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Rwanda: The Rwandan government has extended the sale of its stake in Cimerwa to 19 July 2019 to give potential investors more time. The initial deadline was 5 July 2019, according to the New Times newspaper. The government and its related shareholders own a 49% stake in the cement producer. The controlling share in the company is owned by South Africa’s PPC.
Azerbaijan: Data from the State Statistics Committee shows that cement production in Azerbaijan dropped by 5.2% year-on-year to 1.6Mt in the first half of 2019. This has been blamed on a poor market, according to the Turan Information Agency. Despite this, concrete mix sales increased by 20.5% to 0.78Mt.
Asia Cement union joins quarry row 18 July 2019
Taiwan: Asia Cement’s union has taken out advertisements in major local newspapers protesting against a ruling by the Taipei High Administrative Court blocking its right to operate a cement quarry located in the Taroko National Park. It says that the cement producer applied for the permit extension in line with the Mining Act in 2016, according to the Taipei Times newspaper. It added that the court’s decision could negatively affect industrial operations, labour rights as well as the government’s credibility for boosting the economy. Environmental groups have called on the company to negotiate with local people living near the quarry.
China: CNBM and France’s Fives have signed a cooperation agreement related to the Paris Agreement regarding climate change and the modernisation of CNBM’s plants. CNBM was represented by both Ma Mingliang, vice-president of China Building Materials Engineering Group and Wang Kedong, chief executive officer’s (CEO) assistant of Zhonglian Cement, and Fives was represented by Didier Bourbon, Sales Vice-President (Asia) of Fives FCB. This agreement includes the supply of the FCB Horomill grinding technology developed by Fives FCB for both CNBM’s overseas projects and domestic projects such as Zhonglian Cement and Southwest Cement projects. The signing ceremony took place at the 7th Sino-French Industrial Cooperation Forum held in Chongqing. The agreement follows a similar deal struck in April 2019 in Paris.
France: The Ministry of Culture has refused a sponsorship of Euro0.2m from Lafarge intended for the Musée de Cluny in Paris. The ministry said that the sponsorship was paid in 2015 and then returned in 2018, according to the Agence France Presse. However, the ministry did not say why the money has been rejected. In 2017 the Paris City Council ended a partnership with Lafarge for the supply of sand for an urban beach project due to allegations of the building material manufacturer’s conduct in Syria during the civil war. A legal case examining Lafarge’s conduct in Syria between 2011 and 2014 is on-going.