Displaying items by tag: Investigation

Iceland: Sementsverksmidjan has commissioned engineering company Efla to investigate a dust spill which occurred in early January 2021. The cement importer says that Efla will review its processes, assess impacts and advise on any measures to prevent the recurrence of such an accident.

The company said, “Following the accident, information has also emerged that the incident lasted longer than previously thought. This information has not been confirmed and is new to the company, but could mean that more cement has been released into the atmosphere than had previously been estimated. The cement factory takes this information seriously and will continue to work with Efla and the insurance company to fully analyse the matter.”

Pakistan: A Competition Commission of Pakistan (CCP) enquiry committee has recommended that the commission take action against the All Pakistan Cement Manufacturers Association (APCMA). The Frontier Star newspaper has reported that the enquiry found evidence that APCMA members had formed collusive arrangements contrary to the prohibited agreements under the Competition Act.

The Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) recorded a cement price rise in Northern Pakistan in April 2020 and May 2020, and in major cities in northern Pakistan and southern Pakistan in June 2020 and July 2020. This occurred in spite of a reduction in demand in early 2020. As a result, the CCP launched a search and inspection of the APCMA head office and the office of its senior vice chairman, a cement company director, in September 2020.

India: The Ministry of Finance Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) says that its Income Tax department has detected US$95m-worth of tax evasion by Chettinad Cement and Anjani Portland Cement owner Chettinad Group. The Deccan Herald newspaper has reported that following raids on its offices the tax department found evidence of inflated expenditure, unaccounted receipts and complex financial arrangements including bogus liabilities in order to reduce capital gains. The investigation continues.

India: Tax authorities have raided 10 offices of Chettinad Cement and its subsidiaries in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. The Times of India newspaper has reported that the officers are investigating allegations of tax evasion.

India: The Competition Commission of India (CCI) has raided the offices of LafargeHolcim subsidiaries ACC and Ambuja Cement and Aditya Birla subsidiary UltraTech Cement as part of an investigation into alleged anti-competitive behaviour, according to the Press Trust of India. ACC said it, "is of the firm view that it has acted and continues to act in compliance with competition laws and we are fully cooperating with the investigation and providing all necessary information to the authorities."

Tanzania: Prime Minister Kassim Majawali has ordered regional commissioners to investigate a cement shortage that has reportedly caused a price rise. The Daily News newspaper reports that, in response to price rises first noted in October 2020, Majawali has requested a report by 20 November 2020, and questioned the part that cement producers had played in the issue. He said, “For those who use coals, we have enough to supply them. Clinker is also available at the same market price. We need an explanation behind cement price hiking."

Producers have refuted the accusation that they caused cement prices to rise.

Pakistan: The Competition Commission of Pakistan (CCP) has conducted a search of the All Pakistan Cement Manufacturers Association (APCMA) headquarters in Lahore, Punjab Province as part of it investigation into alleged anticompetitiveness by cement producers. The Daily Frontier Star has reported that the aim of the search was “to gather evidence of possible communication, arrangement, agreement or understanding between cement producers pertaining to the alleged violation of the provisions of the Competition Act.” The CCP launched the investigation in May 2020 following a request from the Ministry of Industries and Production (MoIP).

Zimbabwe: The National Social Security Authority (NSSA) has lifted a prohibition order which it issued to Livetouch Investments subsidiary Diamond Cement after the death of a worker on 6 March 2020 at the company’s 0.4Mt/yr Redcliff grinding plant. The incident brought to light “sub-standard safety and security arrangements.” The Chinese-owned company had also failed to register any employees under the NSSA’s Workers’ Compensation Insurance Fund (WCIF) and the National Pension Scheme (NPS).

The New Zimbabwe newspaper has reported that the NSSA lifted the prohibition order in mid-September 2020 after the company was found to have complied with its registration and safety requirements. NSSA communications officer Tendai Mutseyekwa said, “After a joint visit by the NSSA’s Occupational Safety and Health Inspectorate and the Compliance Inspectorate, the company registered with the NSSA schemes. They subsequently settled their subscriptions for the two NSSA schemes from the effective date of 4 April 2017, when the company started operating.”

A police investigation into the fatality continues.

Ukraine: The Interdepartmental Commission for International Trade (ICIT) has pursued a complaint by multiple domestic cement producers including Buzzi-Unicem subsidiary Dyckerhoff, HeidelbergCement subsidiary Kryvyi Rih Cement and CRH subsidiary Podilsky Cement in opening an investigation into imports of cement from Turkey. The Uriadovy Kurier newspaper has reported that, on its preliminary assessment, the ICIT deemed the complaint to provide “sufficiently substantiated evidence on the basis of which it can be considered that the importation of cement into Ukraine originating in Turkey could be at dumped prices, the margin cannot be considered minimal and the import volumes are not insignificant in accordance with the law.” It added, “The complaint also provides sufficiently substantiated evidence that imports were made to an extent and under conditions such that they may cause material injury to the domestic producer.”

Tunisia: Carthage Cement has submitted a statement to Tunisian police in which it alleges false testimony by FLSmidth’s lawyer who advised the Danish supplier in a criminal case which saw one employee sentenced to five years for illegal payments to Carthage Cement’s owners in 2017. Ritzau Finans newspaper has reported that FLSmidth’s management admitted to knowledge of the payments on 21 February 2020, something it had denied to authorities when under investigation prior to the trial, which concluded in November 2019.