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Lafarge UK has scored a notable success recently at its Cookstown Works reaching 10 years without a lost-time injury (LTI). It has emerged that this is the longest a Lafarge Group plant anywhere in the world has gone without a LTI. Cookstown also set the record the previous year in 2011, showing how far ahead it is of the rest of the group.

LTIs are generally defined as any work related injury or illness which prevents a worker from doing any work the day after the accident. Another similar measure is Lost Time Injury Frequency Rate (LTIFR), which takes into account hours worked by staff.

For example, in April 2011 Global Cement Magazine interviewed the safety manager at the Ste. Genevieve plant in Missouri, USA. He revealed a rate of zero lost-time incidents rate over the last 1.2 million-man hours and no LTIs over the last 700 days. Through construction the plant employed 2300 personnel and then 200 operational employees when it went live. By comparison Cookstown employs only 80 workers. Its LTIFR will be much lower.

The Mineral Products Association recorded a 81% reduction in LTIs between 2004 and 2009 for the UK cement industry. It has since set itself the further target to halve the LTIFR between 2009 and 2014. As of 2009 the UK LTIFR for direct employees was 3.59 per million hours worked. The MPAs target LTIFR for 2014 is 1.79 or lower.

Regardless of how you present the figures the Cookstown Plant LTI achievement is impressive. The challenge, as ever, lies in bettering it.

TÇMB: Board members of the Turkish Cement Manufacturer's Association (TÇMB) were selected at its 54th General Assembly in Ankara on 28 February 2012. The board re-elected Mustafa Güçlü as the Chairman of Board of the TÇMB by acclamation.

An economics graduate from Ankara University, Güçlü has held positions in the Turkish Finance Ministry and Foreign Trade Inc, becoming the General Manager of General Directorate of State Monopolies in 1991. In May 2000, Güçlü started to work as the General Coordinator and the Chairman of Executive Committee in Çimentaş Group.

Hanson UK (HeidelbergCement): Chris Coton, Hanson UK's concrete technical services manager for the south west, died suddenly on 26 February 2012. Coton, aged 59, began his career at the Swansea plant of the now-defunct Pioneer, which was acquired by Hanson, part of the HeidelbergCement group, in 2000.

Coton became area technical manager for Hanson in 2000 and in 2004 he became technical services manager responsible for over 40 concrete plants. Hanson's national technical director Charlie Jones, said, "Chris was a great character and well respected throughout the industry. I will miss him greatly as I am sure many of his colleagues will. He was a good friend and an industry stalwart. Our condolences go to his wife Elaine."

China: On 5 March 2012 Premier Wen Jiabao lowered China's growth target for 2012 to 7.5% from 8%, signalling Beijing's determination to manage a 'soft landing' to moderate its runaway economic expansion. The slowdown will likely hit China's construction sector, which accounts for most of China's rampant cement consumption. China exported only 10.6Mt/yr of cement in 2011, just 1.1% of national output. The worries over China's plans are affecting certainty in all major materials markets.

Credit Suisse described China's more moderate growth target as 'acceptance of slower medium-term growth.' It also said that infrastructure spending was on a downward trend due to the completion of many large highway, railway and airport projects.

Despite this, Guo Wensan the chairman of China's largest cement producer Anhui Conch, has announced that demand for cement remains strong in China. He said that the government's drive to push the construction of subsidised affordable housing is successfully offsetting declining cement demand from the private housing market.

Guo said that cement demand from the 10 million affordable housing units started in 2011 will peak from the second quarter of 2012 onwards. "This year there will be another 7 million public housing starts, so we remain confident," he said. Guo added that the cement industry has benefited from consolidation since the start of 2011, which has seen the removal of older, inefficient kilns and the closure of some companies.

France: The board of directors of Ciments Français, part of the Italcementi Group, has examined and approved the audited annual and consolidated accounts as of 31 December 2011, which show a net consolidated profit of Euro274m, a 13.7% drop year-on-year.

Cement sales volumes for the entire year were down by 1.4% at 42.4Mt. Ciments Français Cement sales improved in France, North America, Morocco and India but decreased in Egypt due to the political crisis there. An overall fall in demand, strong inflation on fuel prices and negative translation effects resulted in deterioration in the company's operating results. These impacts were only partly mitigated by efficiency measures implemented throughout the year.

As of 31 December 2011, Group consolidated revenues were Euro3.89bn, down by 3.8% year-on-year. Its recurring earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) amounted to Euro702m, down by over 20% year-on-year. Earnings before interest and tax dropped by 38% to Euro309m following recognition of Euro359m in depreciations and Euro53.4m in impairment losses, mainly in crisis-hit Spain and Greece.

Group investments in industrial and intangible assets amounted to Euro301m as of 31 December 2011, down by 25.6% compared to 31 December 2010. They mainly related to the strengthening of production in France, Belgium and Egypt and an increase of production capacity in India and Morocco.

A tight management of cash flows, the disposal of assets in Turkey and the sale of subsidiary Axim contributed to strengthen Ciments Français' net financial position. At the end of December 2011, its net financial debt was reduced by Euro390m to Euro1.02bn compared to Euro1.41bn as of 31 December 2010.

Regarding 2012 Ciments Français reported that the markets in which it operates should be more stable. Sales volumes are expected to stabilise at a level similar to that of 2011, increasing in North America and Morocco while declining in southern Europe. Egypt remains a source of uncertainty. Prices are likely to trend more positively and partially offset the rise in energy costs and the impact of inflation on fixed costs. Additionally, the efficiency programs launched in 2011 should increase operating results in 2012.

The group will initiate a new cycle of investments in 2012 related to its industrial facilities, mainly in Gulbarga, India and Bulgaria. In Morocco, the group expects a new expansion phase after the commissioning of the Ait Baha plant.

Kenya: The Maasai Council of Elders (MCE) has assured cement manufacturing companies in Athi River of their willingness to allow them get raw materials from Kajiado county, following disputes over land. MCE spokesman, William Kirrinkai, gave the assurance after a meeting of stakeholders and representatives of the five cement manufacturers at Nkurrunka area in Kitengela.

Kirrinkai is also the treasurer of the recently-formed special council mediator group to negotiate the re-opening of all the mines that had been closed over alleged misunderstandings between the locals and the companies. He was quick to point out that earlier demands made by the MCE still stand.

The elders had given an ultimatum to the companies to look again at their social corporate responsibilities and consider some of the requirements of the Maasai community. Some of the demands were the implementation of employment quota for Maasai young graduates, two directorial positions in all of the companies, building of health centres in all the mining areas, building of tarmac roads in areas leading to the mines and helping members of the community pay school fees for their children.

During a meeting on the matter at Kitengela on 27 February 2012, the East African Portland Cement Company (EAPCC) and Athi River Mining Cement (ARMC) representatives requested to be given time to consider the demands. Kirrinkai, who attended the meeting, agreed with the then EAPCC chairman, Mark Karbolo, and ARMC's representative Peter Danga to meet again on 10 March 2012 to review the matter.

Kirrinkai separately addressed more than 2000 members of the local Maasais and other communities in Kajiado County, saying that local and non-locals living in the region have a right to all the available resources.

Brazil: Cement manufacturer Holcim, which already operates cement plants in Minas Gerais and Rio de Janeiro, is considering a new plant or joint-venture with a company already established in the Brazilian cement market. The group has untouched limestone reserves in the south, mid-west and the north east regions to offer any potential collaborator.

Holcim President Otmar Hübscher said that the company has been looking at possible locations and wants to focus Holcim to meet the growing cement demand in Brazil, where it is currently operating at its 5.3Mt/yr capacity. The company has already announced an US$800m expansion of its plant in Barroso, Minas Gerais. It is presently waiting for environmental clearance for the project, which will see that plant increase its capacity from 1.2Mt/yr to 3.5Mt/yr by 2014.

Iran: Cement exports from Iran increased to over 9.3Mt in the first 11 months of its current calendar year, which ended on 19 February 2012, marking a 17% rise compared to the same period of the previous year. Exports of clinker stood at 1.5Mt in the same period of time.

Iranian Minister of Industry, Mine and Trade Mehdi Ghazanfari announced that, with the implementation of new projects, the country's cement capacity could reach 110Mt/yr by the end of 2015.

Venezuela: Venezuela's President Hugo Chávez has authorised the transfer of US$10m to build a new quarry to help stimulate cement production in the country. The executive also greenlighted a measure to change local cement firm Cemex Venezuela's name to Venezolana de Cementos, as well as measures to develop and strengthen the firm.

The Venezuelan government nationalised Cemex Venezuela, formerly operated by Mexican cement maker Cemex in August 2008. The Mexican firm received US$600m in compensation in 2011.

Chávez also said that future investments for the cement sector would aim to develop relevant technology, perform environmental impact studies and improve benefits for cement workers.

Indonesia: Thailand's Siam Cement Group (SCG) has revealed plans to build a new cement plant in Indonesia to capitalise on the country's rapidly-growing demand for construction materials. Kan Trakulhoon, president and chief executive officer of SCG, said that the company would invest US$300m in a cement plant in Sukabumi, West Java. The plant will have a capacity of 5000t/day and construction is expected to start by the end of 2012.

The investment comes after SCG bought a 100% stake valued at US$135m in Boral Indonesia, a company that produces ready-mixed concrete, from Australia-based Boral in February 2012. Kan said that SCG's growth lies outside of Thailand and that Indonesia is a big part of that.

The SCG chief, who has previously lived and worked in the Indonesian capital Jakarta, said that he had been impressed with Indonesia's improvement during the past few years. "During the last four to five years, the growth was very good. SCG has a lot of confidence in Indonesia," he said. Kan said he that he was not afraid of competition with Indonesia's more established cement makers as SCG had already acquired supporting companies such as Kokoh Inti Arebama, an Indonesian construction-material distributor.

Semen Gresik, Indonesia's largest cement producer, and other cement makers plan to invest a total of US$6.27bn during the next three years to boost production. The investment is expected to produce an additional 30Mt/yr of cement in the country, with annual output reaching 90Mt/yr in 2017 from 52Mt in 2011. Chaovalit Ekabut, SCG's chief financial officer, added that demand for SCG's products remained high in Indonesia.

Looking ahead, Kan said that in the next five years, the company would invest US$5bn in its ASEAN-country operations. In 2012 it will spend US$1.3-1.5bn in various regional investments, but Kan did not disclose how much the company has set aside for Indonesia.

Greece: Titan Cement, Greece's biggest cement producer, has posted an 89% drop in its 2011 net profit compared to that of 2010. It has forecast further declines in 2012 after the collapse of the building industry in its recession-hit home market. The company, which recently celebrated its 100-year anniversary, said that it will not distribute a dividend for the first time in 58 years.

Titan has been hit hard by a plunge in private housing investment and drastic cutbacks in public spending on infrastructure in Greece, which is stuck in its fifth year of recession at the centre of the Eurozone crisis.

The group said that its net profit fell to Euro11m in 2011 from Euro103m in 2010. Conditions at home are not expected to improve in 2012.

"In Greece there is no visibility at this time of either a reversal of the downward trend in private construction or the much anticipated restarting of infrastructure works," the company said in a statement."Demand for the group's products will record a further considerable decline in 2012."

The company has been counting on growth in new markets such as north Africa and Turkey to offset building slumps in Greece and the United States and difficult conditions in Egypt where it also has operations. However, political unrest in Libya, where Titan runs two cement plans, halted exports to the region throughout 2011. Group sales across all of Titan's markets declined by 19% year-on-year to Euro1.1bn in 2011. Its earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) fell by 23% to Euro243m.

Titan has embarked on a two-year restructuring plan, which is expected to cut costs by Euro26m/yr. The impact of the restructuring and a Euro19m asset impairment charge hurt its fourth quarter performance. In the last quarter of 2011, Titan had a net loss of Euro42m versus a net profit of Euro5m in the same period in 2010.