Global Cement News
Search Cement News
Colombia: Cemex is pursuing alternative energy sources, including landfill biogas, wind and solar energy, for its operations in Colombia. It has planned some US$50m of projects for the next five years. The company will look for partners among financial entities and investment funds, according to Edgar Angeles, Cemex's vice president of operations for Central, South America and the Caribbean.
Since the elaboration of Colombia's law on renewable energy, Cemex has been studying projects of this type. The law allows companies to invest in their own power supply and to sell any surplus on the wholesale market. Cemex wants to guarantee 100% of its power supply, compared to 65% now. It already has three small hydroelectric stations and a gas-fired plant in Colombia's Junin, Bucaramanga and Ibague municipalities.
Russia: The Ministry of Economic Development of the Russian Federation and Eurocement have signed a Liaison Agreement on Issues Related to External Economic Activity. The purpose of the agreement is to secure favourable conditions for the company's economic activity overseas.
The agreement stipulates that the parties will cooperate in order to promote Eurocement's interests among foreign entities involved in external economic activity, as Eurocement seeks to convert all of its Russian cement plants to the more energy-efficient and environmentally friendly dry-process. Eurocement has signed an agreement with Sinoma and CNBM for the supply of equipment worth a combined total of more than Euro387m.
The conversion will enable Eurocement to increase the proportion of cement that it manufactures using the dry method to 100% by 2018. This will double energy efficiency in manufacturing, increase workforce productivity by 3.5 times and reduce the environmental impact by a factor of 2.5 times (compared to standard Russian industry norms). By the time the upgrades are complete in 2018, some 63% of all the cement manufactured in the Russian Federation will be produced using the dry process.
Adelaide Brighton eyes Penrice buyout 17 June 2014
Australia: Adelaide Brighton is among groups conducting due diligence on a limestone and marble quarry that is being sold off by the administrators of the failed Penrice Soda, which collapsed in April 2014 with debts greater than US$150m.
Adelaide Brighton is a major customer of the quarry near Angaston, South Australia, which is one of two assets up for sale. It runs a cement plant on the outskirts of Angaston, close to the Penrice quarry.
Adelaide Brighton is believed to be among shortlisted bidders for the quarry, which is attracting most of the interest in the asset sell-off. Final and binding bids are understood to be due by 25 June 2014 under agreements struck between the administrator and shortlisted bidders, who have asked for more time.
Adelaide Brighton has a strong balance sheet and a new chief executive, Martin Brydon, who took over from Mark Chellew in May 2014. The company may be able to pick up the asset at a modest multiple given that it is a forced sale by the administrators.
Penrice's Quarry and Mineral division has been heavily restructured and produced underlying earnings before interest, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) of US$1.4m in 2012 - 2013 and EBITDA of US$3.9m in 2011 - 2012.
Loesche wins training and management prize 16 June 2014
Germany: Loesche GmbH has won the Deutscher Bildungspreis 2014 in the category 'Production: small and medium-sized enterprises,' for its training and management programmes. It beat 120 other companies to the award, which was awarded at a ceremonial event at the historic Munich Künstlerhaus on 12 May 2014.
The Deutscher Bildungspreis is presented annually by TÜV Süd Academy and EuPD Research Sustainable Management under the motto 'Learning from the best.' In four sector categories, companies are awarded for best education and talent management under the auspices of the Federal Ministry of Education and Research.
"Loesche owes this success to the instruments of the demand-oriented personnel development introduced in 2008 as well as the close cooperation with the Loesche Training Center and the benefits for the staff associated with this," said Christian Trzeczak from Loesche's Corporate Human Resources department. "This result will further consolidate the employer brand Loesche and shows that we are on the right track towards a productive personnel development in the company."
Australia: After being mothballed in 2012, the disused Hydro Aluminium plant on Kooragang Island could soon be operational again. The site is set to be reincarnated as a cement-mixing plant. Vue Australia has lodged a US$3m plan with Newcastle council to change the site's use from an aluminium transfer, storage and dispatch facility to a cement storage and transfer plant.
Under the plan, Vue will transfer, store and dispatch an estimated 300,000t/yr of Portland cement, utilising the site's existing three large silos and overhead conveyor. Much of Vue's US$3m investment will be spent on installing dust-control measures, particularly in truck-loading areas.
Vue is also seeking approval to operate 24hr/day, every day, because it needs to do so when a ship arrives with raw materials to unload. "This is expected to occur some 16 times a year," said a company spokesperson. The conveyor to the silos would carry raw products delivered by ship. The cement products would be dispatched via road tankers to customers.
Dust-emission reports and environmental reports have been submitted. An environmental impact statement concluded that potential environmental impacts associated with the upgrade are negligible and could be managed through the implementation of the mitigation measures identified by the study.
Vue said that it hopes to have the new cement plant operating within months. While the project would only create a small amount of jobs, the company said that it would help to diversify the port's industry, put mothballed infrastructure to work and 'increase competition within the New South Wales cement market and related construction industry.'