11 August 2015
Cement plant worker killed in Maharashtra 11 August 2015
India: A 27-year-old man identified as Jaheed Khan was killed and his body was dumped in the residential quarters of a cement plant in Revati, Maharashtra where he worked, according to the Press Trust of India. Assistant police inspector G K Matondkar of the Ganeshpuri police station said that Jaheed Khan was stabbed to death between 6 and 7 August 2015. The body was found on 10 August 2015. An investigation is ongoing.
Philippines: Holcim Philippines will invest up to US$40m to expand its production capacity from 8Mt/yr to 10Mt/yr target by the end of 2016.
Holcim Philippines president and CEO Eduardo A Sahagun said that the company was gearing up to improve its facilities in Calaca and Mabini in Batangas, as well as in Norzagaray in Bulacan. Sahagun said that the newly-acquired Star terminal of Lafarge Republic would also increase its production capacity.
"We are reviving a lot of projects. Our Calaca plant is easily adjustable to additional volume as well as the Mabini plant and the Star terminal. The Star terminal could double our capacity. Cement demand is growing and we have no option but to raise our supply," said Sahagun. He expects to see surging market demand due to new public-private partnership (PPP) projects and as more infrastructure major players in the country have announced expansion plans.
"The market prospects remain bright as construction activity is expected to continue," said Sahagun. He attributed the growth to higher private construction activities and accelerated government infrastructure spending.
"Our investment in plant upgrades allows our plants to run longer before scheduled maintenance activities. This will pay off in the current market environment as we are able to meet the demands of customers," Sahagun added.
China: Guangdong Tapai's net profit in the first half of 2015 fell by 47.8% year-on-year to US$29.9m, according to Reuters.
James Hardie faces class action over HardieTex 11 August 2015
New Zealand: Victims of leaky homes are being urged to join a class action being formed against James Hardie over one of its fibre cement cladding products, HardieTex.
Law firm Parker & Associates has filed a High Court case on behalf of a Wellington couple, who have claimed that HardieTex was the cause of their US$200,000 leaky home problem. The claim alleges that James Hardie was negligent in the design, manufacture and supply of HardieTex, which was used to build thousands of houses through the 1990s and early 2000s. Building owners who have suffered damage have until December 2015 to join the action.
The country manager for James Hardie in New Zealand, Justin Burgess, said that HardieTex is no longer on the market.
Zambezi Portland Cement lays off 47 employees 11 August 2015
Zambia: Some 47 employees at Zambezi Portland in Ndola have been laid off while a further 63 are earmarked for retrenchment. The redundancies are due to reduction in business volume at the cement company, which is now faced with stiff competition from the newly commissioned Dangote Cement plant.
Zambezi Portland Cement operations director Danielle Ventriglia confirmed the retrenchment and said that the affected workers had been paid US$308/each in benefits. Ventriglia said that the retrenchments were necessitated by economic reasons and that the company would maintain a lean workforce. He added that the company was also working towards reclaiming the market share and had reduced its cement price significantly. Another 63 workers are expected to be retrenched in the next six weeks and the company would retain a workforce of 340 employees.
China: China Resources Cement's net profit fell by 25.6% year-on-year to US$242m in the first half of 2015.
Somalia/Oman: Raysut Cement is in the process of setting up a subsidiary firm, Barqaaqo Cement Company, to supply cement mostly to Somalia through a newly built terminal there. Raysut Cement will have 51% stake in the newly-formed Barwaaqo Cement Company.
Poland: Cement production in Poland increased by 1.6% year-on-year to 1.65Mt in July 2015, while cement sales were up by 1.7% to 1.71Mt, according to Poland's Cement Producer Association. Year-to-date cement production grew by 2% year-on-year to 8.84Mt while year-to-date cement sales rose by 2.3% to 9.04Mt.
Lipetskcement plans plant upgrade 11 August 2015
Russia: Under instructions from the Rosprirodnadzor environmental watchdog, Lipetskcement has started to install electrostatic precipitators to prevent the pollution of air with cement dust. The precipitators are mounted on the third production line's kiln. Cement dust emissions were registered at the plant during the start-up and commissioning of the plant. As such, it received new instructions to strengthen environmental controls with laboratory measurements of air quality.
Anhui Conch to build cement plant in Ulyanovsk 11 August 2015
Russia/China: Anhui Conch Cement plans to build a 2Mt/yr capacity cement plant in Ulyanovsk, Volga for Euro274m.