Zambia: Dangote Cement Zambia says that it has no source of reasonably priced gypsum following the closure of Chambeshi Minerals. The Mast newspaper has reported that other local suppliers are quoting prices for the raw material in US dollars because of currency devaluation due to the weak economic situation following a coronavirus-related lockdown.

The immediate effect of the supply chain disruption has been a rise in cement prices. Copperbelt Provincial Minister Japhen Mwakalombe said, “For us to develop, we need infrastructure development. We can’t build without cement and our people can’t afford these prices. Quoting in dollars shows that gypsum dealers want to sabotage the economy and we need the law to address this. It shows that some companies are not patriotic and do not want to support the government of the day.”

UK: The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has announced that it will consider the undertakings offered by Breedon Group to which its deal with Cemex UK for acquisition of several of the latter’s ready-mix and aggregates operations would be subject. The regulator explained its ruling by saying, “There are reasonable grounds for believing that the undertakings might be accepted by the CMA under the Enterprise Act 2002.” This may lead to the completion of the acquisitions, which were agreed on 21 January 2020.

Mexico: Cemex has launched Operation Resilience, its 2020 medium-term strategy. The plan consists of strategic divestments, US$280m in cost reduction and optimisation of the company’s portfolio towards European and US markets.

Chief executive officer (CEO) Fernando Gonzalez said, “Operation Resilience lays the foundation for our future. It allows Cemex to optimise its portfolio for profitable growth while securing its position as a leading vertically-integrated heavy building materials company with a focus on four core businesses: cement, ready-mix, aggregates and urbanisation solutions. We will concentrate on developing sustainable urbanisation solutions which meet the needs of growing metropolises while we ourselves progress towards achieving our long-term decarbonisation goals.”

China: Anhui Conch subsidiary Anhui Haibo Intelligent Technology has announced the signing with Huawei of a contract of collaboration towards developing systems for using driverless vehicles in mineral extraction operations. General manager He Shenzhong said, “Huawei and Conch have joined forces to empower traditional industries with high-intelligence technology. The goal is to create a world-class unmanned open-pit mine project, transform the unmanned technology achievements of open-pit mines into actual productivity projects, and establish unmanned open-pit mines – a new benchmark for the development of traditional industries.”

Russia: Eurocement subsidiary Mordovcement has begun packaging its CEM-I Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC) in 50kg bags made of polypropylene. The company said that the plastic has strength advantages over paper and makes its products harder to counterfeit. It advised customers to reuse the bags for collection and disposal of waste, or to recycle them.

UK: Cemex UK says that construction company Kier used concretes from its reduced-carbon dioxide (CO₂) Vertua range to complete a net-zero CO₂ residential construction project at the University Warwick. Sales executive Matthew Doran said that the student accommodation, called Cryfield, “was the first project for which Kier has chosen to use the Vertua range and it was an exciting opportunity for Cemex to demonstrate the value of this product as both a high-performance and sustainable choice.”

France: Eqiom has announced the relocation of its headquarters to Courbevoie, Hauts-de-Seine Department from Levallois-Perret, also in Hauts-de-Seine Department. The company said that “new working methods favouring digital work, the agility of group work and the importance of good life practices” compounded the decision to move. It added, “The transfer operation was completed in just three days with no major surprises.”

Zimbabwe: LafargeHolcim subsidiary Lafarge Zimbabwe and China National Building Materials (CNBM) subsidiary CBMI have announced the signing of a contract for the establishment of a 0.7Mt/yr-capacity grinding plant at the 0.5Mt/yr Manresa cement plant in Harare. CBMI executive director and general manager Tong Laigou said that, when completed, the plant “will significantly increase the market occupation rate, competition and influence power of Lafarge Zimbabwe, and will also ease the cement supply tension in the country.”

Vietnam: China-based Sinoma International Engineering has announced its receipt of a provisional acceptance certificate (PAC) from the owner of the 1.8Mt/yr Tonglin cement plant, signifying the handover of the finished plant. The parties originally signed the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract for the plant in August 2009.

Australia: Adelaide Brighton has secured a renewal of its contract with BHP for supply of cement and lime to its Olympic Dam, South Australia mine until 2026. The producer has said that the contract would generate US$116m in revenue for the group over the full six year term of the deal.

Chief executive officer (CEO) Nick Miller said, “We are pleased to extend our long-term relationship with BHP at its Olympic Dam project, which demonstrates the strength of our integrated cement and lime position, as well as our high quality and cost competitive product offering. We thank BHP for supporting a home-grown producer over an imported product, which protects local jobs and benefits the broader South Australian economy.