Global Cement News

Democratic Republic of Congo: Police are investigating the murder of a Chinese worker at the quarry of a cement plant that is being built near Kolwezi, the capital of Lualaba province. The employee of Carrilu was killed in an attack on the site by ‘bandits,’ according to the Agence France Presse. Two other people were also assaulted in the incident. Armed attacks against businesses and residents have been reported regularly in the region.

The Lualaba Carrilu cement and lime plant is a project being managed by China-based Zijin Mining Group. It is expected to start operation in autumn 2020.

Zimbabwe: The Environmental Management Agency (EMA) has ordered Lafarge Cement Zimbabwe to stop operations at its integrated Harare plant due to abnormal dust emissions. As part of the order the plant has been requested to notify local stakeholders and the community of any new developments or incident that may affect them, according to the NewsDay newspaper. It will also be required to report daily dust emissions readings to the EMA every two weeks.

The cement producer said it experienced an unexpected surge in dust emissions during a trial of using saw dust as an alternative fuel at the plant between July 30 and 1 August 2020. It added that immediate action was taken to control and contain the emissions and the incident was reported to EMA in line with regulatory requirements.

China: Tangshan Jidong’s net profit in the first half of 2020 was US$140m, down by 33% year-on-year from US$210m to US$246m. Cement sales fell by 14% to US$1.58bn from US$1.83bn, while clinker sales fell by 11% to US$218m from US$246m. The Hebei Province-based group attributed the sales fall to the effects of the coronavirus lockdown in early 2020.

Philippines: LafargeHolcim subsidiary Holcim Philippines says that it has partnered with digital news platform providers Pinoy Builders. The commercial partnership involves Holcim Philippines providing Pinoy Builders with its cement, concrete and health and safety expertise.

Marketing and innovation senior vice president Ram Maganti said, “The Philippines is a very digitally-savvy country and the majority of professionals in the Philippines' construction industry are millennials who are 'digital natives.' With its steadily-growing number of subscribers and followers, Pinoy Builders is helpful in our efforts in engaging and positively influencing the construction industry. We are excited in continuing to contribute to this platform to let Filipino building professionals know how our offerings and solutions can help them in their projects.”

Azerbaijan: Azerbaijan produced 1.56Mt of cement in the first half of 2020, representing a 2.7% year-on-year decline from 1.60Mt in the half of 2019. Concrete sales increased by 6.5% to 0.83Mt from 0.78Mt, while the total value of construction materials sales fell by 4.8% to US$251m from US$264m.