Global Cement News

UK: A worker was killed in an industrial accident at the Cemex plant in Rugby in the early hours of this morning.

A spokesman for the plant confirmed that a man working for a sub-contractor was killed at the plant and emergency services attended the scene. Police officers and the Health and Safety Executive are currently at the site investigating what happened. Another man suffered a broken arm in the incident and had to be taken to hospital for treatment.

Cemex community affairs manager Ian Southcott said, "Regrettably one person has died and our thoughts and sympathies are with their family and friends. Cemex is cooperating fully with all of the investigations taking place." Southcott refused to reveal any more details about the accident while investigations are on-going.

The cement plant is currently in its annual shutdown period for regular maintenance. There are a number of contractors working on the site as a result. In December 2011 Cemex was fined for a worker's death in 2008 at the same plant.

Pakistan: The Competition Commission of Pakistan (CCP) has conducted searches and inspections at the premises of the All Pakistan Cement Manufacturers Association (APCMA) and Kohat Cement in Lahore under Section 34 of the Competition Act 2010. It said that it carried out the searches to look for proof of suspected cartelisation in the cement sector.

According to a statement issued by the CCP, it had obtained information from an informant that contained copies of certain e-mails that had been sent by the Secretary of APCMA to cement manufacturers. The contents of the e-mails provided by the informant revealed that the cement manufactures had prima facie collectively devised a vigilance plan by which the cement dispatches at one cement production unit are monitored by a team of another unit and vice versa.

Such monitoring of cement dispatches was previously recognised as an integral part of a collusive arrangement among the cement manufacturers. The CCP has declared such arrangements to be in violation of Section 4 of the Competition Act 2010. It imposed a penalty of nearly US$700m on the APCMA and its members. This matter has been taken to court and is still pending.

The fresh probe by CCP was based on a separate set of facts that suggested that the cement manufacturers have again formed a collusive arrangement and to ensure compliance the monitoring function is being performed by cement manufacturers themselves under the auspices of APCMA. When the CCP search and inspection team arrived at the APCMA premises, it discovered that the APCMA secretary was not present in the office and all the records were locked. After initial hesitation the APCMA allowed the CCP to access the data. A search and inspection was also carried out at of the office of the APCMA President, who is also the Chief Executive of Kohat Cement.

Local media has long speculated that cartelisation was in place in the cement sector based on rapid cement price increases in recent months. Pakistan's cement capacity utilisation also dropped to a 10-year low of 69.7% in the six months to 31 December 2011. "The expected turn around in the economy did not materialise because the capacity of the sector continued to increase," said a spokesman from the APCMA, commenting before the CCP inspections were made. He said that expansions in the cement sector had been planned several years ago when the economy had been in a far better situation.

Spain: Spain's competition watchdog CNC has imposed a fine of Euro11.1m on five cement companies, namely Cementos Portland, Beriain, Cetya, Vresa and Cemex España, which have been accused of setting up a cartel in northern Spain.

Cementos Portland was ordered to pay Euro5.72m, followed by Beriain with a Euro2.5m fine. Next came Cetya and Vresa with fines of Euro1.14m and Euro0.96m respectively. Cemex España will be forced to forfeit Euro0.5m.

South Korea: South Korea's cement exports reached an all-time high in 2011 as domestic manufacturers turned their eyes overseas amid a deepening domestic property slump.

The Korea Cement Association (KCA) said that South Korean cement manufacturers exported a total of 4.49Mt of cement in 2011, up a massive 62% from the 2.77Mt exported in 2010. The total amount of clinker and cement exported by South Korea rose to 9.97Mt, surpassing the 2010 record of 7.53Mt.

The KCA said that the long-running slump in the local construction market had forced its domestic companies to make inroads into overseas markets and diversify their business portfolios. "Cement makers sought to sell their products in overseas markets because the local demand for cement was so low," said an official from a local cement manufacturer.

India: Dalmia Cement Bharat Ltd. (DCBL), a subsidiary of Dalmia Bharat Enterprises, has picked up a 50% stake in Assam-based Calcom Cement India (Calcom) for an investment US$47m. Calcom is in the process of expanding its consolidated cement manufacturing capacity to 2.1Mt/yr.

Amit Chaudhery, group corporate communications at Dalmia Bharat Group, said, "DCBL has arrived at an in-principle agreement with Assam-based Calcom Cement for a 50% stake in that company. Calcom Cement has a robust presence in markets of the northeast. The 50% ownership of this 2.1Mt/yr semi-commissioned plant is the first concrete example of the non-organic, acquisition-based growth strategy of DCBL."

DCBL's move is part of its larger aims to expand its cement business to northern and northeastern. Dalmia has 9.5Mt/yr capacity and holds little over 45% in Orissa Cements, which has a capacity of around 5.5M/yr. The company is also looking to set up two greenfield plants in Karnataka with a capacity of 2.5Mt/yr each.