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It's been an expensive week for the US cement industry in terms of environmental infringements. First, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced that Cemex has agreed to pay a US$1m fine for nitrogen oxide (NO_x) emissions at its Lyons cement plant in Colorado. Then Lehigh's Glen Falls plant was fined US$50,000 by the state of New York for polluting the Hudson River.

With new NESHAP and MACT environmental regulations from the EPA in place for 2013, one thought that occurs is how long it will take for the new standards to sink in. For example, the lead-time for both of the cases we have reported upon this week was several years at least. The complaint against Cemex referred to a period from 1997 to 2000, when the plant was operated by Southdown. Lehigh's fine arose from an inspection carried out in April 2010.

The EPA hopes that its latest changes will cut US cement industry emissions of mercury by 93%, hydrochloric acid by 96%, particulate matter by 91% and total hydrocarbons by 82%. After years of haggling between the Portland Cement Association and the EPA, even the latest round of regulations received a reprieve until September 2015, with the option to ask for a year's extension. So, if the lead times from the Cemex and Lehigh fines are indicative, contravening cement plants might not be facing fines relating to the current NESHAP or MACT regulations until around 2023 - 2026. Of course by this time, the regulations governing emissions will probably have changed again.

Given the shifting backdrop of US environmental regulations, many of the pertinent environmental presentations at last week's IEEE-IAS/PCA Cement Conference in Orlando, Florida, were of great help to US cement producers. Among these were two presentations by John Kline, who firstly gave an overview on the hot-topic of mercury emissions from cement kilns. He singled out the difficulties in comparing cement kilns to power plants in terms of mercury as cement plants are far more complicated, with more input materials. Kline also delivered a second presentation comparing selective catalytic reduction (SCR) for removal of NOx to selective non-catalytic reduction (SNCR) in cement plants. Those at the conference who attended Carrie Yonley's presentations were given a helpful and concise review of the often-conflicting regulations for cement plants, which she bravely attempted to give in just 16 minutes.

Despite the challenges of adhering to new environmental regulations, the mood at the 55th IEEE-IAS/PCA Cement Conference was one of general optimism for the future of the US cement industry. A full review of the conference can be found here.

Italy: At their annual general meeting held in Bergamo, the shareholders of Italcementi SpA elected the Board of Directors for the next three years, until approval of the financial statements for 2015.

The members of the new Board are Pierfranco Barabani, Giorgio Bonomi, Fritz Burkard, Victoire de Margerie Federico Falck, Lorenzo Renato Guerini, Italo Lucchini, Emma Marcegaglia, Sebastiano Mazzoleni, Jean Paul Méric Carlo Pesenti, Giampiero Pesenti, Carlo Secchi, Elena Zambon (all elected from the majority list presented by Italmobiliare SpA) and Giulio Antonello (a candidate from the minority list presented by First Eagle Global Fund).

Brazil: Dirce Navarro de Camargo, who became Brazil's richest woman when she inherited the Camargo Corrêa industrial conglomerate, has died at the age of 100.

Camargo died on Saturday 20 April 2013. Her age was disclosed by an executive close to the family who asked not to be named because the matter is private. She controlled a fortune valued at US$13.8bn and was the 62nd richest person in the world, according to Bloomberg.

Founded in 1939 by her late husband, Sebastiao Camargo, the conglomerate has played a key role in developing Brazil's infrastructure. It participated in the construction of Brazil's new capital, Brasilia, in the 1950s. Today, its interests range from publicly-traded cement maker Cimpor Cimentos de Portugal to a flip-flop manufacturer.

Camargo's three daughters, Regina de Camargo Pires Oliveira Dias, Renata de Camargo Nascimento and Rosana Camargo de Arruda Botelho, are poised to inherit the family fortune. The company spokesman declined to comment on how that fortune will be split up.

Ecuador: Loesche has announced that it will deliver one LM 56.4 type vertical roller mill for cement raw material grinding for the Guayaquil cement plant currently being expanded for Holcim Ecuador. The order was placed by the Chinese general contractor Sinoma-TJ (CBMI), which will supply a 4500t/day line.

The mill will grind cement raw material and has been designed for a capacity of 386t/hr. The mill motor capacity will be 4000kW. It will compliment an existing Loesche mill that has been operating at the same plant since 2010. Delivery is planned at the end of 2013.

South Korea: Leading cement producers in South Korea, including Tongyang Cement, Hanil Cement and Sungshin, have notified ready-mixed concrete companies and construction contractors that they will freeze cement prices for 2013. The move follows an investigation on suspected price collusion by the Fair Trade Commission.

The official notices from the cement producers attributed the decision to the financial difficulties experienced by most cement-consuming industries. Accordingly, the cement makers will soon cancel the invoices sent out to the consumer firms.

Since February 2013, cement producers have said they would raise cement prices by 9 – 10% in 2013 due to a rise in the prices of bituminous coal and other raw materials. The cumulative losses of Korea's six major cement producers since 2007 have been in excess of US$867m.

Anhui Conch Cement has reported that its net profit fell by 22.2% year-on-year to US$157m for the first quarter of 2013. Its operating revenue rose by 11.8% on-year to US$1.6bn.

Shaanxi Qinling Cement has reported that its net loss was US$6.32m for the first quarter of 2013. It's operating revenue was US$21.4m for the same period. The company predicts that its cement sales would increase and that it would make profits in the second quarter. However, it is likely to suffer 'slight' losses in the first half of 2013.

Zhejiang Jianfeng Group has reported an operating revenue of US$267m in 2012, a year-on-year increase of 0.26%. Its net profit fell by 39.2% year-on-year to US$26.5m.

Cement companies in Zhejiang Province produced 115Mt of cement and 56.7Mt of clinker in 2012, year-on-year decreases of 4.8% and 5.9% respectively.

Ukraine: Volyn Cement has reported a loss of Euro2.86m for 2012. It recorded a net profit of Euro1.75m in 2011. The company based in Zdolbuniv, Rivne region, saw its net revenue remain stable at Euro62.8m. Multinational cement producer Dyckerhoff owns 98.4% of the shares in Volyn Cement.

Podilskiy Cement has reported a loss of Euro9.6m for 2012. The Khmelnytskyi region-based cement producer saw net revenue rise by 31.2% to Euro92.8m in 2012. Podilskiy Cement's plant has six kilns with a production capacity of 3.7Mt/yr. The business is controlled Ireland's Cement Roadstone Holdings.

Philippines: A consortium, including a Lafarge subsidiary, has officially opened a refuse-derived fuel (RDF) facility at the Payatas landfill in Quezon City in the Philippines. Mundo Verde consists of Lafarge Industrial Ecology International SA, landfill operator IPM Environmental Services (IPM- ESI), waste management consultancy Basic Environmental Systems & Technologies (BEST), as well as engineering consultancy Pennies and Pounds Holdings.

"The facility will help reduce the volume of waste in the Payatas landfill, while at the same time produce RDF, an alternative fuel that can be used in the cement-making process," said Mundo Verde in a statement.

The facility started operations on 22 January 2013 and it is expected to increase RDF production to 150t/day from 50t/day. The landfill site receives an estimated 1200t/day of solid water of which about 30% will be processed by the facility. Waste processing is expected to prolong the lifespan of the landfill by three to four years.

The facility's RDF will be used at Lafarge Republic cement plants. Currently, coal comprises 75% of the cement producer's fuel with the remaining 25% made up of alternative fuels such as rice husks, discarded plastics, and sludge. RDF comprises 5 - 10% of the producer's alternative fuel use.

Philippines: Cement sales in the first quarter of 2013 have risen by 3% to 4.80Mt from 4.63Mt in the same period in 2012, due to increased demand driven by the peak construction season. Compared to the fourth quarter of 2012, sales rose by 8.5% from 4.41Mt.

Cement producers are preparing for capacity expansion due to existing strong domestic demand and an expected boost from the full implementation of huge infrastructure projects under the government's Public-Private Partnership (PPP) programme.

Capacity expansion projects include a Holcim Philippines plant of up to 2.5Mt/yr costing up to US$500m. The project, which is awaiting approval, is expected to be operational by 2017. Cemex is to raise capacity at its plant in APO by 1.5Mt/yr with an investment of US$65m. The project is expected to be operational by 2014. Lafarge Republic plans raise capacity by 1Mt/yr with an upgrade of its Danao grinding plant in Cebu and debottlenecking its Norzagaray plant's mill in Bulacan. By the first quarter of 2013, Lafarge hopes to supply an additional 0.2Mt/yr to Luzon, 0.65Mt/yr to Visayas and another 0.1Mt/yr to Mindanao.

The Cement Manufacturers Association of the Philippines (CeMAP) has petitioned the Board of Investments for the inclusion of the industry in the 2013 Investment Priorities Plan (IPP) to be eligible for government incentives, including an income tax holiday.

According to Eduardo Sahagun, CEO of Holcim Philippines, the Philippines cement industry has a total capacity of 21Mt/yr and in 2012 it sold 18.5Mt, a capacity utilisation rate of 85%. In 2012 the industry grew by an 'extraordinary' 18%, fuelled by private and public construction projects.

US: Lehigh Northeast Cement has been fined US$50,000 by the state of New York for pollution violations relating to historic cement manufacturing at the company's plant in Cementon, also known as Smith's Landing in the state of New York. The site is currently a cement grinding plant.

In assessing the fine, the Department for Environmental Conservation (DEC) agreed to suspend US$10,000 from the total if Lehigh submits clean up and repair plans in the summer of 2013. In 2008, Lehigh was fined US$50,000 for similar problems with cement waste leaking through groundwater into the river from two other sites nearby. The company did not meet all clean-up goals set at that time.

Under a settlement with DEC signed on 8 April 2013 by DEC Regional Director Gene Kelly, Lehigh agreed to submit plans to clean up the sites and halt future leaks. The company also agreed to start using 'low-mercury' water treatment chemicals in its wastewater treatment system and also to begin checking its wastewater for acidity and lead levels.

In return, the company will have additional time to reach river pollution limits set in a DEC pollution permit issued in June 2011. Lehigh had initially contested those limits, but agreed under the settlement to drop its objections.

Lehigh said that historically some of the leaky sites had been capped, while others had not been using 'then-approved or accepted procedures.' The company added that it was working 'to contain and treat the leachate, under guidance and approval from DEC,' including installation of collection basins, and a pump-and-treat system to lower acidity of water before it reaches the river.