Displaying items by tag: Government

Vietnam: Vietcombank Securities Company (VCBS) has forecast a 16% year-on-year rise in Vietnam’s cement and clinker exports to 44.5Mt from 38.4Mt. 22.3Mt (50%) of the 2021 exports will be to China. Viet Nam News has reported that VCBS forecast a drop in Vietnam’s cement and clinker exports to China in 2022 due to a Chinese property market slowdown. From 2023, the Vietnam government plans to raise its clinker export tariff to 10% from 5%.

Thailand: Siam Cement Group (SCG) plans to spend US$2bn towards meeting its CO₂ reduction target by 2030. The industrial group and cement producer intends to reduce its emissions by 20% by the end of the decade, according to the Bangkok Post newspaper. Chief executive officer Roongrote Rangsiyopash, said that the investment will be made from 2022 to 2030 and that it follows the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), the Thai government's bio, circular and green (BCG) economic model and environmental, social and governance standards (ESG). After 2030 the group has a net zero goal for 2050.

In cement production the SCG wants to increase its rate of alternative fuels such as biomass and refuse-derived fuel. It also wants to invest in carbon capture utilisation and storage, use electric vehicles and use artificial intelligence systems in energy management. The group plans to reduce coal usage at its cement plants in Thailand, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia and Indonesia by 50% in 2022. It also plans to use more electricity generated by renewable energy for its factories.

Trinidad & Tobago: The government has reacted to a 15% rise in the price of cement by increasing imports and delaying an increase in taxes on the commodity. The country’s sole producer, Trinidad Cement (TCL), says that its price rise is set to start on 20 December 2021, according to the Trinidad Express newspaper. It has blamed this on mounting input costs such as gas, spare parts and other materials.

However, the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) told the cement producer that it viewed any price rise as ‘unacceptable’ given that 90% of inputs to production were local. In response the government has doubled the quota for cement imports to 150,000t in 2022 with each individual importer receiving a 50% boost to their own quotas. It has also agreed with the Council for Trade and Economic Development (COTED) of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) to suspend the Common External Tariff (CET) on hydraulic cement and a planned rise in the duty to 20% for one year to the end of 2022.

TCL’s competitor Rock Hard Cement, a cement importer, ended local operations in August 2021 after losing a court case against the country’s Ministry of Trade and Industry in July 2021.

Iran/US: The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) says it has reached a settlement of around US$133,000 with an unnamed US citizen for violating Iranian Transactions and Sanctions Regulations by accepting payment in connection with a clinker deal. OFAC says the individual received payment in the US of around US$133,00 on behalf of an Iran-based company selling Iranian-origin clinker to another company for a project in a third country. Whilst OFAC considered that the individual knew they were flouting the US-based regulations it did view the individual’s apparent minimal benefit from the activity as a mitigating factor. The individual had previously submitted a licence request to OFAC in connection to other transactions but this was denied.

Japan: Taiheiyo Cement is among 13 participant companies whose proposed carbon capture, utilisation and storage (CCUS) demonstration hub has received approval to proceed with funding from the Japan Ministry of the Environment. Nikkei Business Trends News has reported that Toshiba Energy Systems and Solutions, Uyeno Transtech, JGC, Chiyoda, Taisei Corporation, the University of Tokyo, Kyushu University, Japan NUS, the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology and QJ Science also collaborated in the development of the CCUS system. The trial will begin in early 2022 and conclude in the 2025 financial year.

Jordan: Lafarge Jordan is negotiating with the Jordan government to find a solution to end protests by its employees. The Jordan Times newspaper has reported that the workers went to Parliament to protest their rights, which they claim have been impinged on by the company. Labour Minister Nayef Steitieh urged the parties to establish a compromise in order to resolve the protesters’ demands.

India: UltraTech Cement has emerged as the preferred bidder in the auction of limestone company Ravur Limestone. Ravur Limestone’s limestone assets consist of 708Mt of stone over 7.13km² in Tehsil Chittapur in Karnataka’s Kalburgi district. The Karnataka government will conduct the sale by electronic auction.

Pakistan: BHS-Sonthofen (Tianjan) has reported the successful delivery of two of a total of six twin-shaft batch mixers to the site of CEC-PowerChina and Pakistan Frontier Works’ upcoming Diamer-Basha dam. The Chinese division of the Germany-based company is supplying four DKX 7.00 7m³/batch precast concrete mixers and two DKX 6.00 6m³/batch precast concrete mixers as part of the project. The mixers will contribute towards the 18.6Mm³ of mainly roller-compacted concrete required for the dam’s construction.

General manager Ronny Laux said “The hydraulically bound base layers required for the dam (also known as roller-compacted concrete) must withstand the heaviest of loads. Our mixers are designed to handle demanding mixing tasks. The twin-shaft batch mixers meet the highest demands for mix homogeneity and reproducibility, even with large quantities – ensuring optimum concrete quality.”

US: The commissioners of Grayson County in Texas have agreed to take legal advice to try and stop Black Mountain building an integrated cement plant. The Herald Democrat newspaper has reported that the administration plans to launch its claim on the basis of air quality. The city councils of would-be host communities Dorchester and Sherman will contend the plans on the basis of other issues within their respective powers.

Sherman mayor David Plyler says that the plan would interfere with the area’s aim of attracting high-tech industry and investment. District court judge Bill Magers said “The county doesn't normally step into fight city battles, but the county feels that the proposed plant would be bad for the county overall.”

Zimbabwe: Industry and Commerce Minister Sekai Nzenza says that the government will continue to issue cement import permits until local production returns to normal. The situation has been blamed on a breakdown at Lafarge Zimbabwe’s cement plant, according to the Herald Zimbabwe newspaper. The company is importing cement from Zambia to compensate. A roof collapse over the mill at Lafarge Zimababwe’s Manresa plant was reported in October 2021.