Cement News tagged under: international

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Holcim invests in distribution and storage, Romania

02 October 2009, Published under Cement News

Holcim Romania has invested around €11.5m in a building material storage and distribution facility in Bucharest. At full capacity, the unit will be able to ship 400,000tpa of construction materials annually, from only 60,000t. The facility has also increased Holcim Romania’s construction material storage capacity. “The new terminal enables the replacement of transport by car with the one by rail from the cement manufacturing plants to Bucharest, thus optimising distribution costs and reduc...

SAIL to set up two slag-based cement units, India

02 October 2009, Published under Cement News

Government-owned Steel Authority of India Ltd, the country’s largest steel producer, is looking to set up two greenfield slag-based cement manufacturing units with a total capacity of 3Mt through a joint venture. "We will form two more joint ventures to set up cement plants at Rourkela and Burnpur. The Rourkela plant will have a capacity of 2Mt, while the Burnpur unit will have a capacity of 1Mt. The joint venture partners will be decided through a bidding process," chairman SK Roongta told...

Lafarge Cement profit doubles, Zambia

02 October 2009, Published under Cement News

Lafarge Cement has almost doubled its profit to ZMK61.7bn from ZMK34bn as demand for cement is expected to remain strong. The company has recorded an increase in the cement volume output by 49 per cent, according to the interim results for the half-year ended June 30, 2009. The increase in volume has been attributed to the increase in capacity from Chilanga II. The results indicate that the company registered revenue of over K308.2bn compared to K168.4bn last year for the same period, resu...

EBRD has signed an agreement on loan for Azerbaijan producer

02 October 2009, Published under Cement News

The European Bank for Reconstruction & Development (EBRD) has started realising plans of support of the major cement producer in Azerbaijan, Garadagh Cement (GC) OJSC, on construction of Kiln Line #6. The Bank informs that the loan agreement with the cement producer has been signed. Already this week EBRD country manager for Azerbaijan Francis Delay talked of expectations that the loan agreement with GC will be signed in a couple of weeks. The EBRD Board of Directors approved financing of...

Padang production halted due to electricity supply

02 October 2009, Published under Cement News

Production activities of PT Semen Padang, a subsidiary of publicly listed PT Semen Gresik Tbk (Semen Gresik Group/ SGG), have been paralysed since Wednesday night, September 30, following a 7.6 Richter Scale (RS) earthquake. The tremendous earthquake forces the local state electricity company PLN to cut electricity supply to Semen Padang’s cement factory. Without sufficient electricity, the cement factory cannot operate. Director General of Agro and Chemical Industry at the Department of I...

Weak demand pulls India September sales down

02 October 2009, Published under Cement News

Cement demand continued to be weak in September with most companies reporting a fall in sales. Holcim-owned Ambuja Cement’s despatches were down five per cent to 1.36Mt from 1.43Mt in the same period last year. Output fell by three per cent to 1.38Mt (1.42Mt). ACC sales dipped 1 per cent to 1.63Mt (1.65Mt) mainly due to drop in demand in the southern markets. Production, however, rose marginally to 1.64Mt (1.63Mt). Aditya Birla Group companies, UltraTech Cement and Grasim Industries, repo...

Supply Minister Mulongoti Challenges Lafarge, Zambia

01 October 2009, Published under Cement News

Works and Supply Minister Mike Mulongoti has challenged Lafarge Zambia to ensure that it guarantees a steady supply of cement on the local market because road contractors are still complaining about inadequate supply. However, Mr Mulongoti has commended the company for embracing the internationally required standards in cement production. Officiating at the launch of the re-branded Mphamvu cement by Lafarge Zambia, Mr Mulongoti said he had been receiving complaints that contractors were st...

Ash Grove plant shutdowns, USA

01 October 2009, Published under Cement News

Ash Grove Cement Co. announced layoffs Wednesday at its Durkee plant in Eastern Oregon and eight other factories around the nation. The Durkee plant, the largest private employer in Baker County, will lose 68 of its 115 employees, Ash Grove said. "It’s devastating to Baker County," said Fred Warner Jr., Baker County commission chairman. "These are 68 really good jobs. It’s going to hurt the community." Companywide, the shutdown will hit 500 of the company’s 2,800 employees. The Kansas comp...

Tanga Cement net profit falls by 16%

01 October 2009, Published under Cement News

For the first time in recent years, cement maker Tanga Cement Company Ltd has announced a fall in net profit, resulting in dropped earnings per share. Net profit after tax declined by 16 per cent to Tsh12.8 billion ($9.8 million) from Tsh15.2 billion ($11.7 million), resulting in dropped earnings per share from Tsh238 ($0.18) to Tsh201 ($0.15). Charles Naude, the chairman of Tanga Cement said that the six months ended June 2009 was a challenging period for the firm, blaming the reduction i...

China vows to crack down on industrial overcapacity

01 October 2009, Published under Cement News

China’s cabinet has laid out detailed plans to curb overcapacity in industries such as steel, aluminium, cement and wind power, warning that the country’s economic recovery could otherwise be hampered. In a reiteration of existing policy targets, the State Council said meeting the government’s long-standing goal of reducing overcapacity was urgent because the result of inaction would be factory closures, job losses and rising bad bank loans. "What especially requires our attention is that ...