Displaying items by tag: Government

Colombia: The Regional Autonomous Corporation of Antioquia (CorAntioquia) approved the modification of the environmental license of Cemex Colombia’s upcoming 1.0Mt/yr Cementera del Magdelena Medio integrated cement plant in Maceo, Antioquia. The modification will allow for the production of up to 1.5Mt/yr of cement annually. It will additionally enable the company to extract up to 990,000t/yr of limestone and clay. The producer called the authorisation an ‘important step’ towards the plant’s completion.

Cemex Colombia and Peru president Alejandro Ramírez said, "The modification of the environmental licence is a milestone that allows us to resume work to make this project a reality, through which it is expected that we will offer our materials for infrastructure and housing works in the country more efficiently."

China: The Anti-Monopoly Bureau of the State Administration for Market Regulation has fined eight cement companies US$35m for price fixing. Caixin reports that seven companies in Shandong province formed Zibo United Cement Enterprise Management in 2017 to manage their arrangement through invoicing, sales, setting prices and coordinating operating regions. The extent of the anti-competitive behaviour between the companies extended to organising a price management committee to manage the arrangement by monitoring sales and even fining members in breach of its self-declared rules. As well as Zibo United, the other companies in the cartel were Shandong Baoshan Technology, Shandong Donghua Cement, Shandong Shanlü Environmental New Material, Zibo Luzhong Cement, Shandong Chongzheng Special Cement, Zibo Shanshui Cement and Linqu Shanshui Cement.

Chile: The protest organisation Frente de Defensa de Islay has launched a challenge against the legality of Cbb’s planned 200,000Mt/yr Arequipa grinding plant in the Port of Matarani. The La República newspaper has reported that the organisation says that the plans would violate Islay district’s urban zoning law due to the risk of contamination.

The producer plans to complete the US$20m plant in mid-2021. It acquired the project from Inversiones Primax in 2019.

Lebanon: The Ministry of Industry has reversed a recent decision to allow cement imports into the country. Following a meeting with local cement producers, Minister Imad Hobballah declared that allowing imports would decrease official selling prices rapidly, according to the L'Orient-Le Jou newspaper. Local producers have reported low sales due to a strict coronavirus-related lockdown that started in January 2021. Cimenterie Nationale reportedly stopped production in early February 2021 due to a lack of raw materials.

US: The US Department of Energy has awarded a grant to Cemex USA, UK-based carbon capture and storage (CCS) specialist Carbon Clean and Oak Ridge National Laboratory. The grant covers the implementation of a CCS system at Cemex USA’s Victorville cement plant in California, in addition to the development of a commercially viable carbon utilisation solution. The producer says that the study is due to last 30 months.

President Jaime Muguiro said, “Cemex is committed to being part of the solution to reduce carbon emissions globally and to deliver net-zero CO₂ concrete to all of our customers by 2050. We cannot achieve these aims without innovative technology and collaborative relationships with both public and private organizations who share a commitment to climate action. This grant gives us an excellent opportunity to further develop a new technology to help us all reach our goals.”

India: State-owned Visakhapatnam Steel Plant may use available land at its steel plant in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh to establish a slag cement plant. The Hindu newspaper has reported that the Indian Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) has decided to privatise the public sector unit. The state government opposes the decision and has proposed a merger with the National Mineral Development Corporation (NMDC) instead. This would integrate Visakhapatnam Steel Plant within the management chain of other resources used in cement production.

China: The China Cement Association has asked that regional associations and producers respect competition laws. It follows the outcome of a State Market Supervision Administration investigation into the behaviour of certain provincial cement associations and six cement companies. The association has called for a thoroughgoing removal of collusive behaviours alongside continued cement overcapacity reduction.

Tunisia: Carthage University, Ciments de Bizerte, the Tunisian Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research and the University of Algarve faculty of science and technology have concluded a study into the heavy metal content of CEM-I and CEM-II cement. The study found that both types of cement contain traces of arsenic, barium, boron, cadmium, chromium, copper, manganese, nickel, lead, strontium and zinc in equal measure, according to the Journal of Engineering.

Carthage University said, "Heavy metals in cement can originate from a variety of processes in production, including their initial presence in raw materials and fuel, incorporation into kiln refractory brick, metal erosion from the raw material grinding process and in additives such as gypsum, as well as cement kiln dust."

US: The Portland Cement Association (PCA) has welcomed the new administration’s plan to re-enter the Paris Agreement to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions. President and chief executive officer Michael Ireland said, “Climate change is one of the greatest challenges of our time. The cement and concrete industry have an important role to play in decarbonising the manufacturing sector while providing the building materials necessary for a safe, resilient, and sustainable economy.”

The association’s government affairs senior vice president Sean O’Neill said “Federal policymakers will have a particularly important role to play. Some of the technologies needed to tackle industrial decarbonisation are still in the research and development phase. Governmental support is needed to accelerate both development and deployment. We also need to make sure that federal policies support industrial decarbonisation without undermining the competitiveness of US manufacturers.” He added, “Climate change is a global issue, and it will require global cooperation. The US cannot solve this problem alone.”

Japan: Taiheiyo Cement plans to establish a facility for processing waste produced by natural disasters in Saitama Prefecture. The company says that the facility will sort waste for recycling and sort non-recyclable materials suitable for use as cement additives for further processing. The plans received approval at a talk with Kumagaya City and Saitama Prefecture administrators in mid-January 2021.

The company said, “We have been accepting waste and by-products for cement production and promoting recycling, and we are now also working to contribute to the early recovery of disaster areas.”