Argentina: Loma Negra’s sales and earnings have increased due to a strong market recovery in its domestic market. Its sales revenue rose by 54.8% year-on-year to US$752m in 2017 from US$486m in 2016. Its adjusted earnings before, interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) rose by 67.7% to US$194m from US$116m. Its cement and lime sales rose by 18.6% to 6.99Mt from 5.89Mt. The cement producer also benefited from an increased equity share of Paraguay’s Yguazú Cementos during the year.

“2017 was a pivotal year for Loma Negra marked by achieving significant milestones. Key events for the company last year included: volume and sales expansion benefitting from the economic momentum in Argentina, record EBITDA, commenced expansion of the L’Amalí plant and ending the year with the successful Initial Public Offering (IPO) – the largest Argentine IPO in almost 25 years and the largest ever for a cement company,” said Sergio Faifman, Loma Negra’s Chief Executive Officer.

Australia: The New South Wales Environment Protection Authority (EPA) has fined Port Kembla Milling’s cement and slag grinding plant US$23,000 for allegedly storing raw materials in the open, in breach of its licence conditions. Raw materials, including gypsum and limestone, were allegedly stored in the open at the subsidiary of Cement Australia on at least five occasions since January 2016 in breach of the site’s planning approval and licence conditions. Such materials should be stored in an enclosed location to prevent dust emissions.

“The requirement to store materials in an enclosed building is a key way to ensure dust emissions from bulk materials are prevented. A measure that is very important given the residential areas near Port Kembla port,” said EPA Regional Director Metropolitan Giselle Howard.

In addition to the fines, the EPA has also required Port Kembla Milling to complete an independent raw materials handling audit to confirm appropriate storage and management systems are put in place. The company has made some initial steps to respond to this request, and the EPA will continue to work with the licensee to ensure full compliance.

Bolivia: Residents near the Potosí cement plant being built by Empresa Publica Productiva Cementos de Bolivia (ECEBOL) are querying the project. They say that they never signed the paperwork to transfer land to accommodate the facility, according to the El Potosí newspaper. However, they say they are not opposing the project. They merely want preferential treatment such as compensation for old people that will be affected by the project and agreements for transport and jobs for local people.

India: NCL Industries has completed a production capacity upgrade project for both clinker and cement. Commercial operations for the upgrade started on 7 March 2018. The cement producer increased its clinker capacity to 2.6Mt/yr and cement capacity to 2.7Mt/yr in 2017. It operates an integrated cement plant at Simhapuri in Telangana and a cement grinding plant at Kondapalli in Andhra Pradesh. It sells cement under the Nagarjuna Cement brand.