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Ghana: President John Mahama has inaugurated a US$50m cement grinding plant at Bokro. The unit will have a cement production capacity of 1Mt/yr and will manufacture 42.5R, 42.5N and 32.5 R grades of cement, according to the Ghana News Agency.

"This is a manifestation of how Ghana is harnessing Foreign Direct Investment for economic growth,” said Mahama. He added that complaints by local producers about imports of cement were being examined by the Ministry of Trade and Industry.

France: Ecocem France has ordered a Loesche type LM 46.2+2 CS mill for a slag cement grinding plant that it is building in Dunkirk. It follows a previous order by Ecocem of a LM 46.2+2 CS mill for the dry grinding of ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBFS) at its plant at Fos-sur-Mer.

The LM 46.2+2 CS for the plant in Dunkirk is designed for the grinding of cement clinker and granulated blast furnace slag at a capacity of 105t/hr GGBFS. The gearbox will have a capacity of 3150kW.

All the mechanical equipment for the grinding plant starting from mill feed to the product discharge into the product silos is included in the Loesche scope of supply. The Loma heater type LF 28-L will be a full-inlined type designed to burn natural gas as well as blast furnace gas. The burner supplied by Loesche will be the MSBZ type, complete with fitting rack and local switch cabinet.

The lead-time for the main components of the mill and for the additional units included in the scope of supply is 6 to 13 months. The commissioning of the vertical roller mill is planned for the middle of 2017.

Ecocem’s grinding plant will be installed close to Arcelor steelworks for use of their granulated blast furnace slag. This LM 46.2+2 CS will be the seventh Loesche vertical roller mill installation for slag and cement grinding in France.

Switzerland: Members of the Cement Sustainability Initiative (CSI) have welcomed the Paris Agreement entering into force as a key milestone in establishing a stable regulatory framework to enable the business community to scale up the implementation of low-carbon solutions for climate change mitigation and adaptation. The agreement, adopted on 12 December 2015, entered into force, 30 days after the date (5 October 2016) on which at least 55 parties to the convention (UNFCCC) accounting in total for at least an estimated 55% of the total global greenhouse gas emissions deposited their instruments of ratification, acceptance, approval or accession.

“Climate change is a global issue that no one can solve alone. The cement sector has been working collectively since 1999 on measuring and reporting its CO₂ emissions while developing solutions for mitigation and adaptation through the CSI, that Cemex is currently chairing. We welcome the entry into force of the Paris agreement, that sets the long awaited regulatory framework to scale-up the implementation of these solutions and encourages further cooperation between private companies, policy makers and the financial community,” said Fernando Gonzalez, CEO of Cemex and current chairman of CSI.

“We are delighted to see that the Paris agreement sets a framework for reporting CO₂ emissions that looks fully compatible with what the CSI has developed some 10 years ago, including the independent verification,” added Philippe Fonta, managing director of the CSI. The Getting the Numbers Right (GNR) database provides the baseline of CO₂ emissions that can be used to develop low-carbon technology roadmaps, like the one developed by CSI in partnership with the International Energy Agency (IEA) in 2009 as well as for future market mechanisms to be developed under the Paris agreement.

The CSI is now working on expanding its tools and guidelines to additional cement companies to build on the leading initiatives taken by the CSI members and scale up implementation of available solutions. The CSI will convene cement companies and stakeholders on 13 and 14 December 2016 in Madrid at its annual forum to update its action plan covering subjects like energy efficiency, use of alternative fuels, reducing the clinker-to-cement ratio, identifying and measuring the avoided emissions throughout the value chain by using sustainable concrete, the development of new cements and concrete and the carbon capture and utilisation or storage opportunities.

Spain: A market report examining the buying behaviour of the cement industry for materials handling systems has calculated that the market potential for relevant equipment comprises US$1.6bn, excluding China. The ‘Materials Handling Systems 2020’ report by OneStone Consulting analyses projects between 2013 and 2015 in 15 product categories for nine territories around the world. The product categories include crushers, stacker/reclaimers, apron and belt conveyors, belt and chain bucket elevators, pneumatic conveyors, dosing/weigh-feeding, storage systems, packers, palletisers, mechanical mixers and ship unloaders.

Switzerland: LafargeHolcim’s net sales have fallen by 7.5% year-on-year to Euro18.9bn in the first nine months of 2016, from Euro20.4bn in the same period of 2015. However, on a like-for-like basis it said its net sales fell by 1.8%. Cement sales volumes fell by 6.4% to 177Mt from 189Mt. Its adjusted operating earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBIDTA) fell by 3.3% to Euro3.9bn from Euro4.03bn. No direct comment was made on the nine-months results but Nigeria was blamed for significantly affecting earnings and ‘challenging’ markets were also reported in Brazil, Indonesia and Malaysia.

“These results demonstrate the strength of our balanced portfolio with solid contributions from both mature and emerging countries across our regions. As we anticipated, challenging conditions in Nigeria continued to impact our earnings, but we started to see the positive effects of higher prices and of our actions to diversify our fuel mix towards the end of the quarter,” said Eric Olsen, CEO.

Cement sales volumes have fallen in most of the group’s operating regions. Although on a like-for-like basis modest rises were reported in Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa and North America. In Nigeria the company has taken steps towards greater fuel flexibility following gas supply interruptions earlier in 2016 but production levels only recovered at the end of the third quarter in the year.

France: Vicat’s sales revenue has fallen by 0.9% year-on-year to Euro1.87bn in the first nine months of 2016 from Euro1.88bn in the same period of 2015. However, its cement sales volumes rose by 10% to 16.6Mt from 15.1Mt. It noted that negative currency effects had affected its results.

“Excluding currency effects, our sales during the period were boosted by further growth in the US, improvement in the French market and a rebound in the markets in India, Egypt and Kazakhstan. In Turkey, business trends remained brisk in spite of recent events. In West Africa, the strong performance recorded in Senegal helped to partly offset the decline in Mauritania. Lastly, the temporary slowdown in our business in Switzerland held back the Europe (excluding France) region,” said the group’s chairman and CEO, Guy Sidos.

Greece: Titan’s turnover has risen by 9.2% year-on-year to Euro1.12bn for the first nine months of 2016 from Euro1.03bn in the same period of 2015. Its earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) rose by 24.2% to Euro205m from Euro165m. It attributed the result to growth in the US market and improvements in Egypt.

In the US the cement producer’s turnover rose by 17.7% to Euro584m and in Greece it grew by 4.9% to Euro188m despite negative currency effects. This was due partly to increased production and sales volumes and partly to the decline in production costs following the gradual conversion of its plants to solid fuels.

In addition, the group concluded its deal to buy a 50% stake in Cimento Apodi in Brazil in September 2016. Cimento Apodi owns a cement plant in Quixeré that has operated since 2015 and a grinding cement plant in Pecém near Fortaleza, that has been in operation since 2011. It has a production capacity of over 2Mt/yr.

India: Ambuja Cement’s sales volumes have risen slightly to 16.1Mt in the first nine months of 2016. Its net sales fell slightly to US$1.04bn and its net profit after tax rose by 41% year-on-year to US$147m. The cement producer said that sales volumes fell due to poor demand but profits have risen due to increased prices.

Iraq: FLSmidth has signed a contract worth more than US$200m with Iraq Cement Co. to build a 6000t/day production line in the Al Muthana region. The contract is a full engineering, procurement and construction order, comprising engineering, all FLSmidth equipment supplies, erection and construction, as well as commissioning and training once completed.

"By signing the contract, Iraq Cement Co. is making the first step in raising financing for the project, which is an important milestone in its pursuit to realise the project. We are pleased to have been selected to support it on that journey. FLSmidth has a long history in Iraq and the Middle East and is maintaining its leading role in serving the rapidly-expanding cement market. The growing economy and increasing infrastructure investments in the region continue to offer business opportunities," said Group Executive Vice President of the Cement Division, Per Mejnert Kristensen.

North Korea: Traders are importing more cement from China to meet demand for rebuilding following floods in North Hamgyong. The government has warned traders that future tenders will rely on how much cement they are currently providing for reconstruction work, according to DailyNK. A source quoted by the media source said that imports are favoured over local cement due to quality differences. The trading companies reportedly buy the cement in China and then donate it for free towards the restoration drive.