Global Cement News

Germany: VAS® the IT logistics system from FRITZ & MACZIOL group has won a contract from Cemex in Germany. The Mexico-based multinational cement producer will use a bespoke version of the software and will roll the system out to several Cemex plants starting in Germany. FRITZ & MACZIOL cited VAS®'s ability to cover all requirements towards an IT logistics solution specified by Cemex as a key reason for its selection. At Cemex the implementation of a VAS® workshop is currently being prepared.

"Cemex takes over the role of a trailblazer. At present many firms operating in the raw material sector are thinking about how to standardise their global operations and logistic processes by using a template-based solution in order to replace their older and often isolated systems," said Claus Jordan, the Director of Business Development and Marketing of the FRITZ & MACZIOL Industrial Applications and Services division.

Jordan sees the emergence of Web 2.0 technologies as a reason for this development, as they can be used to simplify the automation of logistic processes within different plants. He added that, "A template-based rollout reduces time, effort and costs on the customers side and as such secures a fast return-on-investment."

Adrian Brown, Sales Director for FRITZ & MACZIOL in UK and Ireland, described VAS® to Global Cement.

This process-orientated software solution for the raw materials industry, forms the entire process chain from delivery via dispatch and loading, right up to departure. As the link between ERP systems and technical systems, VAS® represents the key function for efficient process sequences. In addition, VAS® supports reporting functions and supplies real-time information to further systems, for example for production, sales or controlling. All external technical systems such as the weighing, silo or metering technology are completely integrated into the VAS® logistics system processes.

According to Brown, VAS® is currently used in more than 160 plants worldwide within the raw materials industry. More than 30 of these implementations are within the cement and minerals industries in the UK and Ireland.

India: Domestic institutions, which together hold 9% in Ambuja Cements and have voted against the Ambuja-Holcim merger deal, have left the whole transaction on a knife-edge as Holcim is now banking on foreign funds to rescue it.

For the US$2.32bn deal to go through, Holcim needs approval from the majority of Ambuja Cements' minority shareholders.

This is the first merger and acquisition transaction to go under the hammer of minority shareholders after India's capital market regulator, Sebi, empowered them to approve or reject transactions in February 2013.

The voting process, which ran for three weeks, closed on 19 November 2013 and early indications suggest that most of the Indian minority shareholders have voted against the deal.

LIC, the biggest Indian institutional investor in Ambuja Cements, GIC and other public sector insurance companies have voted against the deal that would enable Ambuja Cements to emerge as Holcim's flagship firm in India.

The exact response of foreign institutions such as Aberdeen, JP Morgan and Oppenheimer, who together own about 30% stake in Ambuja Cements could not be ascertained.

Ambuja Cements declined to comment on the voting results, which will be officially released on 21 November 2013.

South Africa: PPC (formerly Pretoria Portland Cement) has announced that full-year profit in 2013 was increased by 10% after improved sales in its home market and neighbouring Zimbabwe. Net income rose to US$92m in the 12 months to September 2013 from US$83m in 2012.

"Cement sales in our home territories, particularly Zimbabwe and South Africa, have shown good growth," said Ketso Gordhan, chief executive officer of PPC.

PPC is expanding in Africa through acquisitions to offset tougher competition in its domestic market. The company will have three new plants operating in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda and Ethiopia by the end of 2015, boosting capacity by more than a third to as much as 11Mt/yr.

"Due to modest growth, the domestic trading environment remains tough and highly competitive," said a PPC representative. "We are on track to meet our strategic objective of generating 40% of our revenues from the rest of the continent by 2017."

China: Xinjiang Qingsong Building Materials & Chemicals has acquired a 31.6% stake in Yili Nangang Building Materials for US$27.7m. After the acquisition, Qingsong Building Materials' stake in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous-based company has increased to 51%, further expanding its market share in the region.

Algeria: Lafarge inaugurated its fourth laboratory dedicated to research in construction materials in Algiers on 18 November 2013. The Euro1.75m laboratory is the first such facility that the multinational cement producer has opened in Africa.

Luc Callebat, CEO of Lafarge-Algeria, described the laboratory as a "platform technology to coordinate and accelerate innovation to serve the needs of the Algerian construction market," during the inauguration ceremony. The project is intended to meet increasing demand for housing in terms of quality, cost and energy efficiency. The laboratory joins Lafarge's existing network in France, China and India.

Covering an area of 2290m², the research laboratory includes control laboratories and research in cement, concrete, aggregates and building systems. The laboratory also organises specialised training in the construction industry.