UK: The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has issued Initial Enforcement Orders (IEOs) to Breedon Group and Cemex over the former’s acquisition of a minority of UK ready-mix and aggregates operations, as well as a cement terminal, belonging to the Mexican cement giant for Euro211m. Breedon Group said that the IEO was expected and would govern, among other things, the ‘form and scope of the information that can be shared between Breedon and Cemex’ in defence of customers’ interests, according to The Construction Index website.

Uzbekistan: The State Committee of Uzbekistan for Ecology and Environmental Protection plans to create a system of monitoring stations for automatic measurement of air pollution, including particulate matter (PM), throughout the country. Part of this will include the installation of automatic emissions sampling and analysis stations at a number of industrial plants, as well as static monitoring stations within and near plant sites, including in the cement sector. Installation will be at the cost of the industrial facility.

In late 2019 the State Committee for Ecology, together with the Ministry of Health and Uzhydromet, took samples of air from 13 cement plants, finding that five greatly exceeded international norms for dust emissions. Based on the results of the audit, the committee has developed a draft government decree on strengthening environmental control over cement plants. If the document is approved, then all existing cement manufacturers will be obliged to install automatic sampling stations for analysis of air pollution by 1 January 2022, as well as stationary posts in the adjacent territory at their own expense.

Australia: National press in Australia has reported that the Irish building materials giant CRH has approached Boral regarding a possible takeover. CRH snapped up US$6.5bn of assets from Lafarge and Holcim in 2015 following their merger to become LafargeHolcim, and it consequently became the third-largest building materials supplier by market value internationally.

The speculation comes amid market expectations that Boral could be broken up if a takeover does not unfold soon. Suitors have looked at Boral before but a deal has never eventuated. The company’s market value is US$3.9bn, so it could be within the grasp of a cash-rich strategic player or private equity firm from overseas. Three years ago Boral was worth more than US$4.8bn.

Meanwhile, Australia's devastating recent bushfires have affected Boral’s Berrima plant in New South Wales, likely leading to lower production and margins. This was due to extended leave for staff and road closures.

Vietnam: Maintaining exports will be critical for the Vietnamese cement industry amid rising production output and anticipated sluggish domestic sales in 2020, according to Nguyễn Quang Cung, President of the Vietnam Cement Association (VCA).

Cung also reported that two new cement plants will go into operation during 2020: a 2.5Mt/yr plant in Tân Thắng Commune in the central province of Nghệ, and a 4.6Mt/yr plant in Bỉm Sơn Commune, Thanh Hóa. These new facilities will give the domestic cement industry a total production capacity of more than 100Mt/yr, with local demand estimated to be closer to 70Mt/yr. “Maintaining exports will be critical for the cement industry this year,” said Cung, but domestic projects are likely to remain ‘sluggish’ due to stagnant infrastructure projects.

Over the medium term, Cung said that cement exports would fall to 25Mt in 2021 form 34Mt in 2020, based on an expectation that domestic sales will increase.

India: A 20 year old man has been arrested in Nalanda, Bihar for allegedly creating a fake UltraTech Cement website. The individual reportedly took payment for cement and then ceased contact, leaving genuine UltraTech Cement representatives in the state with angry enquiries. UltraTech then reported the site to police.

Police have stated that the arrested man, Rohit Kumar Balram Prasad, has been charged under sections 482 (using false property mark), 483 (counterfeiting a property mark used by another), 419 (cheating by personation) among others of the IPC and the Information Technology Act. They added that further arrests are expected.

Germany: The 4th Global CemBoards Conference & Exhibition has begun at the Marriott Hotel in Freising, near Munich, Germany. The event, which covers global market trends in cement-based boards and panel systems, the latest advances in production technology and how producers can add value to their products worldwide, will hear nine presentations over the course 21 and 22 January 2020.

The event is also host to a related exhibition of suppliers to the global cement board sector. Extensive opportunities for networking will be available, with the Global Boards Social Evening held at the Bayerische Staatsbrauerei Weihenstephan on the evening of the first day.

A full report from the event will be published in due course.

Sweden: The Land and Environmental Court has ruled in favour of Cementa for the renewal of its extraction licence for its quarry near the 2.5Mt/yr integrated Slite plant in Gotland. The company says that the decision ensures the continued operation of the cement plant. “We see this as confirmation that it is possible to continue limestone extraction without jeopardising water security or harming protected areas or species,” said Cementas CEO Magnus Ohlsson. “This gives us peace of mind and the chance to focus on future work in order to further develop sustainable cement production in Slite.”

Denmark: FLSmidth has announced details of the business improvement initiative it gave forewarning of in late 2019. The cement technology supplier is sacking 500 staff. Its most recent Annual Report stated that it had 11,368 staff at the end of 2018, meaning that around 4.4% of employees will lose their jobs. 80 of these redundancies will effect employees at its Copenhagen headquarters, with the remainder impacting personnel at operations across the globe. “Despite a healthy pipeline, this is an unfortunate yet necessary action given the weakening market for large capital investments in 2019 and our ongoing efforts to improve internal efficiency,” said FLSmidth CEO Thomas Schulz.

UK: Global not-for-profit organisation CDP has included HeidelbergCement on its Climate Change A-List 2019 for environmental transparency and performance aimed at facilitating a zero-net carbon economy. Only a handful of industrial producers achieved inclusion on the list, including the German steel sector’s Thyssenkrupp and French gypsum wallboard producer Saint-Gobain.

UK: Quinn Building Products has fitted a waste heat recovery (WHR) plant into the aircrete block production process at its Quinn Lite Plant in Fermanagh. The installation will pump thermal energy from excess heated water back into the pre-curing chamber to sustain the chemical processes by which the blocks are aerated. Quinn Lite production manager Kieran McGorman said that the upgrade ‘forms part of a larger, company-wide drive to minimise the impact of our operations on the environment and to maximise efficiencies wherever possible.’