Germany: The former Portland-Zementwerke Gebr. Seibel’s cement plant at Erwitte in North Rhine-Westphalia has rebranded within the Thomas Gruppe. The name change follows the purchase of the plant and its limestone deposits by Thomas Gruppe in late 2017.
McInnis Cement owners consider sale options
Canada: Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ), the owner of McInnis Cement, has hired advisors to consider options for the cement producer including a sale or bringing in a new investor. No final decision has been made and the pension investment management company may decide to keep McInnis Cement, according to sources quoted by Bloomberg. CDPQ took control of the McInnis Cement project in 2016 following cost overruns and delays. The plant eventually opened in mid-2017.
Swiss cement deliveries down in 2017
Switzerland: Data from the Swiss Cement Industry Association (Cemsuisse) report that cement shipments fell by 2.8% year-on-year to 4.3Mt in 2017. In 2016 shipments rose by 4.2% to 4.4Mt, according to the Swiss Telegraphic Agency. An initial drop in shipments in the first half of 2017 was partly absorbed by better trading subsequently. However, the fourth quarter of 2017 saw falling sales volumes. Rail shipments increased considerably, by 53%, during 2017.
Sanghi Cement to expand production capacity to 8.1Mt/yr
India: Sanghi Cement plans to upgrade its production capacity to 8.1Mt/yr from 4.1Mt/yr. The expansion plan will consist of a 3.3Mt/yr upgrade to its cement plant at Sanghipuram in Gujarat and a 2Mt/yr upgrade to its satellite grinding plant. In addition the cement producer plans to build a 65MW thermal power plant at the main plant. The cost of the project will be US$197m and this will be mostly funded from borrowing.
