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The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) gave HeidelbergCement permission to complete its acquisition of Italcementi assets in the US on 17 June 2016. This was the second and final major competition body that could have challenged the purchase, following approval by the European Commission in late May 2016. Although the FTC consent now faces a month for comment the deal is looking likely to complete towards the end of the summer.

HeidelbergCement and Italcementi have gotten away with having to sell just one cement plant and 11 terminals in the US. The Lafarge-Holcim merger in 2015 had it tougher. Those companies were forced to sell two cement plants, two slag grinding plant and a host of terminals. Admittedly LafargeHolcim is now the biggest cement producer in the US (and the world) but HeidelbergCement will hold more integrated cement plants in the US following its acquisition.

As predicted the FTC took exception with the proximity of the company’s assets in West Virginia and Pennsylvania following the acquisition. So the parties have agreed to sell the Essroc Martinsburg integrated cement plant in West Virginia. When Global Cement visited the plant in late 2013 the staff told us that cement from the plant was distributed from central Ohio eastwards to western Pennsylvania and south to southern Virginia. The plant also switched over to a FLSmidth dry production line in 2010 giving it a clinker production capacity of 1.6Mt/yr, making it one of the newer plants in the Essroc stable.

The FTC also flagged up competition concerns in five metropolitan areas: Baltimore-Washington, DC; Richmond, Virginia; Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News, Virginia; Syracuse, New York; and Indianapolis, Indiana. In light of this the proposed consent agreement requires the merged company to divest seven Essroc terminals in Maryland, Virginia and Pennsylvania and a Lehigh terminal in Solvay, New York. Two additional Essroc terminals in Columbus and Middlebranch, Ohio are to be sold at the option of the buyer and subject to FTC approval. Finally, Essroc’s terminal in Indianapolis is to be sold to Cemex.

Funnily enough, the FTC took about a year to approve both the merger of Lafarge and Holcim and HeidelbergCement’s purchase of Italcementi. This compares to the European Commission which took nine months to approve the Lafarge-Holcim deal but which took 11 months to clear the HeidelbergCement-Italcementi one. Given the greater overlap of assets of the Lafarge-Holcim merger in both Europe and the US one might have thought that the approval process would have taken longer. Or maybe bureaucracy moves at a speed all of its own. Read into this what you will. The creation of the world’s second largest multinational cement producer draws closer.

China: Li Quanhua has resigned as the vice president of Huaxin Cement due to personal reasons. His letter of resignation was submitted on 18 June 2016 and has immediate effect. The board of directors have expressed their thanks to Li Quanhua for his contribution to the company.

US: Adriano Greco will become the CEO of FCT Inc from 1 August 2016. Greco became the company’s US-based sales director in early 2016. Greco has previously acted as managing director of Greco and as sales director for Gebr. Pfeiffer.

Other staff movements at FCT Inc include the appointment of Ricardo Costa as a technical director based in Brazil. The company will also open a new office in Florida to support its development in the Latin American market. Elsewhere in the group, Joel Maia has joined FCT as the technical director of its European subsidiary, FCT GmbH.

US: HGH Infrared Systems, the American subsidiary of HGH Systemes Infrarouges (HGH), based in Boston, Massachusetts, has just acquired Electro Optical Industries (EOI), based in Santa Barbara, in California. The new entity will be named Electro Optical Industries Inc.

EOI, a pioneer of electro-optical test instruments, has been a provider of infrared, visible and ultra violet testing and calibration equipment since 1964.

Commenting on the transaction, Thierry Campos, President of the newly formed Electro Optical Industries Inc said, “This merger will greatly enhance our development and manufacturing capabilities in the USA. It will also significantly extend our product line and service offerings to the benefit of our customers worldwide. We are very excited by this historic move which will add to our rapid expansion and will position our group as a world leader in infrared instruments and wide area surveillance systems.”

Syria: LafargeHolcim has dodged accusations by La Monde that Lafarge entered into deals with armed groups in Syria, including Islamic State (IS), to protect its business interests in the country. In a statement LafargeHolcim said that its first priority was the safety and security of its employees at its Jalabiyeh cement plant before it eventually closed the plant. It did not deny the accusations.

Le Monde reported it had seen letters sent by Lafarge managers in Syria revealing arrangements that Lafarge made with the jihadist group to continue production until 19 September 2014 and to arrange access for staff and supplies. The French newspaper also alleges that Lafarge bought licences from and paid taxes to IS middle-men and oil traders.

Lafarge operated the 3Mt/yr Jalabiyeh cement plant from 2010 to 2014. In September 2014, Lafarge stopped operating the plant. After that, all employees were evacuated, put on paid leave and were no longer allowed to access the plant. In December 2014 Lafarge decided to terminate all employee contracts, and where possible, transfer employees to other parts of the group.

Australia: Adelaide Brighton says it has prepared for an acquisition of the operations of LafargeHolcim in Australia and New Zealand. Chief executive Martin Brydon confirmed the plans to The Australian newspaper. He added that the plan includes measures to cope with competition issues that could arise from the takeover. However, Brydon admitted that LafargeHolcim has not declared if it is actually selling its assets in the region.

Azerbaijan: The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) plans to increase its stake in Holcim Azerbaijan to 20% from 10%.

"The EBRD is considering an additional investment in Holcim OJSC to increase the bank's stake in the company, with a view to extend its participation in the business," the EBRD said in a statement. The bank intends to support the company’s energy efficiency through the use of alternative fuels. On 20 July 2016 the EBRD board of directors will start a preliminary review of the issue of increasing the stake in Holcim Azerbaijan.

Holcim Azerbaijan produces 35 - 40% of Azerbaijan's cement and clinker. The company's main shareholders are LafargeHolcim (66%), EBRD (10%) and Holcim Auslandbeteiligungs GmbH (10%).

India: Kanodia Group has launched its new cement brand ‘Bigcem’ at Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh. The product will be targeted at markets in Uttarakhand and Western Uttar Pradesh to start with followed by expansion in Delhi and the National Capital Region, according to the Hans India newspaper. Gautam Kanodia, director of Kanodia Group, said that the product is expected to give 40% more strength than the general Bureau of Indian Standards standard.

Nigeria: The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has raided the Lagos office of the Bank of Industry (BOI) following an investigation. Officials of the development bank say that the raid was part of the investigation by the EFCC of the allegation of misapplied funds belonging to the Cement Technology Institute of Nigeria (CTIN), according to All Africa.

In a statement the BOI said that concerns regarding the new terms on how to manage a fund accrued from tariffs on imported cement between 2011 and 2015 had been addressed. The bank was appointed by the federal government to use the money to develop the country’s cement industry. However, following the creation of Cement Technology Institute of Nigeria (CTIN) the BOI was asked in 2013 to transfer the fund to CITN. This did not happen. On 17 June 2016 the fund had grown to US$47m in the BOI’s accounts.

Thailand: Asia Cement has arranged negotiations with the Ministry of Industry to retrieve a US$8.5m deposit placed as a guarantee for a limestone mine licence application. The cement producer was granted a licence to operate a limestone mine in Nakhon Si Thammarat province in 1997. However, an environmental order nullified the licence and allowed the government to keep the deposit, according to the Bangkok Post.

"The government and Asia Cement have set up legal teams to negotiate and seek solutions that are acceptable to both sides," said Chat Hongtiamchant, director-general of the ministry's Department of Primary Industries and Mines. The subsidiary of Italcementi also wants to drop the mine project due to a change in the market demand.