Global Cement News

UK: Tarmac’s Women in Cement group has held its first networking event with colleagues from across the company’s cement and lime business coming together to discuss key industry challenges and opportunities. The event was attended by team members from the businesses supply chain and logistics, customer service, health and safety and cement plant teams. It included a range of discussion topics and presentations, from personal protective equipment (PPE) and welfare facilities to profiling role models and opportunities to attract more women to pursue careers at Tarmac and in the wider construction industry.

“It has been fantastic to bring together colleagues from across the business to share their experiences and continue our work to collaborate and drive positive change. We’re looking forward to building and broadening activities across Tarmac and continuing to encourage people from all age groups, genders nationalities and ethnicities to be part of the debate and help to define opportunities for development and progress,” said Johanna O’Driscoll, Tarmac’s finance director.

The Women in Cement group is one of a number of diversity and inclusion initiatives across Tarmac. The company has partnered with organisations including the Taylor Bennett Foundation, Skillforce and the Career Transition Partnership, which all focus on supporting people from diverse backgrounds into jobs.

Mozambique: President Filipe Nyusi has inaugurated the 0.25Mt/yr Cimentos de Maiaia plant in Nacala. The US$10m project was a joint venture between Chinese firms and local investors, according to the Mozambique News Agency. Chinese investors provided 85% of the funding. The new plant is the third in the port of Nacala. Cimentos de Maiaia plans to focus on markets in the north of the country.

Nigeria: Ibeto Cement has signed a deal with Milost Global for US$850m. The US-based private equity firm will provide US$500m in equity and US$350m as debt to the cement producer, according to Bloomberg. In a separate development Ibeto Cement has also entered into a reverse merger with Century Petroleum, an oil and gas exploration company.

Ibeto Cement has operated a cement terminal in Port Harcourt since 2005. It is also renovating the former Nigercem plant in Nkalagu. It announced a US$386m contract with China’s Sinoma in late 2015 to build a cement plant in Enugu.

Rwanda: Vincent Munyeshyaka, the Minister of Trade and Industry, says that traders who are charging too much for cement will be fined. He told the New Times newspaper that about 30 traders have been fined for cement price speculation so far. Fines range up to about US$350. The country has faced a shortage of cement since February 2018 when local producer Cimerwa started upgrade work at its Bugarama plant.

Pakistan: Germany’s Loesche has sold four vertical roller mills (VRM) to Bestway Cement through China’s Sinoma International Engineering. The mills will be used to upgrade Bestway Cement’s Farooqia plant in the Punjab province. No expected date of commissioning or value for the order has been disclosed.

The order consists of one raw mill, one coal mill and two clinker mills. One four-roller mill VRM with a capacity of 450t/hr will be used to grind cement raw material to a fineness of 12% with sieving residue of R 90μm. Two further mills with a throughput of 170t/hr will serve for the subsequent grinding of cement clinker to a fineness of 3200 Blaine. One large modular VRM with a capacity of 40t/hr will be used in the grinding of coal to a fineness of 10% and R 90μm sieving residue.