Global Cement News

France: Twelve Lafarge employees have gone on hunger-strike to oppose the closure of the company's plant in Frangey, Haute-Savoie, France. The French cement giant took the decision to close the site by April 2013 in May 2011 and the trade union CGT fears that Lafarge wants to close another five cement units in the future.

UK: Lafarge Cement's vision for the future is starting to take shape at the company's former cement works at Northfleet in Kent, UK, where it is conducting a major investment to reconnect rail freight facilities to the main north Kent line. Lafarge expects the rail sidings to be operational by mid February 2012.

The first main user of the restored line will be the cross-London rail project, Crossrail, which will transport excavated material from a tunnel bore near Paddington, London by train to Northfleet for onward transportation by ship.

Balfour Beatty Rail is carrying out all the design and construction of the new sidings and connection to the main line, whilst Chunnel Group has carried out the siding preparation works within the main site. The overall length of the rail link is around 2.25km and in total 4.75km of new track will be provided.

The 104-acre site is undergoing redevelopment by Lafarge in association with the Councils of Kent and Gravesham. The linkage of the site to the main line represents another important step in the regeneration of Northfleet embankment.

India: The Rajkot-based Kishan group of companies will increase its cement making capacity by investing USD53-63m to set up a new cement plant, which is expected to be commissioned by the end of November 2011. The company already operates a mini cement plant and markets cement under the brand name of Kishan Cement.

For the major cement plant, the Kishan group has formed a new company under the name of 'Hi-Bond Cement India Private Limited.' The group's director, Rajan Vadaliya Vadalia, who also heads the cement plant project, said that the production capacity of new cement plant would be 0.9Mt/yr, with the potential for further expansion in the future. Vadalia added that production would continue at the 0.2Mt/yr mini cement plant.

"The Kishan brand will help us to get new business because it has already a well known name," said Vadaliya. The company is focusing on Gujarat, Maharashtra, Rajasthan and some parts of Madhya Pradesh for marketing.

"Logistically it is costly to cater to the pan-India market, hence we are focusing on markets in western India. Meanwhile, we are also looking at export opportunities and our team is working on various options for exports," he said. He also reported that the machinery for the new cement plant was being imported by a well-known Danish company.

Hungary: The Austrian construction group Strabag SE has invested some Euro270m in the construction of a new cement plant in southern Hungary, according to Strabag's CEO Hans-Peter Haselsteiner. Strabag will work with its partner Austrian Lafarge Cement CE Holding on the construction of the 1.25Mt/yr facility. The plant will be used exclusively for Strabag's own construction activities, bringing operational savings to the group.

Haselsteiner expects depression in the construction industry over the upcoming years, but remains positive in the long run.

India: One of the leading cement makers in India, Ambuja Cements Ltd., has announced that it has acquired a 60% equity stake in fly ash maker Dirk India Pvt Ltd for USD3.5m. Ambuja Cement said that after the transaction is completed, Dirk and its subsidiary Dirk Pozzocrete will become units of the company.

Fly ash, which is produced by burning coal, can be added to cement as a supplementary material, enabling reductions in both production cost and the amount of carbon dioxide produced from cement manufacture.