Public joint-stock company Mykolaivcement (Lviv region), which belongs to France's Lafarge Group, has invested EUR 2.2 million in the launch of a new cement pallet line that can cover cement packages of 25 and 50 kilograms on a pallet with a protective polyethlene film, reads a company press release.
The press release says that now cement will be put on pallets and covered with polyethylene film before loading onto trucks or rail cars.
"Cement pallets facilitate its transportation and storage at the warehouses of clients. The technology allows the boosting of warehouse stocks, as pallets guarantee [the protection of] our products even in the worst weather," the press service said, citing Mykolaivcement Director General, Guenther Smetana.
Smetana also said that thanks to the launch of the new line, the loading of cement packages was fully automated.
As reported, Mykolaivcement in 2011 cut its net loss by 3.1 times from 2010, to UAH 10.868 million.
Its undistributed profit in 2011 came to UAH 260.227 million, a 4% fall over 2010. Assets totaled UAH 674.445 million, a 6.7% increase year-over-year.
By late 2011, a total of 542 people worked at the plant, while as of late 2010 the workforce numbered 564 people.
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is considering up to EUR 210 million in financing for Lafarge Ukraine Holding, which has a 99.6% stake in Mykolaivcement, to build a new dry line cement plant in Ukraine.
The project's total value is approximately EUR 300 million. The EBRD's loan could be syndicated with other banks and other investors in the capital will provide further financing.
Mykolaivcement's existing plant has been operating since 1950. The facility produces cement using a long-kiln wet line process in which limestone and additive slurry from existing quarries are heated in kilns to form clinker, which is then ground with other additives to form cement. The company has four rotary kilns, with an output of 0.85 Mt of cement in 2010. The decision to shutdown the plant is linked to an inefficient production method, which is not friendly to the environment.
As of Q3, 2011, Lafarge Ukraine Holding held a 99.2646% stake in Mykolaivcement.
Lafarge Group is a world leader in construction material production, in particular, cement, gravel, concrete and stucco. The group entered the Ukrainian construction materials market in 1999.
Apart from Mykolaivcement, Lafarge Group owns two quarries in Ukraine and Lafarge Gips, a plasterboard producer.
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