Kenya: East African Portland Cement Company (EAPCC) has won a legal dispute for the right to evict squatters from 1740 hectares of limestone-bearing land in Machakos County. Nation News has reported that the court struck out the case after claimants failed to produce requested documents. It also ordered the claimants to pay EAPCC’s legal costs.
Shiva Cement secures consent to operate Sundergarh cement plant at full capacity
India: The Odisha State Pollution Control Board has granted Shiva Cement consent to operate its Sundergarh cement plant up to production volumes of 1.5Mt/yr, Reuters has reported. The producer commissioned the plant’s 1.36Mt/yr-capacity clinker line in June 2023. At that time, the plant had consent to operate with clinker production volumes of up to 660,000t/yr.
Etex to acquire BGC’s lightweight building materials businesses
Australia/New Zealand: Belgium-based Etex has signed an agreement with building materials company BGC to acquire the latter’s gypsum and fibre cement businesses. The fibre cement business includes the Canning Vale fibre cement boards plant in Western Australia. BGC also operates nine warehouses across Australia and New Zealand. Etex says that the deal expands its activities in the ‘attractive’ local market, with significant growth opportunities. Finalisation is expected in early 2024.
Etex CEO Bernard Delvaux said “This deal is a strategic opportunity for Etex to complement our footprint in Australia and further increase the accessibility of our products and services for customers. This will both reinforce our gypsum wallboard offering and position us well in the growing fibre cement activities through a broad product range and good channel access.”
Birla Corporation lands US$1m dollar fine for historical over-extraction of limestone
India: The Satna District Office of Collector (Mining) has fined Birla Corporation US$1m for its excess extraction of limestone between 2001 and 2007.
Birla Corporation said “The company did not take environment clearance due to the ambiguity in the provisions of Environmental Impact Assessment Notification 1994, which was only clarified subsequently by the principles laid down in the common cause judgement of the Supreme Court dated 2 August 2017. However, the company had valid consent to operate the mines from State Pollution Control Board. The company remains committed to ensure compliance with all applicable laws. The company is reviewing the order and evaluating the next steps in this matter.”
