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Tianrui provides loan for Shanshui bond interest repayment 05 January 2016
China: Shanshui Cement's largest shareholder, Tianrui Group, has provided a US$9.3m loan to the company for interest repayment of the onshore bond of its Shandong subsidiary, Shandong Shanshui Cement Group, which defaulted in November 2015.
The loan facility is unsecured, interest free and has no fixed repayment terms, and has been remitted to the bank account designated for the bond's repayment, according to Shanshui. It didn't mention when the company could also repay the principal of the bonds, which amounted to US$307m, or whether Tianrui will provide further funding. Shanshui defaulted on the bond payment and triggered a cross default of the company's other debt after a shareholder struggle. Shanshui's board, which is now controlled by Tianrui, still faces a mounting management dispute over its Shandong subsidiary with Shanshui's founder and second-largest shareholder, the Zhang family.
Six cement makers fined for price rigging in South Korea 05 January 2016
South Korea: South Korea's antitrust watchdog has fined six local cement makers a combined US$168m for fixing the prices of cement products and divvying up the market, according to Dow Jones.
According to the Fair Trade Commission (FTC), cement companies have allegedly colluded to rig the prices of cement products by controlling output and market share in 2011. The suspected companies are Ssangyong Cement Industry Co., Tongyang Cement & Energy Corp., Hanil Cement Co., Sungshin Cement Co., Hyundai Cement Co. and Asia Cement Co. Ssangyong was set to take 22.9% of the total market share, while Tongyang and Hanil were in charge of 15.1% and 14.9%, respectively.
"Managers of the six companies had regular monthly meetings to oversee whether or not the members had complied with the arranged shipments," said the FTC. The prices of cements surged by 43% year-on-year in April 2012.
Industry leader Ssangyong was slapped with US$73.6m of fines, followed by Hanil with US$34.5m and Sungshin with US$36.7m. Tongyang was exempted from the penalty, as the cement maker has been under court receivership since October 2013.
The FTC said that it will strictly crack down on price-rigging practices in backbone industries to build sound market order and fair competition.
Egypt: Minister of Industry and Foreign Trade Tarek Qabil announced that the ministry would issue conditions for tender documents and requirement specifications of cement production in the coming days to meet the future needs of the local market.
The Minister said that the Cabinet has recently approved defining a fixed value for the cement licences paid to the government based on economic feasibility. The government will also be accepting qualified applicants. Qabil added that issuing new cement licenses would contribute to filling future demand, which is expected to reach 90.4Mt by 2022.
Qabil also noted the importance of the cement plants' compliance with the environmental standards and requirements set by the Ministry of Environment, especially in light of the plants dependence on coal.
Peru: The Peruvian division of Mexican cement company Cemex has received approval from the Ministry of Production for the environmental impact assessment (EIA) requested for the development of a cement grinding and packaging plant in Ventanilla, Callao.
Tianjin Cement Industry Design & Research Institute orders two Loesche LM 53.3+3 CS mills for PT Semen Baturaja 05 January 2016
Indonesia: Tianjin Cement Industry Design & Research Institute Co., Ltd. has placed an order for two type LM 53.3+3 CS LOESCHE mills for clinker grinding for PT Semen Baturaja. Each of the clinker grinding mills has a designed a capacity of 175t/hr and material is ground to a fineness of 3400 Blaine. Each mill is fitted with a gearbox with a power of 4200kW.
The lead time for the main components of the mill is nine months and the gearboxes are supplied within 12 months.