Global Cement News

Brazil: América Latina Logística (ALL) plans to increase the volume of clinker and cement it transports for Votorantim Cimentos in the south of Brazil by over 30% before the end of 2013. The Brazilian logistics firm intends to increase its shipments for Votorantim to 1Mt/yr from 0.75Mt/yr, according to Brazilian news service Agência Estado.

ALL recently invested US$3.4m in trains and improving unloading bays in the southern state of Paraná and has borrowed a total of US$771m from the Brazilian Development Bank so far in 2013. The construction market represents 15% of its client portfolio in the industrial products sector.

Indonesia: PT Holcim Indonesia has commissioned a new cement packing plant and silo in Pontianak, West Kalimantan. The packing plant and 6000t silo will be located at Jalan Raya Wajok Hilir, 25km from Pontianak and it is intended to improve the company's logistic network in Kalimantan.

"With the facility we hope to reach our operational target. Our customers will easily find our product in the market in West Kalimantan," said President Director of Holcim Indonesia Eamon Ginley. Holcim Indonesia currently operates packing plants and silos in Dumai, Batam, and Celukan.

Turkey: Kupeliler AS has started the construction of a Euro100m integrated cement plant in the north-western province of Eskisehir, according to local media. The Turkish cement and wood products manufacturer intends to start production in August 2015 with a cement production capacity of 2Mt/yr and a clinker production capacity of 1.5Mt/yr.

Kupeliler is financing the project with its own funds, the company's board chairman Hasan Kupeli told the Turkish newspaper Dunya. The plant will create 97 jobs and will operate in conformity with European Union emission standards.

Austria: Starlinger, a technology supplier for woven plastic packaging production and plastics recycling, is opening its factory and showrooms in Weissenbach on 14 – 16 and 21 – 25 October 2013. Packaging producers and plastics recyclers will have the opportunity to see the latest models of the Starlinger machine range in operation.

Highlights on show include the new lamiTEC coating and lamination line that features roll change at full production speed and increased output, the RX 8.0 circular loom for heavy-duty fabric weaving, the conversion line ad*starKON SX+ and the newly developed linTAPE tape winders with linear drive technology for smooth winding and gentle tape treatment.

Well, it seems like they were serious.

The UK Competition Commission has provisionally decided that Lafarge Tarmac should sell off one of its cement plants in the Midlands. The Commission also wants the sale to exclude buyers from any pre-existing UK cement producer. The door is open from Holcim or CRH downwards to enter the UK market. Although if the enforced Lafarge sale of Hope to Mittal Investments in 2012 is indicative, it may well be to an industry outsider.

If the move goes ahead it will open up the Midlands and north of England from four cement producers - Hope Cement, Lafarge Tarmac, Hanson and Cemex - to five. Lafarge Tarmac's cement production capacity lead of nearly 4Mt/yr will be knocked down to nearer 3Mt/yr, putting it level with Hanson Cement's production capacity.

Unsurprisingly Lafarge Tarmac is not best pleased, putting out the following in response to the commission's announcement. "The Commission's assumptions and reasoning have serious flaws and the biggest loser in this process will be the customer. There is strong evidence to demonstrate there is effective competition in the sector – with new players having recently entered the marketplace."

The Commission also wants to increase competition in the supply chain for ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBS). According to the Commission findings Hanson dominates the UK GGBS market and Lafarge Tarmac controls the market for its precursor, granulated blast furnace slag (GBS). So production facilities may need to be sold by both Hanson and Lafarge Tarmac.

As an aside it's worth noting that the Belgian Competition Council recently imposed fines due to anti-competitive practices also related to GGBS. Also, elsewhere in the news this week Irish GGBS cement producer Ecocem is aligning itself with the EU carbon roadmap to 2050, partly at least because its product produces less CO₂ per tonne of cement. Whoever or whatever controls the supply of GGBS in the UK has implications for how emissions are lowered in the cement sector.

Other suggested measures from the Commission such as restricting the publication of UK cement market data seem problematic. Although it may make it more difficult for UK cement producers to collude it will also make it harder for related businesses (including press and industry analysts like Global Cement) to understand what is happening at any given time.

Finally, we have to ask what the effects of the Commission's suggestions might be at the start of an uncertain recovery in the UK construction market might be. According to the Minerals Production Association cement production fell from 8.5Mt in 2011 to 8Mt in 2012, the first decrease since 2009. 2013 seems set for modest growth on 2012. The implications of Commission's plans - if they happen – could be huge.