Displaying items by tag: Dispute

Saudi Cement: City Cement’s Al Madina Cement subsidiary says it has reached a final settlement with China’s Sinoma International about the construction of a second production line. The parties have agreed an 8% discount on the total cost of the project worth around US$11m. Trial operation on the second line at the plant was originally announced in late 2014.

Egypt: South Valley Cement says it is in a dispute with China’s Sinoma CDI over an upgrade to its Beni Suef plant. The cement producer alleges that Sinoma has not met its contractual obligations on the project to build new mills. South Valley Cement says that Sinoma has liquidated letters of guarantee worth nearly US$2m, left the construction site and started arbitration proceedings. South Valley Cement is now considering its legal options. The status of the upgrade project remains unknown.

Bolivia: Transport firms in Chuquisaca in Bolivia are reported to be ‘in state of emergency’ after they decided to stop carrying cement on behalf of local producer Fancesa. The cement producer recently decided to lower the fare it pays for trips from its plant to Santa Cruz to US$1.88/bag (50kg) from US$2.18/bag, a fall of 13.7%.

Kenya: East Africa Portland Cement Company (EAPCC) properties are set to be auctioned to recover US$13.9m owed to workers following the firm’s failure to fully implement a collective bargaining agreement (CBA).

The Kenya Chemical and Allied Workers Union (KCAWU) has already obtained the services of an auctioneer, who will start auctioning EAPCC property upon expiry of the notice. The auctioneer will be seeking to recover the money for more than 400 workers covered in the 2013–2015 CBA.

The said CBA was the subject of a dispute before the Labour Court and the Court of Appeal. EAPCC was aggrieved that the court had directed it to increase wages for contract employees.

Court of Appeal judges GBM Kariuki, Fatuma Sichale and Sankale ole Kantai, held that upon the contract staff who were not part of management becoming members of KCAWU on payment of union dues, they were entitled to benefit from the negotiated CBA.

India: The Madras High Court has pulled up Chettinad Cement Corportation (Chettinad) for encroaching upon public land to construct railway track to its factory at Ariyalur. It has ordered a probe by an IAS officer. Justice SM Subramaniam also ordered a probe into the role of government officials, who may have colluded with the factory management to squat on government land without permission.

"Such industries cannot encroach upon the government land, which is not only a water body, but also used as a pathway by the villagers and the people of that locality,” said Justice Subramaniam.

The court passed the order while dismissing a plea moved by Chettiand against the action of the sub-collector against the encroachment. The court further directed the district administration to evict all such encroachments made by the company on the land and water bodies within two weeks.

Colombia: Cemex Latam Holdings, the subsidiary of Mexican cement company Cemex in Central and South America and Caribbean region, has confirmed that is ‘solving’ the legal issues that prevent the opening of its new plant in Maceo, Antioquia, Colombia. The inauguration of the facility was postponed in May 2017 after authorities stated that the plant had not obtained all the permits to start operations. Jaime Muguiro, president of Cemex Latam, expressed that the company was still awaiting authorisation for the expansion of the plant's installed capacity, which is currently artificially limited to 0.25Mt/yr. The plant has a design capacity of 1.3Mt/yr and has so far cost Cemex US$420m.

Ireland: On 29 August 2017 an oral hearing began to hear submissions regarding plans by Irish Cement to use alternative fuels for energy in its plant in Limerick. The company is seeking to move away from using fossil fuels as a main source of material in its cement kiln in Mungret and to use recovered waste and tyres instead.

A number of local residents and members from action group Limerick Against Pollution (LAP) held a protest outside the hearing. LAP spokesperson Tim Hourigan said that residents were concerned about the possible release of toxins from the proposed process and that they were opposed to it going ahead. The hearing was also attended by local businessman and racehorse owner JP McManus, who said he was ‘concerned’ about the plans.

Representatives from Irish Cement told the hearing that the proposal would improve the long-term viability of the plant as well as help to reduce CO2 emissions and the plant’s reliance on imported fossil fuels. The hearing is expected to last until Friday 1 September 2017.

South Africa: Negotiations between PPC and AfriSam, two of South Africa's biggest cement producers, about a potential merger have reached a make-or-break stage, according to local press, after AfriSam cancelled the heads of terms it had entered into with PPC back in February 2017.

Despite the cancellation of the heads of terms, AfriSam acting chief executive Rob Wessels said the company remained committed to pursuing a transaction and intended to submit a new proposal regarding a possible merger to PPC.

"AfriSam remains firm that a transaction between AfriSam and PPC will greatly benefit the stakeholders of both companies. For this reason, we continue discussions with PPC and will explore other alternatives available to us,” said Wessels. "It remains our belief that a transaction between the two companies offers the local cement industry an opportunity to develop a champion with the required scale, operational efficiency and balance sheet to enable further investment opportunities in South Africa and the rest of the continent."

However, PPC chairperson Peter Nelson said they had been involved in the negotiations for six months and there came a time when it was necessary to halt them. Nelson added that the negotiations would only continue beyond 1 September 2017 if the new proposal tabled by AfriSam was ‘of sufficient interest and attraction and fair to shareholders and warranted extending’ the negotiations. "We can't carry on forever,” said Nelson. “A lot of shareholders are frightened about the prospect.”

Myanmar: A controversial 0.5Mt/yr cement plant in Mon State's Kyaikmayaw Township has apparently not sought permission from the Ministry of Electricity and Energy in order to generate power, according to the ministry itself. This has rekindled demands from local residents that the plant cease production. The US$400m plant, run by Mawlamyine Cement Limited (MCL), is a joint venture between Thailand’s Siam Cement and Pacific Link Cement Industries. It is powered by a 49MW coal-fired power plant.

The committee for the assessment of financial, planning and economic matters in the Mon State Parliament asked the Ministry of Electricity and Energy in a letter on 7 August 2017 about the coal-fired power facilities at the cement factory. The ministry replied on 14 August 2017 that MCL had not sought permission to run the power plant.

"From the ministry's reply, we can confirm that MCL didn't follow the electricity law. It did discuss with the ministry the installation of two 20MW but it didn't get any permission," said U Aung Kyaw Thu, speaking to local press. This was contradicted by MCL’s U Zaw Lwin Oo, who said, “The industry ministry gave its approval for the production of 20MW on 19 March 2017.” He said that MCL has two 20MW turbines and a 9MW spare turbine, but the industry ministry has only given approval for 20MW. There may be ambiguity as to whether the plant uses more than its permitted 20MW at any one time. According to the 2008 Constitution, heavy-scale electricity production-classified as 30MW and above-needs the approval of the government.

Dr Aung Naing Oo, deputy speaker of the Mon State Parliament, said that he welcomed the MCL's investment in the state, but that its procedures are less transparent than he would like them to be. "We should welcome investment but, at the same time, we need to see if those investments are legal and serve the stated purposes. In any case, if there is no permission under the electricity law, the factory should not operate," he told The Irrawaddy newspaper.

The factory started commercial operations in April 2017 despite local opposition. On 18 February, around 7000 locals from seven villages near the factory staged a protest against the coal-fired power plant. In April 2016, locals sent a petition with 3780 signatures to the President's Office, demanding the termination of the project.

Jordan: The Labour Ministry has helped to resolve a dispute between workers and management at Lafarge Jordan. Following several days of work stoppages the employees have agreed to sign a collective work contract and resume work as normal, according to the Jordan Times. In return workers at the Rashadia cement plant will receive a bonus payment at Eid Al Fitr and then pay increases based on performance. The parties have also agreed to let the ministry lead future talks on early retirement and workers’ association bans on employees.