Displaying items by tag: Sri Lanka

Indonesia: Holcim Indonesia plans to focus its exports of cement towards Australia, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh in 2016 amidst unstable demand at home. Holcim Indonesia’s chief financial officer Mark Schmidt emphasised the company’s increasing desire to export more whilst not mentioning any specific export sales targets in comments that were reported by the Jakarta Post.

Gary Schutz, the president-director of Holcim Indonesia, reinforced the importance of government spending plants towards meeting the country’s cement demand in a press release published after the company’s May 2016 annual general meeting. “We are concerned that government spending plans – especially those for infrastructure – should be realised on time and in full this year. Infrastructure alongside housing development are both vital catalysts in achieving planned growth rates for the economy. It is equally important in order that Indonesia stays competitive with in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Economic Community.”

The Indonesian subsidiary of LafargeHolcim increased its cement production capacity to 15Mt/yr from 11Mt/yr after acquiring Lafarge Cement Indonesia and starting operations at the Tuban II plant in East Java.

Sri Lanka: Holcim Lanka has inaugurated a transport model for the transportation of its raw materials. In a public-private partnership between Holcim Lanka and the government, the state railway will transport raw materials by rail from the port of Trincomalee to the Mahawa railway station. The company's dedicated trucks will then transport the materials to the Puttalam cement plant. The inauguration took place at the China Bay station in Trincomalee, according to the Daily news newspaper.

“The successful launch of this phase would not have been possible without the support received from the Ministry of Transport," said Holcim Lanka Procurement and Logistics Director Charith Wijendra.

Environmental and efficiency improvements of the new model include using Supramax bulk carriers instead of smaller ships, using dedicated containerised trucks to reduce spillages and cut journeys and a reduction in the use of the railway network.

Sri Lanka: Tokyo Cement has resumed importing clinker from Japan. The clinker will be used to make the producer’s NIPPON-PRO branded cement.

"We at Tokyo Cement having identified the demand for a high performance cement tied up with a leading Japanese manufacturer to import clinker with high specifications," said Dashantha Udawatte, Group Marketing Manager at Tokyo Cement.

Tokyo Cement operates a 2.4Mt/yr cement grinding plant in Trincomalee.

Sri Lanka: Harsha Cabral was appointed as the Director of Tokyo Cement Company Lanka one year ago on 1 December 2014. Cabral was appointed to the Board in March 2009

Sri Lanka: Tokyo Cement Group has launched 'Nippon Cement - Pro'. This new brand of cement is targeted at the builders of large-scale projects such as a high-rise buildings and skyscrapers. Tokyo Cement Group is Sri Lanka's largest cement producer operating a 2.40Mt/yr cement grinding plants in Trincomalee, Eastern Province.

Sri Lanka: The Holcim Village in Akmeemana, Galle, which was constructed by Holcim under its Sustainable Development Project and following its pledge for Livable Communities, has been inaugurated by president Maitripala Sirisena.

The president unveiled a plaque to mark the opening of the Holcim Village and distributed deeds to recipients. The village consists of 14 households and is the fourth of its kind. The Galle project was constructed after Holcim's similar projects in Medirigiriya, Eluwankulama and Puttalam and was designed to cater to the needs of the community surrounding the Ruhunu Cement plant.

The CEO of Holcim Lanka, Philippe Richart, said that the newly-established village was proof of the company's commitment to serve surrounding communities and support their needs.

Sri Lanka: Tokyo Cement has added a fifth vessel, MV Mohar, to its fleet of cement transport ships in August 2015. The ship is a 22,000t pneumatic bulk cement carrier.

"Logistics is an integral part of our business and the increase in local demand has required us to enhance our capacities not just in transportation, but manufacturing and energy generation. We are always striving to improve our business performance because doing so is Tokyo Cement's contribution to building Sri Lanka and ensuring strong, sustainable development," said Tokyo Cement Group Managing Director S R Gnanam.

With a 1Mt/yr production capacity increase in Trincomalee, the new vessel will transport cement to the Colombo Port in order to distribute more efficiently. "The cement industry is often described as a barometer of a country's march to economic development and prosperity. What we are currently seeing is a surge in demand for products and services, which is a good indicator of market confidence. Over the last three decades, Tokyo Cement has built itself up to become one of Sri Lanka's most valuable brands, with an installed capacity of over 2Mt/yr of cement, over 600 employees and US$149m in assets. Our success reflects the continuing growth of Sri Lanka and its economy," said Gnanam.

Singapore/Sri Lanka: The Ceylon Institute of Builders has awarded Tokyo Super Portland Pozzolana Cement (PPC) with a 'Green Mark.'

The Green Mark is a Singaporean product label, accredited internationally by the Building Construction Authority (Singapore), the Green Building Council (Singapore), the Chartered Institute of Builders (UK), as well as locally by the Ceylon Institute of Builders, the Ministry of Environment, the Ministry of Construction and the Central Environmental Authority. Tokyo Super PPC is the only cement brand with a sustainable accreditation and is frequently recommended by sustainable building consultants as, 'The highest quality product, with minimal environmental impact, on the market.'

Tokyo Super PPC was given the green accreditation for the following reasons:

- Its local manufacturing is powered by carbon-neutral biomass energy that is locally-generated with the repurposing of agricultural waste;
- It is a renewable energy project in compliance with United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) standards and is awarded carbon credits annually;
- It uses coal fly ash from Norochcholai power plant, recycling locally-generated waste in a useful manner;
- It minimises the energy required in cement grinding by using fly ash;
- It minimises CO₂ emissions by substituting clinker with non-limestone based material, thereby reducing the energy requirement for kilning;
- It has International Certification in Environmental Management Systems (ISO 14001) and Quality Management Systems (ISO 9000) and was the model from which local standards were set (SLS 1427);

Tokyo Super PPC, although less expensive than Ordinary Portland Cement, is not just the greener choice but also the stronger one. It offers as much as 10% higher strength after 98 days.

Sri Lanka: According to the Daily News (Sri Lanka), Lafarge Mahaweli Cement has concluded its health and safety month 2015, with a number of activities held at its plant premises in Colombo Port.

The theme of 2015's safety month, which was in line with Lafarge's global best practices on secure operations, was 'Keep Learning - Committed, Open, Uncompromising,' with special emphasis on zero accidents and a firm commitment towards engaging and caring for one another.

Like all key stakeholders of Lafarge Mahaweli, employees and their children were also given the opportunity to actively participate in the health and safety month by being part of the 'Good Practices and Safety at Home' internal competition, where their ideas on health and safety within the home were accepted and judged according to competition guidelines. The best ideas and concepts received special awards.

Sri Lanka: Dalmia Cement (Bharat) Limited is increasing its exports to Sri Lanka through its channel partner M/s Smart Dragon Lanka Pvt Limited. With a total capacity of 20Mt/yr, Dalmia Cement has cement plants in southern and eastern India, making it a prominent manufacturer of cement in India.

Dalmia Cement currently supplies cement to the Sri Lankan market from its 3.5Mt/yr plant in Dalmiapuram, Trichy, Tamil Nadu. The plant has 21 silos, making it convenient to store many varieties of cement. It can also supply Sri Lanka from its 2.5Mt/yr plant in Kadappa, Andhra Pradesh. The plants use the ports of Tuticorin and Chennai in Tamil Nadu and the port of Krishnapatnam in Andhra Pradesh.

"Dalmia Cement has been exporting cement to Sri Lanka since 2009. We wish to strengthen our bond and relationship with Sri Lanka by providing superior-quality cement, with a vision of becoming one of the leading exporters of cement to the country within the next three years," said R Sanjay, assistant executive director of institutional sales at Dalmia Cement.