Displaying items by tag: Ireland
Ireland: Quinn Cement and the Warrenpoint Harbour Authority (WHA) have signed contracts to build five cement silos at Warrenpoint Harbour with a total storage capacity of 7500t dedicated to the export of bulk cement from Quinn Cement to the UK market. The 10-year deal will see WHA invest Euro3.2m into the project. Work on the project is due to commence immediately, with completion expected in September 2016.
"This is a very significant development for the business, which will allow us to provide an even stronger service offering to our UK customers as well as creating additional local job-opportunities servicing the growing UK construction sector,” said Liam McCaffrey, CEO of Quinn Industrial Holdings Limited, the holding Company for Quinn Cement.
Quinn Cement is currently in the process of extending its storage and distribution centre at Crown Wharf in Rochester, UK where it is constructing two additional storage silos to bring its total capacity at Rochester to 7400t. Construction of that extension is due to be completed at the end of March 2016. Additionally, Quinn Cement is in discussions with regard to setting up a second import facility on the UK mainland.
CRH enters race to buy Lafarge India
12 January 2016India/Ireland: CRH has decided to bid on the 11Mt/yr of cement assets up for sale by Lafarge India, according to local media. This follows CRH's acquisition of US$7bn of assets from Lafarge and Holcim in 2015 that were available as a result of their merger.
CRH is already present in India via its 50% stake in My Home Industries (MHI), which has 4.8Mt/yr of cement production capacity. In 2013, MHI acquired Sree Jayajothi Cements, which has 3.2Mt/yr of production capacity in the south of India.
Used tyres to reduce costs at Irish Cement 's Limerick plant
04 December 2015Ireland: Irish Cement will burn used tyres in a bid to cut costs and secure jobs at its Limerick plant. The company plans to switch to dry waste material such as rubber from used tyres and plastic to heat the kiln at the plant. The switch will cut costs, make the plant cleaner and more competitive, according to the company.
A spokesman for Irish Cement said that the company would shortly be lodging a planning application with Limerick City and County Council for the replacement of fossil fuels with alternative fuels and raw materials to improve the sustainability of their operations. The company will also be seeking a revision of its licence from the Environmental Protection Agency.
"Limerick is Ireland's oldest cement plant, having commenced operations 77 years ago. Its continuous operation has been sustained by continuous investment in new technologies and processes. After the recent period of reduced demand, production is once again on the increase at home and abroad for cement. This fuel replacement programme will be key to sustaining this growth," said Plant Manager Pat Robinson. "Based on experience in other cement plants in Ireland and throughout Europe, the opportunity to reduce our dependence on imported fossil fuels will prove critical to our ability to operate competitively and sustain jobs at Irish Cement Limerick into the future."
CRH sues for return of files seized in competition inquiry
16 November 2015Ireland: CRH has gone to the High Court to seek the return of documents seized by the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) in a raid in May 2015.
The CCPC, supported by the Gardai (Ireland's police force), raided Irish Cement's offices as part of a probe into alleged abuse of its dominant position in the Euro50m bagged cement industry. CRH has denied the charges.
CRH has lodged court proceedings seeking a declaration that certain sections of the files seized by the CCPC were not related to the Irish Cement investigation. A spokesman for CRH said that it was seeking to have documents that were of no use to the CCPC returned to the company. "Irish Cement fully facilitated the inspection and is continuing to co-operate fully with the CCPC. In undertaking this inspection, the CCPC removed documents that are unrelated to Irish Cement and clearly outside the scope of its inspection. CRH and Irish Cement have issued proceedings to retrieve these documents from the CCPC," said a company spokesperson.
CRH to leave Belgard Castle headquarters
02 November 2015Ireland: CRH is leaving its Belgard Castle headquarters in Tallaght, Dublin, after 40 years. The company is moving to a former GlaxosmithKline building in Rathfarnham, Dublin, bringing together 250 staff now at Belgard Castle and Cabinteely, Dublin. It will continue to own Belgard Castle, an 18th-century building and will use it for group functions and facilities. The group office at Stone-mason's Way is undergoing refurbishment and will provide CRH with 'a world-class facility.' CRH expects to complete the new offices by the end of 2015.
Mark Towe moves to CRH Americas
30 September 2015Ireland: CRH has announced that Mark Towe, currently President and Chief Executive of Oldcastle, will assume the new role of Chairman, CRH Americas. He will work with the Group Chief Executive to support performance and excellence programmes across the group. The appointment is effective from 1 January 2016. Towe will continue as an Executive Director on the Board of CRH.
CRH concludes final part of LafargeHolcim acquisition in Philippines
15 September 2015Ireland/Philippines: CRH has completed the Philippines element of its Euro6.5bn acquisition of certain Lafarge-Holcim assets and as such has now completed the entire deal.
On 2 February 2015, CRH announced that it had reached agreement to acquire certain assets from Lafarge and Holcim for a total enterprise value of Euro6.5bn. On 3 August 2015, CRH confirmed that the majority of the transaction was complete, with the exception of the operations in the Philippines. In a press release issued on 15 September 2015, CRH announced that the Philippines element of the transaction is now complete.
New CRH finance director announced
09 September 2015Ireland: Senan Murphy, currently chief operating officer at the Bank of Ireland, has been appointed as group finance director at CRH, according to The Irish Examiner.
Murphy will take up his new role, as well as joining the CRH board, in January 2015. He will succeed Maeve Carton in the finance director role, who has been in that position since 2010. Carton will move to a newly-created wider role with the title of group transformation director. There, she will be charged with better integrating CRH's businesses, identifying operational and financial opportunities and cash generation opportunities.
Ireland: CRH CEO Albert Manifold has said that the company will now take a pause from large-scale acquisitions following the completion of its US$7.3bn acquisition of various Lafarge and Holcim assets and its recent US$1.3bn acquisition of glazing products producer C R Laurence. Manifold was quoted by the Wall Street Journal as saying that significant acquisitions going forward are 'unlikely,' and that the company will focus on integrating its two big acquisitions over the next 12 - 18 months.
CRH had previously been linked with two other large-scale cement industry acquisitions. In India, it was in the running to acquire 5Mt/yr of Lafarge assets that have since been sold to Birla Group. Meanwhile, in South Korea CRH had been linked with the wholesale acquisition of Tongyang Cement & Energy. Due to Manifold's announcement, it appears that the South Korean deal is no longer on the table.
CRH completes LafargeHolcim acquisition
03 August 2015Ireland: On 2 February 2015, CRH announced that it had reached an agreement to acquire certain assets from Lafarge and Holcim for Euro6.5bn. The deal has now been completed, with the exception of the Philippines, which is expected to close in the third quarter of 2015.
"Today we extend a warm welcome to 15,000 new colleagues joining CRH. With their expertise and talent on board, combined with the strength of our existing employee base, CRH is a step closer to achieving our aim of becoming the world's leading building materials company. The businesses we are acquiring, which represent an excellent geographic fit with CRH's existing operations, are all strong performers in their respective areas. The integration of these high quality assets, which we have acquired at an attractive valuation and at the right point of the cycle, will strengthen our presence in a number of key markets as well as providing new platforms for strategic growth. The additional scale will help us to improve efficiency, speed up innovation and provide an even better service to our customers," said Albert Manifold, CRH chief executive.
The transaction more than doubles CRH's cement production volumes and will further expand its aggregates and ready-mixed concrete portfolios. The acquired assets consist of more than 685 locations in 11 countries and include:
- The largest cement producer in central Canada; an excellent fit with CRH's existing Americas Materials business;
- Major cement and aggregates operations in western Europe's three largest markets: The UK, France and Germany;
- Leading cement and aggregates companies in the growth regions of central and eastern Europe, creating a strong regional cluster in which CRH becomes the number one heavy-side building materials company;
- Entry positions of scale in two emerging economic regions; Brazil and the Philippines.
With the closure, Tarmac and Blue Circle come together to form Tarmac, under the new ownership of CRH, according to Agg-Net. The company's new branding combines the heritage and innovation associated with the Tarmac name and the unique identity of the Blue Circle logo. The newly combined business is now the market leader in aggregates, asphalt, contracting services, lime and powders and is a leading player nationwide in cement, concrete and other building products.
"This is an exciting evolution for our business. With our new owner CRH in place to support the ongoing development and delivery of our strategic vision, we're in an exceptionally strong position to deliver our growth ambitions and continue creating value for our customers, our shareholders and our employees," said Tarmac's CEO, Cyrille Ragoucy, said. Tarmac has confirmed that there will be no change to its relationships with customers, suppliers and other stakeholders.