Global Cement News

New Zealand: Fletcher Building has appointed Ian Jones as the chief executive of its newly created Concrete Division. The new division includes Golden Bay Cement, Winstone Aggregates and Firth. The appointment is a move by the Antipodean building materials company to focus its business on core operations in building products and distribution. The group also plans to sell its Formica and Roof Tile Group businesses.

Canada: Sparta Manufacturing has appointed Rutger Zweers as Vice President of Sales Engineering. Zweers brings 20 years of industry experience and engineering expertise to Sparta. Over the course of his career he has worked on recycling system projects and brings experience in construction and demolition and single stream systems development.

Sparta Manufacturing is an integrated engineering and manufacturing company specialising in recycling system design and development. Sparta has a 35-year track record integrating best-available technologies with their portfolio of machinery. Providing turn-key system development and retrofit expertise, Sparta has an install base across North America that includes construction and demolition systems, single-stream, organics and commercial waste processing.

UK: Global Cement Magazine is exhibiting at the Hillhead 2018 quarrying exhibition from 26 – 28 June 2018 taking place in Derbyshire. Held in a limestone quarry, the organisers say that it is the largest exhibition of its kind anywhere in the world. Global Cement Magazine has exhibition stand PC45 in the main pavillion.

India: LafargeHolcim’s subsidiary ACC is in talks to buy Jaiprakash Associates’ remaining cement business. It plans to buy the production capacity of 5.5Mt/yr for US$763m by mid-2018, according to sources quoted by the Economic Times newspaper. Jaiprakash Associates is selling the last parts of its former cement assets to reduce its debts.

The proposed deal includes plants in central India with clinker production capacity of 4.4Mt/yr and a cement grinding capacity of about 3.3Mt/yr, the company's 74% stake in Bhilai Jaypee Cement, a joint venture with Steel Authority of India, and the Nigrie grinding plant.

Jaiprakash Associates previously agreed to sell three cement plants to Orient Cement in mid-2017 but this deal was cancelled after a delay of one year. Prior to this the company sold six integrated cement plants and five grinding plants to UltraTech Cement for US$2.5bn in 2017. Following the sale of its remaining cement assets, the company will primarily an engineering, procurement and construction contractor in road and hydroelectric power.

Philippines: Japan’s Taiheiyo Cement plans to expand its San Fernando plant in Cebu. The cement producer has allocated US$65m for a new unit and equipment for the site, according to the Manila Bulletin newspaper. Cement production will be increased to 16,350t/day from 7350t/day at present. In addition, another US$68m has been assigned to upgrade the plant’s dust collectors to filters. The plant could also import cement from Japan and South Korea. The upgrade has been organised to meet the government’s ‘Build, Build, Build’ infrastructure development program.