Sri Lanka: Lanwa Sanstha Cement says that its upcoming 2.4Mt/yr Hambantota cement plant is on schedule for commissioning in June 2021. The total investment in this first phase of the project is US$70m. The Daily News newspaper has reported that the second phase of the project will consist of an expansion of the plant’s production capacity to 3.6Mt/yr at an additional cost of US$10m. Germany-based Gebr. Pfeiffer and Siemens have supplied the plant’s production equipment, while Denmark-based FLSmidth is supplying its packaging equipment.

Chair Nandana Lokuwithana said, “This facility will serve to benefit the construction industry tremendously by delivering products of premium quality to the market. The plant is the first of its kind in Sri Lanka to use cutting-edge European technology to yield optimum outcomes while being environmentally conscious through continuous monitoring.”

Tunisia: Six companies filed offers to acquire a majority stake of between 58% and 78% of Carthage Cement’s registered share capital. The group called for expressions of interest on 29 May 2020 and the deadline for receipt of tenders was 4 December 2020. It said, “The list of pre-qualified investors will be communicated once the opening and examination of the offers received have been finalised.”

Russia: Sibirskiy Cement subsidiary Krasnoyarsk Cement says that it has installed a new electrostatic precipitator on Kiln 5 at its Krasnoyarsk cement plant as part of an environmental upgrade project. It spent US$3m on the equipment from Switzerland. It says that it has made ‘a significant contribution’ to the company’s goals under the Clean Air national project. The company has also installed an automatic emission control system at the plant.

The cement producer now plans to upgrade the plant’s primary limestone crushing equipment for US$203,000 and install a new automated measuring system for US$379,000. It has estimated that its full-year cement output in 2020 will increase by 2% year-on-year to 621,000t from 609,000t in 2019.

India: The Competition Commission of India (CCI) has raided the offices of LafargeHolcim subsidiaries ACC and Ambuja Cement and Aditya Birla subsidiary UltraTech Cement as part of an investigation into alleged anti-competitive behaviour, according to the Press Trust of India. ACC said it, "is of the firm view that it has acted and continues to act in compliance with competition laws and we are fully cooperating with the investigation and providing all necessary information to the authorities."