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Court upholds Trinidad & Tobago cement import tariff 07 March 2022
Trinindad & Tobago: The Caribbean Court of Justice has ruled against Hard Rock Cement in its challenge against Trinidad & Tobago’s 50% tariff on hydraulic cement. Nation News has reported that the Caribbean Community (CARICOM)’s Council for Trade and Economic Development (COTED) granted Trinidad & Tobago’s application to implement the new tariff in 2020. It remained in force for all of 2021. Cement importer Caribbean Cement challenged both the decision and the conduct of the application process.
New Zealand: Golden Bay Cement has obtained two hydrogen-fuelled cement trucks produced by Hyzon. TR Group leased the vehicles to the cement company.
Golden Bay Cement said “These two zero emission green trucks signal the future, and are just another step we take to a smaller carbon footprint across our business.”
Switzerland: Vigier Ciment is operating a self-charging electric dump truck at its limestone and marl quarry in Biel. The 45t truck’s regenerative braking system recharges its 600kwh lithium battery on the downhill trip from the quarry to the primary crusher. Its 65t capacity more than doubles its weight when laden, easily enabling it to recover charge for the return trip. Each trip generates an estimated 10kwh of surplus energy. In ordinary use, this would equate to 77Mwh/yr. It saves 50,000 – 100,000l/yr of diesel and eliminates an estimated 196t/yr of CO2. Green Car Reports has reported that Kuhn Schweiz built the dump truck, based on Japan-based Komatsu’s HB model truck. It is the world’s largest electric vehicle.
CRH exits Russian market 04 March 2022
Russia/Ukraine: CRH says that it has withdrawn from the Russian building materials market. It operated seven ready-mix concrete batching plants and a concrete panel plant in St Petersburg through its subsidiaries LujaBetomix and Rudus. CEO Albert Manifold estimated the group’s investments in the businesses to be Euro1.5 – 2m. RTÉ News has reported that Manifold called the operations ‘infinitesimally small,’ and said that a Russian withdrawal had previously been on the group’s radar anyway.
CRH says that it has suspended its Ukrainian operations, which reportedly generated Euro281m in sales in 2021, and continues to support its 820 employees in the country in every way it can.
Nigeria: Germany-based Kreisel is supplying an RDG 2000 rotary valve to the site of a Nigerian cement plant project. The supplier says that the RDG 2000 can provide material flow rates of 570t/hr and is one of the largest rotary valves on the market.