
Displaying items by tag: GCW46
Cemex to build two waste recycling plants in UK
23 April 2012UK: Cemex is planning to start building two new waste recycling plants in the UK later in 2012. As part of the project up to 30 new jobs operating a site in Rugby, Warwickshire will be created.
Cemex is working with recycling management company Sita UK to produce the alternative fuel, Climafuel, which is made out of domestic, commercial and industrial waste. It plans to build two new waste recycling plants, one in Birmingham and the other in Malpass Farm, next to its existing Rugby cement plant. Work is due to start later in 2012 with an opening date set for 2014. The Birmingham plant is due to start operation later in 2012 and it will also provide fuel for the Rugby Cemex plant.
Together, the two plants will be able to produce and supply up to 250,000t of Climafuel to Rugby which is currently permitted to use up to 65% Climafuel in its fuel mix. A current application to the Environment Agency could see this increase to 80%.
Dan Panormo, Cemex's renewable energy manager, said "With the fuel coming from within a 30 mile radius of the cement plant from Birmingham and subsequently from Malpass Farm, it guarantees the environmental credentials of this alternative fuel."
ACC income rises 19% in Q1
20 April 2012India: ACC has posted a total income of US$579m for the first quarter of 2012, an increase of 19% compared to the US$488m that it made in the same quarter in 2011.
Operating earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation increased by 10%, growing from US$112m in 2011 to US$124m in 2012. Net profit after tax for the quarter fell from US$67.2m in 2011 to US$29.1m in 2012, a decrease of over 55%!
In its consolidated financial results ACC explained that the marked decrease in profit was due to its decision to change its method of providing depreciation on captive power plants from 'Straight Line' to 'Written Down Value' methods at the rates prescribed in Schedule XIV to the Companies Act, 1956. Accordingly, ACC has recognised an additional depreciation charge of US$65.5m. Using the previous method of depreciation profit after tax would have been US$73.6m, a slight increase on the 2011 figure. This change would have had no impact on EBITDA and cash profit for the quarter ended March 2012.
While the company's results benefited from better volumes during the quarter, manufacturing costs and realisations were affected by steep escalations in the cost of inputs such as coal, fly ash and gypsum. The cost of transportation also rose significantly as a result of the hike in rail freight and increase in diesel prices.
EPA and PCA strike deal to delay emissions rulings
19 April 2012US: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has agreed to delay maximum achievable control technology (MACT) air compliance for cement plants by two years. As part of on-going negotiations with the Portland Cement Association (PCA) if the EPA doesn't issues a proposal to this effect by 15 June 2012 then the PCA and other cement producers will be able to resume legal action against the pollution rulings.
Under the terms of a 16 April 2012 proposed consent decree, the EPA will have to issue by 15 June 2012 a proposal addressing a ruling on 9 December 2011 from the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. The EPA's revisions will also have to cover separate pending industry administrative petitions. The EPA has been negotiating with the PCA over the terms of the proposed consent decree, following a ruling finding that the EPA failed to reconsider how a related incinerator emissions rule could potentially alter the cement rule's emission limits.
The EPA has also agreed under the proposed consent decree to finalise a revised MACT by 20 December 2012, but the settlement does not require that the agency finalise a two-year delay. Rather, the decree states that EPA must only include its 'final decision on whether to extend the compliance deadlines for existing sources' in the revised MACT.
The EPA and PCA also acknowledge that EPA must subject the agreement to public comment and review. The settlement further notes that, "if the federal government elects to withdraw or withhold consent to this Agreement" after considering public comments on it, "PCA shall have the right to withdraw from this Agreement and file a request to lift the abeyance requested by the Parties."
As environmentalists and states were not party to the settlement, this public comment would provide them with the first opportunity to challenge the possibility of a two-year delay for the rule's compliance deadline and changes to meet the other provisions in the settlement.