Austria: Mondi has launched ‘myMondi’ a web-based platform. It says it is the first all-in-one digital customer platform available in the paper sack industry worldwide. The sales product is intended to enable customers to view live product and stock information, place orders and track order status.

Switzerland: Thomas Schmidheiny says he has reduced his share in LafargeHolcim to 7.2% from 10.9% to diversify his investment portfolio. He said that the decision was part of his ‘retirement and heritage’ planning, according to Reuters. He has no plans to minimise his stake any further.

Schmidheiny was made honorary chairman of LafargeHolcim in 2018 when he stepped down from the board. He began his career at Holcim in 1970. He became a member of the executive committee six years later and served as chief executive officer (CEO) between 1978 and 2001. After joining the board of directors in 1978 he was chairman of the board of directors from 1984 until 2003. Later, he was a key part of the merger between Holcim and Lafarge that completed in 2015.

Germany/Portugal: Talleres Alquezar has been using two BHS mixers in a modular plant to produce a total volume of 400,000m³ of hydro dam concrete in Portugal since 2017. Two DKX 4.5 type twin-shaft batch mixers, each with a capacity of 4.5m³, have been integrated into the plant. Germany’s BHS says that using twin-shaft batch mixers has shown that can be utilised successfully to produce this kind of specialised concrete.

Three hydro dams are being built on the Tâmega River that are expected to generate 1760GWh for the Iberian market once they have been commissioned as part of Spanish energy group Iberdrola’s large-scale hydroelectric project in Portugal. 242,000m³ of concrete is needed in Daivões for the dam wall alone, which is planned to be 78m high and 265m long. Spain’s Talleres Alquezar is the project partner for this hydro dam. Once built, the construction in Daivões is expected to dam up to 56,200,000m³ of water.

France/Syria: Lafarge SA and three of its former executives are appealing against accusations of crimes against humanity. The Court of Appeal is expected to address the indictment in late June 2019, according to the Agence France Press. The former executives involved include Bruno Lafont, former chief executive offcier (CEO) of Lafarge, former safety director Jean-Claude Veillard, and one of the former directors of its Syrian subsidiary, Frédéric Jolibois. The Presecutor General has supported some arguments of the defence team.

If the appeal is succesful the legal case will focus instead on the financial aspects of Lafarge’s conduct in Syria between 2011 and 2014. It has been accussed of financing terrorism through indirect payments to extremist groups to keep its Jalabiya cement plant operational after the outbreak of war in Syria.