Greece: Titan Cement says that its turnover, earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) and net profit after taxes all grew year-on-year in the fourth quarter of 2018. Overall, its second half results were better than in 2017. The growth mostly came from the US and South East Europe, but the company said that the situation in other regions has not shown any significant change. The cement producer made the announcement as it is undergoing a voluntary tender offer process.

Sweden: Cementa’s Skövde plant working on project to optimise its grinding process and reduce the clinker factor of the cement it produces. The project is looked at grinding limestone separately as opposed to grinding it with clinker and gypsum, which it currently does. The plant is using a mill it only uses occasionally to grind the limestone to the desired size. A full-scale trial was run in the autumn of 2018. Products from the trial are now being tested at a laboratory.

Thailand: Uttama Savanayana, the Industry Minister, has ordered agencies under the ministry’s control to set tighter dust emission standards for factories in Bangkok. He also intends to set up a working group to look at the issue, according to the Bangkok Post newspaper. Savanayana wants factories around the country, including cement plants, to be inspected. Legal action has been recommended for any sites that are exceeding the legal limits.

Brazil: Brennand Group plans to invest around US$190m toward building a new cement plant at Ponta Grossa in Paraná state. A provisional building license has been awarded and the company is now waiting on further licenses before construction work can begin according to aRede. The new plant will be build by Brennand Group’s subsidiary Mineracao Delta do Paraná and the plant will operate under the Companhia de Cimento do Paraná (CPR) name.

Funding for plant will come from Brennand Group’s sale of a 50% stake in a subsidiary to Italy’s Buzzi Unicem in 2018.

Argentina: Local cement despatches fell by 2.3% year-on-year to 11.8Mt in 2018 from 12.1Mt in 2017. Despatches in December 2018 fell by 17.9% to 0.82Mt from 1Mt in December 2017. Data from the Asociación de Fabricantes de Cemento Portland (AFCP) also showed that exports rose by 10% to 81,191t from 79,173t.

Peru: Local cement despatches rose by 3.2% year-on-year to 11.1Mt in 2018 from 10.8Mt in 2017. Consumption rose by 3.7% to 11.2Mt from 10.8Mt. Data from the Asociación de Productores de Cemento (Asocem) showed that cement exports fell by 26% to 0.27Mt from 0.36Mt. Imports increased by 60% to 0.98Mt from 0.61Mt. Clinker exports rose by 63% to 0.9Mt and imports rose by 49% to 0.78Mt. 85% of cement imports came from Vietnam. 33% of clinker imports came from South Korea and 31% came from Vietnam.

Uruguay: The union at state-owned oil firm Administración Nacional de Combustibles, Alcoholes y Portland (ANCAP), has supported government plans for the state to buy locally made cement. Under the proposal, half of the government’s requirements for cement would have to come from ANCAP, according to the El Pais newspaper. The initiative is intended to support local industry and jobs.

India: JK Lakshmi Cement has hired digital logistics company FarEye to improve its operations. The cement producer hopes to improve its distribution network through more information, better control of movements of goods and improved collaboration with third-party vendors, according to Dataquest. FarEye will use its proprietary platform to integrate internal and external stakeholders to provide real-time visibility at a trip level.

“On our wide distribution network handling volumes around 0.8Mt/month, pilferage and back-and-forward loading are some of the key operational challenges that we face. We believe that gaining better visibility into our vast network of multiple plants and about 10,000 destinations will help us control pilferage, optimize capacity and eventually help us deliver a superior customer experience,” said Shailendra Chouksey, a director at JK Lakshmi Cement.

FarEye also plans to add value by providing business insights across the value chain, which could help to increase efficiency, cut costs and increase profits. It will also digitise Vehicle Placement and introduce Electronic Proof of Deliveries.

Nigeria: Four workers of Dangote Cement have been jailed for stealing cement worth over US$40,000. The defendants diverted nine cement trucks, bound for Togo, using fake identity cards and truck number plates, according to the Punch newspaper. Adewale Dalmeida, a fleet analyst, at the Ibese Plant, worked with the chief driver of the company, Ibrahim Lawal, and a Ghanaian driver, Lukman Adam, and Afeez Olaniba, who worked as an agent at the Nigerian-Benin border. The prison sentences imposed range from a 18 months to five years.

Germany: HeidelbergCement says it has made good progress with its ‘portfolio optimisation’ process. The company closed the divestment of its 50% share in Ciment Québec and its minority participation in Syria in December 2018. In addition, a former cement plant area near Cairo in Egypt has been auctioned, and the divestment of its Ukrainian business has been signed. The divestments in Egypt and Ukraine are expected to complete in 2019. Altogether these divestments will have a value of Euro150m and are expected to have a ‘slightly’ positive effect on operating earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) in 2019.

“We deliver on our action plan and have accelerated our efforts to improve our portfolio and generate cash in order to speed up deleveraging,” said Bernd Scheifele, the chairman of the managing board of HeidelbergCement. The cement producer has a divestment target of Euro1.5bn by the end of 2020.