Displaying items by tag: GCW132

Nepal: Dangote Group has asked the government of Nepal to help it find land to build a cement plant with an investment of US$800m. The Nigerian-based cement producer announced that it has been looking at Dang, Makwanpur and Dhading districts as possible locations following a meeting between Dangote's CEO KR Rao and the Nepalese Finance Minister Shankar Prasad Koirala.

Dangote has asked the Nepalese government to provide 30MW of power for the project. It intends to generate another 30MW for the plant by using a captive power plant.

In late 2013 the Investment Board Nepal (IBN) gave clearance for Dangote to invest in a cement plant in Nepal. Dangote will spend US$550m the first phase of its investment plan in Nepal.

Japan: Cement producers in Japan aim to upgrade their shipping fleets following brisk demand from the reviving construction industry. Three cement producers are expected to spend more than US$95m to acquire new and used vessels in early 2014 according to Nikkei Report. Roughly 70% of cement is moved by sea in Japan.

SumitomoOsaka Cement will spend US$65m, first adding a large ship that can carry 8000t in February 2013 and then purchasing two 2000t ships and one 5500t ship after April 2015. Following the decommissioning of three ships the company will expand its fleet to 20 ships with a combined capacity of 93,000t in 2015 from 19 vessels with a capacity of 82,000t in 2013.

Ube-Mitsubishi Cement plans to start using three new large ships, each with a capacity of roughly 7000 - 12,000t, from February 2014. The company is expected to spend about US$14m on the additions, two of which will be newly built and the other rented.

Taiheiyo Cement will add three large ships for about US$19m in 2014 or later.

Japanese cement producer reduced their shipping fleets following declines in the market in the early 1990s. A reversal of this trend has been attributed to growing construction in large cities, rebuilding after the 2011 earthquake and tsunami and an anticipated rise in demand ahead of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

Russia: Ruslan Ponomarev, deputy to the chief technical officer of the Voronezh branch of Eurocement, introduced a project for processing municipal and industrial waste as an alternative fuel in cement production at an environmental conference held in Voronezh, Russia, in December 2013.

Particular attention was given to issues involving the technical specifications and advantages of solid waste processing in cement kilns. Eurocement's new power plant in Voronezh allows for up to 300t/yr of waste to be disposed of. Thanks to the establishment of a new removal system, the project will allow the region, which has a population of over 2.5m, to cut its normal waste disposal by 90%.

Belgorod Region Governor, Evgeny Savchenko, met with the president of Eurocement, Mikhail Skorokhod, to discuss prospects for the construction of new cement production lines at Belgorodskiy Cement and Oskolcement. The construction of new lines will reduce the amount of clinker kilns at Oskolcement and Belgorodskiy Cement from six and seven respectively to one at each plant, significantly improving the environmental impact. Energy reduction is expected to reach approximately 30% and fuel consumption can be reduced more than two-fold.

"We are pleased to be working with Eurocement Group. The implementation of construction projects at two cement plants is bringing a completely new level of environmental awareness, allowing a tremendous reduction in manufacturing emissions," said Savchenko.

Mikhail Skorokhod also commented on the project: "Eurocement Group is involved in the continuous modernisation of its production facilities, in order to improve product quality, reduce energy costs and improve the environment. The transition to new technology platforms will be done without interrupting the existing production lines. Regional projects will provide orders for the construction sector in the region. This project will also provide an opportunity to create a completely new situation and quality of life both for the factory workers and residents of Belgorod and Stary Oskol."

Venezuela: Caribbean Cement Company, a subsidiary of the TCL Group, has entered into an agreement to supply 100,000t of clinker to Venezuela from December 2013 to April 2014. This arrangement was facilitated under the compensation mechanism of the Petrocaribe Agreement where the government of Jamaica could repay the loan to Venezuela with goods and services in lieu of cash.

This contract is the outcome of more than three years of negotiations between Caribbean Cement, the government of Jamaica and the government of Venezuela. What started as an initiative to export cement ended instead in an agreement to supply clinker.

Caribbean Cement will export 20,000t/month of clinker to Pertigalete, Venezuela. The company will continue negotiations to continue to supply clinker after April 2014. The company said in a statement "Caribbean Cement is pleased to be a trailblazer in setting a precedent for other goods and services to be negotiated under the compensation mechanism of the Petrocaribe."

Belgium: The European Commission said on 6 January 2014 that it has rejected Berlin's request to refer to the German competition authority regarding a proposed takeover by Holcim of some of Cemex's European assets. Holcim intends to acquire part of Cemex's activities in cement, ready-mix concrete and aggregates in western Germany and a small number of plants and sites in France and the Netherlands.

The German competition authority had asked to review the proposed deal itself, arguing that it threatened to significantly affect competition in the cement markets of northern and western Germany. However, the Commission, which acts as the competition authority in Europe, said that the deal would affect cement markets outside of Germany such as parts of Belgium, the Netherlands and the northeast of France. "The Commission concluded that the geographic scope of the affected cement markets is wider than national and that therefore the Commission cannot refer the assessment of the transaction to Germany."

The Commission announced in October 2013 that it was opening an in-depth investigation into the proposed takeover. It has until 31 March 2014 to make a final decision.

India: HeidelbergCement India has completed the sale and transfer of its cement grinding facility situated at Raigad, Maharashtra to JSW Steel, in accordance with the Business Transfer Agreement executed between the company and JSW Steel on 5 October 2013. The sale and transfer took effect from 3 January 2014.

South Africa: ARM Cement Ltd has yet to receive its directors' approval for a plan to construct a plant in South Africa.

"We have not approved any budget or plans at our board yet," said Pradeep Paunrana, managing director of ARM Cement. Mafikeng Cement, in which ARM has a 70% stake, plans to build a 3000t/day plant in South Africa.

ARM Cement is considering selling Eurobonds to help fund a planned US$300m expansion programme that will double cement production within four years, according to Paunrana.

African nations are investing heavily in the construction of ports, railways and power generation projects that will help to accelerate economic growth. Kenya's cement consumption has surged by 60% to 85.7kg/capita since 2009, while South Africa's has increased to 300kg/capita and Egypt's has reached 500kg/capita.

India: A consumer court has asked a cement company to compensate a farmer for the cost of house construction as the quality of its cement was not found up to the necessary standards.

Rahimbhai Sherasiya started construction at his farm in Dhuva village with 200 bags of Hathi brand cement that he bought from Saurashtra Cement Ltd in December 2012 for US$871. As construction proceeded he found that the cement was of very poor quality. It could not hold construction material and further construction was not possible.

Sherasiya complained to the company and the authorised dealer but did not get a proper reply. Through company officials he sent samples of the cement to the laboratory of the Gujarat Engineering Research Institute (GERI) to get the cement tested for quality. GERI's report revealed that the cement was not as per the Indian Standard.

When the company refused to pay heed to his complaint, Sherasiya moved the Rajkot Consumer Dispute Redressal Forum and demanded compensation. This included the amount he had invested in paying for transportation and labour and purchasing construction material. The company denied all charges and claimed that GERI is not a government-approved agency and that its report was misleading.

Kenya: ARM Cement is set to build Kenya's largest cement plant in Kitui County, setting it up for a fight with Nigeria's Dangote Cement, which also has plans to open a U$400m plant in the same region.

ARM says that it will raise up to US$300m to fund new plants including the planned unit in Kitui, which will produce 8000t/day (~2.5Mt/yr) of cement. This will make it the single largest cement factory in the country and places the unit ahead of the planned Dangote plant, which has a planned daily capacity of 5500t/day (~1.8Mt/yr). ARM's fund-raising will be done through a mixture of bank loans, corporate bonds and rights issues.

"We plan to start construction of the Kitui plant late in 2014. It is a major development for us," said Pradeep Paunrana, ARM's chief executive, to the Daily Press.

This announcement will re-open the fight for Kitui mines, which were the subject of a fierce court battle between ARM and Bamburi Cement in 2010. The 100km² area is rich with high-quality limestone. The East Africa Portland Cement Company (EAPCC) has also directed its management to strike a deal with Kitui County so that it can secure key raw materials and counter moves made by Dangote and local rivals.

Kenya produced 4.7Mt of cement in 2012, up from 2.8Mt in 2008, according to the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics. With double-digit cement market growth expected in the coming years, Kenya has caught the eye of Dangote Cement and new entrants National Cement and Mombasa Cement as well as the established players.

India: The Deputy Labour Commissioner of the Union government has convened a tripartite meeting with representatives from Vasavadatta Cements and UltraTech Cement, the Shramajeevigala Vedike and the Labour Department to find a solution to the on-going wage disputes at Karnataka cement plants.

Mr. Hiremath, trade union leader and president of the Shramajeevigala Vedike, claimed that the cement companies were spreading falsehoods about the implementation of wage board salaries to contract labourers. They continued to pay a negligible US$2.89/day against the cement wage board's recommendation to pay more than US$8.03/day. The companies also provided false information to the Labour Commissioner that the cement wage board's recommendations were being implemented and hid the fact that contract labourers were not receiving any other benefits.

Mr. Hiremath said that if the Labour Department failed to ensure that the cement plants implemented the wage board's recommendations, the employees would not have any alternative but to launch an indefinite protest in New Delhi.