Displaying items by tag: Government

Philippines: Eagle Cement expects to save up to US$9.9m from a three-year income tax holiday for its new cement production line at its Barangay plant in Bulacan. The cement producer says it has been granted the tax exemption from the Board of Investments as it’s the only company expanding its production capacity, according to the Inquirer newspaper. Its competitors have been expanding their distribution capacity instead. Other savings are also anticipated from importing equipment from outside the country.

The company started producing cement on its third production line at its Barangay plant in April 2018. The upgrade added 2Mt/yr to the company’s total production capacity. It expects to reach its full capacity by the third quarter of 2018. The company is also building a new 2Mt/yr cement plant at Cebu is scheduled to be completed in 2020.

Brazil: The Public Labour Ministry has signed an agreement with producers to reduce the standard weight of cement sacks sold locally to 25kg from 50kg. 33 cement producers, the local competition authority (CADE), the national cement industry union (SNIC), the Brazilian Portland Cement Association (ABCP) and Labour minister Ronalo Fleury all signed the arrangement, according to Surgiu. The agreement has been planned to reduce workplace accidents involving cement despatches.

The agreement establishes a deadline of 31 December 2028 for companies to adapt to the new standard, after which period only cement specifically for export can be over the 25kg limit, with all other sacks over 25kg to cease being sold from 1 January 2029. The agreement follows four years of negotiations.

Belarus: The government is in talks with Ireland’s CRH to sell Krasnoselskstroymaterialy. Anatoly Kalinin, the Deputy Prime Minister of Belarus, told the Belarusian Telegraph Agency that the government wants US$200 for the state-owned cement producer but that CRH wants to pay less or buy a share of the business. Negotiations are on going.

Indonesia: Yostinus Hulu, the chairman of the Association of North Nias Community (Himni) has urged the city administration of Gunungsitoli, Nias in North Sumatra to set up a government-backed company to cope with cement shortages. He said that cement supplies had been disrupted by infrastructure projects in the region, according to the Antara news agency. The city has faced frequent cement shortages.

India: ACC forecasts that demand for cement will grow by up to 7% in 2018. However, intense competition and insufficient consumption will lead to excess capacity it added, according to the Press Trust of India. Demand is expected to benefit from government-based infrastructure projects, rural development and affordable housing schemes.

Around 66% of ACC’s cement demand came from the housing sector, followed by infrastructure with 18% and 16% from the commercial sector. The country has a total cement production capacity of 465Mt/yr but it is only producing 305Mt/yr, giving it an utilisation rate of 66%. Cement plants in the south of the country are pulling the rate down compared to northern, central and eastern regions. Excess capacity is expected to continue until 2019, with the increased outlays on housing, infrastructure development and agricultural sector initiatives.

US: The Federal Trade Commission has forced CRH to sell the Three Forks cement plant in Montana as part of its proposed acquisition of Ash Grove Cement. The plant and its quarry will be sold to Mexico’s Grupo Cementos de Chihuahua (GCC). Also under the settlement, because the CRH cement plant in Montana currently sells a significant amount of cement into Canada through two CRH terminals in Alberta, GCC will have the option to use those terminals for three years. CRH also has agreed to purchase, at GCC’s option, cement produced at the plant for distribution in Canada for up to three years.

The commissions ruled that the acquisition would harm competition in Montana, Nebraska and Kansas. Other divestments the Irish building materials company has agreed to include selling two sand-and-gravel plants, one sand-and-gravel pit, three limestone quarries and two hot-mix asphalt plants.

Following the agreed divestments, the FTC has issued its consent for CRH’s proposed acquisition of Ash Grove Cement. No further regulatory approvals are now outstanding for the transaction. The acquisition is expected to complete in June 2018. Ireland’s CRH agreed to buy Ash Grove Cement for US$3.5bn in mid-2017.

Mozambique: The Mozambican customs service has defended the seizure of a 1440t import consignment of cement from South Africa in early June 2018. Fernando Tinga, the press attaché of the National Customs Directorate, said that the seizure of the cement was because the importing company Kawena did not present the legally required documentation at the time, according to the Noticias newspaper. Kawena has defended its actions saying that it has imported cement from South Africa for ‘many years’ and that its goods belonging to Mozambican migrant workers living in South Africa are exempt from taxes. However, it admitted that it did not have the correct documentation for the consignment.

China: Anhui Conch has suspended production at three of its production lines at the cement plant run by its Tongling Conch subsidiary at Gusheng in Anhui province. The suspension has followed the temporary closure of a pier used by the plant in late May 2018 in accordance with new government regulations on drinking water supply and pollution.

Use of the pier has been suspended as it is close to the Tongling Water Treatment Plant. The pier is used to export cement and clinker products from the unit and bring in raw materials such as coal. The temporary suspension of the plant’s production lines will reduce its clinker production capacity by 58% to just under 9Mt/yr from 15Mt/yr.

The cement producer has defended its environmental record, pointing out that the pier was approved with all the necessary licences and environmental approvals in 1987. Construction of the water treatment plant started in 1992.

Clinker products produced by Tongling Conch are mainly sold to Anhui Conch’s subsidiaries, including cement grinding plants along the Yangtze River and on the coast. The company plans to source clinker from other plants to continue supporting the affected grinding plants.

Central African Republic: Cameroon’s Quiferou has signed a deal with the government to produce cement. Quiferou plans to produce 0.35Mt/yr of cement locally, according to the African Press Agency. The project will be situated at Bomoko in the south west of the country.

US: The Portland Cement Association (PCA) has called on the US Congress to reauthorise Federal legislation to build, maintain and improve the country’s water infrastructure. The US House of Representatives is considering two-year reauthorisation of the Water Resources Development Act of 2018, while the US Senate is considering companion legislation, America’s Water Infrastructure Act of 2018.

“America deserves safe, strong and resilient water infrastructure – our economy depends on it,” said PCA President and chief executive office (CEO) Michael Ireland. “Water infrastructure built with concrete is long-lived, has a low life-cycle cost and is resilient to man-made and natural disasters. We need this legislation to ensure our drinking water is safe, our waterways are navigable and secure and that we have water infrastructure capable of serving generations to come.”

The PCA supports reauthorisation of water infrastructure legislation to include: increased investment in waterway and flood control infrastructure; increased funding for water infrastructure construction programs; and to promote resilient construction techniques that use materials such as concrete.