Niger: Nouvelle Cimenterie de Niger (NCN) is preparing to open a new plant at Malbaza in December 2018. Company officials told Prime Minister Brigi Rafini that construction the unit had been completed and that it was preparing to start production, according to Niamey et les 2 jours and the l’Agence Ecofin. The plant has a production capacity of 2000t/day and it is estimated that it will provide 80% of the country’s demand for cement. The unit has 347 employees. The project was originally started in mid-2011 but was construction halted.

French Guiana: Cementos Argos is supplying around 54,500t of cement for the Ariane 6 launch pad at the European Space Agency’s spaceport at Kourou. The Colombian cement producer is a strategic supplier for the project and it has been supporting Eiffage, the main contractor. The new launch pad is 90% complete and it is expected to be finished in 2019. The first launch is scheduled for 2020.

Cementos Argos is supplying three different types of cement for the project: a road binder, a soil stabiliser and a sulphate-resistant product. These will be used to build the launch platform, including a mobile base with a height of 90m, the assembly building for the rockets and other structural work.

Brazil: Votorantim’s construction materials joint venture has started operation. The scheme, Juntos Somos Mais, is collaboration between Votorantim Cimentos, Tigre Participações and Gerdau Aços Longos. Votorantim holds a 45% share of the scheme. The joint venture will expand Votorantim’s Juntos Somos + scheme, which has been running since 2014. To date it operates in over 40,000 stores with over 60,000 registered participants.

US: Illinois Cement is preparing to expand the limestone quarry at its La Salle plant. The company has submitted plans to the local government to build a new quarry to the west and northwest of its existing mine, according to the News tribune newspaper. It also wants to move a road to support the changes. The existing quarry will be closed. The cement producer has held public consultations on the project and the local authorities are considering the plan.

Germany: Aumund is promoting its chain products for use in conveyors. The conveyor engineering company is emphasising its 40-year experience in designing chains for applications in heavy production industries across over 18,000 references in more than 140 countries. It says it has more ‘heavy duty, highly rated’ chains in operation than any other supplier. It adds that its chains can handle the differing requirements between a large ball mill circuit bucket elevator or a high capacity steep pan conveyor.

US: Munson Machinery has released a new model, RDC-2424-MS, of its De-Clumper Rotary Lump Breaker. The product is recommended for breaking lumps in product flows of bulk materials such as cement powders, sodium or calcium carbonates, fertilisers and bulk chemicals of all types.

The manufacturer says that the compact, low profile design allows inline placement in restricted spaces between upstream and downstream processing, packaging or bulk storage equipment. With an optional feed hopper and support structure, it can also operate as a stand-alone unit. It is built with maintenance in mind. For example, bearings can be lubricated through external fittings and are isolated from the product processing area with air purged shaft seals. Suitable for industrial and chemical applications, it is also offered in 304/316 stainless steel and finished to sanitary standards for food, dairy, pharmaceutical or industrial applications.

Chief executives from over 30 companies attended the Global Cement and Concrete Association (GCCA) inaugural event last week in London. Its first president Albert Manifold, the chief executive officer (CEO) of CRH, laid out the line by saying that, “For the first time we have a global advocacy body.” He followed this up by emphasising that ‘our product’ is the most used man-made product in the world. Just like the Cement Sustainability Initiative (CSI), the body the GCCA is partly-replacing, it is a CEO-led organisation. The target is very much about giving a global voice to the cement and concrete industries and the vertically integrated companies that produce these products.

Along with the head of CRH, the leaders of LafargeHolcim, HeidelbergCement, CNBM, Votorantim, Buzzi Unicem and Eurocement, amongst others, were all on the attendance list too. That kind of representation gave the event a charged air and a real sense of intent. At present the association says it represents 35% of global cement production and its aim is to reach 50%. That compares to the 30% base that the CSI had.

Representatives from some major cement associations were also present, including Europe’s Cembureau, the Federación Interamericana del Cemento (FICEM), the Canadian Cement Association and the VDZ. The only thing stopping the US Portland Cement Association being there was reportedly the Thanksgiving holiday. Although not comprehensive, that kind of representation suggests serious interest from the regional cement associations. The word from the GCCA CEO Benjamin Sporton was that the GCCA is here to provide a global level of coordination to the advocacy and sustainability side of the industry dealing with global organisations like the United Nations (UN), development banks, other associations and non-government organisations (NGOs).

How this will work in practice has yet to be seen, but at the very least, the GCCA can take over the work of the CSI and run with it. The word from the attendees we spoke to was uniformly positive for the association. It was seen as a long-overdue move to finally give the industry some sort of uniform voice at a global scale. In this sense it is catching up with similar bodies in industries like wood and steel. One benefit from moving from the CSI to a full advocacy organisation is that the industry can actually talk about the good things it does rather than being limited to sustainability and environmental data reporting. It seems like a small change in focus but it’s a big shift in mind-set.

A cynic might suggest that the exercise is one of a dirty industry trying to wrest the Overton window, or window of public discourse, back from legislators facing mounting environmental pressure. The latest UN Emissions Gap Report for 2018, for example, reported this week that CO₂ emissions rose in 2017 after four consecutive years of decline. This is the latest environmental report in a long line pointing out bad news. Yet, the GCCA’s unwritten mantra, that concrete improves lives, is sound. Somebody or something needs to link it all up. That somebody might just be the GCCA.

A review of the inaugural annual general meeting and symposium of the GCCA will be published in a forthcoming issue of Global Cement Magazine.

South Africa: Johan Claassen, the chief executive officer (CEO) of PPC, says he wants to take early retirement. He made the decision during a restructuring of the company’s board. It will now search for a replacement while Claassen stays in post until his successor is found.

Switzerland: LafargeHolcim is expecting its sales growth to slow in 2019 but earnings to grow as its ‘Strategy 2022’ management plan takes shape. Net sales are forecast to grow by up to 6% year-on-year in 2018 yet by only 5% in 2019. However, recurring earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) are predicted to rise by up to 5% in 2018 and then by at least 5% in 2019.

“With the recent divestment of our Indonesian operations we reached a major milestone in focusing our portfolio which allowed us to accelerate deleveraging. At the same time we aggressively move forward in Aggregates and Ready-Mix Concrete. These results are strong proof points for our Strategy 2022 and we will continue delivering across all value drivers," said chief executive officer (CEO) Jan Jenisch.

The group has made the forecasts as part of its Capital Markets Day taking place at Bardon Hill near Birmingham, UK.

Malaysia: Cahya Mata Sarawak’s (CMS) cement division profits have fallen so far in 2018 due to planned maintenance shutdown at its integrated plant and rising clinker prices. Its profit before tax dropped by 14% to US$16.7m in the first nine months of 2018 from US$19.6m in the same period in 2017. The division’s performance was also hit by an increase in the price of imported clinker. The company said that this occurred due to a spike in global demand, following the reduction of clinker production in China and continued high demand for clinker especially from Bangladesh and the Philippines. Overall, CMS’ sales revenue and profit have risen so far in 2018.