Displaying items by tag: Holcim

Poland: Lafarge Poland says that it has started one of its decarbonisation goals by removing the first of its ordinary portland cement (OPC) products from the market. From the start of September 2022 the subsidiary of Switzerland-based Holcim has stopped producing its bagged CEM I 42.5 R Special cement product. In late 2021 it said it was planning to stop production CEM I OPC by the end of 2025. As it does so it will switch to products in the group’s ECOPlanet range instead.

Romania: Holcim Romania has published four new environmental product declarations (EPD) for its products, including ECOPlanet cement and ECOPact concrete. It says it is the first construction materials manufacturer in the country to do so. The subsidiary of Switzerland-based Holcim first started makings its EPDs available in 2014 for cement, concrete and aggregate products. These were revalidated in 2019 and again in 2022.

Morocco: LafargeHolcim Maroc’s sales were US$377m in the first half of 2022, consistent with its first-half 2021 sales, according to the L’Economiste newspaper. In the second quarter of 2022, the producer’s sales fell by 7% year-on-year to US$181m. It attributed this to a drop in its cement sales volumes, amid a national decline in demand of 10% year-on-year during the quarter. During the first half of 2022, Moroccan cement demand declined by 4.5% year-on-year. LafargeHolcim Maroc said that this was the result of global economic factors.

The producer’s net debt was US$590m on 30 June 2022, up by 5% year-on-year.

Argentina: Holcim Argentina has appointed Gerardo Kemnitz as its Director of Operations. He will lead Holcim’s operations in the country, where it operates three integrated cement plants and one grinding unit.

Kemnitz started working for the group in 1988 and spent the next 20 years working in maintenance roles at different plants. He later became a Health and Safety consultant for the Americas, Europe and Asia before being appointed as the director of the Tecomán plant in Mexico in 2014. More recently he worked as the manager of the Malagueño plant in Argentina.

Kenya: Bamburi Cement’s turnover rose by 3% year-on-year to US$168m in the first half of 2022 from US$164m in the same period of 2012. However, its profit before tax tumbled by 89% to US$1.03m from US$9.25m. The subsidiary of Switzerland-based Holcim attributed its rising turnover to mounting sales volumes and rising prices. However, it blamed its falling profit on “significant inflation of the fuel prices, logistics costs and imported clinker prices in both Kenya and Uganda.” It added that it expected the local market to improve after the Kenyan general election in August 2022 and growth in infrastructure spending in Uganda propped up by the oil industry.

India: The Adani Group is likely to launch an US$3.8bn open offer to acquire a 26% stake in each of Holcim's two Indian listed entities, Ambuja Cements and ACC, from public shareholders. The group announced that it had clinched a deal to acquire a controlling stake in the businesses for US$10.5bn in May 2022.

As per the revised schedule submitted by ICICI Securities and Deutsche Equities India, the managers of the open offer, tendering of the shares in the open will start from 26 August 2022 and end on 9 September 2022.

Brazil: The Administrative Court of the Brazilian Administrative Council of Economic Defence (CADE) has approved Companhia Siderúrgica Nacional subsidiary CSN Cimentos’ acquisition of LafargeHolcim Brasil, ‘without restrictions.’ The acquisition more than doubles CSN Cimentos’ capacity to 16.3Mt/yr, giving it the largest market share, ahead of InterCement Brasil.

Czech Republic: Lafarge Cement says that it has achieved an alternative fuel (AF) thermal substitution rate of 95% at its Čížkovice cement plant. The plant's fuel mix includes contaminant fractions from local plastic recycling. As a result of the move, the plant no longer uses any natural gas in its cement production.

In 2022 as a whole, the producer plans to increase its share of reduced-CO2 cement sales, increase construction waste recycling in its products and reduce its cement's water consumption.

India: The Competition Commission of India (CCI) has approved Adani Group’s US$10.5bn deal to acquire Holcim’s Indian business. Holcim holds a 63% stake in Ambuja Cements, which holds a 50% stake in ACC. Holcim also holds a direct 4.5% stake in ACC.

Adani Group launched a new company, Endeavour, to assume ownership of the new share capital from Holcim’s holding company Holderind Investments.

Philippines: Holcim Philippines has launched its ECOPlanet 30% reduced-CO₂ cement range in the city of Davao on Mindanao. The producer also introduced its Balik-Plastic waste cement bag recycling programme, offering a collection service to customers in order to reuse waste bags as alternative fuels and raw materials in cement production at its Davao plant.