Global Cement News

Paraguay: The Paraguayan Chamber of Construction says that there is a shortage of cement. The builder’s forum has attributed this to a downturn in the economy following the institution of the new government in the summer of 2018, according to the Hoy newspaper.

India: Ambuja Cement has introduced a comprehensive Group Personal Accident Insurance (GPA) policy for truck drivers. The new policy has a policy cover of around US$7m. It is set to benefit nearly 12,000 drivers, who are third-party employees, in case of accidental death or permanent disability. The subsidiary of Switzerland’s LafargeHolcim says it is the first cement company in the local sector to start such as a plan.

“Road safety has been a big challenge as we have little control beyond our plants’ premises. Introduction of Group Personal Accident Insurance policy for the truck drivers – who operate for round-the-clock dispatches – is yet another step by Ambuja Cement to exhibit how much we value them and their work,” said Ajay Kapur, the managing director and chief executive officer (CEO) of Ambuja Cement.

UK: QPA Northern Ireland (QPANI) will change its name to MPA Northern Ireland (MPANI) in 2019. QPANI is the trade association for the mineral products sector in Northern Ireland with 87 members employing just over 5000 people. It has been an affiliate of the Mineral Products Association (MPA) since 2009.

“Our move from QPANI to MPANI was endorsed by our members as they believe the time is right to take this important step. The reference to minerals in our new title recognises the fact that our membership base is wide and varied across our Industry in Northern Ireland representing the extraction and processing of hard rock, sand, salt, lime and chalk into products that support and sustain our quality of life,” said Gordon Best, director of QPANI. He added that the association had
an ‘excellent’ working relationship with the MPA, other MPA regions in the UK and with the Irish Mining and Quarries Society (IMQS) in the Republic of Ireland.

Canada: Lehigh Hanson Materials has signed a deal with SaskPower to give it exclusive rights to fly ash from the coal-fired Shand Power Station near Estevan in Saskatchewan. This expands on an existing 10-year agreement signed in 2012 to market Boundary Dam Power Station fly ash. An estimated 0.22Mt/yr of fly ash will be sold from the Boundary Dam and Shand Power stations.

US: Lehigh Cement has applied to the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection to expand the quarry at its Nazareth cement plant. It wants to increase its mining area by a third to 112 hectares from 84 hectares according to the Express-Times newspaper. A public consultation period on the application will run until late December 2018.