Displaying items by tag: logisitics

South Korea: Truck drivers went on strike across South Korea on 24 November 2022. Reuters News has reported that the drivers demand that a government pay scheme be made permanent and extended to drivers in all sectors. A previous eight-day strike in June 2022 cost the South Korean cement industry US$79.8m. The Korean Cement Association said that most customers do not have cement in inventory beyond three days' supply, and will begin to run out from 27 November 2022.

Japan: Sumitomo Osaka Cement has announced its next price rise from the start of October 2022. It previously raised the price of its cement-related products by 20% in April 2022. It blamed this on rising raw material, energy and logistics costs. A further price will be considered from April 2023.

Ghana: Alan Kyerematen, the Minister for Trade and Industry, has blamed the increasing price of cement on negative currency exchange effects and growing fuel prices. He informed the Parliament of Ghana that the cost to import clinker has risen significantly, according to the Ghana News Agency. Kyerematen also noted that the cost of freight has surged due to the coronavirus pandemic and then the war in Ukraine.

Russia: SibCem’s first vice president Gennady Rasskazov says that the local production cost of cement is expected to rise by 30% year-on-year in 2022 due to the new ‘economic circumstances’ the country faces. He added that, due to economic sanctions, the price of coal rose by 76 - 86%, goods and materials by 55%, diesel by 30%, oils and lubricants by 83% and transport and logistics costs by 14 - 24% in the first quarter of 2022. The average growth in worker pay at SibCem will rise by 30% in 2022 as the company has implemented indexed salaries. Rasskazov made the comments at a meeting with cement producers, consumers and local officials at the Novosibirsk State University of Architecture and Civil Engineering.

Tanzania: Tanga Cement has advised investors that it expects a ‘significant improvement’ in its results to a profit before tax in 2021, compared to a loss in 2020. The Daily News newspaper has reported that strong sales during the year contributed to the forecast result, along with a drop in finance costs due to a restructuring of debt facilities.

Tanga Cement said “The improved performance is a result of Tanga Cement’s initiative to optimise the sales, logistics and distribution, as well as its continued cost optimisation initiative.” It added “The company has been able to achieve this despite the challenging global economic and operating environment conditions.”

Germany: HeidelbergCement has invested in a 45% stake in Thoma Bravo’s supply chain software subsidiary Command Alkon. The group says that the companies’ collaboration can help advance heavy building materials supply chains’ digital transformation. It said that this will entail more transparent industry standards for seamless connectivity, improved solutions to customers’ everyday pain points, an increased pace in innovation and an acceleration of sustainability efforts. HeidelbergCement will continue to autonomously operate its proprietary digital product suite HConnect.

Chair Dominik von Achten said “As part of our Beyond 2020strategy, our clear goal is to become the first industrial tech company in our sector.” He added “We have made significant progress in our independently developed HConnect digital customer experience since its development in 2018. The investment in Command Alkon and the partnership with Thoma Bravo now allows us to monetise the hidden potential of our assets and translate it into a new growth path for HeidelbergCement. Together, we will build the digital ecosystem of the future for the heavy building materials industry.”

Paraguay: Industria Nacional del Cemento (INC) says it has developed new software in-house to manage its weighbridges. The new system it intended to supply reports in real time about truck and material movements at its plants. Use of the new system started in July 2021.

Germany: Beumer has enlarged its stake in logistics software provider Codept. The company’s product offers warehouse management and fulfilment throughout Europe. The start-up company was founded with the support from the Berlin-based, autonomous company builder Beam, a spin-off of Beumer Group

Managing Director Felix Ostwald said "We are happy to seal a long-term partnership with Beumer. During the past two years we have cooperated successfully and are therefore glad to intensify this cooperation."

Nigeria: Dangote Cement has presented 82 brand new trucks to its distributors to improve product distribution logistics to other retailers. A ceremony was held at the Enugu assembly plant of Shacman Truck following a driver training session, according to the Punch newspaper. The cement producer said that the trucks were presented under its Truck Empowerment Scheme, where distributors pay for the trucks on a 50-month instalment basis.

Philippines: Holcim Philippines has appointed Edwin Villas as Senior Vice President Logistics, Bobby Garza as plant manager at its integrated Norzagaray cement plant and Arnold Pepino as Vice President of Operations of its integrated Lugait plant.

Villas was appointed as the Senior Vice President Logistics after serving as officer-in-charge of the department since 2019 concurrent to his role as Vice President for Sales for Greater Manila Region and South Luzon. He previously held senior sales leadership roles and served in procurement and internal audit. Villas is a certified professional for supply management, a certified information system auditor and holds a degree in computer science. He also completed a leadership program at the International Institute of Management Development (IMD) Switzerland.

Garza, Vice President for Operations of the Holcim’s Lugait, Misamis Oriental plant, will lead the Norzagaray, Bulacan plant. Garza is a licensed mining engineer and has attended leadership programs in IMD Switzerland.

Pepino, who was previously the Production Manager at Lugait, succeeds Garza as Vice President of Operations at the site. He started his career in Holcim Philippines as a cadet engineer in 1996. Over the years, he moved to different roles and projects in production, process and manufacturing excellence. In 2017, he was sent by LafargeHolcim Group to plants in Romania and Austria to learn best practices under its ‘Learning Across Borders’ program. Pepino holds a master’s degree in business administration and a computer engineering degree.