Displaying items by tag: Latvia

Latvia: Germany-based Christian Pfeiffer says that it has successfully commissioned the new Broceni grinding plant for Schwenk Latvija. The supplier said that the plant is able to produce cement up to a fineness of 5600 Blaine and is one of the most sustainable grinding plants in Europe.

Schwenk Latvija previously announced a planned investment of Euro34m in a new 170t/day mill and a 12,500t silo at the site of its former Broceni integrated cement plant.

Sweden: Cementa plans to restrict its exports to the Baltic countries and Denmark. Finwire News has reported that the subsidiary of Germany-based HeidelbergCement is enacting the measure in order to focus its cement supply on its Swedish customers.

Philippines: The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) has issued an order amending its previous order on cement safeguards. The Manila Bulletin newspaper has reported that the amendment extends safeguard measures to 13 new countries which now exceed the necessary 3% import volume share. These are Chile, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Israel, Indonesia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovenia, Slovakia and South Korea. Imported cement from these countries will now face a safeguard duty of US$0.2/bag. An official source quoted by the newspaper called the surge in importation from these countries "trade diversion" tactics by importers since these countries were previously exempt from the safeguard duty.

Latvia: Schwenk Building Materials Group subsidiary Schwenk Latvija plans to invest Euro34m in installing a new 170t/day grinding mill and 12,500t silo at its Broceni cement plant. The Baltic Business Daily newspaper has reported that the company aims to reduce energy consumption with the new mill.

The group acquired Schwenk Latvija from Cemex in February 2019 as part of a Euro340m expansion into the Baltic and Nordic markets. The company’s 2019 profit was Euro36.4m.

Russia: Eurocement Group’s exports rose by 67% year-on-year to 0.33Mt in the first seven months of 2020 from 0.20Mt in the same period in 2019. Deliveries to the Belarus, Finland, Latvia, Estonia and Kazakhstan have grown significantly. The group says it managed this despite coronavirus-related lockdowns with construction project suspensions in many markets.

Belarus: Belarusian cement producers recorded production volumes of 4.7Mt in 2019, corresponding to capacity utilisation of over 100%. Volumes increased by 4.6% from 4.5Mt in 2018. The Arab Times has reported that the country imported 0.5Mt of cement with a value of US$28m. US$18m of this came from Russia, while a further US$3.7m, US$2.8m and US$2.0m came from Latvia, Ukraine and Turkey respectively.

On 6 February 2020 the State Council of Ministers reinstated protectionist licencing laws requiring importers of cement to have special permissions to bring cement from outside of the Eurasian Economic Union into the country. This affects all current sources of imported cement to Belarus apart from Russia.

Latvia: Cemex Latvia will be renamed as Schwenk Latvija following its acquisition by Germany’s Schwenk in February 2019. In Sweden Cemex’s operations will be renamed to Schwenk Sverige, in Norway to Schwenk Norge and in Finland to Schwenk Suomi, according to the Latvian News Agency.

The Euro340m deal included one 1.7Mt/yr integrated cement plant in Broceni, Latvia, as well as four aggregates quarries, two cement quarries, six ready-mix concrete plants, one marine terminal and one land distribution terminal in that country. The assets divested also include Cemex’s approximate 38% indirect interest in a 1.8Mt/yr cement plant in Akmene in Lithuania. In addition, the exports business to Estonia is also included as part of the divestment.

Europe: Cemex has signed a deal to sell its assets in the Baltic and Nordic countries to Germany’s Schwenk for Euro340m. The transaction is expected to complete within the first quarter of 2019, subject to regulatory approval.

The Baltic assets being divested consist of one 1.7Mt/yr integrated cement plant in Broceni, Latvia, as well as four aggregates quarries, two cement quarries, six ready-mix concrete plants, one marine terminal and one land distribution terminal in that country. The assets divested also include Cemex’s approximate 38% indirect interest in a 1.8Mt/yr cement plant in Akmene in Lithuania. In addition, the exports business to Estonia is also included as part of the divestment.

The Nordic assets being divested consist of three import terminals in Finland, four import terminals in Norway and four import terminals in Sweden.

Estonia/Latvia/Lithuania: UK-based EvoQuip has appointed Stokker as the authorised EvoQuip Distributor to cover Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania for the full EvoQuip portfolio of compact crushing and screening equipment. EvoQuip is a brand owned by Terex Corporation.

Belarus: The Belarusian Cement Company increased its exports of cement by 42.6% year-on-year to 1.4Mt/yr in 2017. The exported cement had a value of US$682.m, according to the Belarusian Telegraph Agency. The company has attributed the rise on an efficiency drive that it says has reduced the cost of production by 50%. The company mainly exports to the Commonwealth of Independent States region but it has started selling its product in parts of the European Union, including Poland and Latvia. It plans to increases its exports by 4% in 2018, partly by introducing 35kg bags.