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Well it doesn’t normally happen like this. In late September 2017 Ash Grove Cement announced that it was set to be bought by Ireland’s CRH. The words it used were a ‘definitive merger agreement.’ Then suddenly this week on 5 October 2017 Ash Grove said that it had received a higher offer from an unnamed third party and that it was extending its so-called ‘window shop period.’ So much for definitive! The following day Reuters revealed that the new bid was from Summit Materials.

The on-going board machinations at LafargeHolcim and the PPC-AfriSam merger saga in South Africa show that the cement industry has its moments of boardroom high drama. Indeed, both of these long-rumbling stories have had murmurs this week with the early departure of LafargeHolcim’s finance director Ron Wirahadiraksa after less than two years and Dangote Cement’s decision to exit the ring from the PPC bidding. However, it’s rare that cement companies are publicly announced as sold and then get gazumped instead.

The Ash Grove debacle also carries a personal dimension. Ash Grove chairman Charlie Sunderland initially described CRH as his company’s biggest customer and one with a close relationship to the firm. Yet a US$300m higher bid suggests how much those ‘kind’ words were actually worth. To add insult to injury the chief executive officer (CEO) of Summit Materials, Tom Hill, used to work for CRH. This no doubt gave him an idea of how the management of CRH thinks. CRH’s public response so far has been that it has noted the extended shareholder approval period at Ash Grove.

At first glimpse Summit Materials and CRH have a similar cement production base in the US. Both companies operate two integrated plants in the country. Summit Materials runs plants at Hannibal, Missouri and Davenport, Iowa. CRH runs plants at Sumterville, Florida and Trident, Montana. Summit then has 10 cement terminals along the Mississippi River from Minnesota to Louisiana compared to CRH US’ five cement terminals in Detroit, Michigan, Cleveland, Ohio, Dundee, Michigan, Buffalo, New York and Duluth, Minnesota.

Yet, CRH also has two plants in Canada. Then the sheer scale of CRH’s other operations in North America simply dwarfs Summit’s. CRH Americas reported sales of US$16.7bn in 2016, more than 10 times higher than the US$1.6bn that Summit Materials declared. Both companies cover aggregates, asphalt, readymix concrete and cement but CRH is by far the larger of the two. So much so in fact that Summit Materials might potentially be taking on a serious amount of debt to finance the Ash Grove sale. As such any blip to the US cement market over the next few years could have serious repercussions to an overleveraged Summit Materials.

On face value the possible engagement with Summit Materials might appear to show that there is a lack of trust between CRH and Ash Grove. However, this cannot be inferred. As its shares are traded over the counter, Ash Grove’s shareholders have allowed a two-week shop window to enable other companies to counter-offer. This is to ensure that they get the best possible value. Talking to Summit is part of this process and may, or may not, mean that the last remaining US-owned cement producer stays based in the US after all.

Switzerland: Géraldine Picaud has been appointed as the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of LafargeHolcim and member of the Executive Committee with effect from 1 February 2018. She succeeds Ron Wirahadiraksa, who is described as leaving the company for ‘opportunities outside the group.’ He leaves after less than two years in the role.

Picaud, a French national, joins the group from Essilor International, an ophthalmic optics company, where she has been Group CFO and member of the Executive Committee since 2011. Prior to joining Essilor, she spent four years working for the ED&F Man group in Winterthur, Switzerland following 13 years as CFO at international specialty chemicals group, Safic Alcan. She originally trained as an auditor.

Vietnam: Vietnam sold 59.3Mt of cement in the first nine months of 2017, a rise of 6% compared to the same period of 2016. The country has now fulfilled 74.1% of its whole-year plan, according to the Ministry of Construction. 45.3Mt of cement was sold domestically, a 4% rise year-on-year, while 14.0Mt of cement was exported.

In September 2017, the country’s cement sales rose by 9.4% compared to August 2017 to 6.7Mt, comprising 5.2Mt of domestic sales and 1.5Mt of exports. As of September 2017, Vietnam had 3.0Mt of cement and clinker inventory, most of which is clinker.

At present, Vietnam’s cement capacity is 86Mt/yr but domestic demand is estimated at 60Mt/yr, a surplus of 26Mt/yr, according to the Vietnam National Cement Association (VCNA).

Kazakhstan: Gezhouba Shieli Cement Company LLC is now inviting international banks and financial institutions to support the construction of its planned cement production plant in Kyzylorda region, Kazakhstan, according to Li Jinqing, the company's general manager. Gezhouba Shieli is a thee-party joint venture (JV) between China Gezhouba Group Corporation Limited (CGGC) (50%), China Gezhouba Group Overseas Investment Co., Ltd (20%), a subsidiary of CGGC, and a local cement company (30%).

The cement production line will require a total investment of around US$200m, of which 70% will be funded through bank loans. At present, CGGC is actively in communication with some Chinese banks and financial institutions, including Export-Import Bank of China (EIBC) and China Development Bank Corporation (CDB). The plant is designed to have a production capacity of 2500t/day. It is expected to be operational by the end of 2018.

China Triumph International Engineering Co Ltd (CTIEC) won the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract in April 2017, while its subsidiary Beijing Triumph International Engineering Co., Ltd will take responsibility for design work, according to Qian Yingchun, the project leader at CTIEC. More equipment will be required as construction progresses.

Paraguay: Industria Nacional del Cemento (INC) sold 9.85 million bags of cement in the first nine months of 2017, representing 74.6% of its total sales in 2016. The aim is to achieve sales of at least 13.5 million bags in 2017, up from 13.2 million bags sold in 2016.

INC’s sales were boosted by a new mill and a new dryer in Villeta. The firm will also be able to use alternative fuels in its kiln from late 2017. The plant will increase its capacity by 45% and will shortly issue a US$500,000 tender for a new cement packing plant at its plant in Villeta to achieve this.

Saudi Arabia: Jihad Al Rashid, the head of the Saudi National Committee for Cement Companies, has said that the local market only needs four large cement producers. He added that the industry does not need the 17 cement companies it has at present, according to the Al Eqtisadiah newspaper. The owners and shareholders of these companies are ‘seriously’ considering merger options. Al Rashid also said that the government and consumers would benefit from a consolidated industry.

Libya: British consultants on behalf of the Libyan Cement Company have met with the Benghazi Mayor Abdelrahman Al-Abaar in order to help restart two cement plants in Benghazi and Hawari. Work is due to commence on removing land mines from the sites as well as an assessment of damage caused to the units from fighting that took place in 2016, according to the Libya Herald newspaper. The Libyan Cement Company announced that it was going to reopen the plants in May 2017.

Zambia: Dangote Cement Zambia has contracted Zambia Railways to transport 2000t/month of cement and 500t/month of coal. Zambia Railways is transporting cement from Ndola to Lusaka and coal from Batoka to Ndola on behalf of Dangote Cement, according to the Times of Zambia newspaper. The cement producer operates a 1.5Mt/yr integrated plant in the country with 1200 employees and a fleet of over 500 trucks. It also runs a 30MW coal power plant.

South Africa: Dangote Cement has formerly withdrawn from the bidding process for PPC. The Nigerian cement producer confirmed it was in talks with PPC in mid-September 2017 following an offer by Fairfax Financial Holdings.

France: Lafarge Cement Syria allegedly paid up to US$100,000/month to armed groups including US$20,000 to the Islamic State (IS) terrorist group. Former plant manager Bruno Pescheux told investigators that the money went via local businessman Firas Tlass, who was a former minority shareholder in the cement plant, according to the Agence France Presse. Witnesses in the French judicial inquiry have also described false accounting methods used to disguise oil purchases from IS, travel documents allowing Lafarge trucks to move in the region and a planned meeting between IS and a Lafarge Cement Syria security official. The inquiry continues.