Displaying items by tag: Tunisia

Spain: Coronavirus has forced the suspension of operations at all Cementos Molins facilities, in accordance with a royal decree. Europa Press has reported that the company began the progressive shutdown of the 1.6Mt/yr integrated line at its Sant Vincenç dels Horts cement plant in Barcelona, Catalonia, on 31 March 2020, and switched off the plant on 2 April 2020.

Cementos Molins said that it has already suspended production in Argentina, Uruguay, Bolivia, Colombia and Tunisia. It says it has ‘implemented the teleworking model in the areas of the company where its application is possible.’

Tunisia: Carthage Cement has submitted a statement to Tunisian police in which it alleges false testimony by FLSmidth’s lawyer who advised the Danish supplier in a criminal case which saw one employee sentenced to five years for illegal payments to Carthage Cement’s owners in 2017. Ritzau Finans newspaper has reported that FLSmidth’s management admitted to knowledge of the payments on 21 February 2020, something it had denied to authorities when under investigation prior to the trial, which concluded in November 2019.

Tunisia: Brazil’s Votorantim Cimentos has ordered a clinker cooler and clinker roller crushers from Turkey’s Fons Technology International for an upgrade to its 1.2Mt/yr integrated Jbel Oust plant. Votorantim has been present in Tunisia since 2012 where it sells cement under the Jbel Oust brand.

Tunisia: Carthage Cement has obtained CE marking for its products to help it penetrate the European market. It plans to start a 0.15Mt cement export contract in March 2020.

Tunisia: Carthage Cement has announced a general improvement in its financial indicators as it forecast a gross operating income of US$25m for 2019. This would represent a 123% improvement from US$11.2m in 2018. Ibrahim Sana, Carthage Cement’s CEO anticipates a gross operating income as high as US$55m in 2023, with a targeted turnover of US$140m.

The company also announced a 0.1Mt export contract for cement to be sent to Spain.

Tunisia: Al Karama Holding says that that sale of a 50.5% share in Carthage Cement has been delayed following the latest round of bidding. The latest round of bids was extended to 7 December 2018 from 6 July 2018, according to local media. However, none of the pre-selected bidders were able to submit a qualifying financial offer. Some of the investors have contacted Al Karama Holding to confirm their interest in the purchase subject to certain conditions.

Tunisia: United Cement Investor will start building a new 1.5Mt/yr cement plant at Bir Thlathin in southern Tataouine in March 2019. The project has a cost of around US$320m, according to the Agency Tunis Afrique Press. Local investment will total around US$95m. The project is expected to create 419 direct jobs and 600 indirect jobs.

ThyssenKrupp Industrial Solutions (France) has been involved with the project. Investment is coming from local, UAE-based and German financiers.

Tunisia: Carthage Cement’s loss has grown to US$16.2m in the first half of 2018 compared to US$9.6m in the same period in 2017. The cement producer has managed to increase its revenue but mounting operating costs have outpaced this, according to African Manager. Its turnover grew by 25.6% year-on-year to US$32.9m but operating expenses rose by 38.5% to US$47.6m. A dispute between management and staff also led to a production suspension in the first half of 2018.

A majority stake in the cement producer remains on sale following a call for expressions of interest in early 2018. The latest round of bidding is open until early December 2018.

Tunisia: Ciments de Bizerte is planning to upgrade the cement grinding capacity by 20% at its plant in Bizerte. Other anticipated upgrades include the installation of a new 10,000t cement silo and the contruction of a captive wind farm, according to the L'Economiste Maghrébin magazine.

Tunisia: Carthage Cement says that production has restarted at its Djebel Ressas plant. NLSupervision, a subsidiary of Denmark’s FLSmidth that holds a contact to operate the plant, resumed activity on 14 April 2018. Carthage Cement has also started marketing the cement locally once again. Production at the unit stopped in early April 2018 following a dispute between NLSupervision and staff. The company’s owners put the plant on sale in late 2017.