Global Cement News

India: Ireland’s CRH is planning to sell its 50% stake in My Home Industries, according to sources quoted by investor information services group VCCircle. It is reportedly in talks to sell the stake to My Home Group, the company that owns the other half of the subsidiary. My Home Industries operates two integrated plants and two grinding plants with a production capacity of 10Mt/yr. It also runs two ready-mixed concrete plants.

In November 2019 CRH was reported to be looking to sell its assets in the Philippines. At the time of its second quarter results in 2019 chief executive officer (CEO) Albert Manifold described emerging markets as a small part of the group’s business with, “too much disruption, too much dislocation, too much uncertainty.” He added that the company’s focus was on its developed market businesses.

Pakistan: Punjab’s Minister for Industries & Trade Mian Aslam Iqbal says that the provincial government has lifted a ban on the cement industry after 12 years. He made the statement following a meeting reviewing investment in the cement sector and installation of new plants in the province, according to the Business Recorder newspaper. He also expressed regret that obtaining no objection certificates (NOC) for new projects had taken too long and that the local government has set up a special section of its industries department to hasten the process.

Nepal: Industry experts have told the parliamentary Public Accounts Committee that the government should follow the existing Cement Standard 1997 because the new standard has proposed increasing the magnesium oxide and insoluble residue content of cement. They said that doing this would erode the strength of the building material, according to the Kathmandu Post newspaper. So far Nepalese cement producers have been using Indian standards instead.

The Nepal Bureau of Standards and Metrology had intended to examine and grade locally produced cement from mid-November 2019 but the government delayed this. The parliamentary committee plans to meet with government officials including the secretary of the Ministry of Industry and representatives of the bureau to discuss the matter further. The new Cement Standard 2019 proposes to increase the magnesium oxide content in cement from 5% to 6%. The amount of insoluble residue has been proposed to be increased by 2% to 4%.

France: Guy Sidos, the president and chief executive officer (CEO) of Vicat Group, has launched the company’s first cement carrier, Capo Cinto. The ship was acquired in partnership with ABCRM (Agency Bulk Chartering Vicat), according to Les Petites Affiches newspaper. The Capo Cinto will supply the Corsican ports of Bastia, Porto Vecchio, Ajaccio and Propiano with bulk and bagged cement, as well as Italy and the Mediterranean from the Grave de Peille integrated cement plant. French navy Vice Admiral Anne Cullerre was also in attendence at the launch.

The Capo Cinto, previously known as the Kurske, was built in 1997. The new name refers to Monté Cinto, the highest mountain in Corsica. The refitted carrier is 90.7m long, has a capacity of nearly 2000t and it has a self-unloader.

Azerbaijan: Akkord Cement’s Gazakh cement plant plans to export its fifth batch of clinker to Georgia. Further export operations are also planned in December 2019, according to the Trend News Agency. The integrated plant exported over 500t of clinker to Georgia during the first 11 months of 2019 and it plans to export up to 700t in 2020. The unit is aiming for a production volume of 1.2Mt in 2019 and then 1.5Mt in 2020. Turkey’s Dal Teknik Makina started work on an upgrade project at the plant in mid-2019.