Global Cement News
Search Cement News
Silo collapses at Fauji Cement plant in Pakistan 01 June 2016
Pakistan: A raw meal silo has collapsed at the Fauji Cement Company plant at Tehsil Fateh Jang, Punjab. The structure containing 25,000t of raw material collapsed on 29 May 2016 also causing damage to the coal mill area of second production line. The company reported no casualties.
Fauji Cement has shutdown its 7200t/day second production line following the incident. It expects that the line will remain closed for approximately five to six months. However, dispatches out of stock will continue as the plant’s cement mills are operating normally. The plant’s 3700t/day first production line is currently undergoing planned maintenance and will resume production soon.
The cement plant’s second production line was completed and started in 2011.
Brazil: InterCement’s sales have fallen by 28% year-on-year to Euro454m for the first quarter of 2016 from Euro637m in the same period in 2015. Its cement and clinker sales volumes fell by 11.2% to 6.03Mt from 6.79Mt. Its earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) fell by 36.2% to Euro77.9m from Euro122m. The group blamed the falling sales on construction market contraction in Brazil and negative currency effects in certain territories.
The Brazilian-based cement producer reported sales volumes declines in most countries it operates in. Cement and clinker sales volumes fell by 17% to 2.27Mt in Brazil, by 34.8% to 0.73Mt/yr in Portugal and by 7.1% to 1.41Mt in Argentina. However, volumes rose by 26.3% to 0.37Mt in Mozambique and by 2.8% to 0.32Mt/yr in South Africa. Overall sales volumes declines were attributed to the political instability, economic problems in Brazil and decreased exports from Portugal to Algeria due to issues with import licences.
Summit Materials appoints Joseph S Cantie as director
Written by Global Cement staff
01 June 2016
US: Summit Materials has appointed Joseph S Cantie as a new director, also serving on the Audit Committee. With the appointment of Cantie, Summit’s board now comprises eight members.
Cantie is the former Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of ZF TRW, a division of ZF Friedrichshafen, a global automotive supplier, a position he held from May 2015 until January 2016. He served in similar roles at TRW Automotive Holdings Corp., which was acquired by ZF Industries in May 2015, since 2003. Prior to that time, Cantie held other executive positions at TRW, which he joined in 1999. From 1996 to 1999, Cantie served in several executive positions with LucasVarity, including serving as Vice President and Controller. Prior to joining LucasVarity, Cantie spent 10 years with KPMG. He is currently a director for TopBuild Corp. where he serves on the Audit, Compensation and Governance Committees, and for Delphi Automotive PLC where he serves on the Audit and Finance Committees.
Cantie is a certified public accountant and holds a Bachelor of Science degree from the State University of New York at Buffalo.
Indonesia: Holcim Indonesia plans to focus its exports of cement towards Australia, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh in 2016 amidst unstable demand at home. Holcim Indonesia’s chief financial officer Mark Schmidt emphasised the company’s increasing desire to export more whilst not mentioning any specific export sales targets in comments that were reported by the Jakarta Post.
Gary Schutz, the president-director of Holcim Indonesia, reinforced the importance of government spending plants towards meeting the country’s cement demand in a press release published after the company’s May 2016 annual general meeting. “We are concerned that government spending plans – especially those for infrastructure – should be realised on time and in full this year. Infrastructure alongside housing development are both vital catalysts in achieving planned growth rates for the economy. It is equally important in order that Indonesia stays competitive with in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Economic Community.”
The Indonesian subsidiary of LafargeHolcim increased its cement production capacity to 15Mt/yr from 11Mt/yr after acquiring Lafarge Cement Indonesia and starting operations at the Tuban II plant in East Java.
Tanga Cement to start building new kiln 31 May 2016
Tanzania: Tanga Cement plans to build a new clinker kiln that will increase its clinker production capacity to 1.2Mt/yr from 0.5Mt/yr. The upgrade is expected to cost US$135m, according to East African Business Week.
“This additional capacity is expected to satisfy the consistent demand for cement from both the Tanzanian market and markets beyond the country's borders into the immediate future,” said Lawrence Masha, Tanga’s chairman of the board of directors, at the company’s annual general meeting.