Displaying items by tag: GCW261

Nigeria: Lafarge Africa has signed a US$35m contract with Chinese company Rughn Power to build a 16MW captive power plant at its Ashaka cement plant in Gombe State. The lignite burning plant should provide a reliable energy source for the plant to increase its cement production capacity to 1Mt/yr.

Vietnam: The Vietnam National Cement Association (VNCA) has proposed that the Ministries of Planning and Investment, Finance, and Construction reduce import duties on aluminium cement to improve the competiveness of local refractory producers. At present the country charges a tax of 32 – 37% on imports of the input material used to manufacture refractory concrete and refractory bricks. However, imports of refractory bricks are only charged 6%, according to the Viet Nam News newspaper.

The VNCA suggested the government cut duties on aluminium cement imports to support local firms and reduce the country’s dependence on foreign partners, such as China. Vietnam imports refractory concrete and refractory bricks from China, India, South Korea and Germany.

Sri Lanka: LafargeHolcim has signed an agreement with Siam City Cement to sell Holcim Lanka for US$400m. Holcim Lanka operates one integrated plant and one grinding plant in the country. The transaction is expected to close in the third quarter of 2016.

The proceeds from the sale of Holcim Lanka will be used by Lafarge Holcim to further reduce debt. The Sri Lanka sale follows the divestment of Lafarge India to Nirma that was announced in mid-July 2016. The group says it has now secured three-quarters of its targets to reduce its debt by Euro3.2bn in 2016.

Belgium: HeidelbergCement, through its subsidiary Ciments Français, has agreed to sell its operations in Belgium, primarily consisting of Italcementi’s Belgian subsidiary Compagnie des Ciments Belges (CCB), to Aalborg Portland Holding, a subsidiary indirectly 100% controlled by Cementir Holding. The transaction has been valued at Euro312m on a cash and debt-free basis. The transaction is expected to close in the second half of 2016.

“With the disposal of the Belgium assets we fulfil the obligation of the European Commission and improve the net financial position of HeidelbergCement after the acquisition of the 45% share in Italcementi,” said Bernd Scheifele, Chairman of the Managing Board of HeidelbergCement. “We are well on track to reach our target of at least Euro1bn of proceeds from disposals.”

The divestment of operations in Belgium was offered to the European Commission in order to address competition concerns caused by the group’s acquisition of Italcementi. The sale to Cementir Holding is subject to the approval of the European Commission.

Uzbekistan: The Titan Cement plant in the Karauzyak region of Karakalpakstan has been completed and has started operation. The plant has a production capacity of 0.2Mt/yr and 200 new jobs will be created. The commissioning was announced at a socio-economic development meeting for the Republic of Karakalpakstan, an autonomous republic within Uzbekistan.

Philippines: The National Consumer Affairs Council (NCAC) has warned that around 150,000 bags of cement being sold might be contaminated with seawater. NCAC chairman Jose Paredes Pepito said the contaminated cement entered stores after a ship carrying cement from Vietnam encountered a leak that caused 6000t of cement to get wet, according to the Philippines Star newspaper. The imported cement is part of a 25,000t shipment of Halong brand cement which was unloaded in La Union in March 2016.

“Besides, re-bagged cement should not be sold unless first tested by the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI). Unfortunately, the DTI does not know the location of the 150,000 bags at this point. In the meantime, the public should be very careful when choosing the cement products that they buy in the local market,” said Pepito. He added that the contaminated cement is considered substandard and dangerous if used for construction.

South Africa: Lafarge South Africa has dismissed around 200 employees from some of the company's sites, including its cement plant in Lichtenburg, following several ‘illegal’ work stoppages in the past few weeks. The workers were issued with letters of dismissal on 8 July 2016 after they ignored two written ultimatums to return to work, according to Lafarge. The workers had ‘illegally’ downed tools, to demand the reinstatement of the National Union of Mineworkers' (NUM) National Full Time Shop Steward, who has been suspended for contravening company policy.

"Management regrets having had to issue the notices of dismissal, but we were left with no other choice. We had exhausted all avenues, including giving the employees ample opportunity to return to work, as well as engaging the NUM head office. The workers repeatedly engaged in illegal work stoppages despite continued efforts to reach amicable solutions on outstanding issues," said Veli Gwamanda, Country Director for Human Resources. The official added that the company had also acted to protect non-striking workers from threats, harassment and in some cases physical assaults.

Disciplinary hearings started on 14 July 2016 and are expected to be concluded shortly. The company has implemented contingency plans and operations have not been affected.

India: LafargeHolcim has received the approval of the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs to simplify its corporate structure. The transaction has already been approved by all other stakeholders, including independent directors, minority shareholders, the Securities and Exchange Board of India, stock exchanges and respective High Courts in India. LafargeHolcim is now awaiting formal communication from the Foreign Investment Promotion Board in order to close the transaction.

Through intragroup restructuring, LafargeHolcim will increase its shareholding in Ambuja to 61.14%. Ambuja, in turn, will acquire LafargeHolcim’s 50.05% stake in ACC Limited.

The transaction will be effected through a merger of Holcim India Private Ltd. (HIPL), a wholly owned financial holding subsidiary, with Ambuja. In a two-stage deal, Ambuja will first acquire, through a purchase, a 24% stake in HIPL for a cash consideration of US$521m, followed by a stock merger between HIPL and Ambuja. As part of the merger, LafargeHolcim will receive 584 million new equity shares of Ambuja resulting in an increase of its ownership in Ambuja from the current 50.28% to 61.14%.

India: ACC has started commercial production at its 2.79Mt/yr integrated cement plant at Jamul, Chhattisgarh. The subsidiary of LafargeHolcim also has two new cement grinding plants, one at Jamul and one at Sindri in Jharkhand. These are expected to be commissioned by the end of September 2016. The projects are planned to strengthen the cement producer’s consumer base in east India.

Germany: HeidelbergCement has released its seventh Sustainability Report so far. Highlights from the report include a reduction of specific net CO₂ emissions by 22% to 606kg/t of cement (compared to 1990 levels) and a decreased clinker factor of 75%. However, specific emissions for NO_x, SO₂ and mercury all rose slightly from 2014.

“The numbers show what kind of progress HeidelbergCement made in 2015,” said Bernd Scheifele, CEO of HeidelbergCement. “We have also substantially intensified our commitment to the development of technologies to use CO₂ as a resource, and we have entered into very promising cooperative research projects. This puts us at the forefront of the movement in the cement industry.”

The 2015 report is also the first to present data on water management, following the implementation of industry indicators for water reporting at all cement plants in 2013 and 2014.