11 May 2016
Canada: A fire broke out at a coal silo at the Lehigh Cement plant in Edmonton on 10 May 2016. Four fire fighters were sent to hospital to investigate potential carbon monoxide inhalation, according to Postmedia Breaking News. An investigation is now underway to discover the cause.
Lehigh Hanson health and safety director Gerry Sanderson said that the plant wasn't shut down or evacuated. He added that the fire had been contained and that damage to the facility appeared to be minimal.
Australia: Australian Bauxite has completed its first 5560t shipment of cement-grade bauxite from Bell Bay Port in Tasmania. The shipment is the first from Australian Bauxite’s Bald Hill mine, the first new bauxite project in Australia for more than 35 years. The unnamed customer is preparing for a second shipment of 30,000 – 40,000t to be completed by the end of June 2016. The sales mark a change of direction by Australian Bauxite away from alumina refineries towards specialist cements and fertilisers.
Belgium: FEBELCEM, the federation of cement producers in Belgium, has reported that cement consumption rose by 4.6% year-on-year to 6.4Mt in 2015. It attributed the growth to favourable weather and growth in residential construction. It expressed concern that imports of cement also rose in 2015 by 18% to 1.51Mt from 1.28Mt. This increased the market share of imports to 23.6%.
Holcim Lanka inaugurates transport model 11 May 2016
Sri Lanka: Holcim Lanka has inaugurated a transport model for the transportation of its raw materials. In a public-private partnership between Holcim Lanka and the government, the state railway will transport raw materials by rail from the port of Trincomalee to the Mahawa railway station. The company's dedicated trucks will then transport the materials to the Puttalam cement plant. The inauguration took place at the China Bay station in Trincomalee, according to the Daily news newspaper.
“The successful launch of this phase would not have been possible without the support received from the Ministry of Transport," said Holcim Lanka Procurement and Logistics Director Charith Wijendra.
Environmental and efficiency improvements of the new model include using Supramax bulk carriers instead of smaller ships, using dedicated containerised trucks to reduce spillages and cut journeys and a reduction in the use of the railway network.
Spain: The refinancing of a Euro825m loan of cement producer Cementos Portland Valderrivas has stalled. Fomento de Construcciones & Contratas SA (FCC) offered a 10% ‘haircut’ to the loan which matures in July 2016 but the offer has been rejected by the company’s creditors. FCC, a Spanish civil engineering group, owns an 80% stake in Cementos Portland Valderrivas.
More than 50% of the debt of Portland is now in hands of so called ‘vulture funds’ such as Apollo, Davidson and Avenue whose return requirements are different than those of traditional banks. After a recent Euro709m capital hike FCC has set aside around Euro300m to appease creditors, according to the Expansión newspaper.
Iran: Iran cement exports fell by 20% year-on-year to 18.5Mt in the financial year that ended on 20 March 2016 according to Abdolreza Sheikhan, secretary of Iran's Cement Industry Employers Association. In comments to the Islamic Republic News Agency Sheikhan blamed the fall in exports on security problems in the region including Iran’s main export market in Iraq. In the previous financial year Iraq represented 60% of Iran’s export market for cement.
Sheikhan noted that Iraq increased its tariffs on imports of cement to US$13/t from US$4/t in the previous year and raised tariffs to US$72/t in the latest financial year. He added that Azerbaijan had increased its cement production capacity that had also reduced its reliance on Iranian cement exports.
CNBM cancels acquisition of Shanshui Cement 11 May 2016
China: CNBM has cancelled its acquisition of Shanshui Cement due to changes in the board composition, disputes regarding the control of Shandong Shanshui Cement Group, the financial difficulties of Shanshui Cement and the prolonged suspension of trading of the shares in Shanshui Cement. It added that the final issue ‘significantly and adversely’ affected the liquidity of the company and impaired attempts to determine the current market price of shares in Shanshui Cement. Shanshui Cement has faced financial troubles since a shareholder battle for control of the company took place in late 2015.