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Lafarge identifies two potential chief executive candidates for LafargeHolcim
Written by Global Cement staff
24 March 2015
Europe: Lafarge has identified two potential chief executive candidates for LafargeHolcim, according to local media. Lafarge chief financial officer Jean-Jacques Gauthier and vice president Eric Olsen have both been named. The companies need to find a new chief executive after Holcim demanded a change to the initial agreement that would have installed Lafarge chief Bruno Lafont as head of LafargeHolcim.
Ohorongo donates US$84,450 of cement to government 24 March 2015
Namibia: Ohorongo Cement has donated US$84,450 of cement to the Namibian government. One truckload of cement will be donated to each of the country's 14 regions for the silver jubilee independence celebrations and the general development of Namibia.
According to the permanent secretary in the office of the prime minister and chairperson of the Independence Committee, Nangula Mbako, the cement will be handed to the governor of each region. The governors will be tasked in-house to identify a project within the region that they would like to use the cement for.
"The timing of this donation is perfect and the government is grateful to Ohorongo Cement for their contribution towards the development of Namibia and its people. It is a lot of cement," said Mbako.
"We want to make a difference and support our government to leave a lasting legacy for all Namibians," said Hans-Wilhelm Schütte, managing director of Ohorongo Cement. Besides the latest donation, Ohorongo Cement has invested US$548,928 as corporate social investment already since it began production, according to Schütte.
China: Beijing, where pollution averaged more than twice China's national standard in 2014, will close the last of its four major coal-fired power plants, China Huaneng Group Corp's 845MW plant, in 2016.
Plants owned by Guohua Electric Power Corp and Beijing Energy Investment Holding Co were closed in March 2015. A fourth major power plant, owned by China Datang Corp, was shut in 2014. The plants will be replaced by four gas-fired stations with the capacity to supply 2.6 times more electricity than the coal plants.
The closures are part of a broader trend in China, which is the world's largest CO2 emitter. Beijing plans to cut its coal consumption by 13Mt/yr by 2017 from the 2012 level in a bid to slash pollutants. Shutting all the major coal power plants in the city, reducing coal use by 9.2Mt/yr, is estimated to cut CO2 emissions by 30Mt/yr according to analysts.
China planned to close more than 2000 smaller coal mines in 2013 - 2015, according to Song Yuanming, vice chief of the State Administration of Coal Mine Safety. Closing coal-fired power plants is seen as a critical step in addressing pollution in China, which gets about 64% of its primary energy from coal.
Coal use is declining in China as policy makers encourage broader use of hydroelectric power, solar and wind. It is also pushing to restart its nuclear power programme in a bid to clear the skies. China's electricity consumption in 2014 grew at its slowest pace in 16 years, according to data from the China Electricity Council. Its CO2 emissions fell by 2% in 2014, the first decline since 2001, signalling that efforts to control pollution are gaining traction.
O’Donovan Waste Disposal invests in new site 24 March 2015
UK: O'Donovan Waste Disposal is investing Euro20m in a new processing facility close to Alperton, west London.
The site will have a material reception and recycling facility that sorts and processes a myriad of construction and demolition waste into recoverable and reusable materials, such as graded aggregate. Around 50 jobs will be created across a range of operational roles, including drivers and waste handlers.
"We have been looking for a suitable site for many years and this is in an ideal location for us. There are so many large, long-term development projects in London that there is a real need for increased recycling infrastructure like this. Construction has already started and we hope to be fully operational in late spring," said Jacqueline O'Donovan, managing director at O'Donovan Waste Disposal.
Saudi Arabia: Southern Province Cement (SPC) has launched trial operations of a third production line at its plant in Tuhama. The new line has 5000t/day of production capacity. The trial period will last about four months.