Displaying items by tag: GCW117
Australia Cement broke competition law with fly ash contract
10 September 2013Australia: Australia Cement has been found in breach of Australian competition for a fly ash contract that lessened competition. As reported by The Australian newspaper, Justice Andrew Greenwood of the Federal Court in Brisbane made the verdict in a case against the cement producer by the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission (ACCC).
The ACCC had alleged that Cement Australia had breached the abuse of market power provision though a fly ash contract with Millmerran Power Partners. While finding no breach of section 46 of the Act, Justice Greenwood said Cement Australia had breached section 45 through a contract to buy the fly ash from the power station.
Only interim declarations were publicly released to give the parties the chance to go through the about 500-page judgment in case of any confidentiality issues. Justice Greenwood reserved his decision on costs and no decision was made on any penalties.
Dangote planning US$400m cement plant in Kenya
09 September 2013Kenya: Dangote Cement has released plans to build a US$400m cement plant in Kenya, according to the president's office of Kenya. Dangote's CEO Alhaji Aliko Dangote was part of a three-day state visit by Nigerian president Goodluck Jonathan to the east African country to build bilateral trade agreements. No further information on timescales or production capacity was released.
ASEC Cement wins Muthanna contract
09 September 2013Iraq: ASEC Cement and Iraq's Qemmet El-Iraq have won a 14-year contract to renovate and manage the Muthanna Cement Plant in Muthanna Province, Iraq.
Abulla Hussein of Qemmet El-Iraq and ASEC Cement Chairman and CEO Giorgio Bodo attended a signing ceremony in Baghdad with Southern Cement, the state holding company that controls Muthanna Cement, on 28 August 2013. The value of the contract was not released.
"Iraq has embarked on a robust plan to rebuild and modernise its infrastructure and has launched major housing, industrial, and community projects. The rehabilitation of Muthanna is an important part of Iraq's investment in bridging the supply gap, particularly in the south," said Bodo.
Muthanna Cement is located in southern Iraq, between Najaf and Basra. Built in the 1980s, the plant has a total clinker production capacity of 1.92Mt/yr and 2Mt/yr of cement. Due to economic sanctions placed on Iraq in the 1990s, the company's current production capacity is around 20%. Work on the plant will start in the second quarter of 2014 with a plan to reach the plant's original cement production capacity of 2Mt/yr in August 2016.
Carthage Cement to restart production at 2.2Mt/yr plant
09 September 2013Tunisia: Carthage Cement, the cement plant confiscated after the 2010 – 2011 Tunisian Revolution, has restarted its precalciner kiln ahead of a resumption of production. According to its Director General Riadh Ben Khalifa, the cement plant plans to sell at least 2.2Mt/yr.