Displaying items by tag: Legal

Oman: The Oman Cement Company has reported that a dispute with a contractor has been settled. The company has received a settlement of US$7.81m from an unnamed contractor who was implementing a new clinker production line.

The compensation included US$110,000 towards another contract for an alternate belt conveyor. The clinker plant has been commissioned and commenced commercial production in 2011. The company had raised a compensation claim on the contractor for certain project-related issues. Similarly, the contractor had also raised claim for additional payment for some of the project activities. Oman Cement stated that further details will be disclosed in its next financial statement.

Vietnam: The chairman of Ha Giang Cement JS Company has been prosecuted in a fraud case for an amount in excess of US$344,000.

Viet Nam News reports that police investigations dating back to September 2012 show that Vu Duy Chanh signed contracts to buy two mills without the approval of Ha Giang Cement's management board approval. Chanh then used the contracts as security for bank loans. One of the contracts was reportedly falsified to buy a fictitious machine while Chanh illegally used and sold the secondary machine at a diminished price.

Uganda: Hima Cement has lost its mining rights to limestone deposits in Uganda following a High Court decision. The court transferred the rights to limestone deposits in Kasese, western Uganda, from the subsidiary of Lafarge to the East African Gold Sniffing Company.

The court ruled that Hima's lease was for 21 years, ending on 31 December 2011, and it had already lapsed without any renewal in accordance with Section 47 of the Mining Act. East Africa Gold Sniffing contested a decision by the Ministry of Energy that restored Hima's mining rights after Hima managed to secure an exploration licence over the same area. The ruling means that mining of limestone and processing of cement must cease until and if an appellate court overturns the decision.

Namibia: The prosecutor general of Namibia has decided to prosecute Esmerelda Majiedt and five co-accused in the High Court for a scam which allegedly cost AfriSam Cement, the forerunner of the Ohorongo Cement factory, US$8m.

Majiedt is charged with corruption, with the state alleging that while she was employed at AfriSam Cement, she received payments in her personal capacity from customers of the company. During the hearing of a bail application by Majiedt in June 2011, it was alleged that suspect deliveries involving cement worth more than US$7.67m had been made to Afrisam customers without payments for such deliveries being reflected on the company's books. Majiedt claimed that other employees of the company knew her computer password and could have been responsible for the manipulation of Afrisam's accounting system.

China: The cement sector on China's A-share market fell on 4 March 2013 following the announcement of new property control policies. China's central government announced on 1 March 2013 a set of measures to reduce rising domestic housing prices. The new measures included higher transaction duties, increased down payments and mortgage interest rates as well as strict purchase qualifications.

Cement demand in China is mainly driven by the property market and infrastructure construction. The market information supplier Chem99.com analyst Lu Ning said that the property market provided about 30% of the cement demand. Data from the China Cement Association showed that profits for the domestic cement industry fell by 32.8% year-on-year in 2012 to US$10.6bn.

Egypt: Alexandria Cement continued producing cement during a recent hostage scenario. In a release to the Egyptian Stock Exchange the producer announced that on 14 February 2013 some subcontractors trapped a number of their management officials and Alexandria Cement's management, including the factory manager. The subcontractors were calling for permanent contracts.

Alexandria Cement informed the authorities. The hostages were freed on 17 February 2013. All of the accused workers were arrested. Throughout the situation Alexandria Cement continued to produce cement, although deliveries were halted during this period.

India: Major Indian cement producer Jaiprakash Associates has informed the Supreme Court of India that it is unable to pay a US$18.8m fine imposed by the Himachal Pradesh High Court for setting up a captive thermal power plant without gaining the required environmental clearance.

The Jaypee group firm said that it is in 'great difficulty' and can't arrange funds to pay its second instalment of US$4.7m that is due on 31 March 2013. However, it said it had paid the first instalment of the same amount. A bench headed by chief justice Altamas Kabir agreed for an early hearing on 12 March 2013 even though the environment ministry and the state government opposed the plea, saying that there is no way for Jaiprakash Associates to avoid the US$18.8m fine.

On 4 May 2012 the High Court ordered the Jaiprakash Associates to dismantle its 60MW captive power plant within three months. It allowed the 1.75Mt/yr cement plant in Solan to stay. In November 2012 Jaiprakash Associates reported that its net profit for the six months to 30 September 2012 had dropped by nearly 40% to US$50.1m from US$81.3 in the same period in 2011.

Russia: Russia's Federal Antimonopoly Service has blocked concrete producer Sibirsky Cement from acquiring a 90% stake of Iskitimtsement's voting shares, the authority has said in a statement. According to the watchdog the purchase might hinder competition within the Siberian Federal District. The Federal Antimonopoly Service also prohibited Russkaya Tsementnaya Kompaniya from acquiring a 100% stake of Iskitimtsement's voting shares, on the grounds that the merger might trigger a price hike.

In October 2012 Iskitimtsement reported a rise in its output by 23.1% year-on-year to 1.12Mt for the first nine months of 2012. Later in the same month it announced that it expected to triple its net profit in 2012 to Euro19.7m. Established in 1934, Iskitimtsement is one of the leading cement producers in the Novosibirsk Region.

Namibia: The Namibian attorney general has decided to refer a dispute about the legality of the import duty that is supposed to serve as an infant industry protection measure for cement manufacturer Ohorongo Cement to the Supreme Court. The settlement agreement was reached between lawyers representing Jack's Trading CC, a Chinese-owned cement importer, and the minister of finance and commissioner for customs and excise and was made a court order over objections from senior counsel Raymond Heathcote, representing Ohorongo Cement.

Heathcote tried in vain to persuade the court to first allow Ohorongo Cement to intervene in the latest case between Jack's Trading and the Minister of finance.

In light of the agreement Jack's Trading CC withdrew its latest urgent application in which it was asking the High Court to declare the cement import duty, as decided and announced by the minister of finance, invalid and unlawful and to set the import tax aside.

Somalia: Authorities from the autonomous Somali state of Puntland have impounded a North Korean ship for allegedly dumping cement off the country's coast.

The Democratic People's Republic of Korea flagged vessel MV Daesan was captured near to Bossaso whilst it was unloading 5000t of cement. The MV Daesan had originally been heading to Mogadishu but its cargo was rejected due to water leakage.

According to NK News and Radio Gaalkacyo the Somali authorities condemned the dumping as 'illegal' and 'environmentally destructive.' The Somali authorities are reportedly planning to bring the crew before a court.