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Spain: The European Commission intends to assess the proposed acquisition of Holcim's cement operations in Spain by Cemex following a request by Spanish authorities. The Commission decided that the transaction threatens to affect competition within Spain and that it is the best placed authority to assess the potential cross-border effects of the transaction. It has left a similar transaction between Cemex and Holcim in the Czech Republic to local regulators to examine.
In August 2013 the Mexican cement producer Cemex and Swiss multinational cement maker Holcim announced plans to swap assets in Europe. In Spain, Holcim and Cemex want to combine all their cement, ready-mix and aggregates operations. In the Czech Republic Cemex intends to acquire all of Holcim's assets. Other transactions are also prosed between the cement producers in Germany, France and the Netherlands.
Contracts for Gebr. Pfeiffer in Indonesia and Germany 17 October 2013
Germany: Dyckerhoff AG's Palatine cement plant in Göllheim, Germany has been operating an MPS 140 K mill for coal since 1983 and an old-style static classifer. As modern coal firing systems require a finer product quality, the customer has decided to purchase a high-efficiency SLS 1120 BK classifier from Gebr. Pfeiffer SE. The classifier is guaranteed to separate the material to a fineness of 3% R 90µm. It will be installed in mid February 2014.
Indonesia: Gebr. Pfeiffer SE, the German vertical roller mill manufacturer, is to supply five vertical roller mills to Indonesia's booming cement market.
China's Sinoma International Engineering Co. Ltd., acting as the general contractor for PT Cemindo Gemilang's new 10,000t/day cement production line in Bayah, Java, has ordered two MPS 5300 B vertical roller mills for raw material grinding, two MPS 5300 BC vertical roller mills for cement grinding and an MPS 4500 BK vertical roller mill for coal grinding.
The MPS raw mills are designed to achieve a capacity of 400t/hr each. The throughput rate of the cement mills will be 220t/hr each and the coal mill yielding 100t/hr will be the world's largest vertical roller mill to date for coal grinding.
The order includes the supply of workshop drawings to enable the local manufacture of the mill components and the supervision of manufacture at Chinese workshops. Erection and commissioning will be supervised by staff from Gebr. Pfeiffer. Delivery is slated for the third quarter of 2014.
Short cuts and shutdowns
Written by Global Cement staff
16 October 2013
If you try visiting the website of the United States Geological Survey (USGS) this week you are going to be disappointed.
As part of the on-going US federal government shutdown the site has been marked as 'unavailable'. Anyone in search of US cement data and a raft of other national and international statistics will have to wait. Ditto the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Although its website is still live, its last tweet on 1 October 2013 was, 'The federal government is currently shut down.'
Some cement producers in the US may be relieved that the EPA is on a hiatus. However if you cast your mind back to the Portland Cement Associations' (PCA) optimistic growth forecast in September 2013 you may remember the following from PCA chief economist Ed Sullivan. "Assuming Congress has learned its lesson from the fiscal cliff and will take a more rational approach with the upcoming debt limit discussions, political uncertainty and its adverse impact on the economy is expected to dissipate."
Whoops.
The construction industry will be watching carefully to see how planned future infrastructure spending emerges from the debacle. If it gets cut in the horse-trading then US cement consumption growth will take a blow. Meanwhile, if the residential construction market takes a knock due to all the uncertainty and general reduction of money in the economy from federal employees not working then cement consumption gets hit immediately. Hence Sullivan's get-out comments about Congress.
Perhaps what will really concentrate minds on the fragile state of the US construction economy is if a Chinese company buys into the cement industry, as is happening elsewhere around the world. As reported this week, the state-owned Chinese aerospace and defence company AVIC International made an offer to shareholders to take over German cement plant builder KHD Humboldt Wedag.
The US federal government needs to get back to work.
Guillaume Roux appointed Country CEO of Lafarge in Nigeria
Written by Global Cement staff
16 October 2013
Nigeria: Lafarge has announced the appointment of Guillaume Roux as the Country Chief Executive Officer for Nigeria and Benin Republic effective from September 2013. He succeeds Jean-Christophe Barbant.
Roux, a joint French and US national, is a graduate of the Institut d'Etudes Politiques in Paris. He joined the Lafarge Group in 1980 as an Internal Auditor.
After holding several key positions in the Finance Department in France and the United States, he was appointed as Vice President, Strategy and Marketing for North America in 1996 and later as Chief Executive of Lafarge operations in Turkey in 1999.
In 2002 he was given responsibility for Lafarge's cement operations in South-East Asia, a position he held until he joined the Executive Committee of Lafarge Group as Executive Vice President and Co President of the Cement Division, with the responsibility for the cement business in Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Africa in 2006.
Roux is a member of the Executive Committee for Lafarge Group and combines this role with his current responsibility for Lafarge's operations in Nigeria and Benin Republic. This is the first time a member of the Group Executive Committee will also be a Country CEO.
Sinoma signs US$277m clinker line project in Nigeria 16 October 2013
China: Sinoma International has announced that its subsidiary Sinoma Construction has signed a US$277m contract to build a 6250t/day clinker production line for the United Cement Company of Nigeria's Calabar plant. Sinoma will be responsible for equipment and steel structure supply, design, installation, civil construction, commissioning and training in the whole process from mine crushing to cement shipping. Construction of the cement mill is planned to be completed by the end of 2015. Construction of the clinker line is planned to be finished by mid-2016.