a strong market in South East Asia, the Middle East and Sri Lanka," he added.

Australia: James Hardie Industries has 'washed its hands' of any responsibility for a shortfall in compensation payments to asbestos victims as it reported robust profit growth and rewarded shareholders with an ordinary second half dividend of US$120m and a US$98m special dividend.

In February 2015, Andrew Constance, who was then New South Wales treasurer, agreed to increase the state's loan facility to the Asbestos Injuries Compensation Fund (AICF) by more than US$100m after a blowout in expensive mesothelioma claims threatened to leave the fund short of cash for future claims. Constance amended the loan terms after the fund said in 2014 that contributions from James Hardie were likely to be insufficient and it would apply to the NSW courts to pay some claimants in instalments unless it received a top-up. Under the terms of an agreement struck in 2007, James Hardie pays 35% of its operating cashflow to the fund.

Group chief financial officer Matt Marsh said that dividend policy was unrelated to asbestos liabilities. "The way we declare our dividends isn't related to the AICF," said Marsh. "We always prioritise making that payment to the AICF and then we start to allocate our capital that is left over." During 2014 - 2015, James Hardie paid US$113m to the AICF. It expects to make another payment of US$62.8m on 1 July 2015. James Hardie has paid US$718m to the fund since it was set up in 2007.

Chief executive Louis Gries said that James Hardie's manufacturing plants, 'Were getting a pretty good kick' in the quarter that ended on 31 March 2015 following some start-up troubles earlier in the year, while falling pulp and freight prices had reduced costs. During the quarter, earnings before interest and tax margins hit the top end of the group's 20 – 25% range. He said that after focus on operational improvements over the past two years, the company would now chase sales. "We are definitely shifting more of our management attention to how we grow the top line rather than how we get efficiencies," said Gries.

James Hardie is aiming for fibre cement to account for 35% of the external cladding used in the US housing market, with James Hardie controlling 90% of that market. During the 2014 - 2015 year, the company spent US$173m on expansion projects to meet growing demand. Gries said that James Hardie's plants and capacity would keep expanding along with the housing recovery. James Hardie expects US housing starts of 1.1 - 1.2m in 2015 - 2016 and 'improved results' in the Asia Pacific region.

Malaysia: Lafarge Malaysia's pre-tax profit for the first quarter of 2015, which ended on 31 March 2015, rose to US$27.6m from US$26.9m in the same quarter of 2014. Its revenue improved to US$193m from US$188m in the prior year due to higher cement and concrete sales in the domestic market on the back of market growth. The company expects the construction sector to continue to grow in 2015 driven mainly by the continued progress of key infrastructure projects and ongoing commercial and residential development.

Mexico: Cemex has presented the results of its sustainable development report from 2014, stressing that it has responded to growing challenges in urban development, while highlighting the need for investments in long-lasting infrastructure, energy-efficient buildings and accessible housing.

Cemex's achievements include 600 infrastructure projects, amounting to more than 8Mm² of concrete for motorways, runways and streets in 14 countries, while it contributed towards the construction of 3150 affordable homes, covering more than 180,000m² in 12 nations. Since 1998, Cemex social programmes, including Patrimonio Hoy, ConstruApoyo and Centros Productivos de Autoempleo, have benefited more than 7m people, including 550,000 families. In 2014, Cemex substituted about 28% of its fuels for alternative fuels. Cemex also avoided the emission of more than 8Mt of CO₂ and lowered worker accident rates by 33%, as well as contract worker accidents by 23%, during 2014.