Displaying items by tag: Licence

India: The Cement Manufacturers Association (CMA) has contacted the Department for the Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade to urge its reconsideration of an expected decision that the CMA says will disrupt the mining sector, upon which eight key industries including cement depend. Indo-Asian News Service has reported that the government department may be considering the deletion of a provision of the Mines and Minerals Development and Regulation (Amendment) Act that gives a captive lease to reconnaissance permit (RP) and prospecting licence (PL) holders to begin mining for minerals discovered in the licenced area. The CMA has argued that introducing any additional stage between explorations and extraction “would not go well with the spirit of ‘ease of doing business.’” It added, “The industry would like development policies to be predictable and consistent to usher in fresh investments as well as to protect the efforts and hardships that go into establishing an industrial setup.”

India: The Bureau of Indian Standards has granted a licence to Counto Microfine Products (CMP), a joint venture of Ambuja Cements and medical company Alcon Group, for the production of micro-fine Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC) and ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBFS) cement. The Times of India newspaper has reported that CMP operates a grinding plant in the state of Goa.

Israel: The Environmental Protection Ministry (EPM) has granted Nesher-Israel Cement Enterprises a licence to substitute more refuse-derived fuels (RDF) for petcoke than was previously permitted at its 5Mt/yr integrated Ramle, Central District cement plant. The Times of Israel newspaper has reported that the licence also allows for greater metal emissions. The company said, “As is customary in the global cement industry, the Nesher plant in Ramle uses raw materials and alternative fuels, thus achieving a number of environmental goals, including reducing landfill, minimising the use of natural resources and reducing greenhouse gas emissions.”

Nepal: The Nepal Bureau of Standards and Metrology (NBSM) has revoked the licences of two cement producers. It reported that International Cement and Reliance Supertek Cement had both sold cement below domestic commercial standards and continued to trade after receiving an order to halt sales. NBSM’s Bishwo Babu Pudasaini said, “We have intensified checks and collected samples from about a dozen cement plants for laboratory tests. These dangerous products undercut Nepal’s transition to cement self-reliance.”

Egypt: The Ministry of Local Development has announced the start of a six-month period in which it will issue no construction licences for private buildings in Greater Cairo, governorate capitals and major cities from 27 May 2020. Egypt Today has reported that the suspension also affects licences for building modifications and extensions.

President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi has ordered that mega-infrastructure projects should continue, subject to additional protective measures against the COVID-19 outbreak. Al-Sisi postponed the inauguration ceremonies for the newly constructed New Administrative Capital and Grand Egyptian Museum.

Ireland: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has postponed a four-day hearing over Irish Cement’s alternative fuel (AF) licence application, scheduled for May 2020, to an as yet unspecified date due to the coronavirus. Under the terms of the proposed licence, Irish Cement will be able co-process a maximum of 90,000t/yr of refuse-derived fuel (RDF), including tyres, in the single dry line of its 1.0Mt/yr Mungret plant in County Limerick. The EPA said that emissions from operations under the terms of the licence ‘will meet all required environmental protection standards.’

Irish Cement received its preliminary licence to burn refuse-derived fuel (RDF) in September 2019. The move attracted local resistance, with 4500 people participating in a protest on 5 October 2019.

The EPA has said that it will give all relevant parties notice ‘well in advance’ of the date of the rescheduled hearing, which will take place after the government lifts the country’s coronavirus lockdown. On 14 April 2020 County Limerick had 234 coronavirus cases out of an Irish total of 10,647.

Tanzania: Manyara Cement has shared plans for a 0.2Mt/yr integrated cement plant in Hanang district, for which it has already acquired limestone and pumice extraction licences for sites around Mount Hanang. The plant will use a vertical shaft kiln.

The plant will sell cement on the northern Tanzanian and southern Kenyan markets.

India: The government of Andhra Pradesh terminated JC Company subsidiary Trishul Cement’s limestone extraction lease of an area in Konappalapadu, Ananthapurama District, which had previously been extended for five years in 2015, for the company’s failure to establish an integrated cement plant in the area. The state-government also revoked a 20-year lease granted in mid-2007 of a plot of land for a cement plant on which no work had been undertaken. Hans India News has reported that JC Company has dissolved Trishul Cements by incorporation.

Sweden: The Land and Environmental Court has ruled in favour of Cementa for the renewal of its extraction licence for its quarry near the 2.5Mt/yr integrated Slite plant in Gotland. The company says that the decision ensures the continued operation of the cement plant. “We see this as confirmation that it is possible to continue limestone extraction without jeopardising water security or harming protected areas or species,” said Cementas CEO Magnus Ohlsson. “This gives us peace of mind and the chance to focus on future work in order to further develop sustainable cement production in Slite.”

Spain: The Port Authority of Gijón granted Cemex España a 30-year concession for use of 2480m² of the El Musel terminal for unloading, storage and bagging on 20 December 2019, subject to the Mexican company’s use of the facilities for a minimum of 50,000t/yr of cement and derived products for the first two years of the arrangement, 0.1Mt/yr for the subsequent three years, and 0.15Mt/yr thereafter. La Nueva España newspaper has reported that Cemex España applied for the concession in February 2019. Its plans consist of a Euro5.0m investment in a development including two 6000t-capacity silos, a 44m crane and bagging facilities. Cemex España will take an estimated 10 months to complete the works from beginning the project in early 2020.