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China Resources Cement revenue falls by 24% to US$609m 25 April 2016
China: China Resources Cement’s revenue has fallen by 24% year-on-year to US$609m in the first quarter of 2016 from US$800m in the same period in 2015. Its gross profit fell by 39% to US$126m from US$207m. However, its profit attributable to the owners of the company fell by 99% to US$0.85m from US$85.1m. It blamed the drop in gross profit on lower selling prices in the quarter compared to 2015.
The cement producer reported that its sales volumes of cement grew by 6% to 15.8Mt in the quarter. Rises in sales volumes were reported in Guangxi, Yunnan and Guizhou.
Piramal Enterprises invests US$38m in Sanghi Industries 22 April 2016
India: Piramal Enterprises has invested US$38m in Sanghi Industries. The investment has been made through non-convertible debentures to enable Sanghi to repay some of its debts ahead of schedule and reduce interest repayments.
Piramal Enterprises is a diversified international conglomerate that operates in the pharmaceutical, financial services and information management sectors. Sanghi Industries runs a 2.9Mt/yr integrated cement plant in Kutch, Gujarat.
Cemex fined for 2014 worker death in Kentucky 22 April 2016
US: Kosmos Cement, a subsidiary of Cemex, has pleaded guilty to violating workplace safety standards. It is liable to be fined to up to US$400,000 towards the death of a worker at its Louisville cement plant in Kentucky in 2014. Michael Egan, Cemex's executive vice president and general counsel, entered the guilty plea for the company. Contract employee Felipe Mata Vizcaya fell to his death after opening an elevator door when the elevator car wasn't there, according to the Courier-Journal.
Cemex is required to pay US$200,000 immediately and the balance if it doesn't make required repairs within three years. It has also pledged to design, operate and test all elevators at the site to meet national safety standards and to install additional safety features.
In a statement, US Attorney John Kuhn called the matter "one of the worst cases of negligence on the part of a company." The company was accused of violating the Mine Safety and Health Act, and the case was investigated by the US Labor Department's Mine Safety & Health Administration.
Jaiprakash Associates cuts back business in north India 22 April 2016
India: Jaiprakash Associates has withdrawn from some of its markets in north India as part of a streamlining its operations. A spokesperson for the parent Jaypee Group confirmed that the company has chosen to withdraw from certain markets in Haryana and Delhi, according to Livemint.
"The company continues to sell cement in markets of north India. However, as a strategy the company has increased its focus on high realisation markets and has withdrawn from certain markets of Haryana and Delhi where due to low prices and high freights (long lead markets) the net realisation was very low and operations unviable," said a spokesman for Jaypee Group.
Non-payment to truck drivers and coal shortages at its cement plants in Himachal Pradesh are believed to have contributed to the decision to exit the north Indian market. Jaiprakash Associates has a cement production capacity of 4Mt/yr in Himachal Pradesh.
In late March 2016 Jaiprakash Associates signed an agreement with UltraTech Cement to sell 21.2Mt/yr of cement assets in five states for US$2.4bn. Following the deal Jaypee Group will be left with 10Mt/yr in Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka.
LEILAC secures Euro12m from European Union to demonstrate Calix carbon capture technology 21 April 2016
Europe: The Low Emissions Intensity Lime And Cement (LEILAC) consortium has secured Euro12m in funding over five years from the European Commission Horizon 2020 Grant programme to test Calix’s direct separation process to capture CO2 emissions from cement and lime production. The consortium comprises HeidelbergCement, Cemex, Tarmac, Lhoist, Amec Foster Wheeler, ECN, Imperial College, PSE, Quantis and the Carbon Trust. The consortium will also contribute a further Euro9m towards the project.
During the first three years, the project will focus on finalising the design of the demonstration plant, to be constructed at the HeidelbergCement plant in Lixhe, Belgium once the necessary permits have been secured. The high temperature Direct Separation Calciner pilot unit will then undergo two years of testing in a standard operational environment, at a feed rate capacity of 240t/day of cement raw meal and 200t/day ground limestone respectively, on a continuous basis for several weeks.
Fundamental research on the process demands and performance will be carried out to demonstrate that the technology works sufficiently and robustly enough to be scaled up to full operational use. The project results will be shared widely with industry at key intervals during the testing.
Calix’s direct separation technology is achieved by re-engineering the process flows used in the best available technology for lime and cement calcination. Carbonate calcination occurs by indirect counterflow heating, and consequentially the flue gases are not mixed with the CO2 emitted from the carbonate minerals. This technology is already operating at a commercial scale for magnesite calcination. It does not require any separation technologies, new materials or processes. The technology is complementary with other carbon capture methods already developed in the power and cement sector, such as oxyfuel, and can make use of alternative fuels.