Displaying items by tag: Ontario
Canada/US: Brazil-based Votorantim Cimentos and Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ) have completed the transaction to merge their cement operations in North America. After having obtained regulatory approval from authorities in Brazil, Canada and the US, St Marys Cement (Canada), a wholly owned subsidiary of Votorantim Cimentos can now commence with the integration process with McInnis Cement. As part of the transaction, the parties will combine their North American assets in a jointly-held entity. Votorantim Cimentos International, the international investments platform and wholly owned subsidiary of Votorantim Cimentos, will hold 83% and CDPQ will indirectly hold 17% of the shares.
The combined entity will comprise operations in Bowmanville and St Marys, in Ontario, Canada and in Detroit and Charlevoix in Michigan, Dixon in Illinois and Badger in Wisconsin in the US, along with a distribution network concentrated in the Great Lakes region - plus the Port-Daniel–Gascons plant and its distribution operations, including terminals located in Quebec, Ontario, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and the Northeastern region of the US.
Canada: St Marys Cement, part of Brazil-based Votoronatim Cimentos, has installed a US$19.9m wet scrubber at its Bowmanville cement plant in Ontario. The installation will reduce the plant’s sulphur dioxide (SO2) emissions by 90%. The producer says it is the first wet scrubber installed at a cement plant in Canada.
Operations Manager Jim Storey said “This investment in technology to improve the plant’s environmental performance has proven to be effective in removing SO2 produced in the cement manufacturing process. We are also pleased that the scrubber was assembled on-site and installed by local Ontario contractors and crews during our annual scheduled plant shutdown.”
Canada: Lafarge Canada, part of Switzerland-based LafargeHolcim, has made its first delivery of 2021 to Northern Ontario. The Lafarge ship Alpena made the journey across the Hudson Bay. Sales and logistics vice president Andrew Stewart thanked the US Coastguard for its icebreaking assistance.
Canada: Environmental groups including Nature Canada, Ontario Nature, Nature Quebec and the VanKleek Hill and District Nature Society have called on Environment and Climate Change Minister Catherine McKenna to start a review of the proposed Colacem Canada L’Orignal cement plant in Ontario. The groups have received a response from the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency (CEAA) saying that their concerns had been acknowledged and that it was providing advice to the minister, according to the National Observer. Colacem hopes to build a 3000t/day plant next to a limestone quarry it already operates.
Canada: The government has made a proposed new carbon tax easier for large-scale industrial emitters such as cement and steel producers. Originally the new legislation proposed imposing a levy on around 30% of a company’s CO2 emissions from the start of 2018, according to the Globe and Mail newspaper. However, the revision has reduced the tax on so-called vulnerable industries with the cement and steel sectors only having to pay 10%. The levy will start at US$15/t in January 2018, rising to around US$40/t in 2022.
The decision to soften the carbon tax follows lobbying by the affected industries. The tax applies to provinces that do not have existing carbon emission controls, such as cap-and-trade schemes, that meets the central government’s standards. The provincial government of Ontario, which contains six of the country’s 17 integrated cement plants, recently decided to leave its own carbon pricing system. It will be subject to the new rules. Saskatchewan will also be affected.
Local government votes against Colacem plant project in Ontario
26 January 2017Canada: The Champlain Township council in Ontario has voted against planning changes to allow Colacem to build a cement plant in nearby L’Orignal. However, the United Counties of Prescott and Russell have voted in favour of the project, according to the Review newspaper. The cement producer requires approval from both bodies in order to proceed with the project. It wants to build a 3000t/day cement plant at the site next to a limestone quarry it already operates.
Canada: The Cement Association of Canada (CAC) has congratulated the Ontario government for releasing its Climate Action Plan. The five-year plan was released on 8 June 2016. A key feature of the plan includes supporting a cap-and-trade carbon pricing scheme.
CAC singled out that the plan would enable emissions-intensive trade-exposed (EITE) industries, like cement, to reduce their own reliance on coal. The plan has set aside US$30 - $45m to help EITE industries across Ontario move away from coal and develop the necessary supply chains so they can better utilise alternative low carbon fuels. Other aspects of the plan the CAC liked included the plan’s decision to establish a service standard for decisions on alternative fuel applications and the collaborative nature of the plan’s consultation.
"Today, I'm happy with approaches that are laid out in the climate action plan which will help industries, like cement, reduce their greenhouse gases (GHG) emissions while remaining globally competitive. We look forward to continuing to work with the Ontario government on the next steps to ensure that Ontario achieves its GHG reduction targets," said Michael McSweeney, president and CEO, CAC.