21 September 2017
CRH buys Ash Grove Cement for US$3.5bn 21 September 2017
US: Ireland’s CRH has agreed to buy Ash Grove Cement for US$3.5bn. The American cement producer operates eight cement plants across eight US states, combined with ready mix concrete, aggregates and associated logistics assets across the US midwest. Once shareholder and regulatory approval is obtained the deal is expected to complete by the end of 2017.
"Ash Grove is an excellent addition to CRH's portfolio of businesses across North America as we seek to deploy our capital into high quality businesses that enhance our global asset base and provide opportunities to create shareholder value. We welcome the Ash Grove team to CRH and look forward to further developing our longstanding relationship as part of one company," said Albert Manifold, chief executive of CRH.
Before the purchase agreement Ash Grove Cement was the largest domestically-owned cement producer in the US. The company has operated for 135 years and over a century of this time it has been run by the Sunderland family.
Investigators question Lafarge Syria workers 21 September 2017
France: French investigators have interviewed three former Lafarge Syria workers as part of an inquiry in to the company’s conduct in Syria. A computer worker, an engineer and packing line worker at one of the company’s cement plants travelled from Syria to be questioned, according to the Agence France Presse. The trio are the first witnesses to be called by the judicial inquiry that started in June 2017. It is investigating whether the subsidiary of Lafarge indirectly paid armed groups, including the ‘Islamic State’ group, to keep its plant during the Syrian Civil War.
AfriSam describes offer to PPC as ‘fair’ 21 September 2017
South Africa: AfriSam has described its offer with Fairfax Financial Holdings to buy a stake in PPC for US$154m as ‘fair.’ In a questions and answer statement on its website it commented that the “…Partial Offer and Merger reflect the fair and relative value of PPC and AfriSam based on the unaffected market price for PPC shares and other valuation benchmarks.” PPC described the offer to its shareholders as low and has confirmed that it has been in communication with other potential bidders, including Nigeria’s Dangote Cement.
Aalborg Portland inaugurates terminal at Rochefort 21 September 2017
France: Denmark’s Aalborg Portland has inaugurated its terminal at Rochefort. The Atlantic port terminal is intended to supply the west of France, according to the Sud-Ouest newspaper. The terminal has a capacity of 4900t and it has been operational since May 2017.
DG Khan Cement’s annual profit falls by 6.3% to US$74.5m 21 September 2017
Pakistan: DG Khan Cement’s profit after taxation has fallen by 6.3% year-on-year to US$74.5m in the financial year that ended on 30 June 2017 from US$79.5m in the same period in 2016. It blamed the decline on its expensive coal inventory, higher power costs and low prices, according to the News International newspaper. Despite this its sales revenue rose slightly to US$308m.
Christian Pfeiffer runs training seminar 21 September 2017
Germany: Christian Pfeiffer has run a training seminar for cement plant workers at its headquarters in Beckum. Over the four-day course attendees learned about developments in grinding and separation technologies and different grinding techniques. The seminar also included a visit to a cement grinding mill at the Wotan cement plant in Üxheim-Ahütte. Christian Pfeiffer supplied and put this unit into operation in 2010.
Akhangarancement opens refractory plant 21 September 2017
Uzbekistan: Akhangarancement has launched a 3500t/yr refractory plant. The unit was built by China’s Henan Dufu Machinery Manufacturing as part of an agreement between the Uzbek company and Russia’s Eurocement group, according to Uz Daily. The Uzbekistan refractory market is 7000t/yr and the new plant is anticipated to cover half of this. The plant also plans to increase its production capacity to 10,000t/yr to cover the local market and start exporting materials.
Kuraray to buy Calgon Carbon 21 September 2017
US: Kuraray has entered into an agreement to buy Calgon Carbon for over US$1.3bn. Calgon Carbon produces filtration technologies and systems for a variety of industries, including cement. The deal will be subject to shareholder and regulatory approval. It is expected to be completed by the end of 2017. Kuraray, a Japanese chemical company, intends to run Calgon Carbon as a subsidiary.