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First cement plant project for McNally Bharat 19 December 2012
India: McNally Bharat Engineering Company Ltd (MBEL), a Williamson Magor group company, has booked an engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract worth US$133.5m from ACC Ltd to set up a 9000t/day (~2.9Mt/yr) brownfield cement facility at its existing plant at Jamul, Chhattisgarh. The deal was announced by Deepak Khaitan, chairman of MBEL, at a press conference in the city on 17 December 2012. The plant will be set up with technology from Germany's KHD Humboldt Wedag.
"This order is a major milestone for us as it flags off MBEL's entry into the cement plant construction business," said Khaitan. "This will open up opportunities for MBEL as an EPC contractor for the Indian cement industry."
The company has also opened offices in South Africa to carry out engineering contracts in Africa. "Our emphasis will be to expand our footprint globally," said Khaitan.
Suez Cement production threatened by fuel price hike 19 December 2012
Egypt: Suez Cement has announced that it may have to halt production at two of its production lines due to an increase in the price of mazut, a heavy, low-quality fuel oil. The Egyptian government has raised the price of the fuel by 130% to US$372/t, effective 15 December 2012. Both of the threatened lines use mazut as their main energy source. The group has a domestic market share of around 20%.
Civil unrest in Assam delays Bhutan plant 19 December 2012
Bhutan/India: On-going civil unrest in the Indian state of Assam is delaying the construction of a US$173m plant being built in Chengkari in south-east Bhutan. The project is facing delays partly due to disorder in Assam that has impacted upon its supply channels.
In addition, a severe shortage of Indian rupees in Bhutan, due to a rise in aggregate demand for the currency and limited supply, has had an impact on the project as most of the materials for the projects are sourced from India. The Indian government is providing US$54.6m towards the project in financial support. The project is expected to commence operation in May 2013, which if met, would represent a delay of nearly 15 months. Clinker production is expected to commence soon.
The project is being implemented by Dungsam Cement Corporation Limited, which is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Druk Holding and Investments, an investment arm of the Royal Government of Bhutan. The plant will have production capacity of 1Mt/yr for clinker and 1.36Mt/yr for cement.
Spanish cement consumption drops by a third in 2012 18 December 2012
Spain: Cement consumption in Spain will close 2012 with a drop of 33% year-on-year, the fifth double-digit decline in a row, according to data from the country's association of cement producers Oficemen.
Oficemen expects that the demand will also shrink by 20% in 2013, until it reaches the levels similar to those in Morocco and Ecuador. Spanish cement consumption was at a 48-year low after the first half of 2012.
Meanwhile, the Spanish cement and building materials producer Sociedad de Cementos y Materiales de Construccion de Andalucia, controlled by Portuguese cement group Cimpor, is negotiating the lay-off of 35 staff with its employees and trade unions. The proposed move will affect 25 staff at its plant in Cordoba and 10 employees at a factory in Niebla.
Holcim slashes European management to save Euro99m 17 December 2012
Switzerland: As part of its on-going 'Leadership Journey' Swiss multinational cement producer Holcim has announced that it will be reducing its management structure in Europe to cope with lower levels of construction activity in the region. The group says that proposed measures evaluated and existing ones will lead to annual cost savings of at least Euro99m, a better utilisation rate of capacity and a more efficient allocation of capital expenditure.
The additional cash costs for restructuring in the fourth quarter of 2012 will amount to approximately Euro83.8m including site restoration costs. Write-offs of property, plant and equipment will total Euro339m and will be charged in the fourth quarter of 2012. Consultation procedures with regards to impact on personnel have been initiated in some group companies.
The restructuring accelerates the implementation of the Holcim Leadership Journey. The major part of the anticipated cash costs of Euro166m to realise the Holcim Leadership Journey will be incurred in 2012. The group's payout potential for the 2012 financial year (pre-write-offs) remains. The board of directors will propose the level of the payout at the end of February 2013, as part of the year-end financial statement to be submitted to the annual general meeting.