Global Cement News

Pakistan: The Supreme Court has stopped cement producers near Katas Raj from using drinking water supplies. The order follows a ruling in May 2018 to stop the producers using water linked to a pond near to a Hindu heritage site, according to the Pakistan Today newspaper. However, the ruling was not followed. The senior judge presiding over the hearing said that local plants had been using water without paying for it.

Algeria: China Triumph International Engineering (CTIE) is set to start procuring equipment for a US$211m production line at STG Engineering and Real Estate Development’s plant at Adrar. The line will be the second production line at the site and it will have a production capacity of 4200t/day of marine cement, according to Inside International Industrials. CTIE is the engineering, procurement and construction contractor for the project and its subsidiary Beijing Triumph International Engineering will manage the engineering design work.

Namibia: Kaptau Packaging has signed a deal with Ohorongo Cement to supply 1.2 million bags by the end of August 2018. The agreement is part of a five-year deal, according to the Namibian Sun newspaper. Kaptau Packaging, a local company, manufactures bags in Oshakati.

Chile: Union workers at Cemento Polpaico have gone on strike following negotiations. 162 workers, or around 15% of its employees, have taken industrial action, according to the Diario Financiero newspaper. The cement producer is unable to estimate the impact of the strike on its financial results.

Syria: Declassified notes from the French secret service reported upon by the Libération newspaper have revealed that the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) terrorist group made at least US$11.5m in 2014 from cement it plundered from Lafarge Syria’s Jalabiya cement plant.

In December 2014 the Directorate of Military Intelligence (DRM) reported that ISIS had taken control of an estimated US$25m worth of cement at the site. Subsequently in late December 2014 the DRM monitored a meeting between Turkish businessmen and IS representatives from the cement plant that took place at the Turkish-Syrian border. 65,000t of cement from the plant had already been sold for US$6.5m and another 50,000t was contracted to be sold for US$5m.