Global Cement News

India: ACC Limited has announced plans to set up a new clinker production facility at Jamul in Chhattisgarh, replacing its existing line at the plant. Currently the plant can produce 1.6Mt/yr of cement. The expansion will see this figure rise to 5Mt/yr by mid-2015. The existing line will be phased out as the new one is commissioned.

Along with the announcement, ACC also said that it is planning to set up decentralised grinding stations, which will use clinker produced at Jamul. These will be implemented in a phased manner and are scheduled for completion by March 2015.

At the same time, ACC will also increase its existing grinding capacity at its Sindri plant in Jharkhand. Another new grinding plant is currently being built at Kharagpur in West Bengal. Both installations will source clinker from the new Jamul plant.

The overall capacity of ACC will increase to 35Mt/yr when all these projects are completed, helping the company to meet the demand for cement in the east of India.

Lafarge UK has scored a notable success recently at its Cookstown Works reaching 10 years without a lost-time injury (LTI). It has emerged that this is the longest a Lafarge Group plant anywhere in the world has gone without a LTI. Cookstown also set the record the previous year in 2011, showing how far ahead it is of the rest of the group.

LTIs are generally defined as any work related injury or illness which prevents a worker from doing any work the day after the accident. Another similar measure is Lost Time Injury Frequency Rate (LTIFR), which takes into account hours worked by staff.

For example, in April 2011 Global Cement Magazine interviewed the safety manager at the Ste. Genevieve plant in Missouri, USA. He revealed a rate of zero lost-time incidents rate over the last 1.2 million-man hours and no LTIs over the last 700 days. Through construction the plant employed 2300 personnel and then 200 operational employees when it went live. By comparison Cookstown employs only 80 workers. Its LTIFR will be much lower.

The Mineral Products Association recorded a 81% reduction in LTIs between 2004 and 2009 for the UK cement industry. It has since set itself the further target to halve the LTIFR between 2009 and 2014. As of 2009 the UK LTIFR for direct employees was 3.59 per million hours worked. The MPAs target LTIFR for 2014 is 1.79 or lower.

Regardless of how you present the figures the Cookstown Plant LTI achievement is impressive. The challenge, as ever, lies in bettering it.

TÇMB: Board members of the Turkish Cement Manufacturer's Association (TÇMB) were selected at its 54th General Assembly in Ankara on 28 February 2012. The board re-elected Mustafa Güçlü as the Chairman of Board of the TÇMB by acclamation.

An economics graduate from Ankara University, Güçlü has held positions in the Turkish Finance Ministry and Foreign Trade Inc, becoming the General Manager of General Directorate of State Monopolies in 1991. In May 2000, Güçlü started to work as the General Coordinator and the Chairman of Executive Committee in Çimentaş Group.

Hanson UK (HeidelbergCement): Chris Coton, Hanson UK's concrete technical services manager for the south west, died suddenly on 26 February 2012. Coton, aged 59, began his career at the Swansea plant of the now-defunct Pioneer, which was acquired by Hanson, part of the HeidelbergCement group, in 2000.

Coton became area technical manager for Hanson in 2000 and in 2004 he became technical services manager responsible for over 40 concrete plants. Hanson's national technical director Charlie Jones, said, "Chris was a great character and well respected throughout the industry. I will miss him greatly as I am sure many of his colleagues will. He was a good friend and an industry stalwart. Our condolences go to his wife Elaine."

China: On 5 March 2012 Premier Wen Jiabao lowered China's growth target for 2012 to 7.5% from 8%, signalling Beijing's determination to manage a 'soft landing' to moderate its runaway economic expansion. The slowdown will likely hit China's construction sector, which accounts for most of China's rampant cement consumption. China exported only 10.6Mt/yr of cement in 2011, just 1.1% of national output. The worries over China's plans are affecting certainty in all major materials markets.

Credit Suisse described China's more moderate growth target as 'acceptance of slower medium-term growth.' It also said that infrastructure spending was on a downward trend due to the completion of many large highway, railway and airport projects.

Despite this, Guo Wensan the chairman of China's largest cement producer Anhui Conch, has announced that demand for cement remains strong in China. He said that the government's drive to push the construction of subsidised affordable housing is successfully offsetting declining cement demand from the private housing market.

Guo said that cement demand from the 10 million affordable housing units started in 2011 will peak from the second quarter of 2012 onwards. "This year there will be another 7 million public housing starts, so we remain confident," he said. Guo added that the cement industry has benefited from consolidation since the start of 2011, which has seen the removal of older, inefficient kilns and the closure of some companies.

France: The board of directors of Ciments Français, part of the Italcementi Group, has examined and approved the audited annual and consolidated accounts as of 31 December 2011, which show a net consolidated profit of Euro274m, a 13.7% drop year-on-year.

Cement sales volumes for the entire year were down by 1.4% at 42.4Mt. Ciments Français Cement sales improved in France, North America, Morocco and India but decreased in Egypt due to the political crisis there. An overall fall in demand, strong inflation on fuel prices and negative translation effects resulted in deterioration in the company's operating results. These impacts were only partly mitigated by efficiency measures implemented throughout the year.

As of 31 December 2011, Group consolidated revenues were Euro3.89bn, down by 3.8% year-on-year. Its recurring earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) amounted to Euro702m, down by over 20% year-on-year. Earnings before interest and tax dropped by 38% to Euro309m following recognition of Euro359m in depreciations and Euro53.4m in impairment losses, mainly in crisis-hit Spain and Greece.

Group investments in industrial and intangible assets amounted to Euro301m as of 31 December 2011, down by 25.6% compared to 31 December 2010. They mainly related to the strengthening of production in France, Belgium and Egypt and an increase of production capacity in India and Morocco.

A tight management of cash flows, the disposal of assets in Turkey and the sale of subsidiary Axim contributed to strengthen Ciments Français' net financial position. At the end of December 2011, its net financial debt was reduced by Euro390m to Euro1.02bn compared to Euro1.41bn as of 31 December 2010.

Regarding 2012 Ciments Français reported that the markets in which it operates should be more stable. Sales volumes are expected to stabilise at a level similar to that of 2011, increasing in North America and Morocco while declining in southern Europe. Egypt remains a source of uncertainty. Prices are likely to trend more positively and partially offset the rise in energy costs and the impact of inflation on fixed costs. Additionally, the efficiency programs launched in 2011 should increase operating results in 2012.

The group will initiate a new cycle of investments in 2012 related to its industrial facilities, mainly in Gulbarga, India and Bulgaria. In Morocco, the group expects a new expansion phase after the commissioning of the Ait Baha plant.