Displaying items by tag: Government
Egypt: The government has reduced the price of natural gas for cement producers to US$5 per one million British thermal units (BTU). Previously the price was US$8MBtu, according to Mubasher. The government has reduced the price at a similar rate for other industrial users including iron, steel, aluminium, cooper, ceramic, and porcelain plants. It will now review the price of gas every six months.
US: People living near the Cemex Lyons cement plant in Colorado have complained about dust emissions. The Save Our St. Vrain Valley group has filed a report with Boulder County Public Health about dust clouds rising from site, according to the Associated Press. The local authorities say that the clouds don't appear to violate any existing regulations but Cemex officials have promised to look into the issue. The cement producer has also said that it has ways to mitigate dust emissions and it welcomes hearing from people so it can address any concerns.
Romania/Switzerland: Romania’s anti-trust authority has completed its review of LafargeHolcim’s takeover of the precast concrete manufacturer Someco for an undisclosed sum. SeeNews has reported that the body found that “no significant obstacles to effective competition” were raised by the deal.
Somaco’s five precast concrete and one aerated concrete block production plants, which employ 750 people, made sales of Euro56m in 2018.
Meetings called for Jura Cement quarry expansion debate
30 September 2019Switzerland: Extraordinary Community Meetings have been scheduled in the municipalities of Veltheim and Auenstein for 22 and 23 January 2020 for further consultations with groups representing opposition to Jura Cement’s Jakobsberg-Egg quarry development plans in both districts. The company is planning a total 10.5ha expansion across both municipalities and an operational change to material processing, beginning in 2022.
EAPCC sacks management
23 September 2019Kenya: East Africa Portland Cement Company (EAPCC) dismissed its entire management staff except managing director Simon Peter Ole Nkeri with one month’s notice on 19 September 2019. Business Daily has reported that the company will seek to rehire a small proportion of the personnel with a 60% pay cut. The downsized management team will oversee the redundancy of its entire junior staff, some of whom will be taken back on with a view to reducing the total employees by 25% to 600 from 800.
EAPCC’s staff costs in the second half of 2018 were US$38.5m, 80% of its net revenue for the period. Its anticipated sales of land, if successful, are expected to exceed the US$52m needed to clear its outstanding debts. Shareholders in the company include LafargeHolcim (42%) and the Kenyan government (52%).
Cembureau signs on to Horizon Europe support group
20 September 2019Belgium: The European Cement Association Cembureau has joined 92 other European associations in lobbying the European Council to prioritise research, development and innovation in its Multiannual Financial Framework for the Institutions for 2021 to 2027. It called on the Council to raise the Horizon Europe project’s budget to at least Euro120bn, with a minimum of 60% dedicated to the ‘Global Challenges and European Industrial Competitiveness’ pillar. Cembureau emphasised the importance that Horizon Europe should have the money to realise its promises of boosting growth, securing technological leadership and scaling up 21st century technologies ‘at this pivotal time.’
Cement executive on trial as State Control Committee calls for penalties for officials
12 September 2019Belarus: The Council of Ministers has received a recommendation from the State Control Commission (SCC) that punitive measures be taken against officials responsible for cement production in the midst of another disappointing year. Belapan has reported that members of the SCC blamed the failure to secure efficient performance on untenable costs due to intermediaries. Investigators from the SCC’s Financial Investigations Department (FID) found that Russian intermediaries were selling cement produced in Belarus to Belarusian state-owned companies at a marked-up price. A total of 13 criminal cases have been opened in connection with the findings, including one against an executive of a Belarusian cement company.
In 2013, Belarus completed the modernisation of its three state-owned cement producers, Belarusian Cement, Krasnoselsktroymaterialy and Krichevcementnoshifer to a total capacity of 2.3Mt/yr, at a cost of US$1.1bn. In 2018, the companies missed eight of their 10 key performance targets. Besides cost reduction, capacity utilisation and labour productivity targets were not met.
Elsewhere, Krasnoselsktroymaterialy has tendered for the supply of gas cleaning equipment, including the replacement of bag filters at two of the mills in its grinding facility.
Cemex Colombia secures environmental approval for Macao plant
06 September 2019Colombia: The Regional Autonomous Corporation of Antioquia has reissued Cemex’s environmental clearance for its 1Mt/yr integrated cement plant in Macao. The certification marks the conclusion of a dispute over mining right in the course of which Cemex fired multiple executives for payment of US$25m to a private third party. La Republica reports that Cemex is now in a position to advance several licensing processes and to begin construction of connecting roads for the plant.
Philippine Competition Commission fears new cement tariff may disrupt investigation
06 September 2019Philippines: The September 2019 customs duty of US$4.81/t on imported cement is in danger of disrupting a Philippine Competition Commission (PCC) probe. The Philippine Star has reported that the PCC is conducting an investigation into domestic cement producers’ alleged anticompetetiveness following an accusation by a Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) official in 2017 that a ‘cartel’ of producers was maintaining artificially high pricing and spreading of misinformation about the quality of imported products. PCC chair Arsenio Balisacan has noted the danger of ‘having an ongoing investigation and introducing a policy which can influence the outcome of that investigation.’
Napoleon Co, chairman of the Philippine Cement Importers Association (PCIA), has stated that cement traders will keep on importing unless the local cement sector produces more. He said that foreign producers’ Philippine sales were driven not by their lower prices but by the domestic industry’s inability to fulfill the country’s 28Mt/yr demand.
HeidelbergCement lends weight to ‘Northern Lights’ CCS project
06 September 2019Norway: HeidelbergCement has joined a list of leaders from various industries in endorsing Norway’s state-owned energy group Equinor’s carbon dioxide (CO2) capture and storage (CCS) plans. Bernd Scheifele, chairman of the managing board of HeidelbergCement, was among representatives of seven companies who signed memoranda of understanding with Equinor.
HeidelbergCement’s Norwegian subsidiary Norcem has been involved in CCS research at its 1.2Mt/yr integrated cement plant in Brevik since 2011. In early 2018, the government shortlisted the plant for its multiple-industry ‘Northern Lights’ CCS project. Beginning in 2023, Equinor will remove 0.4Mt/yr of CO2, half of the plant’s total CO2 output, from Brevik for storage in empty oil and gas fields beneath the North Sea.
In a statement, HeidelbergCement expressed its intention towork together with Equinor to optimise CO2 transportation and develop Europe-wide disposal solutions