Displaying items by tag: Lafarge

Russia: According to Esmerk Russian News, Lafarge has suspended the construction of a Euro710m cement plant in Rostov. The plant was scheduled to launch in 2016. The planned capacity of the first phase was 2Mt/yr of cement.

Maldives: Lafarge Maldives has opened a 4000t cement silo at its Thilafushi silo terminal. It is the largest single cement silo in the Maldives. The facility now has a total capacity of 9000t due to other silos at the same site.

The expansion was opened by the Minister of Economic Development Mohamed Saeed, Lafarge Cement Managing Director Breece Orden Reece and State Trading Organisation Managing Director Ahmed Shaheer.

France: Lafarge Group has appointed Benedicte de Bonnechose as CEO in charge of operations of its French unit. She will succeed Pascal Casanova, who was appointed as head of Latin American operations at the future combined group LafargeHolcim.

Bonnechose has been a member of Lafarge's board since 2012.
She has played a key role at the group's reorganisation in France and was in charge of its strategy, public affairs and environment businesses. Since 2013 Bonnechose has been CEO of Lafarge's aggregates unit.

US: According to Imperial Valley News, following a public comment period, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has approved a final order settling charges that the merger of Lafarge and Holcim would likely harm competition in 12 markets for Portland cement and two markets for slag cement.

Under the order, first announced in May 2015, the two companies are required to divest cement plants, quarries, terminals and other assets in the 12 states of Illinois, Iowa, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Tennessee, Wisconsin, as well as several locations in Canada. The commission vote that approved the final order was 4-1, with commissioner Joshua D Wright voting no.

Canada: The Vancouver Sun has reported that a pair of bald eagles that have nested in a tree on the Lafarge industrial site in Vancouver have been beset by tragedy after the mother eagle died, leaving two baby eagles as orphans.

Lafarge had built a new nesting platform up a 20m pole in 2009, but the eagles used it for perching only and continued to nest elsewhere. The eagles hatched two eaglets in April 2015, but on 13 June 2015 the female was electrocuted by power lines while being chased by crows. The loss has devastated conservationists who had long worked to protect the pair and has left them wondering if the male eagle can continue to successfully raise his young until they are fledged, in about four weeks.

"We are just heartsick over this tragedy," said Karen Bills, project coordinator for the Hancock Wildlife Foundation, which worked with Lafarge to install the artificial nest.

India: According to the Irish Examiner, CRH is being linked with a second potential Asian deal in as many weeks, this one with a price tag of around US$1bn. A Mergermarket report has it that CRH is one of 16 likely bidders for assets in eastern India being sold by Lafarge. The disposal makes up part of the conditions related to Lafarge's merger with Holcim.

Local press stated that CRH is an 'obvious bidder' given that it already has a presence in southern India and is in the process of buying US$7.32bn of assets as part of the LafargeHolcim deal. However, Mergermarket claims CRH is vying with HeidelbergCement, among others, for the new assets and has until the end of June 2015 to complete due diligence and until 15 July 2015 to submit a binding bid.

Spain: Lafarge has invested a total of Euro20m in its Spanish plant of Montcada i Reixac, Catalonia in the last 10 years. Lafarge has most recently invested Euro200,000 to upgrade two of its crusher filters, which capture the dust produced during the processing of raw materials.

India: As part of the implementation in India of its planned merger with Holcim, and subject to the completion of the same merger, Lafarge has signed an agreement to acquire the 14% stake held by Baring in Lafarge India for Euro270m. Following this transaction, subject to the approval of the regulatory authorities, Lafarge will hold 100% of the shares of Lafarge India.

Nigeria: Lafarge's Ashaka Cement has reported that its first quarter 2015 profit fell despite reduced production costs. The fall was attributed to lengthy rainy rains and insurgency in the north of country that disrupted operations.

Ashaka Cement's operations have been disrupted by Boko Haram as the company is located in Gombe State, an insurgent hot-spot. Boko Haram has waged a six-year campaign to impose Islamic law, or Shariah, in Africa's largest economy and biggest oil-producer.

For the first three months that ended on 31 March 2015, Ashaka's net income fell by 53.5% year-on-year to US$4.47m and its sales dropped by 29.8% to US$22.9m. Gross profit was down by 48.9%, while gross profit margin fell to 35.7% in 2015 compared with 48.7% in the same period of 2014. Net margin, a measure of profitability and efficiency, fell to 19.5% compared to 29.5% in the first quarter of 2014.

While Ashaka Cement's profits flounder due to political risk, it was also able to reduce its costs. Cost of sales fell by 11.7% year-on-year to US$14.7m in the first quarter of 2015 as the company increased its use of local coal in place of expensive low pour fuel oil (LPFO).

Ashaka Cement is currently expanding its cement production capacity from 1Mt/yr to 4Mt/yr. The expansion will comprise debottlenecking of the existing line for additional 500,000t/yr and the installation of a new 2.5Mt/yr line, according to Suleiman Yahyah, chairman of the board of directors of the company. "As part of the expansion project, a captive coal-fired 64MW capacity power plant will be built in order to allow a reliable and sufficient source of power for the existing plant and the new cement line," said Yahyah.

US: Lafarge North America has signed a deal to build a cement trans-loading facility in Williston, North Dakota. According to local press, the storage facility and terminal will be located on a new rail spur on the east side of the town. Lafarge North America says that it will allow the company to better serve its customers amid growing demand for construction materials in North Dakota and South Dakota

Roy Sander, general manager of Lafarge Dakotas, noted that the new rail line will remove the company's existing truck traffic from US Highway 2.

North and South Dakota are growing states for cement consumption. As well as traditional construction cements for standard applications, the presence of the Bakken oil field means that the states also require oil well cements and products for soil stabilisation.