Cement News tagged: Corporate
Cementos Argos, Cemex and Holcim fined COP200bn
Colombia has fined Cementos Argos, Cemex and Holcim over COP200bn (US$66m) for fixing prices, according to Reuters. The fine has been applied to the companies and some of its managers. In total, the companies represent 96 per cent of Colombia’s cement market and allegedly agreed to set prices between January 2010 and December 2012. Cement prices in this period increased 29.9 per cent whilst...
LafargeHolcim Sagunto to return to full operation
LafargeHolcim’s Sagunto works in Spain will return to full operation for the first time since 2007. Following a year of uncertainty about the future of the cement plant due to issues in renewing its quarry licence, the news is particularly welcome to the staff of the 2.3Mta facility. Reasons cited for the step are two-fold. The economic recovery and resurgence of construction in Valencia an...
Fairfax drops plans to buy 23% of PPC
Canada's Fairfax Africa Investments Proprietary Ltd has pulled out of its attempt to buy 23 per cent of South African cement producer PPC for ZAR2bn (US$146.34m), PPC said on Monday. "On 8 December 2017, the Independent Board received Fairfax's formal notification that it will not proceed with the partial offer and that, accordingly, the Fairfax partial offer circular will not be posted to P...
Gansu Qilianshan to invest US$24m in Tibet cement JV
Gansu Qilianshan Cement Group Co Ltd plans to invest CNY159.25m (US$24.08m) to set up a cement joint venture in Tibet with a registered capital of CNY450m. The new investment will be named Lhasa Cast Qilian Cement Co Ltd.
PPC Zimbabwe files High Court application
PPC Zimbabwe has filed a High Court chamber application for an interdict order to stop the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (ZIMRA) from recovering a disputed US$3m interest and liability claim from its accounts, according to NewsDay. PPC Zimbabwe has stated in its application that ZIMRA was threatening to recover the money although the issue had yet to be resolved in court. ZIMRA’s interest and ...
Tanga Cement wins awards from the NBAA
Tanga Cement has won an award for the ‘Best Presented Financial Statements’ from the National Board of Accountants and Auditors Board (NBAA), reports All Africa. This is the second year running that the company has received the award, which was presented at the NBAA gala dinner in Dar es Salaam. In addition, Tanga Cement won in the manufacturing category. "As a leading producer of cement, our...
Lafarge Malaysia Bhd expected to return to profitability in FY18
Excess supply and price pressure due to escalating competition have negatively impacted Lafarge Malaysia Bhd’s earnings in the current financial year. The company has posted three consecutive quarterly losses, with the 3Q17 resulting in a loss of MYR42m (US$10.3m) according to The Star. In the first nine months of 2017 ended 30 September, Lafarge Malaysia reported a net loss of MYR135m, a d...
UltraTech Cement to build new Rajasthan plant and new Satna limestone mine
UltraTech Cement have announced a decision to construct a 3.5Mta integrated cement plant in Pali, Rajasthan. The cement plant represents an investment of INR18.5bn (US$287.4m) and is expected to begin commercial production by June 2020, according to The Hindu. UltraTech's new plant will supply the market in western Rajasthan and bring the company to a total of 50 plant locations across Indi...
Penna Cement plans expansion Gudipadu limestone mining to raise cement output
Indian cement producer Penna Cement is planning an expansion of the Gudipadu limestone mining project at the Gudipadu and Kundanakota, Anantapur district, Andhra Pradesh. The project will see mining operations increase from 2.3Mta to 5.3Mta and is currently awaiting environmental clearance.The estimated cost of the project is INR50m (US$ 777,276) and the mining lease area is 392.63ha. Es...
Wagners' share price rises 25% on first day
Wagners had a successful opening day on the Australian Securities Exchange with shares rising by 25 per cent, according to SBS News. The new listing now has a market value of AUD549m (US$412m). Wagners is the largest independent cement manufacturer and supplier in southeast Queensland, with approximately one third of the market. The company has 450 domestic and international customers.
Former LafargeHolcim CEO placed under formal investigation
The former chief executive of Franco-Swiss cement group LafargeHolcim Ltd, Eric Olsen, was placed under formal investigation on Thursday as part of an inquiry into the group's activities in Syria, a source with the prosecutor's office told Reuters. Olsen resigned as LafargeHolcim's CEO in April 2017, after the company admitted it had paid armed groups to keep a cement plant operating in Syria...
Huaxin Cement plans US$140m works in Nepal
Chinese cement producer Huaxin Cement is planning a new US$140m cement facility in Nepal having started talks with authorities and setting out a project investment agreement (PIA) for the factory. "We have already started informal talks with the Chinese company on signing of the PIA," said a highly-placed source at the Investment Board Nepal (IBN). "The formal negotiations on PIA will begin ...
Taiwan's Hsing Ta reports revenues up 53% in November
Hsing Ta Cement Co Ltd reported a 52.6 per cent rise in revenues to TWD673.172m in November 2017 from TWD441.025m in the year-ago period. For the first 11 months of 2017, the company’s revenues increased 41.8 per cent YoY from TWD3.832bn to TWD4.794bn.
Apollo Asia invests in Steppe Cement
Apollo Asia Fund Ltd has acquired 11.2m shares, representing 5.13 per cent of the issued share capital of Steppe Cement Ltd, which produces construction materials in Kazakhstan. Steppe said it was "pleased" to have the new significant shareholder, which is managed by Apollo Investment Management. Shares in Steppe Cement were down 0.3 per cent at GBP0.2094 on Friday.
NCB announces greenest cement company
Dalmia Bharat won the title of world's greenest cement company from the National Awards from National Council for Cement and Building Materials (NCB) for 2015-16 and 2016-17, winning across six categories. On receiving the award, Mahendra Singhi, Group CEO of Dalmia Bharat Cement, said: "We are honoured to receive this prestigious award from NCB. We are extremely delighted to be acknowledged ...
CRH exits PPC talks but LafargeHolcim discussions continue
Irish cement producer CRH has decided to pull out of the process to bid for rival PPC, the South African company said on Thursday. Last month, CRH made an undisclosed cash bid for PPC and had been given time for due diligence and to submit an updated bid, but CRH has now opted to drop its interest in PPC. "CRH has decided not to submit an updated expression of interest and therefore conside...