23 September 2019

Oman: Raysut Cement, Oman’s leading cement producer, has taken a step forward in the implementation of its 1Mt/yr Duqm grinding plant plans by securing a land lease and port of terminal services agreement from the Port of Duqm. Raysut chief executive Joey Ghose has said that the Duqm unit will help to secure Raysut’s presence ‘in Oman and the neighbouring Gulf markets,’ as well as support strategic investments oversees. Raysut’s 6.4Mt/yr integrated capacity extends from East Africa to the Caucasus. The company has India as its next phase expansion target.

Kenya: East Africa Portland Cement Company (EAPCC) dismissed its entire management staff except managing director Simon Peter Ole Nkeri with one month’s notice on 19 September 2019. Business Daily has reported that the company will seek to rehire a small proportion of the personnel with a 60% pay cut. The downsized management team will oversee the redundancy of its entire junior staff, some of whom will be taken back on with a view to reducing the total employees by 25% to 600 from 800.

EAPCC’s staff costs in the second half of 2018 were US$38.5m, 80% of its net revenue for the period. Its anticipated sales of land, if successful, are expected to exceed the US$52m needed to clear its outstanding debts. Shareholders in the company include LafargeHolcim (42%) and the Kenyan government (52%).

Belgium: Holcim Belgium has finished loading around 1250t of cement from its 1.7Mt/yr integrated Obourg cement plant onto a train in Obourg in Belgium’s Hainaut province. It leaves on 24 September 2019 for Lafarge France’s Bonneuile-Sur-Marne, Île-de-France depot. La Province has reported that LafargeHolcim began the process on 20 September 2019 with the conveyance of cement by three shuttle trucks to the train’s 12 carriages. LafargeHolcim spokesperson Séverine Baudoin has explained that the undertaking, LafargeHolcim’s first of its kind in the region, is a part of its sustainable development plan applied to distribution to new clients in the Paris area.