Global Cement News

Nepal: Cement producers have reported that sales have risen by 10% year-on-year in 2013, according to the Nepal Cement Manufacturers' Association (NCMA). The country's cement demand has soared with the increasing construction of dams, bridges and housing projects.

"If you look at the overall capacity of the cement industry, demand can be fulfilled by domestic production. But some big projects have been importing cement and domestic products account for 85% of the total consumption in the country," said Tara Pokharel, general secretary of NCMA.

US: The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and industry groups including cement producers have failed to settle a permit dispute that is testing whether the agency has the authority to require operators of hazardous waste combustion units to conduct risk assessments that can be used to strengthen emissions limits for mercury and other pollutants when renewing the facilities' existing waste and air permits. Negotiations stalled during a meeting in November 2013 between EPA lawyers and cement kiln operators at EPA's Region V offices, according to an 8 January 2014 status report the parties filed with the Environmental Appeals Board (EAB). Litigation will continue on 20 February 2014.

The case began on 8 July 2013 when ESSROC Cement petitioned the EAB to review Region V's decision requiring a site-specific risk assessments (SSRA) at ESSROC's hazardous waste combustor facility in Logansport, Indiana, during the 2012 renewal of the facility's RCRA permit. After the facility conducted the SSRA, Region V imposed a restrictive annual mercury feed rate limit, which ESSROC said, "goes far beyond what is necessary to protect human health and the environment."

The case marks a new test for the risk assessment requirements EPA attached to its 2005 regulations governing hazardous waste combustion facilities that emit air pollutants, including cement kilns. The 2005 regulations set strict new maximum achievable control technology (MACT) standards under the Clean Air Act (CAA) for the combustion facilities that burn the hazardous waste. The rule also integrated the MACT standards with Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) requirements so that facilities must comply with the MACT standards to be eligible for RCRA permits.

Kenya: East Africa Portland Cement Co (EAPCC) boss Kephar Tande has said that the government is set to build a second cement factory in Kajiado, Athi River State.

Tande said that plans are underway for the construction of a fully-fledged cement factory in the Nooleleshuani area of Kajiado and is expected to be in operation in 2016. He said that the site is next to the limestone-rich Maasai plains, which are the major source of cement raw materials in Kajiado county that are supplied to all of the five companies based in Athi River.

"This will ensure its position in the Kenyan market remains strong and help it to eventually acquire leadership. We are currently carrying out feasibility studies for a clinker plant in Nooleleshuani near Bisil and will install a new cement mill by 2016 to increase our cement production capacity to 2Mt/yr," said Tande.

The EAPCC announcement to build a new cement plant comes a few days after cement makers increased cement prices in the wake of a new mining levy imposed by the Ministry of Mining.

World: Quintiq, global provider of supply chain planning and optimisation, has announced that Lafarge has chosen Quintiq software to optimise sales and operations planning and transport management.

The company will benefit from the Quintiq software platform across the entire organisation for demand planning, supply chain planning and transport optimisation. All cement, aggregates and concrete business lines in all countries in which Lafarge operates will be able to implement this system. The solution will reduce production and transport costs while increasing customer satisfaction.

Real-time collaboration between Lafarge planners will also improve the quality and transparency of the planning process. The use of a single platform for all planning applications will simplify Lafarge's IT landscape. The flexibility of Quintiq's optimisation technology enables the solution to be used to cover all country-specific business requirements.

India: Acting on a tip-off that was received by the senior superintendent of police, Manu Maharaj, local police raided a store house in Chamanchak state and seized 5000 sacks of cement that had been packed in the name of leading names like Lafarge and Birla. The raid took place on 19 January 2014.

Four persons involved in the trade managed to flee. A case has been registered with the local police station. Police are currently looking for the absconders and gathering information regarding similar cement store houses.