Displaying items by tag: Government

Armenia: The government has extended a temporary ban on imports of cement until the end of June 2024. The government says that the measure will help to re-establish competition between local cement producers and importers. NEWS.am has reported that Armenia produced 965,000t of cement during the first 10 months of 2023, up by 20% year-on-year. Meanwhile, in the first nine months of the year, cement imports grew by a factor of five, to 173,000t. Imports of clinker also rose, by 33% to 97,700t. The government attributed the growth of imports to rising cement demand and prices in Armenia during 2023.

Kyrgyzstan: Central Asia Economic Outlook News has reported that the upcoming Chüy cement plant will have a capacity of 1.7Mt/yr and cost US$160m in total. The Russian-Kyrgyz Development Fund will contribute US$45m towards the costs of the project. When operational, the Chüy cement plant will use waste ash from the nearby Bishkek power plant in its cement production. Investors expect the facility to generate 650 new local jobs and to increase Chüy Region’s trade with neighbouring Russia.

Tajikistan: Cementi Tojik announced the closure of the 1.1Mt/yr Dushanbe cement plant and its disbandment as a company on 26 December 2023. Asia-PLUS News has reported the reason for the company’s departure from the industry as a government regulation issued in mid-2023, which ordered the closure of the plant due to ‘serious’ emissions violations.

Uganda: The Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) has augmented its operations on the country’s eastern border with Kenya to prevent the smuggling of cement. The Daily Monitor newspaper previously reported “cheap illegal cement” was being imported by both large and small-scale traders via multiple uncontrolled border points. Kenya and Uganda share land border over 800km in length

Ibrahim Bbosa, a spokesperson for the URA, said “While there is legal trade with significant amounts of Kenyan cement entering Uganda through official customs points, there has been a worrying increase in the smuggling of brands such as Simba and Bamburi.” He added that smugglers were often using bicycles and motorcycles to move cement across the border before consolidating the shipments by truck within the country for further distribution.

Canada: A provincial offences court has fined Heidelberg Materials Canada US$142,000 for ‘failing to take every precaution reasonable in circumstances under which three contractors were injured at its Picton cement plant. The workers were reportedly injured in a flash fire while replacing the plant’s jet air blower, after company engineers mistakenly overrode digital signals on both open valves between the gas supply and the area where the repair was taking place.

UK: The Mineral Products Association (MPA) has welcomed government plans for the implementation of a UK carbon border adjustment mechanism for cement by 2027. The association urged the government to develop policy and business models for carbon capture, use and storage, including supporting a domestic carbon neutral and negative products sector.

MPA executive director for energy and climate change Diana Casey said “We cannot take our supply of cement for granted and neither can we put ourselves at risk of unstable international trading markets. That is why today’s commitment to a UK CBAM is so important. Levelling the carbon cost between domestic production and imports will help the UK attract the investment required to decarbonise and ensure our long-term security of supply. The Government’s commitment to bring in the UK CBAM by 2027 is very welcome, and ideally it should be introduced in 2026 to align with the EU scheme. This is the only way to prevent any detrimental impact of the EU CBAM on UK industry.” She added “As well as a CBAM on cement, the MPA would be interested in exploring a CBAM on lime. However, the challenge for the lime sector is ensuring that lime exports can compete in international markets.”

Belgium: The government of Wallonia and the European Commission’s Just Transition Fund (JTF) have awarded funding to CBR Cement, CCB and Holcim Belgique to support the reduction of CO₂ emissions from Wallonia’s cement plants by 50%. The efforts will focus on renewable energy projects, including the construction of new waste heat recovery (WHR) systems. Alongside two steel plants, the companies will share Euro282m-worth of funding for projects across their four cement plants. The L’Echo newspaper has reported that Wallonia will contribute Euro169m, while the JTF will contribute the remaining Euro177m. The projected cost of planned decarbonisation projects in the Wallonian cement and steel industries is Euro346m. The proposed projects will increase the number of people employed across the sectors by 6.4% to 2773.

UAE/UK: The World Cement Association has endorsed new commitments agreed upon by Industrial Deep Decarbonisation Initiative (IDDI) member countries Canada, Germany, the UK and the US at the COP28 climate conference. The commitments include the development of time-bound low CO₂ cement procurement plans. The WCA says that IDDI members’ collective leverage of national purchasing power will help to accelerate the decarbonisation of construction globally.

CEO Ian Riley said “The WCA has always emphasised the need for immediate and collaborative action between government and industry to make carbon-negative concrete a reality at scale. Creating demand for low-emission materials is essential for decarbonisation. Now is the moment to work together to make necessary progress this decade.”

India: UltraTech Cement has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the government of Bihar for the investment of US$120m in the state.

Press Trust of India News has reported that the Bihar government has asked the government of India to grant the state special status in order to advance its industrial development.

Egypt: NI Capital, the investment arm of Egypt’s National Investment Bank, plans to sell its 10% stake in Misr Cement Qena. The Al Borsa newspaper has reported that the company is preparing to tender for a financial advisor for the intended sale. The divestment would form part of a US$5bn International Monetary Fund (IMF)-mandated privatisation programme, due to conclude before June 2024.