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Canada: Lafarge Canada has clarified its role in supporting the Vision Zero road safety campaign following a city council meeting in Edmonton. The construction materials producer explained that its focus is on health and safety and that it is not intending to use its trucks to monitor the speed of other drivers. In a statement the company explained that as one of the largest trucking companies in Edmonton it has dozens of concrete trucks moving around the Greater Edmonton Area, interacting with vehicles, bicycles and pedestrians. Due to this the Zero Vision campaign caught its attention and it expressed its interest in supporting it including speed reduction measures and reducing heavy acceleration and braking in its fleet.
Following the meeting in mid-April 2017 local press including the Edmonton Sun newspaper reported remarks by Bruce Willmer, regional vice-president for Lafarge Canada that on-truck cameras could potentially be used to record speeding vehicles and that this information could be passed on to the authorities. The comments received a mixed response in the local media.
QNCC reports lower Q1 profit 25 April 2017
Qatar: Qatar National Cement Company (QNCC) reported that it made a net profit of US$23.3m in the first quarter of 2017, a 31% fall compared to a net profit of US$34.0m posted for the first quarter of 2016. QNCC is currently in the process of constructing a 5000t/day production line, its fifth, along with Fives Group of France.
Switzerland: Eric Olsen, the chief executive officer (CEO) of LafargeHolcim, has resigned from the company following the completion of a review into a conduct of a cement plant in Syria. An independent internal investigation concluded that the a number of measures taken to continue safe operations at the plant were ‘unacceptable’ and ‘significant’ errors of judgement were made that contravened the applicable code of conduct. Although Olsen was not found personally culpable or even aware of the misconduct by the board of directors he has resigned to draw a line under the affair.
The review examined allegations that company personnel had struck deals with armed groups and sanctioned parties during 2013 until the plant closed in September 2014. The findings also confirmed that selected members of group management were aware of the situation. Remedial measures announced in March 2017 will be taken including: the adoption of a more rigorous risk assessment process focusing on high risk third parties; introduction of a restricted party screening program and a new sanctions and export control program; as well as continuation of other efforts from an external benchmarking exercise. Eric Olsen and his executive management team will implement the remedial measures supported by the Ethics, Integrity & Risk Committee.
“Although I appreciate that those responsible for the Syrian operations appear to have acted in a manner they believed was in the best interests of the company and its employees, there can be no compromise when it comes to compliance rules and adherence to the standards set out in the company’s code of conduct, no matter what the operational challenges are. We are absolutely committed to ensuring that events like those that occurred in Syria must never happen again at LafargeHolcim,” said Beat Hess, chairman of the board of LafargeHolcim.
Olsen will leave LafargeHolcim on 15 July 2017. Hess will become interim CEO whilst a replacement is found. Roland Köhler, currently an executive committee member with responsibility for Europe, Australia/New Zealand and Trading, will be appointed chief operating officer.
BillerudKorsnäs signs letter of intent with Vissai 24 April 2017
Vietnam: Sweden’s BillerudKorsnäs has signed a letter of intent with Vissai Group regarding the use of its QuickFill Clean (QFC) cement paper sack product line. The deal was agreed at a workshop organised by the Embassy of Sweden with the Vietnam Ministry of Construction, according to the Viet Nam News newspaper. The new type of cement bags are intended to reduce leakage although their use will require changes in the handling of sacks throughout the supply chain. Representatives from the Vietnam National Cement Association, Vietnam Federation of Civil Engineering Associations and other ministries also attended the event.
India: The Confederation of Real Estate Developers’ Association of India (CREDAI) says that rising cement prices threaten Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s affordable residential construction scheme 'Housing for All.’ Nandu Belani, president of the Bengal chapter of CREDAI, said that his organisation had no choice but to pass rising prices on to consumers, according to the Times of India. CREDAI has also accused cement producers of ‘profiteering’ and alleged that they have formed a cartel. The developers argue that the cost of cement production has fallen following the introduction of various government subsidies.