Pakistan: Lucky Cement announced the death of Muhammed Yunus Tabba ‘with deep sorrow and grief’ on 3 January 2023. At the time, Tabba was serving as chair of the company’s board and as a non-executive director of the company.

Lucky Cement instructed investors that it will fill Tabba’s former roles ‘in due course, as per the requirement of law.’

Zimbabwe: A deal by Fossil Mines to buy a 76% stake in Lafarge Zimbabwe has been stalled by the introduction of economic sanctions by the US Office of Foreign Asset Control (OFAC). In mid-December 2022 OFAC added Fossil Agro, Fossil Contracting and the group’s chief executive officer, Obey Chimuka, to its Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) list due to alleged links to a previously sanctioned individual, Kudakwashe Tagwirei, and his company, Sakunda Holdings.

OFAC said that Tagwirei had “materially assisted, sponsored, or provided financial, material, logistical, or technical support for, or goods or services in support of, the Government of Zimbabwe.” It accused him of using his relationships with government officials to gain state contracts, to receive access to currencies including the US Dollar and of supplying luxury items such as cars to ministers. It added that Chimuka was a “longtime business partner” of Tagwirei. Fossil Agro was also linked to a mismanaged agricultural subsidy scheme.

In a statement Lafarge Zimbabwe said that it was “considering various courses of action with a view to protecting the business and the interests of all stakeholders.” The deal to sell a majority stake in the subsidiary of Switzerland-based Holcim was originally finalised in early December 2022.

Ethiopia: The Ministry of Trade and Regional Integration (MOTRI) says it will regulate cement factory gate prices in its latest attempt to lower the price for end users. It has set the price from 22 December 2022 for six months, according to the Capital Ethiopia newspaper. This latest attempt to stabilise the market follows measures such as setting fixed consumer prices, limiting sales volumes for individuals and asking producers to cut distributors out of the supply chain. However, Teshale Belhu, the state minister for the MOTRI, admitted that recent control measures had made the situation worse and increased the number of illegal traders instead. The government now intends to reduce its interaction in the cement market.

The country has suffered from a cement shortage since 2020 due to low domestic production levels. This has been exacerbated by security issues, a lack of raw materials and a shortage of foreign currency.

Russia: Eurocement has revealed how it reorganised its business in 2022 in response to foreign equipment suppliers leaving the country and disruptions to domestic supplies of raw materials. The cement producer was forced to take this action in response to the effects of European and US economic sanctions imposed upon Russia following its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. The cement producer started logging all purchases as prices escalated, special procedures were developed for critical materials and services, a compliance department was created, its network of suppliers in Russia and from countries not part of the sanctions was expanded and the company set up its own repair units at its plants.

Canada: Lafarge Canada has announced a five-year in-kind donation with the Nicomekl Enhancement Society (NES) in British Columbia. The agreement will see the building materials producer donate around US$15,000/yr in aggregates, concrete and labour to enhance the sustainability of the wild Pacific salmon population and ecosystem within the coastal area of the Nicomekl River.

Lincoln Kyne, Vice President and General Manager of Lafarge Canada in British Columbia and the US Pacific Northwest, said, “This key initiative led by NES is a great example, as we will be able to provide the required green construction materials and labour to stabilise, re-shore and line critical spawning beds for returning salmon until 2028.”

Madagascar: Cementis Océan Indien has launched a US$120m upgrade project to its integrated Ibity cement plant. The project is intended to increase the unit’s production capacity to 1Mt/yr from just under 0.2Mt/yr at present. A memorandum of understanding was signed by Cementis and the Ministry of Industrialisation, Commerce and Consumer Affairs in early December 2022. Completion of the project is scheduled for 2025.

Cementis agreed to buy Holcim’s businesses in Madagascar, Reunion, Comoros, Mauritius and Mayotte in late 2021.

China: Jinzhou Tiansheng Heavy Industry has ordered a lime plant with a production capacity of just under 5000t/day from Switzerland-based Maerz Ofenbau. The order includes six PFR-type kilns and will be based at a carbide plant that is being built by Mundra Petrochem, a subsidiary of India-based Adani Group. Maerz says that the new plant will be the largest lime unit ever built at a new site. The equipment manufacturer will supply engineering, material and equipment for the R5S carbide-gas-fired kilns, each with a production capacity of 800t/day.

Vietnam: ThyssenKrupp Polysius’ Asia Pacific division has secured an order for two Polflame-type main burners for an unnamed cement plant. The equipment supplier has highlighted the ability of its burner product to cope with low-grade coal and support high alternative fuel substitution rates as key selling factors. The order follows the purchase of an Impact Crusher by the same customer previously.

Lukas Schoeneck, the chief executive officer of Polysius Asia Pacific, said "We are very proud to add burners number 17 and 18 to our installed base in Vietnam which ensures our market leader position. Now we have to put our focus on the delivery and installation of the burner - in time and quality.”

Australia: Bruks Siwertell has received an order from Hallet Capital for an enclosed ship unloader for Port Adelaide. A gantry-mounted Siwertell 490 F-type unit has been ordered along with a jetty screw-conveyor system feeding a dome silo and individual screw conveyors for installation inside the dome. The unloader will be suitable for discharging bulkers up to 40,000dwt at a rated cement handling capacity of 500t/hr. It is planned for delivery in August 2023 and will be assembled on site.

Hallett Group announced plans in mid-2022 to build a slag cement grinding plant in Port Augusta, South Australia. The project will also include a new distribution facility at Port Adelaide.

Algeria: The National Centre for Cleaner Production Technologies (CNTPP) has signed a cooperation agreement with Lafarge Algeria. The arrangement is intended to provide government assistance towards producing cement more sustainably at the manufacturer’s plants, according to Le Quotidien d'Oran newspaper. The CNTPP is an organisation setup by the Ministry of Environment to support industrial and commercial companies.