Displaying items by tag: France

France: Julien Soum has been appointed as the European business development manager at Anderman Ceramics. Soum has worked as a commercial engineer in Europe for the last five years with knowledge of the refractory markets for cement and steel working for Refractaria and Hepha. He was educated at the University of Montpellier and the Kedge Business School in Marseille.

France: Improvements in its French market have led to modest gains for Vicat in the first quarter of 2017. The group’s consolidated cement sales rose by 4.5% on an adjusted basis to Euro283m compared to the same period in 2016. Overall its sales rose by 1.4% on an adjusted basis to Euro554m. Its cement sales volumes rose by 1.2% year-on-year to 4.8Mt from 4.83Mt.

“France continued its progressive recovery, while the US posted further growth in its business. In Asia, a firm performance in India partly helped to make up for the business downturn in Kazakhstan and Turkey, where very difficult weather conditions took their toll. In the Africa and Middle East region, Egypt posted a strong top-line increase at constant scope and exchange rates, which made up for the decline in West Africa,” said group chairman and chief executive chairman Guy Sidos.

Switzerland: LafargeHolcim and employee representatives in Europe have established a new European Works Council (EWC). The forum for consultation and dialogue at a transnational level will bring together worker representatives from 19 countries with senior leaders from LafargeHolcim.

“People are essential to the success of LafargeHolcim and our commitment to social dialogue through the new European Works Council is testament to this. During a period of transformation, we recognise that ensuring the full commitment, mobilisation, and engagement of our employees is a key building block for success,” said Eric Olsen, chief executive officer of LafargeHolcim.

The EWC was established based on an agreement signed by Olsen and Executive Committee members Caroline Luscombe, responsible for Organisation and Human Resources and Roland Köhler, responsible for Europe, Australia / New Zealand and Trading as well as Sam Hägglund, General Secretary of the European Federation of Building and Woodworkers EFBWW, among other management and employee representatives. Chaired by Köhler, the EWC replaces the previous European Works Councils. Countries represented in the EWC include Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland and the UK.

Switzerland/US: French politicians have cautioned construction-materials giant LafargeHolcim about the consequences of supplying cement for the 3000km wall that US President Donald Trump intends to build along the border with Mexico.

LafargeHolcim, the biggest cement producer in both the world and the United States, fell under scrutiny after Chief Executive Eric Olsen said, in remarks published in several media outlets, that the company is ready to supply cement for the border wall.

Presidential candidate Emmanuel Macron said that companies such as LafargeHolcim must consider the ‘ethical aftermath’ of their business deals, after the Franco-Swiss firm said it stands ready to work on the project.

"Being a private company, whose headquarters are mainly in Switzerland, does not free it from having an ethical conscience and asking questions before participating in certain projects," Macron told Agence-France Presse. LafargeHolcim is already under attack in France for Lafarge’s handling of its Syrian operations during the spread of ISIS in the region.

The world's second biggest cement producer, Mexican firm Cemex SAB, is also facing pressure at home to boycott the wall. The Mexican government has been a staunch opponent of Trump's project.

France: Sales in the US have supported Vicat’s revenue in 2016. Its consolidated sales in the US rose by 6.2% year-on-year to Euro363m in 2016 from Euro342m in 2015. Overall the company’s sales fell slightly to Euro2.45bn in the year, although they rose by 4.1% at constant scope and exchange rates. Its earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) rose by 3.2% to Euro458m from Euro444m. Sales volumes of cement rose by 10.5% to 21.9Mt from 19.8Mt.

"Vicat performed well in 2016 against the backdrop of a very difficult geopolitical and monetary climate. Operating margins rose and results reflected the good sales momentum achieved by the group's staff, combined with a very firm grip on costs. The year was marked by renewed growth in Egypt and France, and our operations continued to improve in the US," said group chairman and chief executive officer Guy Sidos.

By region, notably, sales volumes rose in France by 6% in domestic and export markets, boosted particularly by export sales, with sales revenue up also. Elsewhere in Europe sales fell but volumes rose after a difficult first half of the year. Sales volumes in the US rose by 4% driven by ‘strong momentum’ in the Southeast region, making up for a decline in California caused by a strong previous year and poor weather. In the group’s Asian region its sales revenue fell mainly due to currency variations in Turkey and particularly in Kazakhstan. Finally, in its African and Middle East region, sales revenue in Egypt rose by 3.5% despite a devaluation of the local currency driven by a ‘sharp’ increase in volumes. Two coal grinders that entered into service in late 2015 also helped to grow its EBITDA.

France: The European Parliament has voted to approve a proposal by the European Commission to reduce carbon credits by 2.2%/yr from 2021 in its Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS). This is an increase from the 1.74% reduction specified in existing legislation. It will also double the capacity of the 2019 market stability reserve (MSR) to absorb the excess of credits or allowances on the market.

Members of the European Parliament (MEP) want to review the so-called ‘linear reduction factor’ with the intention to raising it to 2.4% by 2024 at the earliest. In addition MEPs want to double the MSR’s capacity to mop up the excess of credits on the market. When triggered, it would absorb up to 24% of the excess of credits in each auctioning year, for the first four years. They have agreed that 800 million allowances should be removed from the MSR as of 1 January 2021. Two funds will also be set up and financed by auctioning ETS allowances. A modernisation fund will help to upgrade energy systems in lower-income member states and an innovation fund will provide financial support for renewable energy, carbon capture and storage and low-carbon innovation projects.

The draft measures were approved by 379 votes to 263, with 57 abstentions. MEPs will now enter into negotiations with the Maltese Presidency of the European Council in order to reach an agreement on the final shape of the legislation, which will then come back to Parliament.

Environmental campaign group Sandbag has complained that the new proposal fails to hold to the European Union’s (EU) emissions reduction targets by 2030 that were signed as part of the Paris Agreement in 2016.

“Unless the Council intervenes to substantially strengthen the System, the EU ETS will now become simply an accounting mechanism, leaving meaningful climate action to happen elsewhere. The fact that the carbon price is unchanged as a result of the vote, still at a paltry Euro5, speaks volumes. Without being realigned with real emissions levels in 2020, the EU ETS may well end up existing for 25 years by 2030 without giving the any substantial impetus to decarbonisation,” said Rachel Solomon Williams, Managing Director at Sandbag.

France: LafargeHolcim has launched its ‘Start-Up Accelerator’ plan to collaborate with entrepreneurs to improve its access to innovative construction solutions. The scheme will offer young companies on-site accommodation and the use of the facilities at the group’s Research and Development Centre in Lyon, France, to develop, test and market their solutions in construction and urban planning. The project will build on LafargeHolcim’s existing experience of working with start-ups in areas that include sustainability, innovative construction systems and the digital sector, as well as its extensive partnerships with customers, end-users and research facilities worldwide.

"With the Start-up Accelerator we are making a commitment to support young companies specialising in construction materials and construction solutions. We can offer them a sophisticated laboratory environment and access to years of experience in creating and applying building materials in thousands of projects and challenging environments around the world. In return, we believe that the start-ups will bring new ideas and new solutions that will change the face of construction in the coming years. We are committed to looking for new solutions for our customers so having the opportunity to bring new ideas together with our own R&D will be invaluable," said Gérard Kuperfarb, Group Head of Growth & Innovation at LafargeHolcim.

The Start-Up Accelerator will be open to entrepreneurs from around the world and will offer them access to offices, laboratory equipment and testing facilities at the industry’s leading Research and Development Centre. They will also benefit from the group’s network of technical experts and its commercial and market experience around the world. As part of the project, LafargeHolcim is also planning to partner with other companies to extend innovation projects along the construction value chain. The first young companies are expected to join the facility in mid-2017.

France: The French government has confirmed that it is investigating Lafarge over alleged illegal activities in Syria following European Union (EU) sanctions that were imposed in 2012. The Paris prosecutor's office said that a probe was opened in October 2016 after the French Ministry of Economy and Finance filed a complaint against the cement producer, according to the Associated Press. LafargeHolcim, the company formed from a merger between Lafarge and Holcim in 2015, said that it was, “in the process of establishing the facts concerning our activities in Syria.”

A group led by the non-government organisation (NGO) Sherpa filed a complaint in Paris against Lafarge for allegedly ‘financing terrorism’ in November 2016. The complaint accused it of maintaining commercial relations with the Islamic State group in Syria in 2013 and 2014 so it could continue operating a cement plant in the country.

At the time, Lafarge denied ‘financing so-called terrorist groups.’ The company said it had launched a ‘thorough and independent investigation’ into the allegations to determine whether its internal code of conduct had been properly followed and if procedures needed to be adapted. It said it would implement ‘any remediation measures required.’

France: Sherpa and the ECCHR (European Centre for Constitutional and Human Rights), as well as 11 complainants who are former Syrian employees of Lafarge, are taking legal action against Lafarge and its subsidiary Lafarge Cement Syria (LCS) for its actions in Syria. The non-government organisations have accused the cement producer of conducting business with the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), a terrorist group, via its Jalabiya cement plant.

“The Lafarge case highlights once again how multinationals doing business in conflict zones can directly fuel armed conflicts and contribute to grave human rights violations committed therein. Companies like Lafarge must be held accountable,” said Miriam Saage-Maaß, Vice Legal Director at ECCHR.

Sherpa and the ECCHR have accused LCS of entering into arrangements with ISIS in order to maintain production, by paying for passes issued by the jihadist organisation and buying raw materials necessary for cement production such as oil and pozzolana in areas under ISIS’s control. They have also accused Lafarge of reckless endangerment given that the plant continued to operate in the conflict zone. LCS repatriated its expatriate staff in 2012 but it kept its Syrian employees working at the site. Subsequently, when the plant was attacked, Sherpa and the ECCHR say that the local employees were forced to escape on their own.

France: Ecocem France has ordered a Loesche type LM 46.2+2 CS mill for a slag cement grinding plant that it is building in Dunkirk. It follows a previous order by Ecocem of a LM 46.2+2 CS mill for the dry grinding of ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBFS) at its plant at Fos-sur-Mer.

The LM 46.2+2 CS for the plant in Dunkirk is designed for the grinding of cement clinker and granulated blast furnace slag at a capacity of 105t/hr GGBFS. The gearbox will have a capacity of 3150kW.

All the mechanical equipment for the grinding plant starting from mill feed to the product discharge into the product silos is included in the Loesche scope of supply. The Loma heater type LF 28-L will be a full-inlined type designed to burn natural gas as well as blast furnace gas. The burner supplied by Loesche will be the MSBZ type, complete with fitting rack and local switch cabinet.

The lead-time for the main components of the mill and for the additional units included in the scope of supply is 6 to 13 months. The commissioning of the vertical roller mill is planned for the middle of 2017.

Ecocem’s grinding plant will be installed close to Arcelor steelworks for use of their granulated blast furnace slag. This LM 46.2+2 CS will be the seventh Loesche vertical roller mill installation for slag and cement grinding in France.