Burkina Faso: In response to Burkina Faso’s blood shortage due to the coronavirus pandemic, Cimasso has begun giving away one bag of cement to each person who attends blood donation clinics in the city of Bobo-Dioulasso. Sputnik News has reported that, as a result of Cimasso’s efforts in partnership with the National Centre for Blood Transfusion (CNST), medical staff have so far collected 400 bags of blood towards Burkina Faso’s World Health Organisation (WHO)-verified blood needs of 202,000 bags/yr. Cimasso director general Abdoul Rahim said that the initiative will continue, “since no one is immune to diseases that can trigger blood needs, and these actions can save lives.”

Germany/Vietnam: Loesche says that it has dispatched two LM 53.3+3 CS vertical roller mills from its plant in North Rhine-Westphalia for a new line at Thanh Thang Group Cement’s integrated Bong Lang cement plant. The mills have a combined capacity of 180t/hr and grind clinker to a fineness of 4000 Blaine. The new line, installed by Sinoma-NCDRI, will be commissioned in late-2021. Loesche will also supply two cellular wheel feeders, metal detectors and sealing air blowers.

Uzbekistan: Huaxin Cement has announced that 112 of its employees took the first charter flight from Hubei Province since the coronavirus lockdown began, arriving in Jizzakh, Jizzakh Oblast on 6 June 2020. Hubei Daily News has reported that Huaxin Cement’s upcoming 1.5Mt/yr integrated Jizzakh cement plant, previously scheduled for commissioning in March 2020, will now start operation in June 2020. Huaxin Cement thanked the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Civil Aviation authority for their support.

UK: Tarmac says that it is the first cement company to have signed up to the EV100, a scheme that targets net-zero carbon emissions in transportation. Under the initiative, Tarmac will replace its fleet of 2000 corporate cars and vans with electric models by 2030.

Tarmac procurement director Jonathan Harry said, “We are fully committed to supporting the UK’s ambition of net-zero carbon emissions by 2050 and have been proactive in making significant changes to our business and product portfolio for many years. The road to a reduction in carbon requires collective action and sustainable procurement strategies have an important role to play in supporting these ambitions. By taking progressive actions such as adopting electric vehicle (EV) technology and switching to clean electricity, we can lead by example and begin to effect real change.”

Austria: Four local fire brigades attended a fire at Lafarge Zement’s 1.2Mt/yr Mannersdorf plant in Lower Austria on 7 - 8 June 2020. ORF News has reported that the damage to the plant is extensive. A Lower Austria State Fire Service spokesperson said that none of the five employees on site when the fire broke out were harmed. The cause of the blaze remains unidentified.

Philippines: Eagle Cement has announced the start of reduced production and distribution of cement from its 7.1Mt/yr Bulacan plant following the partial easing of the coronavirus lockdown in the Philippines in May 2020. Eagle Cement president and chief executive officer (CEO) Paul Ang said, “We are starting to ramp up production as local demand for cement picks up following the easing of restriction in markets that we serve. We fully support the government's call to prioritise critical infrastructure projects to help reboot the economy. We hope to be able to safely return to a semblance of normality, mobilise our supply chains, create jobs and stimulate consumer spending.”

Russia: Iskitimcement has completed the modernisation of the grinding plant at its 2.1Mt/yr integrated Iskitimcement plant in Novosibirskskaya following the installation of a closed-circuit dynamic separator and bag filter supplied by Christian Pfeiffer at a cost of US$3.69m. Iskitimcement director general Vladimir Skakun said that the upgrade aims, “to provide customers with separated cement that surpasses the quality of products produced with open-circuit grinding.”

The company said that the closed-circuit unit has increased productivity and reduced the temperature of cement. Dust emissions have fallen by over 90%, bringing the plant in line with current environmental strictures. “We are ready to meet the customers’ demand for quality products even at the peak of the construction season,” said Skakun.

Iskitimcement says that it is planning a modernisation of its stacks with the installation of new filters by 2024.

Russia: The Ministry of Construction, Housing and Utilities has announced that a technical certificate will suffice for new building materials to enter production. Glavgosexpertiza of Russia has said that the maximum period for the issuance of technical certificates for products including fibre and asbestos cement and concrete is five working days. The measures aim to support the construction industry in meeting demand in the new construction season following the coronavirus outbreak. The ministry will review the measure in mid-June 2020.

US: A lawsuit raised by the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) against CCC Group alleges that black construction workers were subject to racial discrimination and harassment during the construction company’s work on an upgrade at the Lafarge Ravena cement plant in 2016. The EEOC says that the workers were the target of racial language, were threatened and made to carry out more dangerous and physically taxing tasks. It added that it only took legal action after first attempting to reach a pre-litigation settlement through the agency’s conciliation process.

CCC Group says it investigated the claims from one former employee in 2017 about ‘inappropriate comments’ after it was reported to the EEOC. However, it says that the complaint was never reported internally and that the EEOC refused to share information about the allegations. Subsequently, it was unable to determine what happened. The construction company only became aware of the other allegations when the EEOC filed its lawsuit in June 2020. CCC Group said, “We take all such allegations very seriously and continue to thoroughly investigate these claims. Regardless, CCC Group will continue its commitment to ensure that any such conduct is not tolerated or allowed to occur in our workplaces.”

800 workers were involved in the upgrade to the plant in New York State, which brought it to its present integrated capacity of 2Mt/yr.

This story was updated on 16 June 2020 following comment from CCC Group

India: UltraTech Cement has cuts its capital expenditure budget to around US$130m due to the coronavirus pandemic. Work on its 2.2Mt/yr Cuttack grinding unit, which was scheduled for commissioning in March 2021, has been slowed down. Upgrades at its West Bengal and Bihar grinding plants are nearly completed and a waste heat recovery system (WHRS) at its UltraTech Nathdwara Cement subsidiary will be completed in the current financial year.

The leading Indian cement producer said that government directives in response to the health crisis had ‘adversely’ affected revenue. Since ‘select’ activities were allowed to re-open from 20 April 2020 and the company says it is now, ‘dispatching cement from all locations.’ It added that the majority of demand was currently coming from retail markets as some institutional projects restart construction. It operates 22 operational integrated plants, 23 grinding units and 6 bulk terminals. The company said that ‘conserving cash’ is its motto in 2020.