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Pakistan: The Competition Commission of Pakistan (CCP) has fined four cement producers for deceptive marketing practices in violation of the Competition Act 2010. Fines of US$1.8m each have been levied on Al-Abbas Cement, Attock Cement, Bestway Cement and Lucky Cement.
A CCP official said that the commission is mandated under the Competition Act 2010 to ensure fair competition in all spheres of commercial and economic activities. The Competition Commission of Pakistan is committed to maintain transparency for enhancing economic efficiency and to protect consumers from anticompetitive practices, including deceptive marketing.
West China Cement reports loss for first half of 2016 03 October 2016
China: West China Cement Limited has reported that its made a loss of US$17m in the first half of 2016 down from a profit of US$0.36m in the same period in 2015. Its revenue fell by 4% to US$244m from US$253m. Its gross profit fell by 29% to US$22.9m from US$32.3m.
Palestine Investment Fund launches cement plant project 03 October 2016
Palestine: The Palestine Investment Fund (PIF), the investment arm of the Palestinian Authority, has launched the first phase of a new cement plant, the first in the Palestinian areas. Investment in the plant is expected to reach US$310m and production will start in 2018.
The opening ceremony took place at the Jaser Palace in Bethlehem under the patronage of President Mahmoud Abbas. PIF chairman of the board Mohammad Mustafa attended the event with Louai Kawas, chief executive officer of Sanad Construction Industries Company, a PIF-owned company in charge of the plant.
Sanad Construction Industries Company was established in 1994 for the purpose of meeting the needs of the Palestinian construction market such as the provision of building material. The cement plant is intended to provide 90% of the cement needs for the Palestinian construction market. At present cement for the territory is purchased from Jordan and Israel.
Cemex to sell 23% stake in Grupo Cementos de Chihuahua 03 October 2016
Mexico: Cemex wants to sell its 23% stake in Grupo Cementos de Chihuahua through a secondary public offering. Cemex has asked the Comisión Nacional Bancaria y de Valores, Mexico's banking and securities regulator (CNBV), to approve the planned transaction, under which the Mexican building materials company will offer the shares to domestic and foreign investors in a concurrent private placement. The sale will be part of Cemex’s previously announced asset disposal plan. The company wants to sell up to US$2bn worth of assets to reduce its debts.
Lafarge Canada to test burning tyres at its Brookfield plant 30 September 2016
Canada: Lafarge Canada has started a partnership with Dalhousie University researcher Mark Gibson to test tyre-derived fuel on an industrial scale at the Brookfield cement plant in Nova Scotia. Working under a Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) Discovery Grant, this initiative will research the adoption of low carbon fuels in the cement industry. The research will continue the partnership between Lafarge Canada and Dalhousie's Faculty of Engineering.
"My students and I are very pleased to see this work enter the real world. Based on our research, we expect to see significant reductions in greenhouse gas emissions from the Brookfield cement plant and thereby help Nova Scotia move one step closer to a low carbon economy," said Gibson. He added that the use of tires will also reduce NOx emissions. In 2015, Gibson and his team published a report entitled ‘Use of scrap tyres as an alternative fuel source at the Lafarge cement kiln, Brookfield, Nova Scotia.’
Due to different initiatives including previous work with Dalhousie's Faculty of Engineering, the Brookfield plant has substituted alternative fuels for conventional ones by using front-end burner injection in its kiln. The plant is expected to reach a substitution rate of up to 30% by the end of 2016. Following the test using tyres the cement producer expects to use 15% of its fuel requirements from 450,000 tyres per year, or just under half the amount of tyres generated in Nova Scotia. The project proposal will be explained in further detail at a Public Meeting planned for 20 October 2016 in Brookfield.