Displaying items by tag: Canada

Canada: The board of directors of Italcementi have met in Milan, Italy and have decided on integrate its operations in the Canadian market with the operations of HeidelbergCement, which from 1 July 2016 has been holding the majority stake in Italcementi and will take over the entire company following a mandatory takeover bid. The transaction involves the acquisition by Canadian Lehigh Hanson Materials (LHM), indirectly owned by HeidelbergCement, of the entire share capital, including ordinary and preference shares, of US-based Essroc Canada, which is indirectly owned by Italcementi, through vehicle company Essroc Netherlands. The price which Essroc will receive for the sale of Essroc Canada to LHM, equal to some US$281m, will be paid by assigning to Essroc 42,288 LHM shares of the new issue, or 15.5% in LHM share capital, and for the remainder - in cash US$151,000.

Canada: Lafarge Canada has started a partnership with Dalhousie University researcher Mark Gibson to test tyre-derived fuel on an industrial scale at the Brookfield cement plant in Nova Scotia. Working under a Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) Discovery Grant, this initiative will research the adoption of low carbon fuels in the cement industry. The research will continue the partnership between Lafarge Canada and Dalhousie's Faculty of Engineering.

"My students and I are very pleased to see this work enter the real world. Based on our research, we expect to see significant reductions in greenhouse gas emissions from the Brookfield cement plant and thereby help Nova Scotia move one step closer to a low carbon economy," said Gibson. He added that the use of tires will also reduce NOx emissions. In 2015, Gibson and his team published a report entitled ‘Use of scrap tyres as an alternative fuel source at the Lafarge cement kiln, Brookfield, Nova Scotia.’

Due to different initiatives including previous work with Dalhousie's Faculty of Engineering, the Brookfield plant has substituted alternative fuels for conventional ones by using front-end burner injection in its kiln. The plant is expected to reach a substitution rate of up to 30% by the end of 2016. Following the test using tyres the cement producer expects to use 15% of its fuel requirements from 450,000 tyres per year, or just under half the amount of tyres generated in Nova Scotia. The project proposal will be explained in further detail at a Public Meeting planned for 20 October 2016 in Brookfield.

Canada: Lafarge Canada has announced the completion of modernisation and environmental upgrades at its Exshaw cement plant in Alberta. The plant has increased its cement production capacity to 2.2Mt/yr from 1.3Mt/yr. Environmental improvements have led to a 60% reduction in sulphur dioxide emissions, a 40% reduction in nitrogen oxide emissions and a reduction in fugitive dust and noise coming from the plant's equipment. The plant has also achieved zero water discharge from its operations.

"It is an incredible achievement to comple a project of this scale. Completing it safely takes focus and energy and I applaud the team for its dedication to this goal," said René Thibault, President and CEO, Lafarge, Western Canada. "By all accounts we consider the project to be a success, cementing our long term commitment to Exshaw, Alberta and western Canada."

The upgrade consisted of shutting down the plant’s kiln four in November 2015. It modernised kiln five to meet new emissions targets by retiring less efficient gravel-bed filter technology. It then built a new production line, kiln six, with a baghouse to collect particulates, as well as a vertical raw mill, a EcoDome storage facility, a pre-heater tower and a vertical cement mill.

Construction at the plant began in 2013, with more than 600 contracted employees on site at the peak of construction activity in addition to 160 permanent employees. The team achieved nearly three million hours without a lost time incident.

Canada: McInnis Cement has started construction work at its Sainte-Catherine Terminal. The unit will be built along the Boulevard Hébert over an area of two acres and will host two silos erected near the existing wharf. Approximately 25 ships per year should make stops at the terminal. Construction will continue until early 2017 at the site and the Sainte-Catherine Terminal is scheduled to be fully operational by spring 2017.

“While the cement plant is a few months away from being fully operational, we are taking the final steps for this important project to take shape and become the expected commercial success,” said the Director of Canadian Sales at McInnis Cement, Francis Forlini.

The cement transiting in Sainte-Catherine is intended to serve markets in New England, in addition to replacing imports in Quebec and Ontario. To feed its other markets, McInnis plans to build other terminals on the east coast of North America, including recent construction work in Providence, Rhode Island.

Canada: The Cement Association of Canada has congratulated the province of British Columbia on the release of its Climate Leadership Plan. The plan describes how industry can assist the government in meeting its 2050 targets. The association welcomes the commitment of the provincial government to mandate the use of Portland-limestone cement (PLC) in concrete used in the construction of public infrastructure projects. Using PLC is expected to deliver a 10% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions compared to the use of ordinary Portland cement.

“With today's release of the Climate Leadership Plan, the province of British Columbia has laid out a framework to work collaboratively with individuals, local governments, business and industry in finding ways to address climate change,” said Michael McSweeney, President and CEO of the Cement Association of Canada.

The McInnis Cement plant at Port-Daniel-Gascons in Quebec, Canada must be the most famous cement plant that hasn’t been built yet. Every single step of the project’s list has seemed dogged with infamy. Public money it seems comes with public scrutiny. This week, one of the principal investors took control of the plant following allegations of massive budget overruns and the disappearance of the company’s president.

To start with the money, the plant was originally budgeted at US$1bn for a 2.2Mt/yr facility. This has always seemed like an inflated figure given that the general cost of a new or greenfield cement plant is up to US$200/t. The original price tag for McInnis is double this figure. Throw in the need for infrastructure at the site and the requirement of a marine terminal and the cost starts to become a little more realistic with government backing. The importance of the sea links can’t be under stressed given that the plant is targeted at the US market. No port: no cement plant.

This then leads to the quagmire of criticism the project has found itself stuck within. American cement producers took exception to a foreign government-backed plant trying to eat their lunch so they went legal. When the government-subsidised project bypassed the normal environmental clearances Lafarge Canada backed a challenge in 2013. Then in 2014 the provincial opposition in Quebec attacked the local government’s financial involvement in the project describing it as a ‘sinkhole’ in return for a minority stake.

Once these hurdles were overcome, work on building the plant began until the Globe and Mail newspaper revealed in late June 2016 that the project was ‘massively’ over-budget by up to US$350m and that the Quebec government was not prepared to provide any more money. The budget over-run alone is enough to build a cement plant in a more conventional location! Six weeks later and the project has most likely had its chief executive fired and one of the investors has stepped in to run things.

So, some combination of the legal fees, the wrangling over the plant’s unique environmental clearance, the difficulties of the underdeveloped location and potential mismanagement by the company itself have led to the additional costs. This in turn has led to the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, a pension fund firm, taking charge. It, like the previous management, also has no experience in building cement plants. Although it clearly knows how to calm investors. The first thing it did after announcing the new financing was to reassure everybody on the plant’s potential. Best not to consider at this stage what happens if the US bans Canadian cement.

McInnis Cement could be compared to other provincial industrial follies such as the closed Gaspésia paper mill in Quebec that also received over US$350m of government money. Yet if there is a project one might compare it to it is London’s Millennium Dome. Conceived as a national exhibition space to celebrate the start of the new millennium in 2000 the UK government of the time backed the project to much derision from the press as the costs spiralled and the visitors stayed away. However, today the venue has become a popular music and events venue. Flop or triumph: all those investors of McInnis Cement must be wondering what their fate will be. If nothing else perhaps renaming the plant once the dust settles (in an environmentally approved way) might be a good idea. Today, the Millennium dome is known as the 0₂.

Canada: Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ), a pension and insurance fund manager, has taken control of the McInnis Cement plant currently being built on the Gaspé Peninsula in Quebec. The US$850m project was facing ‘significant’ cost overruns and the CDPQ stepped in to protect its investment. It has agreed to invest an additional US$96.5m into the project with a US$96.5m debenture using funds managed by BlackRock Alternative Investors. The CDPQ has said that the US$193m of additional investment will be enough to complete the project.

“We believe that this project has high-quality fundamentals. For this reason, la Caisse has entered into a change-of-control agreement with Beaudier. With the new executive team in place and the new capital structure we are announcing today, McInnis Cement will be able to capitalise on attractive market opportunities and generate returns for la Caisse’s clients,” said Christian Dubé, Executive Vice-President, Québec, at the CDPQ.

McInnis Cement announced a change in its management on 2 August 2016 including recruitment for a new CEO.

Canada: McInnis Cement has commissioned NovaAlgoma Cement Carriers to supply it with a 15,000t deadweight cement carrier ship using a cement unloading system delivered by Van Aalst Marine & Offshore. The self-discharging dry bulk cement carrier will be time chartered by McInnis Cement under a long-term agreement. The ship, which was built in 2011, is currently undergoing conversion in China to a cement carrier by its owner NovaAlgoma. The conversion will include the installation of the cement unloading system and a hybrid exhaust gas scrubber system capable of operating in both fresh and salt waters. The ship is scheduled for delivery in early 2017.

“We are pleased to establish this new relationship with NovaAlgoma and Van Aalst that will allow us to take advantage of their cutting edge technology, attention to ecological details and their long-term marine transportation and cargo handling expertise,” said McInnis Cement Vice President Logistics and Distribution, Mark Newhart. The ship will be registered in Canada and use Canadian crew.

“The McInnis project will be a showcase of how the Van Aalst signature vacuum – pressure technology in cement carriers will result into high performance, low emissions and an unsurpassed reliability. The productive and professional partnership approach between McInnis, NovaAlgoma and ourselves has proven to be very successful in achieving and exceeding the requirements of the project,” said Wijnand van Aalst, CEO of Van Aalst Group.

The scrubber system will enable the ship to be fully compliant with the International Maritime Organization (IMO) Marpol Annex VI Sulphur Oxide (SO_x) regulations, regardless of the fuel being used within the North American ECA (emissions control area) which includes Canadian and US coastal waters and the Great Lakes.

The time charter agreement for the ship was brokered by Barry Rogliano Salles, a diversified global shipping services group offering a range of maritime activities. The company’s core business is ship brokering and has been active for over 150 years, operating 20 offices worldwide.

Canada: Christian Gagnon, the president and chief executive officer of McInnis Cement, has left the company. The board of directors announced the departure and said that the cement producer is currently recruiting his replacement. A new executive committee has been put in place to take over the management of the company until the vacancy has been filled. It is composed of the following members: Louis Laporte, Chief of Operations; Ronald Bougie, Executive Vice-President, Engineering, Construction and Operations; and Marc Baillargeon, Management Advisor acting on behalf of la Caisse.

In other changes to the company’s executive team, Ronald Bougie has been appointed with immediate effect as the Executive Vice-President, Engineering, Construction and Operations. Bougie has experience in the construction of large industrial projects including the Stornoway site, a project in which Caisse de dépôt et de placement du Québec invested. Until a new president and chief executive officer is appointed, Bougie will report directly to McInnis Cement’s Executive Committee. Bougie will have direct access to the Board of Directors to provide progress reports. The board will closely monitor the final stages of the site’s construction.

Canada: The Cement Association of Canada has become a member of the Carbon Pricing Leadership Coalition (CPLC) as a strategic partner. The CPLC is a voluntary initiative that supports and encourages the implementation of carbon pricing around the world. It was initiated by the World Bank at the 2014 United Nations Climate Change Summit in New York City and officially launched in 2015 at COP21 in Paris.

“Well designed carbon pricing systems can drive innovation and prepare companies and communities to prosper in a competitive, low carbon and climate resilient economy,” said Michael McSweeney, President and CEO, Cement Association of Canada. “We have long advocated for carbon pricing in Canada and globally and are eager to continue our work with the federal and provincial governments to help them design and implement climate policies that support the goals of the Paris Agreement, protect and enhance the competitiveness of the domestic industry and promote alignment on carbon pricing among our trading partners.”