Displaying items by tag: Government

Nigeria: Godwin Obaseki, the Edo State Governor, say that the state is negotiating with the Assets Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) to find a new investor for the Ava Cement plant. Obaseki made the statement whilst visiting the Igarra, the headquarters of Akoko Edo Local Government Area, according to the Daily Trust newspaper. AMCON took possession of the plant due to its mounting debts.

India: Shree Cement has won a coal linkage auction in Chhattisgarh. The coal will be used at the company's captive power plant at its Raipur cement plant.

Bolivia: The mining industry chamber in Tarija wants governor Adrian Oliva to build a new cement plant in Mendez province. The proposal follows confirmation by the National Geology and Mining Technician Service (Sernageomin) of ‘large’ limestone deposits, according to the El País newspaper. Sociedad Boliviana de Cemento (Soboce) currently operates a 0.2Mt/yr plant at El Puente in the same region.

Philippines: Manufacturers have called for the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) to increase the number of testing facilities to process imports of cement and steel.

Jesus L Arranza, chairman of the Federation of Philippine Industries (FPI), and Roberto Cola, president of the Philippine Iron and Steel Institute, made their plea as the DTI Consumer and Welfare Protection Group is set to release the revised department administrative orders (DAO) on the inspection and monitoring of standards of imported steel and cement, according to the Manila Bulletin newspaper. Cola said that testing of products under mandatory standards, including steel and cement, is only conducted by the Metals Industry Research Development Center of the Department of Science and Technology. Both industry representatives have called for the DTI to accredit more testing agencies.

The proposed revised DAO is seeking to implement a pre-shipment certification system, in which cement and steel products have to be certified that they met the safety and quality standards at the port of entry. The shipment will also undergo post-shipment inspection upon arrival.

Ghana: The Ghana Standards Authority (GSA) plans to start a large-scale market inspection on the sale of cement. It follows efforts by the GSA to stamp out poor standard goods in the market, according to Citi Business News. The initiative is also intended to protect consumers. It follows stories in the local media about building collapses due to poor quality cement.

India: ICRA is expecting cement demand is pick up in the fourth quarter of the 2017 – 2018 financial year following weak real estate activity, sand shortage and Goods and Service tax (GST) implementation issues in the first half of the year. In its October 2017 update the credit ratings agency said that demand was expected to benefit from the housing sector and road and irrigation projects in the infrastructure sector, according to the Press Trust of India. It added that the profitability of the industry depends on the industry’s ability to control prices given that higher input costs for fuel and freight are expected.

The credit ratings agency said that cement demand remained subdued across the country due to various local issues. In the North, especially in the states of Uttar Pradesh and Punjab, the offtake had been impacted by a sand shortage and lack of labour. In the West the implementation of the Real Estate Regulatory Authority (RERA) Bill resulted in construction activity slowing down. In the South, Tamil Nadu and Kerala were hit as demand was affected by the sand shortage, drought impacting rural offtake and weak housing activity. A recent ban on sand mining in Bihar is also likely to reduce sales volume growth in the eastern region in coming months.

Tunisia: A planned strike by workers at Carthage Cement for late October to early November 2017 has been cancelled. The decision to call off the industrial action follows a meeting between Finance Minister Ridha Chalghoum and UGTT Secretary General, Noureddine Taboubi, according to African Manager. Further meetings between the management of the cement producer and the unions have been scheduled.

Spain: Cementos Molins is moving its registered address from the town of Sant Vicenc dels Horts in Catalonia, to Madrid. Sources quoted by the Expansión newspaper say it is due to the legal uncertainty in Catalonia. The company will continue to operate its cement plant in Sant Vicenc dels Horts but the publicly traded company and the group's holding, through which it channels its foreign investments, will be moved.

The Catalan regional government approved an independence referendum held in early October 2017. The central Spanish government rules it illegal and has moved to impose direct rule on the region.

Venezuela: Anti-corruption non-government organisation Transparencia Venezuela says that cement production at the country’s state-run plants dropped by 41% to 6Mt in 2015 from 10.2Mt in 2010. Four of these companies were only able to use 52% of their installed capacity between 2011 and 2015, according to the El Nacional newspaper. Fabrica Nacional de Cemento, Cemento Andino and Vencemos allegedly saw their production levels decline by 67%, 39% and 15% respectively over this period.

Angola: President João Lourenço plans to submit a competition law to parliament to tackle imbalances in the cement market. He has decided to do this in response to rising cement prices following the shutdown of two plants, according to the Angola Press Agency. Lourenço made the comments at the opening meeting of the First Legislative Session of the Fourth Legislature of the National Assembly.