Global Cement News

Kenya/Tanzania: The administrators of ARM Cement have written off loans worth around US$210m to Maweni Limestone, a subsidiary in Tanzania. The decision by the PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC) administrators has significantly reduced the cement producer’s assets to US$140m from US$362m, according to the Business Daily newspaper. In a report PWC alleges that ARM Cement had treated its debt to Maweni Limestone as a performing loan, despite the fact that the subsidiary had repeatedly defaulted on it, effectively misleading investors as to the value of the company. The write-off has left ARM Cement’s creditors, including the UK government-backed CDC Group, in negative equity to a value of around US$24m.

Other irregularities that have been discovered amount to US$1.5m. These issues include alleged outstanding director pay, payments to mystery customers and a payment of US$0.4m for ‘fixtures and fittings.’

ARM Cement owns an integrated cement plant at Tanga and a grinding plant in Dar es Salaam that is currently not in operation. It is also building a grinding plant in Tanga that remains unfinished. The cement producer was placed into administration in late August 2018.

Egypt: The shareholders of Helwan Cement have approved the sale of its white cement plant in Minya Governorate to Emmar Industries. Helwan Cement, a 99.5% subsidiary owned by HeidelbergCement and Suez Cement, previously said that the sale was part of its plan to restructure the business and improve its financial position.

Philippines: Holcim Philippines is promoting the use of its blended cement products by local contractors for use in road building on environmental and performance grounds. The initiative follows the government’s ‘Build, Build, Build’ infrastructure program. In July 2018 the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) reported that 3945km of roads had been built by the current administration, with more projects underway until 2022.

Holcim Philippines Senior Vice President for Sales William Sumalinog said that DPWH has allowed the use of blended cement for roads since mid-2016 through Department Order 133, which amends building standards for concrete pavements that previously specified Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC). OPC has a higher clinker factor and so releases more CO₂ during production. He added that blended cement could perform better in some cases compared to OPC as it can be customised to address the specific durability challenges present in sites where structures will be built.

Sumalinog said that, since the issuance of the directive, the company has been working with its business partners and regional DPWH offices to highlight the benefits of blended cement over OPC through its engagement programs such as Holcim Building Bridges.

India: Penna Cements has started operating its terminal and bagging plant at Cochin Port in Kochi, Kerala. The first vessel to visit the unit, Penna Suraksha, delivered a consignment of 25,000t from Krishnapatnam Port, according to the Hindu newspaper. The terminal had an investment of US$8m.

The new terminal has a cement capacity of 0.3Mt/yr. It is intended to serve the local market in Kerala. It joins terminals run by Zuari Cement, Ambuja Cement and UltraTech Cement that also operate at the port.

The Penna Suraksha is reportedly the largest self-discharging vessel in Asia. As well as carrying a load of 25,000t of cement it can discharge up to 1000t/hr of cement. It uses a ship unloader supplied by Germany’s IBAU Hamburg.

India: A welder has died at UltraTech Cement’s Reddipalayam plant in Tamil Nadu. The contract worker died following a fall from a height of 8m, according to the New Indian Express newspaper. Relatives and local residents staged a protest following the incident.