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CRH linked to purchase of Suwannee American Cement 02 October 2017
US: Ireland’s CRH is close to agreeing a purchase of Suwannee American Cement from Votorantim Cimentos and Anderson Columbia. The deal is valued at US$750m, according to sources quoted by Bloomberg. However, this is an extremely high value for a single cement plant sale in the US. Suwannee American Cement operates a 1Mt/yr plant at Branford in Florida.
Brazilian governor seeks reopening of Itapissuma cement plant 02 October 2017
Brazil: Wellington Dias, the governor of Piauí, is seeking the reopening of the Itapissuma cement plant. Owners João Santos Group closed the plant in March 2017 due to an 80% drop in sales caused by the country’s poor economy. Around 500 employees were laid off, according to the state government. The cement producer planned to make a final decision on the future of the plant by the end of September 2017. However, the governor has intervened to try and coordinate the purchase of the plant by a local business consortium.
North American cement unions meet in Toronto 02 October 2017
Canada: Representatives of US and Canadian cement industry unions have met in Toronto. International Brotherhood of Teamsters from the US and Canada, the United Steelworkers from Canada and the US, the International Brotherhood of Boilermakers and the Fédération de l’Industrie Manufacturière from Canada attended the third meeting of the North America Cement Network, according to the IndustriAll Global Union. The participants exchanged ideas about over collective bargaining issues, the current situation in the cement industry and the latest developments in deals such as the CRH purchase of Ash Grove.
Cementir defends conduct in illegal waste investigation 29 September 2017
Italy: Cementir has defended its conduct in an illegal waste investigation. It expressed ‘full confidence’ in the Prosecutor’s Office of Lecce following the decision by a judge to seize a power plant run by Enel, according to Reuters. The probe is exploring whether Cementir Italia’s Taranto plant purchased ‘illegal’ by-products from Enel and the ILVA steel plant to produce cement. Cementir confirmed that it had regularly purchased fly ash for its Taranto plant but that this ended at the start of 2016. It added that its use of sludge in cement production was covered by an Integrated Environmental Authorisation.
Board of Investments clears Eagle Cement for expansion of Bulacan plant 29 September 2017
Philippines: The Board of Investments (BOI) has approved Eagle Cement’s application to build a third production line at its Bulacan cement plant. The cement producer plans to increase the site’s clinker production capacity to 4.2Mt/yr from 2.8Mt/yr and its cement production capacity to 7.1Mt/yr from 5.1Mt/yr, according to the Philippine Star newspaper. The upgrade has a cost of around US$138m.
The BOI, part of the attached agency of Department of Trade and Industry, has also approved an application by Eagle Cement’s subsidiary South Western Cement Corp. (SWCC) to become a new cement producer on a non-pioneer status but with pioneer incentives.