Displaying items by tag: GCW267

USA: Titan America's Roanoke Cement has earned the US Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA's) Energy Star certification for the tenth consecutive year and Titan's Pennsuco plant celebrates nine years of certification. To qualify for Energy Star, Titan's plants must perform in the top 25 percent of cement plants in the US for total energy efficiency (thermal and electrical) and meet strict environmental performance levels set by the EPA.

To further its efforts, Titan America has implemented a series of processes that enable Titan employees to maintain and improve energy performance across the entire enterprise. The Titan Energy Management System (EnMS), operating at Titan's three largest facilities (the Roanoke Cement plant in Virginia and both the cement plant and aggregate plant located in Medley, Florida) enables employees to systematically manage total consumption of all energy sources. This program, which addresses the energy performance standard ISO 50001, also ensures that the company's business operations are as efficient as possible, increases plant reliability and supports Titan's operational goals.

"At Titan America we are passionate about continuously developing efficient, sustainable operating practices," said Bill Zarkalis, Titan America's CEO. "Titan's EnMS program is an excellent example of innovation and of our commitment to make our business operations more efficient, while contributing as much as we can to make the locations in which we operate better places to live and work. We are very proud of this recognition, but we do not take it for granted. We are poised to continue our efforts."

"We are extremely proud of the Energy Star certifications we have earned over the past decade," commented George Pantazopoulos, Senior Vice President of Titan America Cement Operations and Corporate Engineering. "We also consider this milestone to be a catalyst for reinvigorating our teams and increasing our efforts. We have no doubt that we can gain further efficiencies in our manufacturing processes using the EnMS program."

Roanoke Cement has applied electricity management best practices during the previous 18 months and has delivered an 11% reduction in electricity consumed per tonne of cement produced. Additionally, the company has partnered with electrical utilities to reduce their contribution to peaks on the power grid due to demand management and demand response. These efforts ensure that inefficient peak generators owned by the utilities can remain offline during times when homeowners and businesses place a large demand on the electrical grid.

"The EnMS program is scheduled to be fully operational by 3Q 2017," reported Chris Bayne, Titan America's Corporate Energy Manager and director of the EnMS program. "We organised teams to oversee the program at our three main facilities. Roberto Duran will lead the Pennsuco Aggregates Plant team, Sonny Cruz will lead the Roanoke Cement Plant team and Diwakar Mishra will lead the team at Pennsuco Cement." Bayne also noted that the implementation teams would routinely incorporate energy management practices into the daily operations of Titan's manufacturing facilities. Titan is targeting a reduction in total energy consumption of 3%, year-over-year.

Energy Star was introduced by EPA in 1992 as a voluntary, market-based partnership to reduce greenhouse gas emissions through energy efficiency. Today, the Energy Star label can be found on more than 60 different kinds of products as well as new homes and commercial and industrial buildings that meet strict energy-efficiency specifications set by the EPA. Over the past twenty years, American families and businesses have saved a total of nearly $230 billion on utility bills and prevented more than 1.7 billion metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions with help from Energy Star.

Iraq: Lafarge Iraq has signed an agreement with Iraq's General Company for Land Transportation (GCLT) for the transportation of cement. The contract is the largest in the history of the GCLT, which is owned by Iraq's Ministry for Transport. The deal will run for one year, and may be further extended for five years. Lafarge Iraq operates three cement plants: Bazian and Tasluja cement plants located in Sulaimania, in the Iraqi Federal Region of Kurdistan, and the Karbala Cement Plant located close to Karbala province.

Poland/Egypt: Royal Cement EU, the European arm of the Egyptian white cement producer Royal El Minya Cement, is planning to expand in the Gdansk-Kowale IV logistics centre in Poland, belonging to 7R Logistic. Querco Property acted as Royal Cement's advisor in finding and negotiating the deal.

Japan: Japan's Sumitomo Osaka Cement consumed 1.41Mt of coal in financial year 2015 to March 31, 2016, down 2.7% year on year. Petroleum coke consumption in FY2015 was 0.10Mt, up 19%.

India: The Competition Commission of India (CCI) has imposed a penalty of more than Rs67bn (US$1bn) on 11 cement companies for alleged cartelisation. The companies affected are UltraTech, Binani, Ramco, Jaiprakash Associates, JK Cement, Lafarge, India Cements, ACL, ACC, Century, and Shree Cement, besides the Indian Cement Manufacturers' Association (CMA). The order issued by the anti-trust regulator held the companies and the CMA responsible for 'acting in concert in fixing prices of cement.' The companies and the CMA allegedly shared details relating to prices, capacity utilisation, production and dispatch, which led to restricted production and supplies in the market hurting consumers and the Indian economy, the order said. Further, the CCI also found the cement companies to be acting in concert in fixing prices of cement. A final order has been passed by CCI, pursuant to the directions issued by the Competition Appellate Tribunal (CAT) remanding the matter back, while setting aside the original order of the fair trade regulator, which had had also imposed fine on cement companies.

Penalties of US$171m on ACC, US$173m on ACL, US$24.9m on Binani, US$40.9m on Century, US$27.9m on India Cements, US$19.1m on JK Cement, US$73.1m on Lafarge, US$38.5m on Ramco, US$175.3m on UltraTech and US$197.5m on Jaiprakash Associates were imposed by CCI. In addition, a penalty of US$109,000 was slapped on the CMA.Penalising the companies, the CCI said the actions of the companies and the CMA are not only detrimental to the interests of consumers but also to the whole economy, as cement is a critical input in construction and infrastructure industry, and vital to economic development. Through a separate order, the regulator has slapped US$59.2m fine on Shree Cement for unfair businesses practices.

The CAT had, in late 2015, revoked CCI's order, imposing a combined penalty of US$943m on cement companies for allegedly forming a price cartel. The tribunal quashed the commission's order after observing that Ashok Chawla, then CCI chairperson, was party to the order, despite not being present during hearings. The tribunal also allowed the cement companies to withdraw the US$94m deposited by them in compliance of its interim order. The interim order, in May 2013, had stayed the penalty but asked the companies to deposit 10 per cent of its pending disposal of their appeal. In June 2012, the commission had fined ACC, Ambuja Cement, UltraTech Cement and Jaiprakash Associates a little over US$149m each for forming a cartel. The other companies fined included Madras Cements, Century Cement, Binani Cement, Lafarge India, JK Cement, India Cements and Grasim Cements (now merged with UltraTech). The CMA was also a party in this case and it was fined a token amount.

Competition watchdog CCI said interactions between the trade body and the cement companies were not confined to promoting the interest of the industry. "Such interactions have been found to have transgressed the limits in sharing of information and extended to discussions on cost, prices, production and capacities...," the CCI order said. The case was filed by Builders Association of India against the cement companies and CMA alleging collusion to fix prices.

Mexico: Cemex has announced that Mexico’s Secretariat of Environment and Natural Resources has granted the company an Honourable Mention for the 2016 National Award of Ecological Merit. This award is the country’s most important environmental recognition and was presented to CEMEX for its conservation and restoration efforts under the company’s El Carmen Conservation Program.

Cemex earned this recognition in the Business Category for its contribution to the restoration, conservation, and increased population of endangered species such as the bighorn sheep, the pronghorn antelope, and the golden eagle. Thanks to El Carmen’s preservation initiatives, other species with considerably increased populations include the desert mule deer, the white-tailed deer, and the black bear — the largest population of this species of bear in Mexico.

“We are very proud to receive this recognition. It encourages us to continue our work to preserve the extraordinary biodiversity of our planet,” said Fernando A. Gonzalez, CEO of Cemex. “Our 15 years of continuous commitment to El Carmen underscores the key role that sustainability plays in our company’s strategy.”

Cemex’s El Carmen Conservation Program celebrates 15 years of work conserving the unique biodiversity of the border region within the states of Coahuila, Mexico, and Texas, USA. Comprising over 140,000 hectares, the El Carmen ecological reserve is one of the most biodiversity rich areas in North America and one of the five great wilderness ecosystems in the world.

Australia: Adelaide Brighton has said its annual net profit is likely to fall in 2016 compared to 2015, mainly on the back of lower income from property deals. However, its management has offered an otherwise bullish outlook, with price rises looming for several key products.

Adelaide Brighton said it expects net profit for 2016 to be US$143-150m. The top end of the range would represent a 3.8% decline year-on-year. It reported that annual sales volumes of cement and clinker were likely to be below 2015 levels, but volumes of premixed concrete, aggregates and concrete products would be significantly higher than a year earlier.

For the first half of 2016, Adelaide Brighton reported a net profit of US$57.8m, a 6.7% decrease compared to the same period of 2015. After stripping out the impact of property transactions, the company's earnings were 7.8% higher year-on-year.

China: Jiangsu Nan Bi Property Development, a China-based property development company, has entered into a framework agreement to acquire a 35% stake in Nanjing Jiangnan Cement from Great Market for US$22.09m in cash.

Great Market is a Hong Kong-based indirect wholly-owned subsidiary of SOCAM Development Limited. Upon completion of the transaction, SOCAM’s equity interest in Nanjing Jiangnan will be reduced from 60% to 25%. Nanjing Jiangnan will cease to be a subsidiary of SOCAM, but will continue to be accounted for as a joint venture of SOCAM.

Macedonia: Cementarnica Usje, Titan Cement’s Macedonian subsidiary, has announced that its first-half consolidated net profit increased by 11% year-on-year to Euro9.3m, mainly due to higher operating revenue and lower financial expenses.

The company's consolidated operating revenue rose by 9% year-on-year to Euro33.1m in the first half of 2016, while operating expenses grew by 10% to Euro23.6m. Operating profit rose by 7% year-on-year to Euro10.2m.