Displaying items by tag: Shutdown

Namibia: The Namibian government has granted Whale Rock Cement permission to resume production of its Cheetah brand cement at its Otjiwarongo grinding plant. Authorities suspended operations at the plant on 10 May 2022.Labour Ministry acting executive director Lydia Indombo cited multiple contraventions of occupational safety regulations, including failure to issue personal protective equipment (PPE), failure to maintain good housekeeping, lack of sanitary conveniences and lack of first aid equipment, as the cause of the suspension.

Indombo said "The ministry conducted verification inspections on 16 and 20 May 2022 to evaluate the compliance on the identified shortfalls and is satisfied with the level of compliance." She added that the ministry had recommended the resumption of production activities.

Zimbabwe: Lafarge Zimbabwe’s cement volumes fell by 55% year-on-year in the first quarter of 2022. The company restarted grinding units at its Manresa grinding plant in February 2022 following a roof collapse in October 2021. In a trading update, Lafarge Zimbabwe said that the disruption impacted its profit in the quarter. The producer took the opportunity to decommission one of its ball mills for replacement with a new vertical roller mill in mid-2022.

Chief executive officer Geoffrey Ndugwa said “The company is confident that volumes will recover and grow as the availability of cement stabilises, especially after the new vertical roller mill start-up in the second quarter of 2022.”

Namibia: The Ministry of Labour, Industrial Relations and Employment Creation has shut down production at the Whale Rock Cement plant near Otjiwarongo due to non-compliance with labour laws on the health and safety of employees. A notice was delivered instructing the factory to close its grinding station, packing machine, cement warehouse and cement workshop, according to the Namibia Press Agency. The plant has been ordered to remain closed until all hazardous areas have been made safe. This is expected to take a week. Affected employees are entitled to full remuneration during this period.

The decision to close the plant followed labour inspections in April and May 2022. During the inspections one employee reportedly lost a finger at the pallet stacking area and another sustained finger injuries when he was unblocking the dust collector. Workers said that they work in a dusty environment with no dust masks. They also alleged that a Chinese supervisor brings a gun to work to intimidate them.

The cement company is a Chinese joint-venture and it also trades under the Cheetah Cement brand name. Around 210 Namibians and 44 Chinese nationals work for the company. In April 2022 eight workers at the plant were deported to China for working without adequate work permits.

Nigeria: Dangote Cement sales volumes in the first quarter of 2022 have been hampered by disruptions to gas supplies domestically and by high freight rates restricting its exports of cement and clinker to Cameroon, Ghana and Sierra Leone. Its sales volumes of cement fell by 3.6% year-on-year to 7.25Mt in the first quarter of 2022 from 7.52Mt in the same period in 2021. Its revenue grew by 24% to US$994m from US$801m. Its earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) increased by 18.6% to US$508m from US$428m.

Michael Pucheros, the chief executive officer of Dangote Cement, said “Our group volumes were down 3.6% mainly due to energy supply challenges in Nigeria. Our operations relying on cement and clinker imports – namely Ghana, Sierra-Leone, Cameroon - were impacted by the global supply chain challenges.” Additionally, its operations outside of Nigeria was also negatively affected by a cement plant in Congo being shut for over two months due to maintenance and repairs and extended power plant maintenance in Senegal.

Bolivia: Fábrica Nacional de Cemento (FANCESA) has announced the planned closure of its Eastern Regional Office (ORO) sales agency in Sucre, Chuquisaca Department. The Correo del Sur newspaper has reported that the agency records 30 – 40% of the level of sales of its other agencies. It operating costs are US$1.57 – 1.75m. 17 people currently work at the ORO Agency. FANCESA acknowledged that it may face labour-related ‘internal problems’ in carrying out the closure.

Oman: The Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Investment Promotion has held a meeting with cement companies, importers, distributors and related government departments to discuss cement shortages in some regions of the country. One local plant has suspended production due to high input costs, according to the Oman Daily Observer newspaper. However, Oman Cement Company says it is prepared to boost its production by 10% to meet local demand. Following the meeting the ministry has taken several steps to ensure the availability of cement across the country and maintain prices. These include increasing the production output at some cement plants and increasing imports.

Spain: FYM-HeidelbergCement’s Málaga cement plant has temporarily ceased to produce clinker due to high electricity costs. The La Razón newspaper has reported that the effects of the Russian invasion of Ukraine have made clinker production economically unfeasible at the plant.

Spain: Tudela Veguín has shut the kiln down for 10 days at its La Robla integrated cement plant in Castile and León. It has blamed the high price of electricity for the stoppage, according to the Diaro de León newspaper. The company says it has sufficient stocks of cement to continue to supply customers during the shutdown. The plant has a production capacity of 1.2Mt/yr but it produces 0.3Mt/yr at present.

Russia: Germany-based HeidelbergCement has suspended ‘all further investments’ in its operations in Russia following the country’s invasion of Ukraine. According to its website, the group supplies the Russian cement market from three local cement plants and two terminals. CEO Dominik von Achten said that a ‘large part’ of HeidelbergCement’s Russian production capacity is presently in winter shutdown.

Von Achten acknowledged the company’s responsibility towards its employees in the country, who he said have no part in the apparent Russian aggression and on-going war crimes in Ukraine. He said “We are in constant exchange with our local workforce to protect them and are closely monitoring the situation on a day-by-day basis.”

Spain: The Catalonia government has received a court order to close down LafargeHolcim España’s Montcada i Reixac cement plant in Barcelona. The Spanish Collection newspaper has reported that the plant failed to conform to new environmental regulations. LafargeHolcim España has appealed the decision.

The Montcada i Reixac plant currently employs 300 people. A union involved in the issue said that the alleged breach is formal rather than substantive and that an administrative error by the regional government caused the plant to breach the regulations.