Global Cement News

Iran: Masoumeh Mousavi, the head of the office of industries affairs for Industries, Mining and Trade Organisation of Hormozgan province says that around 0.4Mt of clinker was exported from the Hormozgan plant in the first eight months of the Iranian year that started on 20 March 2018. Exports from the plant rose by 40% year-on-year, according to the Islamic Republic News Agency. The region has been exporting clinker to Oman, the UAE, Tanzania and South Africa. The plant has a cement production capacity of 1.9Mt/yr.

Algeria: Hafid Aouchiche, the import and export head at LafargeHolcim Algeria, has called for improvements to how the country manages its exports of cement and clinker. At a logistics symposium he emphasised the importance of better storage and loading infrastructure at ports, according to the El Moudjahid newspaper. He also noted the higher rates at Algerian ports for exporting clinker compared to ports in other countries. The cement producer has exported nearly 0.35Mt of cement and clinker so far in 2018.

Spain: The regional government of Andalucia has fined Cementos Cosmos’ Córdoba plant Euro3000 for dust emissions in September 2016. The local environmental board criticised the subsidiary of Brazil’s Votorantim for only reporting the incident after the board contacted the plant about a dust cloud, according to the ABC newspaper. However, the fine was small because the dust pollution had no effects on the environment or local residents.

India: The state government of Himachal Pradesh has invited tenders for the Chamba cement plant project for a second time. To attract sufficient bids the government has also decided to build a US$2m road to the project site, according to the Times of India newspaper. Other rules and regulations surrounding the project have also been relaxed. All of the clinker used at the plant must be produced in the state and a quarter must be ground into cement in the region. The project has a proposed budget of US$140m. It has been in development since 2002.

Nepal: Local residents have staged a protest at Shalimar Cement Industry in Jitpur Simara in Bara district. They closed the main gate of the plant, claiming that their complaints of pollution from the site had been ignored by the authorities, according to the Himalayan Times newspaper. Local government officials said that production at the site would be stopped until the company’s management agreed to meet previously agreed environmental limits.