Global Cement News

China: Tongfang Kontafarma has appointed Chai Hongjie as its chairman. He succeeds Huang Yu, who will become the company’s president. The company, through its subsidiaries, mainly manufactures and sells cement, clinker and slag, trades cement and provides technical services with operations in Shandong province and Shanghai.

Chai, aged 46 years, has experience in corporate management and strategic planning for business development. He is currently the chairman of the board of directors of Shenzhen Waranty and a director of Shenzhen Huakong Seg. Prior to joining Tongfang Kontafarma group, Chai held positions as chairman of the board, directors and senior management in various companies and organisations, including the Changzhi Division of China Banking Regulatory Commission, Shanxi Guoxin Investment Group, Zhonghesheng Capital, Shanxi Financial Investment Holding Group and Shanxi Guotou Sports Industrial Group.

Chai obtained a bachelor’s degree in Economics from Department of Finance, Shanxi Institute of Economics (now known as Shanxi University of Economics) in 1996. He was qualified as an intermediate accountant in 1997.

Gabon: A new 0.35Mt/yr production line has started production at Ciments d'Afrique’s (CIMAF) Owendo grinding plant. Spain-based Cemengal supplied a 50t/hr Plug&Grind X-treme grinding plant for the project. Successful commissioning and start-up of the unit was managed remotely from Madrid in Spain due to the coronavirus pandemic. The upgrade cost around US$16m.

The addition brings the plant’s total production capacity to 0.85Mt/yr, according to Direct Infos Gabon. The cement producer is also planning to spend US$120m towards building an integrated plant in the country. Nationally, the country reportedly now has a production capacity of around 1.2Mt/yr.

Democratic Republic of Congo: China-based Zijin Mining Group and Lualaba Carrilu have launched a new 0.8Mt/yr cement plant near Kolwezi, the capital of Lualaba province. A start-up ceremony at the unit was attended by Julien Paluku Kahongya, the Minister of Industry, and Richard Muyej, the governor of Lualaba, according to L'Agence congolaise de presse (ACP). The plant is expected to create up to 1000 jobs.

Pakistan: Fauji Cement recorded a net loss of US$354,000 in the 2020 financial year, which ended on 30 June 2020, compared to a profit of US$17.0m in the 2019 financial year. MarketScreener News has reported that sales fell by 18% year-on-year to US$103m from US$125m.

Taiwan: Taiwan Cement has been awarded the first product carbon footprint label by the local Environmental Protection Administration (EPA). It follows its completion of the structure of product category rules (PCR) in early August 2020 and inspection by the EPA. TCC's products will be marked with carbon footprint labels from the fourth quarter of 2020. The Taiwan-based cement producer has also announced support for the Global Cement and Concrete Association’s (GCCA) 2050 Climate Ambition plan.

TCC started its Science-Based Target project in 2019 and says it became the first cement company in the Greater China region to complete target setting and was approved by Science-Based Target initiatives (SBTi) in June 2020. Following the science-based methods promoted by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) from the United Nations, TCC set a target to reduce carbon emissions by 11% in 2025, using 2016 emissions as the base. TCC completed carbon footprint certification for the most popular cement products, Portland Type I cement and Ready-Mixed Concrete 3000psi, in July 2020.