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Xella acquires Macon Group including lime plant 20 December 2017
Romania: Xella has signed an agreement with two Polish private equity funds managed by Enterprise Investors (EI) to acquire the Macon Group. The Romanian building materials producer operates the Simcor Var lime plant as well as producing concrete and tile products. The transaction is subject to approval by the relevant competition authorities. The deal is expected to be completed in the first half of 2018. No value for the acquisition has been disclosed.
"With the acquisition of Macon, Xella becomes one of the market leaders in the Romanian building materials market and Romania’s main manufacturer in autoclaved aerated concrete (AAC). Xella becomes a major player in lime and precast concrete,” said Xella Group chief executive officer (CEO) Jochen Fabritius.
Lafarge Zambia fined for market abuse 20 December 2017
Zambia: The Board of Commissioners of the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) has fined Lafarge Zamiba over US$19,000 for abusing loyalty discount schemes, price discrimination and excessive pricing. The fine represents 10% of its annual turnover in 2012, according to the Times of Zambia newspaper. It follows an investigation in the cement producer from mid-2013 following accusations of ‘persistent’ price rises.
The CCPC says that Lafarge Zambia’s pricing policy discriminated the domestic market against the export market and particularly distorted the sector in Lusaka. It has ordered the company to cease and desist such behaviour and to report to the board in early 2018 regarding how it is complying with the ruling.
Lafarge Zambia operates two cement plants in the country. It says it made revenues of US$171,000 in 2016.
Nigeria: Workers at Lafarge Africa’s Mfamosing cement plant have complained about an alleged dominance of expatriates at the company. The workers say that most of the departments have been ‘taken over’ by foreign staff, according to the Punch newspaper. Affected divisions include utilities, security, logistics, finance and safety departments. However, Folashade Ambrose-Medebem, the director for Communications, Public Affairs and Sustainable Development at Lafarge Africa, has denied the claims. She said out of the 95 expatriate allocations approved by the Ministry of Interior for the Mfamosing plant only seven of the positions are occupied by foreign workers, a figure less than the 10% approved expatriate allocation rate.
Indian cement producers hit by rise in import duty on petcoke 19 December 2017
India: The government has raised the import duty on petcoke to 10% from 2.5%. This follows the abolition of a ban on petcoke and furnace oil to the cement and power industries in Delhi, Haryana, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh by the Supreme Court, according to Reuters. The increase in import duty is expected to create a rise in coal imports as companies change their energy mix. Shree Cement, JK Cement, J K Lakshmi Cement, UltraTech Cement and Mangalam Cement are all expected to be particularly affected by the tariff change. India is the world’s biggest consumer of petcoke, with much of it imported from refineries in the US.
Penna Cement orders mill from Loesche 19 December 2017
India: Penna Cement has ordered a vertical roller mill from Loesche for its cement plant at Boyareddypalli in Andhra Pradesh. The mill will be equipped with four rollers to grind petcoke with a throughput capacity of 52t/hr, 3% R on 90μm. The delivery of the order to be managed by Loesche India and is scheduled to take place at the start of 2018. No value for the order has been disclosed. The mill upgrade will increase the plant’s cement production capacity to 4.6Mt/yr from 2Mt/yr.