Global Cement News

Russia: The Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS) has rejected a claim against Pikalyovsky Cement over an application submitted by BaselCement-Pikalyovo. The FAS dismissed the claim because it saw no violations of the law.

BaselCement-Pikalyovo, located in Pikalyovo in the Leningrad region, halted production in 2009 due to a shortage of raw materials. The situation then was settled by the then Prime Minister Vladimir Putin when a supplies treaty was signed.

In January 2013 BaselCement-Pikalyovo applied to the FAS with a claim accusing Pikalyovsky Cement of breaking the antimonopoly law. Allegedly Pikalyovsky Cement had imposed low prices on BaselCement-Pikalyovo for the supply of nepheline slime. BaselCement-Pikalyovo later said that Pikalyovsky Cement revoked its order for nepheline in January 2013 and that this threatened to halt the operations at BaselCement-Pikalyovo since the cement producer is its sole customer.

Tanzania: Tanga Cement has accused cement imports into Tanzania via Zanzibar of undermining the prospects of local producers and dodging tax. Managing Director Erik Westerberg made the comments at Tanga Cement's 2013 annual general meeting. A report covering the meeting by All Africa Global Media placed the tax loss at about US$9.2m/yr.

According to Westerberg, cement consumption in the semi-autonomous province of Zanzibar appeared to be three or four times that of mainland Tanzania despite the absence of any major infrastructure or construction projects. Westerberg appealed to the government to take action and protect mainland cement producers from smugglers along the Indian Ocean coast.

Norway: Oil and gas industry engineering firm Aker Solutions has won a contract to test and study the capture of CO₂ from flue gas emitted at Norcem's cement plant in Brevik, Norway. The award from the HeidelbergCement subsidiary, in cooperation with the European Cement Research Academy (ECRA) marks the first time technology to capture CO₂ will be used at a cement production plant.

Aker Solutions will perform long-term testing on the actual flue gas to select optimum chemical solvent for high content CO₂ flue gas at the plant. Tests will be performed with Aker Solutions' in-house developed Mobile Test Unit (MTU). The MTU is a CO₂ capture plant that includes all processes and functions found in a large scale commercial plant.

ECRA members chose Norcem Brevik as the site for ECRA operational CO₂-capture test project. The project is supported and partly financed by the CLIMIT programme, which is managed by Gassnova in cooperation with the Research Council of Norway.

Aker Solutions has developed CO₂-technology solutions since the early 1990s. A separate company, Aker Clean Carbon, was established in 2007 as a company under Aker ASA to commercialise carbon capture technology. Aker Solutions took full ownership of Aker Clean Carbon in 2012 and carbon capture and storage activities are an integrated part of Aker Solutions.

India: The Competition Appellate Tribunal (COMPACT) has ordered cement producers to pay 10% of a US$1.15bn fine imposed on them by the Competition Commission of India (CCI) for a price-fixing cartel. The tribunal asked 11 Indian cement producers to pay the fine within 30 days otherwise their appeal against the fine will be dismissed.

COMPAT had reserved its order over a batch of petitions filed by various cement producers and the Cement Manufacturer's Association (CMA) on 18 March 2013 after hearing them on an interim plea. In the petitions, the cement producers had challenged US$1.15bn penalty imposed on them by the Competition Commission of India (CCI) and a US$133,000 fine imposed on the CMA. The cement companies charged with cartel behaviour include Lafarge India, India Cement, JP Associates, Binani Cement, Ambuja Cement, Madras Cement and J K Cement.

The CCI had found cement producers were in violation of the provisions of the Competition Act, 2002 which deals with anti-competitive agreements, including cartels. The order was passed following probe by CCI Director General (Investigation) on a complaint filed by Builders Association.

South Africa:PPC (Pretoria Portland Cement Company) plans to build a 1Mt/yr plant costing US$200m in the Democratic Republic of Congo, according to its chief executive in an interview with Reuters. The South African cement producer aims to make at least 40% of its sales outside of South Africa by 2016.

"By the last quarter of 2015 we should begin cement production almost simultaneously in Ethiopia, Rwanda and the DRC. Zimbabwe will probably be six to nine months later," said chief executive Ketso Gordhan. He added that PPC is also looking at opportunities in Zambia, Tanzania and Malawi.

PPC reported its interim results for the half-year ending on 31 March 2013 on 16 May 2013. Profit fell by 20% year-on-year to US434.8m but total revenue rose by 8% to US$409m. Gordhan added that rising cement sales volumes for the half-year had been tempered by low sales in Botswana.