Global Cement News

Brazil: Companhia Siderúrgica Nacional (CSN) Cimentos plans to resume its initial public offering (IPO) of shares in mid-October 2021. The producer is aiming to raise at least US$478m. It will conclude the offering before 1 January 2022. Parent company CSN previously suspended the IPO in July 2021 due to unfavourable market conditions.

UK: 200 Hanson truck drivers began voting on proposed strike action on 10 September 2021. Building Design Online News has reported that the drivers’ union, Unite, has proposed the measure in response to a ‘hefty pay cut.’ The HeidelbergCement subsidiary offered a 2.5% pay rise to truck drivers for 2022. The union said that UK inflation was currently at 3.9%. It added that a strike would lead to a cement shortage affecting some of the country’s largest projects, including the HS2 high-speed railway. Voting will conclude on 24 September 2021.

Turkey: 120,000 members of the Construction Contractors Confederation (IMKON) downed tools on 9 September 2021 in protest against high cement prices. Emerging Market Watch News has reported that the strike will last until 21 September 2021 or until ‘satisfactory developments.’

The Ministry of Trade has tightened procedural restrictions on exporting clinker. Trade Minister Mehmet Mus is in talks with construction and cement industry representatives.

Libya: Ahmed Abuhisa, the Minister of Industry and Minerals, has laid the foundation stone for a new cement plant at Al-Shahba. Al-Shahba Cement and National Mining Corporation have signed a deal to build the 1Mt/yr plant in Cyrenaica region, according to the Libya Herald newspaper. The project is part of the ministry’s plan to localise industry in the country, provide job opportunities for young people and drive development. Al-Shahba, which is 100km from the city of Tobruk, is without paved roads and suffers from water scarcity, limited electricity access and the loss of public services.

UK: Cemex UK has carried out track improvements and extensions at its Attercliffe, Small Heath and Bletchley rail depots. The works included a new siding and storage bays for offloading at Small Heath. Meanwhile, improvements at the Attercliffe depot will enable delivery vehicles to safely use the same area in the day as trains do at night.

Rail and sea manager Mark Grimshaw-Smith said “The summer months have provided us with the perfect opportunity to complete a considerable programme of investment into track at three of our rail depots. These sites are all very different, and spread out across the country, but they are all important parts of our rail network and ripe for development.” He added, “As our use of trains to transport our materials increases, it is vital that we have the infrastructure in place to support this. Further investment is planned at some of our other UK railheads over the coming months.”

The company is in the process of a transition to rail and sea transport from road. Progress in 2020 eliminated 17,500t of CO2 emissions from 150,000 road movements not taken.