Displaying items by tag: Licence

Saudi Arabia: Total exports of cement have reached 25Mt since the export rules were relaxed in mid-2017. Abdul Rahman Hussein, from the Ministry of Trade and Investment, said that the government is now planning to charge fees on exporters after a two-year tax holiday, according to the Aliqtisadia newspaper. He noted that the ministry has approved 53 cement export licences. 22 of these have been issued during the current year.

Japan: UBE Machinery Corporation has signed a license agreement for the design, manufacture and commissioning of vertical roller mills for cement plants and related applications on exclusive basis with India’s AMCL Machinery for markets in India, Nepal, Bangladesh and Bhutan. The deal was signed in late May 2019. This license agreement has been signed to explore ‘mutual cooperation and opportunities’ between UBE Machinery Corporation and AMCL Machinery.

AMCL Machinery is part of Hindusthan National Glass & Industries. It manufactures vertical roller pre-grinding mills for cement plants in India and the Middle East. It also produces rubber and tyre building machines for the local tyre industry.

Taiwan: Asia Cement’s union has taken out advertisements in major local newspapers protesting against a ruling by the Taipei High Administrative Court blocking its right to operate a cement quarry located in the Taroko National Park. It says that the cement producer applied for the permit extension in line with the Mining Act in 2016, according to the Taipei Times newspaper. It added that the court’s decision could negatively affect industrial operations, labour rights as well as the government’s credibility for boosting the economy. Environmental groups have called on the company to negotiate with local people living near the quarry.

Belarus: The Council of Ministers has required companies to obtain a special license for importing Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC) from outside the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU). The requirement will take effect later this month and will be in effect for six months, according to the Belapan news agency. The new regulations have been introduced to support the local sector.

In January to April 2019, Belarus imported 0.13Mt of cement including 65,000t from other EEU countries, according to the National Statistical Committee. In the same period, Belarus’ companies made 1.25Mt of cement, an increase of nearly 12% year-on-year, and exported 0.44Mt.

India: The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) in Mumbai has approved Dalmia Bharat’s offer for debt-laden Murli Industries, subject to conditions intended to stop the company going into liquidation. The tribunal has given Dalmia Bharat until 12 July 2019 to decide if it wants to proceed, according to the Economic Times newspaper. The conditions include forcing the buyer to reinstate lapsed mining leases related to Murli Industries itself and removing clauses allowing Dalmia Bharat to modify or withdraw its plans at any stage. Dalmia Bharat bid around US$60m to buy Murli Industries’ 3Mt/yr cement plant in Maharashtra in late 2017.

Saudi Arabia: Najran Cement has renewed its clinker export licence. It is valid for one year from 9 July 2019.

Myanmar: U Aung Kyaw Thu, the Hluttaw representative of Mon State Parliament and chairperson of the public budget scrutiny, finance planning and economics matters review committee has warned that cement plant projects granted licenses by the Myanmar Investment Commission (MIC) that have not implemented their plans will not be granted permission to extend their licenses. During a meeting with legislators, local farmers from Kaw Won Village, Kyaikmaraw Township in Mon State complained that the Myanmar-Korea Cement Group should not be allowed to extend its permit, as they had not implemented anything yet, according to the Mons News Agency. Normally companies that have received a permit are allowed to build at the site for three years. They can then extend this by up to three years if they provide a legitimate reason.

The June Cement Industry project has reportedly finished 15% of its construction and the Myanmar-Korea Cement Group project has finished 10% of its construction. The companies have blamed operational difficulties on the delays. They were granted permits by the MIC in 2016 and 2017 respectively.

Myanmar: June Cement Industry’s new 5000t/day plant is waiting for permission from the government to use 15MW of electricity generated from two coal power plants. The US$471m unit is based at PyarTaung, KawPaNaw Village, Kyaikmayaw Township in Mon State, according to the Mon News Agency. The plant will extract limestone from the Pyartaung Mountain area. Coal for the plant is expected to be delivered via the River Attran. Local residents have expressed concern that barges may cause flood damage along the river’s banks.

India: Accusations of violence by local police against activists protesting against a limestone mining lease granted to UltraTech Cement in Gujarat have been referred to the Criminal Investigation Department (CID). Police from Bhavnagar allegedly attacked protestors with batons and used tear without prior provocation during a march in early January 2019, according to the DNA India newspaper. The protestors were complaining about a mining lease for a quarry in the Talaja district.

Lebanon: Industry Minister Wael Abu Faour has revoked the license of the Al Arz Cement plant project. It follows protests by local residents, according to the Daily Star newspaper. A report by environmental non-government organisation (NGO) Green Globe ranked the region as the 11th most polluted area in the country due to quarrying and crusher activity. The cement plant project was launched in 2017 by entrepreneur Pierre Fattoush.