South Africa: Duan Classen, the Operations Executive of Sephaku Cement, has been appointed as its acting chief executive officer (CEO) following the admission of Pieter Fourie to hospital. The cement producer said that Fourie, its current CEO, had been receiving medical care after suffering a stroke and was responding well to treatment.

Classen has been a member of the executive management in charge of operations since the construction of Sephaku Cement’s plants. He holds a bachelor degree in Metallurgical Engineering from the University of Pretoria, and has previously participated in the Young Managers Development Programme at INSEAD in France and a Management Development Programme at Duke University in the US. Classen completed his graduate engineer training at De Beers before joining Blue Circle Cement in 1997, where he was involved in Blue Circle Cement's integration into Lafarge in 1998. He subsequently worked for PPC before being appointed to DCSA in early 2008.

Egypt: The Egyptian government has reportedly proposed that cement companies cap production by at least 14%. Multiple sources quoted by Reuters reveal that a formula was discussed in April 2021 proposing that cement plants cut production by a base amount of 10.5%. An additional cut of 3.7% would then be made for each production line a plant has and another 0.65% for each year they have been in operation. However, it is unclear how the age of a plant or production line would be determined. The Ministry of Trade and Industry has not commented on the story.

The measures have been suggested in order to help the sector cope with falling consumption and production overcapacity. Cement sales fell by 5% year-on-year to 41.7Mt in 2020 from 43.8Mt in 2019. However, two of the cement executives quoted said that the proposed cuts seemed unfair on multinational companies like their own that had older plants.

Kenya: The Competition Authority of Kenya has granted China-based Zou Fengqi and Oman-based Raysut Cement exemption from regulatory approval on a recent application in line with competition guidelines. The Business Daily newspaper has reported that the application stated that Zou Fengqi plans to acquire a 60% stake in Raysut Cement’s business in East Africa.

Raysut Cement operates grinding plants in Mogadishu, Somalia and Somaliland.

China: Sinoma International Engineering has signed a deal worth US$300m to build a new integrated cement plant for Guangxi Jinxiang Cement. The contract includes two 6000t/day clinker production lines, from raw material crushing to packaging, and a 6Mt/yr aggregate line. The project is located in Dashan Village near Shilong Town, Xiangzhou County in Guangxi region. It is expected to be completed by mid-2022.

Pakistan: Lucky Cement and China-based China Sinoma Energy Conservation have signed a deal to upgrade the waste heat recovery (WHR) units on both production lines at the integrated Pezu cement plant. When the project is completed it will increase the output to 14MW from 10MW at present. No value for the order has been disclosed. Sinoma supplied the plant’s original WHR units in 2017.

Ghana: Dzata Cement, a 1.2Mt/yr bagging plant based in Tema, plans to start commercial production by June 2021. The unit cost US$100m and includes a two line bagging and packaging equipment supplied by Germany-based Haver & Boecker, according to the Ghana News Agency. It will use imported cement. Proposed later phases at the site will see an upgrade in bagging operations to 2.4Mt/yr and the eventual installation of two 3Mt/yr vertical roller mills. As a safeguard against surges of cement imports the government has also introduced new export and import legislation requiring licenses for imports from outside the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) region.

The plant’s founder Ibrahim Mahama is the brother of former Ghanian president John Dramani Mahama. In November 2020 the Ghana News Agency reported that Kofi Amoabeng, the former chief executive officer of UT Bank, said that loans made to companies including Dzata Cement had contributed to the bank being declared insolvent in 2017.

US: Titan America, part of Greece-based Titan Group, has launched ProAsh and EcoTherm. Both products are made from ash reclaimed from landfill and can be used in both cement and concrete production. Titan America subsidiary Separation Technologies produces the materials at its Brunner Island reclaimed ash drying and electrostatic separation plant in Pennsylvania.

President and chief executive officer Bill Zarkalis said, “This breakthrough achievement represents Titan America’s commitment to the reduction of CO₂ through innovation as we plan to deploy this technology across the construction material sector.” He added “By harnessing the power of this technology, Separation Technologies is utilising a revolutionary beneficiation process that is capable of converting reclaimed ash from ash basins in an efficient manner. The result is a high-grade, low carbon construction product.”

US: Colombia-based Grupo Argos subsidiary Cementos Argos has agreed to sell its 24 ready-mix concrete plants in Dallas, Texas, to SRM Concrete. The Diario Financiero newspaper has reported the value of the deal as US$180m. Cementos Argos called the sale an ‘important milestone’ in the fulfilment of its non-strategic asset divestment plan.

Germany: HeidelbergCement has launched the Quarry Life Award, a competition for proposed biodiversity-supporting quarry restoration projects. The company says that it is looking for projects which consider quarries’ impacts throughout their entire lifecycle. It is offering a Euro30,000 prize for the winning proposal.

Chief executive officer Dominik von Achten said, “The time for action is now - The World Economic Forum 2021 Global Risk Report has put biodiversity loss among the five most concerning global risks, both in terms of likelihood and impact. With the competition, HeidelbergCement wants to contribute to the global restoration agenda and work towards a net positive in biodiversity. Our sites can provide valuable habitats for a variety of animal and plant species during and after extraction.”

India: Dalmia Bharat subsidiary Dalmia Cement plans to increase its installed cement production capacity in Eastern India by a further 4.8Mt/yr. The Economic Times newspaper has reported that its remaining planned upgrades in the region consist of a 2.3Mt/yr capacity expansion at a grinding plant in Odisha and a 2.5Mt/yr capacity expansion at a grinding plant in Bihar. The Odisha upgrade is scheduled for commissioning in mid-2021 and the Bihar upgrade is scheduled for commissioning in 2023. When both completed, the new lines will increase the producer’s cement capacity to 40Mt/yr.

The company says that it plans to announce further capital expenditure (capex) investments. It said that its subsidiary Murli Industries requires US$47.7 - 54.5m-worth of capex spending. It acquired the company, based in the western Indian state of Maharashtra, in the 2021 financial year. Managing director Puneet Dalmia said that the company would wait for greater economic certainty before launching the next round of expenditure. He said that the company’s aim is to become a national producer.