Global Cement News

Change draws nearer this week in the Ecuadorian cement industry with the announcement of further details on a new integrated cement plant. Union Cementera Nacional (UCEM) plans to build its third cement plant. The part-government owned group will build its new 2200t/day facility in the country's central Chimborazo province. The move will expand the group's domestic production from 1600t/day to 3800t/day, adding to its existing 650t/day of plant in Chimborazo and its 950t/day plant in Azogues. The expansion was supported by a US$230m investment agreement agreed in September 2015 between UCEM and Casaracra.

The timing is interesting here given that cement sales have reportedly fallen year-on-year by 7% for the first seven months of 2015, according to Ecuadorian Institute of Cement and Concrete (INECYC) data. Holcim, in its financial report for the first half of 2015, attributed its lower cement volumes to effects on the local economy by lower oil prices and poor weather. This also followed a declining year for volumes in 2014 after Holcim reported a record year in 2013.

Holcim also reported continuing to export clinker to its Ecuador unit in 2014 despite the drop in volumes. To that end it completed the second phase of its own expansion project at its Guayaquil cement plant back in March 2015. It increased its clinker production capacity to 4500t/day at the site at a cost US$400m.

Also of note, but on a smaller scale, was the announcement by the North American subsidiary of Gebr. Pfeiffer in September 2015 that it was supplying a new MPS swing mill for an existing grinding station at a clinker plant run by Hormicreto. Published details are sketchy on this plant but A TEC Greco refers to supplying a burner to the company for a cement kiln in 2013. The mountainous location and ownership by a concrete producer suggest that this may be a mini-cement plant.

Following the departure of Lafarge from the market at the end of 2014, Ecuador now has three main cement producers: LafargeHolcim (inheriting the Holcim assets), UCEM and Union Andina de Cementos (UNACEM). UCEM's expansion plans will increase its share of the industry by production capacity making it the second largest producer in the country. MCPEC - INECYC estimates projected that cement demand would reach 9Mt/yr in 2018. Meanwhile Manuel Román Moreno, general manager of the Empresa Pública Cementera del Ecuador (EPCE), estimated that the country imported around 1Mt/yr of clinker in 2014.

The question then for UCEM is whether the country will want 9Mt/yr of cement in 2018 with a depressed price of crude oil. As an Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) Ecuador's economy is, no doubt, feeling the pinch from the low price of crude oil after a period of growth. In its expansion announcement UCEM reported the reliance of the new plant on bunker oil. This will be trucked in from the Amazonas (Shushufindi) refinery in Sucumbios province and purchased at a subsidised price. Cheap oil can be used to run the plants but it may be needed more to run the country's infrastructure demand for building materials such as a cement.

China: Shareholders of China Shanshui Cement have voted to keep Chairman Zhang Bin at a meeting on 13 October 2015 amid a fight for control of the nation's seventh-largest cement maker that has been ongoing since April 2015.

China Shanshui Cement held an extraordinary general meeting during which a proposal from its largest shareholder, Tianrui International Holding Co, to get rid of Zhang was rejected after receiving a 99.9% no vote. Tianrui International, which has a 28.16% interest, has been trying to change Shanshui's management and had another failed attempt in July 2015.

Shareholder clashes may become more common in China as President Xi Jinping encourages the culling of weaker companies in industries that are grappling with overcapacity. Two of Shanshui's other shareholders, China National Building Material Co and Taiwan's Asia Cement, which combined hold 37.6%, said in September 2015 that they will make a joint conditional cash offer to acquire all the outstanding shares they don't already control. The duo reiterated on 9 October 2015 they're still considering that course of action.
China Shanshui Cement had also initially called the extraordinary general meeting to vote on the appointment of Li Liufa, a founder of China Tianrui Group Cement Co, as Chairman of China Shanshui Cement. But China Shanshui Cement said on 12 October 2015 that it hasn't yet received a notice regarding that, making the proposed appointment no longer applicable.
Shareholders voted 95.1% in support of the removal of Zhang Caikui, Zhang Bin's father, as an Executive Director at the 13 October 2015 meeting. Li Cheung Hung and Wu Xiaoyun also had 99.9% of votes cast for their removal. Li was the Joint Company Secretary of China Shanshui Cement while Wu is a professor of the University of Nankai.

Switzerland: LafargeHolcim has appointed Ron Wirahadiraksa as the new Chief Financial Officer (CFO) and member of the Executive Committee. Ron Wirahadiraksa will succeed Thomas Aebischer, who is pursuing new opportunities outside the group. Ron Wirahadiraksa will join LafargeHolcim on 1 December 2015.

Ron Wirahadiraksa is currently Executive Vice President and CFO of Philips, a group he joined in 1987. After working in the Netherlands, Greece, Malaysia and the US, he became CFO at LG Philips LCD in South Korea in 1999. During that time, as President and CFO, he shared operating leadership with the Korean CEO. He became CFO at Philips Healthcare in 2008. In 2011, he took over as CFO for the Philips Group and played a pivotal role in the transformation of the company. Ron Wirahadiraksa was born in the Netherlands in 1960 and graduated with a doctorate in Business Economics from The Free University of Amsterdam, the Netherlands.

"I would like to thank Thomas Aebischer for his contribution to the group and I wish him every success in his future endeavors," said Eric Olsen, CEO of LafargeHolcim. "I am delighted to welcome Ron to LafargeHolcim. Ron is a highly-skilled and experienced CFO with a multicultural background. He comes with vast experience in transforming business models, driving performance and in taking value creation to the next level."

"Attracting an international CFO of Ron Wirahadiraksa's caliber is a great opportunity for LafargeHolcim and I am pleased to see him joining the group," said Wolfgang Reitzle, Statutory Chairman of LafargeHolcim. "Under the leadership of Eric Olsen, we have a diverse and strong management team that will be key to the success of our transformation journey to create superior value for our shareholders."

Spain: Mexico's Carlos Slim has appointed Carlos Jarque and Juan Rodriguez Torres as proprietary directors of Cementos Portland Valderrivas. After the appointments, Carlos Slim controls more than half of the board of directors of Cementos Portland Valderrivas, with Gerrardo Kuri as CEO. Spanish builder FCC has three representatives on the board of Cementos Portland Valderrivas, namely Esther Koplowitz, Alicia Alcocer and Carmen Alcocer Koplowitz. FCC is the second biggest shareholder in Cementos Portland Valderrivas.

We report on development from Japan this week with the creation of a low-alkali cement for use at nuclear waste sites. Professor Katsuyoshi Kondo, Joining and Welding Research Institute at Osaka University, and Nippon Steel & Sumikin Cement Co have prepared a process that mixes silica dioxide extracted from rice chaff with cement.

As press reports explain, the team has developed technology to extract highly purified silica with numerous holes measuring 5 – 7nm in diameter by washing rice chaff with organic acid and burning it. The surface area of the silica extracted from rice chaff is 50,000 - 90,000 times larger than that contained in existing cements, enhancing the reaction between silica and calcium hydroxide and thus lowering the alkaline level.

The stated application for this new research is for underground nuclear waste disposal sites. At these locations extremely high durability is required for long periods of time, potentially for tens of thousands of years.

Normally the concern with alkali-silica reactivity is between alkali in the cement and a sensitive aggregate over a shorter time period. Under high moisture and high alkali content the resulting concrete can crack leading to reduced-performance. However, the issue with nuclear waste storage is that it has to be stored underground and for long periods of time. This means that the cement can potentially react with groundwater producing calcium hydroxide making the groundwater alkaline. This can then react with aggregates in the clay and bedrock at the storage site. Clearly this is undesirable for a long-term storage site of hazardous materials.

In the wake of the Fukushima disaster, this kind of development will be of high interest in Japan. It will also have applications around the world wherever radioactive waste sites are built.

One example of the demanding construction conditions facing builders in these environments is the original sarcophagus used to encase the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant reactor in 1986. Building it used more than 7,000t of steel and 410,000m³ of concrete. Erected in a hurry under horrendous conditions, the container was never sealed properly and the structure was only given a design lifespan of 20 to 30 years. Currently a replacement, New Safe Confinement, is being built at a projected cost of Euro2bn for completion in 2017. The structure will be up to 100m tall and 165m long with a lifetime of at least 100 years.

One of the issues raised in the documentary film 'Into Eternity' is what exactly should one daub on the entrance to a long-term waste dump? Given that the Onkalo spent nuclear fuel repository in Finland is planning to stay sealed for 100,000 years, how should its planners communicate to people, who potentially rediscover it in the future, that they should stay away? One suggestion quoted here is to put Edvard Munch's The Scream on the door. However, we have difficulty today in reading and interpreting Ancient Egyptian writing and art from 5000 years ago. What this means for any of our descendants unlucky enough to stumble upon a buried nuclear waste site is anyone's guess. At the very least though using a low-alkali cement that will last as long as possible is a good start.