Displaying items by tag: Government

Ethiopia: Oromia State has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Ministry of Mining and 20 cement companies to regulate the price of cement. State Deputy President Awolu Abdi said that the price of cement products had been ‘skyrocketing’ due to international and internal factors, according to Walta Media. He partly blamed the problem on ‘illegal’ cement brokers and the inability of cement plants to produce output at their full capacity. The state government has been working with cement producers and approved distributors on the problem. The regional move follows action by the central government to cut out dealers and distributors from the market in mid-May 2022.

Mali: A foundation stone has been laid for the new Atlas 0.8Mt/yr cement plant in Dio-Gare. The project had an investment of around US$80m, according to Mali Actu. It is expected to be completed in mid-2025. The project is being financed by Papa Oumar Samake, the head of Atlas. The President of the National Transitional Council, the Prime Minister, the Minister of Territorial Administration and Decentralisation, the Minister of Industry and Trade, the Governor of the Koulikoro region and the local mayor attended the ceremony.

Libya: The state-owned Ahlia Cement Company has launched a tender for the upgrade and restart of its lime plant at Souq Al-Khamis. It wants to run the restart as a joint-venture, according to the Libya Herald newspaper. The tender is for the renovation, operation and the marketing of the lime factory output for a renewable 10-year period. Al-Ahlia has invited interested parties to arrange for a site visit and collect the specifications sheet. The deadline for receiving tenders is 14 July 2022.

India: Star Cement plans to invest US$129m to establish a new 3Mt/yr clinker line. BusinessLine Online News has reported that producer currently operates 2.8Mt/yr-worth of clinker capacity across two units in Meghalaya. Star Cement says that it plans to increase its presence in the Northeast India, Bihar and West Bengal markets. It will additionally invest US$90 – 103m to establish two new grinding units with a combined capacity of 4Mt/yr at Guwahati and Silchar in Assam.

Star Cement said that projected infrastructure investment growth in Northeast India inspired its investment decision, while it opted for a 3Mt/yr kiln over a 2Mt/yr alternative due to the improved efficiencies it offers.

Namibia: The Namibian government has granted Whale Rock Cement permission to resume production of its Cheetah brand cement at its Otjiwarongo grinding plant. Authorities suspended operations at the plant on 10 May 2022.Labour Ministry acting executive director Lydia Indombo cited multiple contraventions of occupational safety regulations, including failure to issue personal protective equipment (PPE), failure to maintain good housekeeping, lack of sanitary conveniences and lack of first aid equipment, as the cause of the suspension.

Indombo said "The ministry conducted verification inspections on 16 and 20 May 2022 to evaluate the compliance on the identified shortfalls and is satisfied with the level of compliance." She added that the ministry had recommended the resumption of production activities.

China: Huaxin Cement has signed a capital injection agreement with Huangshi State-owned Assets Company to acquire a 5.2% stake in the latter for US$150m. The producer says that it will strengthen its cooperation with Huangshi State-owned Assets Company in order to accelerate development of its non-cement business. It said that the transaction will also improve its innovation capabilities, helping it to achieve a low-carbon transformation. Huangshi State-owned Assets Company indirectly owns a 16% share of Huaxin Cement.

India: The National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) has entrusted Ambuja Cement Foundation with responsibility for a new watershed development project in Himachal Pradesh’s Mandi District. The work will support local farmers in increasing their production and productivity. It will be the 10^th such project that Ambuja Cement Foundation has executed.

Director and CEO Pearl Tiwari said “Ambuja Cement Foundation has a long-standing relationship with NABARD, and we have been working together on watershed development in Himachal Pradesh for the past 14 years. With this new project, we are once again working to empower farmers of another district in the hilly region.”

US: The US Department of Energy has granted Solidia Technologies US$2.1m in funding for the development and testing of carbonation methods for its Solidia Cement. Solidia will research synthetic supplementary cementitious materials (SCMs) production methods using direct CO₂ capture and utilisation.

CEO Russell Hill said “We are proud to partner with the US Department of Energy to continue innovating and ultimately deliver on our mission to provide commercially viable decarbonisation technologies and sustainable solutions for the global construction and building materials industries. The funding will advance our carbon capture, utilisation and storage (CCUS) technologies and synthetic SCMs that can be easily integrated into Portland cement-based concrete formulations, offering manufacturers a solution that is sustainable environmentally and economically.”

India: The Indian government has established a special panel to examine an array of possible measures to lower high cement prices in parts of the country. The Hindu newspaper has reported that the panel will consider plans, including increasing cement shipping from South Indian plants currently operating under capacity to areas affected by shortages. The national government is in talks with the South India Cement Manufacturers' Association (SICMA) about the possibility of increasing members' cement sales in future.

India: Ramco Cements has appointed MF Farooqui as its chair. Previously PR Venketrama Raj had served as both the company’s managing director and chair. However, the company has decided to split the positions. Venketrama Raj will continue as managing director until mid-2027.

Farooqui, aged 67 years, has worked for over 35 years as a civil servant in the Indian government with roles including Secretary for the Department of Telecom and Heavy Industries, Special Secretary & Additional Secretary for the Ministry of Environment and Joint Secretary for the Department of Economic Affairs.

For the government of Tamil Nadu, he has worked as Principal Secretary for the Industries Department, Member Secretary for the Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority and Deputy Secretary in the Finance Department. He had also served as chair of Repco Bank, Titan Company and Tamilnadu Newsprint & Papers Limited. He holds a master’s degree in physics and business administration. He has been on the board of the Ramco Cements as an independent director since 2017.