Displaying items by tag: Holcim
Holcim cement plant to take toxic Ha Long oil
07 October 2014Vietnam: Authorities in the northern province of Quang Ninh will remove 7000L of toxic oil from the edge of the Ha Long Bay in October 2014 and dispose of it at Holcim's cement plant in Mekong Delta. According to local media, the plant is the only facility in the country with the required technology.
The oil is contaminated with PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls), a chemical group that associated with endocrine disruption and neurotoxicity and an illegal substance in Vietnam. PCBs are also carcinogenic.
The oil was imported by the state-owned Cuu Long Company in old transformers that were purchased in South Korea in November 2007. Quang Ninh officials fined Cuu Long for importing the machines in 2008 and ordered the company to return the transformers, which were intended for use in the construction of a thermal power plant. However, the exporter refused to take them back. The oil idled in the rusting devices, which sat covered in canvas at Cai Lan Port on the edge of the UNESCO world heritage site until the transformers began to leak.
Holcim chases Venezuela over missed payment
06 October 2014Venezuela/Switzerland: Holcim Ltd has said that it will continue to pursue a final payment of roughly US$100m from Venezuela after the country's government failed to complete compensation payments related to the nationalisation of the Swiss cement company's operations in the country.
Holcim has already received US$552.5m out of a total of US$650m compensation that it expected following the nationalisation of Holcim Venezuela in 2008.
However, Corporación Socialista Del Cemento, SA, the state-owned company that now operates the former Holcim plants, hasn't transferred a final installment of US$97.5m, according to Holcim. The payment was been due on 10 September 2014.
"Holcim is in contact with the relevant parties in Venezuela to address this situation and, if necessary, will pursue all legal steps to collect the amounts due," said a Holcim statement.
Cementos Argos assesses US$1bn of LafargeHolcim assets
01 October 2014Colombia/Brazil: Colombia's Cementos Argos, part of Grupo Argos, is reportedly assessing assets worth US$1bn that Lafarge and Holcim will be forced to sell in Brazil as part of their planned merger.
Argos, which is working closely with Banco Itau BBA in terms of potential Lafarge-Holcim acquisition deals in Brazil, aims to grow organically and via acquisitions across the Americas. The firm wants to have a presence in markets where there is potential for cement consumption per capita to grow. Cementos Argos already operates nine cement plants in Colombia, three in the United States and one in Honduras.
Fighting for the crumbs
24 September 2014A significant amount of recent news has come from the fallout from the proposed LafargeHolcim merger. Lafarge and Holcim, as well as a raft of global cement producers, are stepping up activity and those outside the deal are starting to jostle for position. They will want to take advantage of the many opportunities to snap something up from the long list of assets to be sold.
First up, Turkey's Sabançi Holding has been reported to be investigating the LafargeHolcim divestments, although the actual targets were not reported. There are none on offer in Turkey itself but potential Sabançi interests could lie in nearby Romania, Serbia or Hungary. Of course, it isn't possible to rule out any wider ambitions.
Next we have Elementia, which has acquired Lafarge's former stake in their Mexican joint venture, prior to the announcement of its initial public offering there. In Singapore, CVC Partners and the Government entered discussions over the purchase of assets. It was earlier agreed by the Singaporean competition authorities that Lafarge and Holcim would be able to merge due to them being relatively small players in that market.
Meanwhile, in the UK and the US, HeidelbergCement is positioning itself via share deals in its subsidiary Hanson Building Products so that it may bid for the LafargeHolcim divestments in the US and UK. Hanson Building Products has filed for an Initial Public Offering in the US in preparation for HeidelbergCement to sell it later in the year. This sounds like a case of HeidelbergCement focusing on its core markets of cement.
There have also been moves by Lafarge and Holcim, most notably their approach this week to the European Union (EU) prior to the merger. The multinationals plan to iron out possible EU concerns over the merged company's market power before filing for approval of the deal, the step that starts an EU review.
Activity seems to be hotting up ahead of the LafargeHolcim merge and it will only intensify. It will be interesting to see which other multinational and regional players decide to 'show their hand' through the rest of the merger process. There are many more assets in Austria, France, Germany, the UK, Canada, Mauritius, the Philippines and Brazil to be divided up before the LafargeHolcim merger can be completed.
Holcim and Lafarge enter talks with EU to expedite merger
19 September 2014Europe: Holcim and Lafarge are holding talks with the European Union (EU) in a bid to obtain fasterapproval of their merger plan. Holcim and Lafarge plan to iron out possible EU concerns over the merged company's market power before filing for approval of the deal, the step that starts the EU's review.
Addressing EU issues at an early stage may allow regulators to approve the deal without opening an in-depth probe, which could add about four months to the process. The companies announced a wave of divestments in July 2014 in an attempt to ward off regulatory obstacles. Planned sales are weighted toward Europe, cutting exposure of both companies to the slower-growing region. European plants earmarked for divestment include sites in Austria, France, Germany and Romania. Under the EU's merger-review process, most deals are cleared at the first hurdle.
Ambuja Cements launches Ambuja Plus in Gujarat
17 September 2014India: Ambuja Cements Ltd, a Holcim subsidiary company, has launched Ambuja Plus, a cement product, in the State of Gujarat. The product is created with an 'advanced' formula and offers 20% more strength than ordinary cement. Ambuja Plus is aimed primarily at small consumers and individual house builders.
Four Holcim plants receive EPA's Energy Star
15 September 2014US: Holcim (US) Inc has announced that four of its plants earned the US Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) prestigious Energy Star award.
"Holcim is grateful to, once again, be awarded for our commitment to sustainability," said Filiberto Ruiz, president and CEO of Holcim (US) and Aggregate Industries US. "We understand how important it is for our facilities to have corporate values in place that help protect the environment and we recognise that this should be a priority each and every day."
This marks the third time that Holcim's Midlothian plant in Midlothian, Texas has received the award, while the Devil's Slide plant in Morgan, Utah has been honoured for its seventh consecutive year. The Holly Hill plant in Holly Hill, South Carolina and the St Genevieve plant in Bloomsdale, Missouri have both received the award for the fifth time.
Holcim Romania completes Euro6m waste processing plant expansion
11 September 2014Romania: Holcim has completed the extension of its waste co-processing platform in Campulung, Arges County, following a Euro6m investment that was co-funded by the European Union (EU).
The project was implemented throughout 20 months via ecovalor, a Holcim division that specialises in waste management. Of the total Euro6m investment, Euro1.6m came from EU funds under the economic competitiveness programme. Holcim Romania introduced waste co-processing in its cement plants in 2003 and has invested Euro32m in waste processing.
EC approves Spanish Cemex-Holcim deal
10 September 2014Spain: The European Commission has cleared the acquisition of the Spanish operations of the Swiss building materials group Holcim by its Mexican peer Cemex following an in-depth investigation.
LafargeHolcim merger approved in Singapore
05 September 2014Singapore: Lafarge and Holcim have received approval from the Competition Commission of Singapore (CCS) to merge their businesses in the country.
Holcim (Singapore) and Lafarge Cement Singapore overlap in the manufacture and supply of ready-mix concrete and grey cement. Under Singapore's Competition Act, firms are not allowed to merge if the resulting entity could lead to a substantial lessening of competition in any market. However, Lafarge and Holcim argued that they would not have substantial market power after the merger. Grey cement is also imported to Singapore by Holcim primarily for its own consumption and is supplied to third parties only to a limited extent, they said.
After a public consultation exercise, the CSS issued its decision that 'The transaction is unlikely to lead to substantial competition concerns in Singapore.' This was because the firms are not major players in Singapore, despite being major names in overseas markets. The CSS added, "There is significant localised competition in the relevant overlapping markets in Singapore."
There are also alternative suppliers that can meet any additional demand for ready-mix concrete, thereby limiting the market power of the merged companies. With a number of suppliers in the market, cooperation among firms to raise prices will be harder as well, according to the CSS.