Displaying items by tag: US
Vulcan Materials names new CEO
16 July 2014US: Vulcan Materials has announced that its board has named J Thomas Hill as the company's new CEO, succeeding Donald James in the role. James, who is 65 years old, will become the company's executive chairman. He has served as Vulcan's CEO since 1996 and as its chairman since 1997. Hill, who is 55, previously had acted as Vulcan's chief operating officer. Before that, he held several management positions in sales and operations since joining the company in 1979.
Vulcan also promoted its financial chief John McPherson to the position of chief financial and strategy officer, a role in which he will oversee strategy and human resources functions in addition to his existing duties.
US: In 2014 ExxonMobil's Equipment Builder Group is celebrating its 100th anniversary. The group specialises in working alongside leading original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) in more than 150 countries to develop high-performance lubricants.
Chile/US: Cemento Melón has hired River Logic to implement its Integrated Business Planning (IBP) solution, a business analytics platform. The IBP solution is intended to aid the Chilean cement producer to dynamically integrate finance with the sales and operations planning process, optimising demand, supply, production, distribution and investment capital decisions. The implementation will be led by River Logic Chile, a partner company to US-firm River Logic.
"We are convinced that the IBP solution will enable us to accurately model the business, including the financial and operational complexities and through the application of prescriptive analytics will provide us with the superior decision-making ability required in modern management," said Antonio Lira, Strategy Lead at Cemento Melón. "
"Given the complexity of the cement market, low return on assets and strong price competition, we believe IBP's unique ability to supporting tactical and strategic planning processes will be a fundamental contributor to achieving a sustainable competitive advantage for Melon" said Raimundo Veloso, partner at River Logic Chile.
US: Martin Marietta Materials' US$2.7bn purchase of Texas Industries has been approved by the US Justice Department under a settlement that requires asset sales. Martin Marietta will sell rail yards in Texas and a quarry in Oklahoma to maintain competition in the market for gravel, sand and crushed stone.
"Without the divestiture obtained by the antitrust division, customers would have likely faced higher prices as a result of this acquisition," said Bill Baer of the US Justice Department.
US: Martin Martietta Materials has announced that it expects to enter an agreement with the US Department of Justice that will resolve all antitrust concerns over its planned US$2.7bn acquisition of Texas Industries.
Martin Marietta said that it believes the agreement will be finalised by 27 June 2014. It anticipates that the agreement will require it to divest its North Troy quarry in Mill Creek, Oklahoma and two rail yards in Dallas and Frisco, Texas. Martin Marietta has also announced that it plans to restructure Texas Industries' debt, offering US$700m in notes due in 2017 and 2024.
Martin Marietta and Texas Industries are both scheduled to hold special shareholder meetings on 30 June 2014 to vote on proposals. With the addition of Texas Industries, Martin Marietta will operate a network of more than 400 quarries, distribution yards and plants in 36 states, Canada, the Bahamas and the Caribbean.
Fire breaks out at Essroc plant in Lower Nazareth
20 June 2014US: Fire-fighters were dispatched to the Essroc Cement plant in Lower Nazareth Township, Pennsylvania on 18 June 2014 after Essroc personnel reported an uncontrolled fire, according to local media. No injuries were reported.
US: Holcim US plans to invest US$100m to modernise its Ada cement plant in Oklahoma State, according to Robin DeCarlo, vice president of Holcim's corporate communications. The company submitted an application for a permit to the Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) in June 2014 and expects to begin upgrading the plant between October and December 2014.
"We can't start without a permit from DEQ," DeCarlo said. She didn't release specific details about the modernisation but indicated that it would include upgrading the kiln line. DeCarlo noted that the modernisation of the kiln line will meet 'all known environmental regulations and reduce all major regulated emissions,' even with the increased plant capacity.
"We are expecting that there will be approximately 250 temporary jobs during the modernisation phase, which will have a direct and positive impact on the Ada economy," said DeCarlo. "The modernisation will increase our plant's capacity by about 20%." Holcim's plant in Ada currently employs about 120 people.
Holcim implicated in Cuban cement plant investment
04 June 2014US/Cuba: A lawsuit in Spain has revealed documents indicating that Holcim may have invested in a cement plant in Cuba despite warnings the deal might violate US law because the plant sits on land seized from US citizens. The deal took place in 2000, when Holcim was known as Holderbank, but allegedly the ownership went through a string of companies in Spain, the Netherlands and Panama, according to documents filed in a lawsuit reported upon by the Miami Herald.
"Holderbank's investment in the Cienfuegos property clearly would constitute 'trafficking' in confiscated property under Title IV of Helms-Burton," wrote US lawyers hired to advise Holcim. Holcim denies that it owns a business or a stake in a business in Cuba.
The court documents are part of a lawsuit involving three Spanish firms. Firebrick SA and Acedos Trading allege that Inversiones Ibersuizas owes them more than US$2m from an investment in Cuba in 2000. The documents suggest that Ibersuizas created a Spanish firm, Las Pailas de Cemento, in 2000 that paid US$70m to Cuba for 50% of the joint venture, Cementos Cienfuegos plant. Holcim allegedly controlled the project through a Panama company, Windward Overseas. The deal subsequently began to break down in 2004.
Since 2004, the US Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control, which enforces the US embargo on Cuba, has fined foreign companies more than US$1.25bn for violating US laws and regulations.
US: Eagle Materials Inc has reported financial results for fiscal year 2014, which ended on 31 March 2014. Company revenues were up by 40% year-on-year to US$898.4m and net earnings grew by 50% year-on-year to US$200m, reflecting improved sales volumes and stronger sales prices across all business lines. Annual revenue and earnings improvement also reflects the acquisition of assets, including cement plants in Missouri and Oklahoma on 30 November 2012.
Fiscal 2014 operating earnings from cement were up by 94% year-on-year to US$89.5m, while revenues from cement, including joint venture (the Texas Lehigh Cement Company LP) and intersegment sales, grew by 44% year-on-year to US$438.2m. Cement sales volumes reached a record 4.6Mt for the year.
Operating earnings from cement during the fourth quarter of fiscal 2014 were up by 422% year-on-year to US$12.0m. The earnings were impacted by US$4.5m associated with the annual maintenance outage at the Illinois cement plant, whereas 2013's fourth quarter cement earnings were impacted by US$14m, associated with maintenance costs at the recently acquired cement plants cement plants in Missouri and Oklahoma. Cement revenues for the quarter, including joint venture and intersegment revenues, grew by 10% year-on-year to US$81.7m. Cement sales volumes for the fourth quarter were up by 4% year-on-year at 803,000t.
US: Titan America has announced that it has recently formed ST Equipment & Technology LLC (STET), in order to further expand the development of its separation technology in fly ash and mineral applications worldwide. STET will be based in Needham, Massachussetts, US.
Mike Allen, who recently joined the Titan family of businesses, will serve as STET's President. His experience spans 30 years in international mining and minerals equipment and operations, most recently as Komatsu America Corp's Vice President of International Sales. He reports to current Titan America CEO, Aris Papadopoulos, who will become STET's Executive Chairman on 1 August 2014.