Bangladesh: The Bangladesh Cement Manufactures Association (BCMA) has demanded that an additional 30% increase to import duties on limestone be removed. A supplementary duty was introduced in November 2022 when the National Board of Revenue (NBR) changed the way limestone was coded in response to a significant increase in imports since 2020, according to the New Nation newspaper. Previously limestone importers were paying a duty US$7.80/t. Now they are reportedly paying US$14.60/t.

The BCM wrote to the NBR about the issue in mid-November 2022. BCMA president Alamgir Kabir renewed his association’s lobbying to remove the additional duty at a press conference held in mid-December 2022.

Morocco: Ciments du Maroc has officially started its 0.7Mt/yr Nador grinding plant in Oulad Settout. The new unit will be supplied with clinker from the integrated Ait Baha plant in Souss-Massa. It is intended to support the development of the north and east regions of the country. The project had a cost of around Euro84m.

Robert Dölger, the German ambassador, Zouhair Magour, the honorary consul of Germany, René Aldach, the chief financial officer of Heidelberg Materials, Hakan Gürdal, the head of Heidelberg Materials’ Africa-East Mediterranean Region, the president of the Oulad Settout region and various directors of Ciments du Maroc attended a ceremony marking the event on 9 December 2022.

The subsidiary of Heidelberg Materials operates three integrated plants, four grinding plants, four aggregate quarries and 21 ready-mix concrete plants in the country.

Sweden: The Land and Environmental Court has granted Cementa a four-year permit to continue mining operations in Slite on Gotland. The latest temporary permit was set to expire at the end of 2022. Both the Environmental Protection Agency (Naturvårdsverket) and the county administrative board of Gotland recommended rejecting Cementa’s application earlier in 2022. Prior to this the central government extended the cement company’s mining licence by one year from late 2021.

The subsidiary of Germany-based Heidelberg Materials said that it viewed the latest four-year permit as a ‘bridge’ until it is able to secure a long-term permit. It is aiming to submit an application for a 30-year permit in 2023.

Nigeria: Dangote Cement’s shareholders have authorised a buyback of up to 10% of the company’s issued shares.

Chair Aliko Dangote said “Over the past decade, Dangote Cement has recorded exponential growth across all areas. Group cement volumes are now at almost 30Mt/yr, our production capacity has tripled to 51.6Mt/yr and we export cement from five countries across Africa.”