Global Cement News

France: Syndicat Français de l’Industrie Cimentière (SFIC), the French cement union, has launched Cement Lab, an initiative intended to connect startup companies to the cement industry. Bénédicte de Bonnechose, president of the SFIC, unveiled the project that will link new companies, industry and academia at Station F, a business incubator for startup located at the former Halle Freyssinet railway depot in Paris. Startups featured at the event included Combo Solution, 360 Smart Connect, XtreeE, Smart Cast and Red Bird, who are offering a drone-based method for mine and quarry visualisation.

Zambia: The High Court of Zambia has set 25 February 2018 as the date it will hand down a judgement on a case involving Zambezi Portland Cement (ZPC) between businessman Rajan Mahtani and the Vetriglia family. The case concerns a battle over the shares and management of the company between Mahtani and members of the Vetriglia family, according to the Times of Zambia. Mahtani originally attempted to close the company in 2015 but the original owners resisted the attempt. However, Mahtani maintains that he holds a majority share in the cement producer.

Haiti: Cement exports from the Dominican Republic to Haiti have fallen significantly following an import ban introduced in October 2015. Data from the Adocem, the cement association of the Dominican Republic, shows that almost a third of cement produced in the country was exported to Haiti, according to Diario Libre. However this fell to 16.1% by November 2017. Local cement production is 4.77Mt with 3.82Mt sold domestically and the rest exported.

India: India Cements has launched a product promotional offer where customers could win Chennai Super Kings (CSK) merchandise and a chance to meet the players. Under the scheme, any customer purchasing 50 bags or in multiples of 50 bags (50 kg) of Coromandel Super Power between 19 January and 19 April 2018 will be eligible for entry into the promotion, according t the Press Trust of India. Prizes include match tickets, branded clothing and photo opportunities with the captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni and other players in the cricket team during the 2018 Indian Premier League.

India: UltraTech Cement’s profit after tax has dropped in the third quarter of its financial year that ends on 31 March 2018 due to rising costs of petcoke and coal. It also blamed a ban on petcoke usage in some states. Overall, its consolidated profit after tax for the first nine months of its financial year rose by 10% year-on-year to US$3.58bn from US$3.25bn in the same period in 2016. Its profit after tax fell by 10.5% to US$278m from US$311m.

The cement producer said that it had successfully launched the ‘UltraTech Brand’ in all the markets served by the plants it acquired from Jaiprakash Associates in 2017. It reported that production capacity utilisation is at 60% from a low of 18% at the time of the purchase. It is currently appointing new dealers and retailers in its new territories.