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Cemex creates Cemex Energia to tap into energy reform 20 February 2015
Mexico: Cemex has created an energy division, Cemex Energia, to take advantage of Mexico's landmark energy reform and launch power projects that could provide up to 5% of Mexico's electricity requirements within five years.
Cemex has struggled with a large debt load and cost-cutting since an ill-timed US$16bn takeover of Australian rival Rinker in 2007, when the US housing market nosedived. In recent years, Cemex has been slashing costs and has looked to sell assets to regain a coveted investment grade rating. Cemex executives are hopeful that Mexico's energy reform will be a lucrative new path.
"We are very enthusiastic about Mexico's energy sector future and we will leverage on our experience in developing projects that benefit the country," said Cemex CEO Fernando Gonzalez.
Cemex will invest US$30m in Cemex Energia in the next five years. Cemex has also signed a joint venture agreement with Pattern Energy Group Inc, which owns wind power projects, to create 1GW of renewable power in Mexico in the next five years. Pattern said that new legislation in Mexico, which mandates that 35% of Mexico's power must come from renewable sources by 2024, prompted it to expand.
Quebec to approve McInnis Cement’s Port-Daniel-Gascons plant without environmental review 20 February 2015
Canada: Former Quebec premier Pauline Marois has announced the go-ahead of McInnis Cement's cement plant project in Port-Daniel-Gascons, Gaspé. Opposition parties and environmentalists have slammed the Couillard government for approving the US$1.1bn project without a review by Quebec's environmental bureau. The McInnis Cement plant could top the list of industrial polluters in the province.
The provincial government plans to exempt the project from an assessment by the Bureau des Audiences Publique sur l'Environnement (BAPE), Quebec's advisory office of environmental hearings. The company has said that the project shouldn't be subject to an environmental review because it was submitted in May 1995, a month before the law requiring such an assessment came into effect.
In 2014, the Marois government announced that Quebec would invest US$350m in the project. The plant will release 1.7Mt/yr of greenhouse gases (GHG), according to an evaluation by a Canadian engineering consultant firm. The greenhouse gas output would make it the top industrial polluter in Quebec.
Indian cement companies emit less CO2 than US and EU producers 19 February 2015
India: Most cement plants in India consume less energy and emit less CO2 than their European and American counterparts as they use the latest technology, according to the Cement Sustainability Initiative (CSI).
An initiative of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD), CSI is a 23-member organisation including nine Indian cement companies. CSI members produce 66% of the world's cement and 60% in India. "The member companies from India are more efficient. They emit less CO2 than the companies in Europe and the US. Their energy consumption is also less," said CSI's managing director Philippe Fonta.
The distinction between Indian firms from those in the US and Europe is technology. Indian companies use the latest technology since many of the cement plants are relatively new. Besides India's UltraTech Cement and Dalmia Bharat, seven global companies with operations in India like Holcim's ACC and Ambuja Cement, Lafarge, HeidelbergCement, Zuari Cement are among members of CSI. Fonta said that Indian companies could improve if they lay more emphasis on alternative fuels and energy and make use of municipal waste. The 360Mt/yr Indian cement industry meets just 0.6% of its energy needs with alternative fuels, but this is expected to go up to 5% cent by 2020.
Potential merger of Ambuja Cement, ACC and Lafarge India 19 February 2015
India: Ambuja Cement, ACC and Lafarge India may merge as part of the proposed global merger of Lafarge and Holcim, according to local media. The plan is still at an early stage and LafargeHolcim have mandated investment bank Lazard to advise on the restructuring of their Indian operations. The most likely option is the merger of ACC, Ambuja and Lafarge India into one listed entity to create the largest cement company in India. The combined cement production capacity of the three subsidiaries would be some 70Mt/yr.
As part of the new restructuring proposal, LafargeHolcim may reassess Holcim's restructuring of ACC and Ambuja, which was announced in 2014 and is currently incomplete. As part of the plan, shareholders of Ambuja had approved ACC's stake acquisition from Holcim.
Aditya Birla’s Hindalco Industries wins another coal mine in auction 19 February 2015
India: Aditya Birla's Hindalco Industries has won the Gare Palma IV/5 mine in Chhattisgarh, outbidding a number of companies, including Ambuja Cements, on day five of India's coal mine auction. The winning bid was US$56.4/t and the mine has extractable reserves of 42.4Mt. This is Hindalco Industries' second winning bid in the auction.