Global Cement News

Taiwan: Asia Cement has denied that it expanded a quarry serving its Hualien plant following accusations by a filmmaker that mining has intensified at the site. Documentary filmmaker Chi Po-lin made the comments in May 2017 whilst filming a sequel to his aerial photographic documentary ‘Beyond Beauty: Taiwan From Above.’ According to the China Post newspaper. Chi subsequently died in a helicopter crash on 10 June 2017 but his aerial footage of the site has caused public outcry.

However, Asia Cement says it has slowly been reforesting the active mining site since 2012. The Ministry of Economic Affairs has also released time-lapse photography supporting the cement producer.

The quarry, which is partly located in a national park, supplies one of the country’s largest cement plants. Its mining lease was set to expire in 2017 but was extended until 2037. The Environmental Protection Administration has also issued assurances that quarry excavations will not occur within the national park area.

Mongolia: Prime Minister J Erdenebat has attended the inauguration ceremony of Mongolyn Alt Corporation’s (MAK) 1.1Mt/yr cement plant at Dalanjargalan. The new plant is forecast to create around 900 jobs and replace cement imports worth up to US$75m/yr, according to the Mongolian News Agency. The unit will produce a range of different strength Ordinary Portland Cements, sulphate resistant cement and water-resistant cement. Danish engineering contractor FLSmidth won a Euro86m contract to build the 3000t/day plant in 2012. In conjunction with the project a 1.9km railway was built from the Olon-Ovoot railway terminal and a 65km power transmission line was set up from Choir with a substation.

France: The French judiciary has launched an inquiry into the Syrian conduct of LafargeHolcim. Three judges, one dealing with anti-terrorism matters and two financial judges, will handle the probe that opened on 9 June 2017, according to Agence France Presse. The prosecutors will examine the ‘financing of a terrorist enterprise’ and whether the actions of the building materials producer had endangered lives.

LafargeHolcim admitted in March 2017 that its staff at a cement plant in Syria in 2013 and 2014 had struck deals with armed groups, following an investigation by the French newspaper La Monde in mid-2016. It is also alleged that Lafarge, one of the companies that merged to become LafargeHolcim in 2015, purchased oil in Syria in violation of international sanctions. The group’s chief executive officer Eric Olsen then resigned after the completion of a review into the affair in April 2017 despite not being found personally culpable or even aware of the situation. However, the review found that selected members of group management had been aware of the situation at the time.

UK: Diana Montgomery, the chief executive of the Construction Products Association (CPA) has expressed frustration about the political deadlock that has resulted from the UK general election that took place on 8 June 2017. “From a business perspective, this is frustrating. We need certainty and clarity in order to address the serious challenges and opportunities facing UK construction over the next few years,” she said. She raised concerns over the delivery of the government’s National Infrastructure and Construction Pipeline, the government procurement process and its policy levers to address skills and housing shortages and the costs of energy and business rates to business. She added that she feared that the industry was facing a, “…period of greater instability at a critical time for our industry.”

Peru: Grupo Gloria says that a US$80m upgrade project at its Cal & Cemento Sur lime plant at Caracoto-Juliaca near Puno is underway. Construction of a sixth line at the site scheduled for completion for the end of 2017, according to the Gestión newspaper. The new line will increase production by 1000t/day to 2000t/day. The investment follows a US$120m investment since 2012 that will see the plant’s production capacity rise to 1Mt/yr by the end of 2017 from 0.13Mt/yr in 2013.