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Taiwan/Turkey: Taiwan Cement has arranged a market strategy cooperation and development deal with Turkey’s Sanko Group, according to Reuters. No other details on the arrangement have been released do far. Following the growth of clinker exports to Africa and Europe the cement producer is hoping to sign a contract to export 0.25Mt of clinker in 2018 – 2019. The deal is expected to generate up to US$8.5m for the company.
Hrazdan Cement back in operation 15 June 2018
Armenia: Hrazdan Cement has been purchased by GM Holding and is back in operation. According to local media reports the cement plant was bought by a company owned by Arsen Mikaelyan, the chairman of Armbusinessbank, in late 2017. The bankrupt cement producer was previously taken over by its creditor, the VTB Bank (Armenia).
Hrazdan Cement, originally known as Mika Cement, was built in 1970. The company was privatised in 2001 and has had financial problems since 2013. The cement plant has two production lines and a clinker production capacity of 1Mt/yr and a cement production capacity of 1.2Mt/yr.
LafargeHolcim Czech Republic launches new product 15 June 2018
Czech Republic: Lafarge Cement, LafargeHolcim’s local subsidiary, has launched a new range of Standard Plus cement products under the trademark Český Čížkovický Cement. The range has a standardised compressive strength of 32.5MPa after 28 days. The products are sold in 25kg bags and are available in bulk.
US: Schenck Process has launched a new Vertical Cartridge Filter (VCF) that removes industrial dust when handling medium to high air volumes. A core feature of the product is a cartridge clamp system that is intended to simplify replacement of the filter media and minimise maintenance time.
The filter is also equipped with a smart timer which includes an on-board sensor that reads the pressure drop across the filtering elements for on demand cleaning. A standard radial inlet allows for material separation during moderate air volume applications while an optional high entry inlet with a pre-separation chamber is designed for high volume systems. The chamber separates the largest powder particles protecting the media from excess loads of pollutants and aiding longer media life.
Each unit is constructed with reinforced carbon steel that is rated for 6.5psi Pred. The VCF has also been Pred validated through a full scale third party explosion test. Explosion mitigation devices are also available with the new VCF. The new filter will be manufactured in the US.
Italian court confirms fines for cement producers 14 June 2018
Italy: The Administrative Regional Court of Lazio has confirmed fines on local cement producers for cartel-like behaviour after an appeal process. Italcementi has been fined Euro84m, Buzzi Unicem has been fined Euro60m and Cementi Moccia has been fined Euro0.69m, according to the ANSA news agency.
The Italian Competition Authority (AGCM) originally imposed total fines of over Euro180m in late 2017 upon Italcementi, Buzzi Unicem, Colacem, Cementir, Sacci, Holcim, Cementirossi, Barbetti, Cementeria di Monselice, Cementizillo, Calme, Cementi Moccia, TSC and the Italian Cement Association (AITEC) for allegedly coordinating sales prices and agreeing market share from June 2011 to January 2016. The other cement companies are currently awaiting the outcome of their own appeals.