Displaying items by tag: Government

Canada: The government has granted a subsidy worth US$20m to Svante for the establishment of a Centre for Excellence for Carbon Capture, Use and Storage in Vancouver, British Columbia. The centre will consist of a filter production plant, headquarters and testing centre. The company said that it will help in the global deployment carbon capture and storage (CCS) solutions ‘at Gigatons scale.’

“Vancouver is the Silicon-Valley of carbon capture technology development,” said Claude Letourneau, the president and chief executive officer of Savante. “Lowering the capital cost of the capture of the CO₂ emitted in industrial production is critical to the world’s net-zero carbon goals.” He added “The carbon pulled from earth as fossil fuel needs to go back into the earth in safe CO₂ storage.”

Philippines: The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) has launched a new investigation into imports of cement, currently subject to safeguarding tariffs of US$0.20/bag. The investigation follows a request by Cemex Philippines, Holcim Philippines and Republic Cement. The Viet Nam News newspaper has reported that the Vietnam National Cement Association has asked the DTI and the Philippine cement industry to consider whether imports from Vietnam did real damage. In 2020, Vietnam’s export cement prices fell by 15% year-on-year. Its excess production of cement was 36Mt during the year, and its clinker prices were 20% below the regional average.

India: The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) of the Indian government has established the Cement Industry Development Council (CIDC) to coordinate the cement sector’s efforts towards eliminating waste, maximising efficiency, increasing standards and lowering prices. The Economic Times newspaper has reported that the DPIIT has appointed Dalmia Bharat chief managing director Puneet Dalmia as head of the CIDC. An initial task for the council will be to recommend steps towards securing full cement capacity utilisation.

Egypt: The Egyptian Competition Authority has approved a request by 23 cement producers for permission for a temporary reduction in their cement output by 11%, with additional cuts of 3% per kiln line. Reuters has reported that the reduced quotas will be in force between 15 July 2021 and 15 July 2022. Previously, two cement executives quoted by the source said that the proposed cuts seemed unfair on multinational companies, like them, that operate older plants.

Vietnam: The Building Material Forum has predicted that Vietnam’s cement export volume will undergo a 25 – 30% short and medium-term decline if the government of China suspends its stimulus package on infrastructure. The Viet Nam News newspaper has reported that China’s subsidisation of infrastructure and industrial construction totalled US$163bn in 2020, up by 34% year-on-year.

India: JK Cement has targeted a 10% year-on-year sales growth in its 2022 financial year, which ends on 31 March 2022. The Economic Times has reported that the company foresees sales growth due to the on-going government infrastructure investment push, minimal monsoon disruptions and pent-up cement demand following Covid-19-led disruptions. Cement chief operating officer Rajnish Kapur said that growth momentum from the end of the 2021 financial year will likely continue throughout the coming nine months, despite a Covid-19 led sales drop in the first quarter of the 2021 financial year.

The cement producer also expects that its new cement plant project at Panna in Madhya Pradesh is likely to be completed in the 2023 financial year due to Covid-19 related delays. The plant will bring its total cement production capacity to around 20Mt/yr from nearly 15Mt/yr at present once it is finished. The company is also considering acquisitions to further increase its capacity to 25Mt/yr by the mid-2020s.

India: The Kerala state government aims to establish 25% state ownership of the cement industry locally. The New Indian Express newspaper has reported that the policy aims to control rising cement prices. The government said that state-owned Malabar Cements and Travancore Cements will increase their cement production. The former has already lowered its cement prices, according to the administration.

India: The government of Andhra Pradesh will subsidise the purchase of cement for 122,000 new houses in rural Guntur district under its Housing for All scheme. The Hans India newspaper has reported that builders have laid the foundations of 14,000 of the properties, and will have completed a further 46,000 by the end of the working day on 9 July 2021. District revenue collector Vivek Yadav said that the administration will announce further housing projects under the scheme after builders complete 116,000 units.

Malaysia: Buddhist monks at the Dhamma Sakyamuni Caves Monastery have filed a petition to the state government of Perak to have the site recognised as a place of worship and the local Mount Kanthan area approved as a national heritage site. Mongabay has reported that the caves lie in YTL Cement’s Mount Kanthan quarry. The religious site is located on the still unquarried southern face of Mount Kanthan.

YTL Cement started eviction proceedings at the site in late 2020. It said, “Contrary to what has been claimed by irresponsible parties, we have co-existed harmoniously with the local community. The real issues at hand are safety and the sanctity of the law.” It added with regard to the safety issue, “As the rightful owner of the land, we are responsible for all that occurs on it. We cannot stand by the misleading of the public nor allow such negligence.”

A predecessor company of YTL Cement leased the site in the 1960s. However, the monks allege that they were using the area several decades prior to this. The relationship between both parties broke down in 2013 when the cement company started to ask the monks to leave the monastery during rock blasting.

Cameroon: Luc Magloire, the Minister of Commerce, has written to Cimenteries du Cameroun (CIMENCAM) threatening to close its production facilities if it raises its prices without approval. In the letter the minister accused the subsidiary of LafargeHolcim of increasing its wholesale prices and of preparing to do so again without consent, according to the Ecofin Agency. Prices have reportedly risen by up to 8% in some places.

Friction occurred between the government and CIMENCAM in 2020 when LafargeHolcim renewed the term of Benoît Galichet as the chief executive officer of its local subsidiary. The government, a large minority shareholder of the company, opposed the decision. The government and the cement producer have also disagreed previously over the price of cement.