Belgium: Stefan Borgas, the chief executive officer (CEO) of RHI Magnesita, has started working as the new president of the World Refractories Association (WRA). He succeeds François Wanecq, the former CEO of Vesuvius.

The WRA was founded in 2014 by refractory industry associations and multinational companies. The WRA constitutes a forum to debate regulatory issues affecting global trade, circulate aggregated industry statistics, promote the interests of the worldwide refractory industry, and act as a counterpart to other world industry organizations such as the World Steel Association. The WRA is composed of continental associations including Europe (PRE), Latin America (ALAFAR) and North America (TRI) as well as national associations from China (ACRI), India (IRMA) and Japan (JRA). Multinational companies are also direct members.

India: Binani Cement has received six bids in its sale process. Offers were received from UltraTech Cement, JSW Cement, Ramco Cement, HeidelbergCement India, Dalmia Cements and a pair of Indian investors, according to the Daily News & Analysis newspaper. The bids ranged from around US$630m to US$940m. However, each bid came with various clauses that made the committee of creditors refer them to a consultancy for evaluation.

Colombia: Holcim Colombia plans to launch its new US$30m cement grinding plant in Buga in late 2018 or early 2019. Originally the plant was scheduled to start in the first quarter of 2018. The company also intends to focus on infrastructure projects such as the country’s fourth generation road development scheme, airport renovations and an urban train scheme in Bogota, according to La Republica newspaper.

Belgium: Cembureau, the European cement association, has published a position paper outlining its stance European Commission’s plastics strategy. The association wants policymakers to ensure any plastic waste that has a calorific value that can be recovered as a fuel source is not landfilled. At present there are differences in waste management policies across the member states of the European Union.

Other points that Cemburea wants to highlight include: a ban on landfill of recoverable and recyclable waste; recognition that cement plants can treat different waste streams such as plastics and simultaneously recycle them as material in the manufacturing process of cement and recover them as energy; the specific relevance that co-processing offers the unique opportunity of a simultaneous energy and material recovery; and the potential to minimise investment costs in dedicated facilities.

In January 2018, the European Commission published a dedicated Plastics Strategy as part of the Circular Economy package. The strategy indicates that there is currently a low rate of recycling or reuse of plastics with most of it going to landfill or used in incinerators.

India: Mamata Banerjee, the chief minister of West Bengal, has inaugurated JSW Cement’s plant at Salboni. The US$125m grinding plant has a production capacity of 2.4Mt/yr, according to the Press Trust of India. It started commercial production at the site in July 2017 with plans to manufacture Portland Slag Cement. The cement producer is already preparing upgrades at the unit including a US$15.6m captive power plant with a capacity of 18MW and a US$47m production capacity increase of 1.2Mt/yr.

Netherlands: The Damen shipyard at Oranjewerf in Amsterdam has upgraded the cement carrying capacity of the Lelie C owned by Cebo Marine. Eight new cement silos, with a capacity of 40m³ each, have been installed on the vessel alongside general maintenance.

The silos were previously fitted on the VOS Symphony prior to it going for scrap. Damen Shiprepair Oranjewerf removed the tanks, refurbished them and then installed them on board the Lelie C. The shipyard also built a silo foundation and fitted it in the vessel’s hold. 80m of stiffeners were welded into place in the double bottom tanks to provide the necessary support. Alongside this, approximately 100m² of grating walkway was fabricated and fitted on the deck to give access to the manifolds on each of the new silos. The supply and discharge and air pipe system for the two existing silos was also refurbished to accommodate the new capacity.

“Two years ago we installed the original tanks from the Ritske, a vessel belonging to the same client, and now we have repeated the process again, this time on a much larger scale. The Lelie C began her life as a general cargo vessel, but now her transformation into a cement carrier is complete,” said Jeen van der Werf, Commercial Manager at Damen Shiprepair Oranjewerf.

Kazakhstan: Steppe Cement’s revenue rose by 20% year-on-year to US$65.6m in 2017 from US$54.9m in 2016. Its sales volumes of cement rose by 4% to 1.63Mt from 1.57Mt. The cement producer says that its market share remained at 17% in the reporting period. Overall the country consumed 9Mt of cement in 2017. Steppe Cement’s exports doubled to 146,000t from 73,000t. Kazakhstan imported 0.7Mt of cement in 2017 compared to 0.5Mt in 2016. It exported 0.9Mt in 2017 compared to 0.4Mt in 2016.

India: JSW Cement plans to bid for Binani Cement. Managing director Parth Jindal said that the cement producer would partner with a private equity fund to make the offer, according to the Economic Times newspaper. He added that the company is looking for acquisitions in the cement sector. It has also made a bid for Kalyanpur Cement that has a cement production capacity of 1Mt/yr in Bihar. The company aims to reach a production capacity of 20Mt/yr by 2020.

Egypt: Arabian Cement plans to increase its exports to Africa and Asia. A senior official said the cement producer is considering international expansion amidst strong competition at home, according to Daily News Egypt. At present the company has exported cement to Libya, Yemen, Kenya, Madagascar and Somalia.

Arabian Cement is a joint venture between Spain’s Grupo Cementos La Unión, the majority shareholder, and a group of local investors. It operates a 5Mt/yr cement plant in Suez governorate.

Oman: Raysut Cement’s revenue fell by 22% year-on-year to US$187m in 2017 from US$240m in 2016. Its profit after tax fell by 66.6% to US$18m from US$53.8m. In November 2017 the cement producer blamed its falling profit on lower sales due to competition locally and in export markets, disruption to its export market in Yemen resulting from the on-going civil war and increased energy prices.