09 July 2018

India: Jaiprakash Associates has secured an order worth US$415m from Chenab Valley Power Projects. The deal is to build a diversion tunnel and concrete face dam for a hydroelectric project in Jammu and Kashmir, according to the Economic Times newspaper. The company is currently attempting to sell its remaining cement production assets to ACC.

India: Birla White, a subsidiary of UltraTech Cement, plans to launch four new products by 2020. Research and development for the new products is underway at present, according to the Hindu newspaper. The white cement producer is also planning to increase its exports to 10% of its total volume by 2023. At present it exports 3% of its total volume. The company operates one cement plant at Rajashree Nagar in Rajasthan.

Kenya: Construction of the Cemtech Sanghi cement plant in West Pokot has not started since the project was announced in 2010. The US$120m unit was launched by Indian investors and given rights to mine limestone and produce cement, according to the Standard newspaper.

Ireland: Irish Cement has been fined for dust emissions at its Limerick plant. The subsidiary of CRH was convicted by a local court of breaching its industrial emissions licence in April and May 2017 due to ‘fugitive dust emissions,’ according to the Limerick Leader newspaper. The cement producer pleaded guilty to the charges brought by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and it has been fined Euro1250.

During the court session it was revealed that on one of the days of the dust emissions there were dry conditions with a north-easterly wind that exacerbated the situation. There was also a dust leak as a result of a missing bolt from one of the chutes in a clinker silo as well as a number of infrastructural issues. Irish Cement says it has implemented a number of remedial measures such as replacing the missing bolt and replacing gravel around the site with grass or concrete. It has also conducted a risk-assessment of the whole site. The producer committed a similar offence in 2006.

Chile: Fuchs Group has purchased a controlling stake in the lubricants business of Comercial Pacific. The agreement will see it hold 65% of the company with Comercial Pacific retaining the remaining 35%. The acquisition focuses in particular on the customer base and workforce. Comercial Pacific is a long-standing Fuchs distributor in Chile in the mining, food, paper and cellulose industries. The company employs 13 people in sales and application engineering.

US: Scott Pruitt, the head of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), has resigned. The decision follows investigations into his security spending and other expenses, according to the Associated Press. In his resignation letter Pruitt said he had no regrets. He will be replaced by acting administrator Andrew Wheeler.