Wednesday, June 11, 2014

NIGERIA: Lafarge Presses for Review of Cement Labelling Policy

Management of Lafarge Nigeria has urged stakeholders in the cement manufacturing sector to cooperate on the need for proper product labelling by manufacturers.

The General Manager, Industrial Performance of the company, Mr. Lanre Opakunle, who gave the advice in Lagos said the step was necessary to address the issue of wrong cement application in the country.

He said there is need to review how cement products were labeled in order to educate end users on the basic steps necessary for right application and results.

“We discovered that the labelling is not adequate today and we made some proposals but those proposals have not been taken on-board but we will keep making efforts to see that they are taken on-board,” he said.

The General Manager disclosed that there was a part on labeling which they highlighted an all-stakeholders deliberations because sometimes people can be naive despite their level of education, adding that right labeling will help to ensure that people have the right information out there at their disposal.

“Lafarge is the only cement manufacturer in the market that puts the uses and specifications of cement on their bags. In our technical submission to SON we said we want to do more than that; we want to really put it in a way that the lay man can understand the uses and what the mix should look like,” he said.

He noted that issues of cement application should not dwell on the grades of cement rather it should be about knowing the right mix as cement does not work in isolation but with sand.

Opakunle, who disclosed that Lafarge was the first to produce 42.5 grade cement in the country, said the company was duly certified by SON in 2012 to that regard.

“Our customers know the value we are giving to them and the value we are adding to their businesses. We really interact with the end users of our products to really understand what they need and how products can be tailored to meet their expectations through innovations from our research centre in Lyon France,” he said.

He stated that the company’s researchers were capable of meeting any desired product behaviour specified by their customers to give them a value added product, noting that it was important to build structures that would represent lasting legacies and also promote environmental sustainability.

“The most widely used individual application of cement in the world is 32.5 and it is important that a user understands how to use whatever grade of cement that is available on the shelf because of certain risks which may maybe associated with these grades whether it is 32.5 or 42.5 and the information should be properly labeled on the bags,” he said.

He announced that the company was making progress and was starting two new plants: one in Ashaka and another one in Calabar. He said that Lafarge also has plans to increase knowledge capacity for artisans and train about 20,000 block makers in 2014 and that so far about 6,000 have already been trained since January.

In his presentation titled “32.5 why the noise” the company’s quality manager, Engr. Adamu Francis, explained that the European and Nigerian standards specify many cement strength classes, while the EN206 was the key standards for defining performance of concrete.

He pointed out that the duty to specify the right grade of cement to be used in any construction work was that of the structural engineers and not the standards regulator.

“The development of standards usually follows a well structured approach and takes about three years to review in other climes like Europe for example and not what we are seeing in Nigeria today which was
started and concluded in less than six months,” he said.

According to him the debate on cement should be on capabilities and not grade type pointing out that the magnificent high rise Petronas twin tower in Malaysia was built with 32.5 grade as well as the massive bridge that links Malaysia and Singapore, while in Nigeria the Lekki free trade zone concrete pavements that efficiently bore construction traffic by 30-40 tonners and recent airport remodeling projects across the country were all constructed using the right application of 32.5 grades of cement.

In another development, three companies; Lafarge, Unicem and Ashaka have sued SON over the disputed new standard order, which was recently introduced to give Industrial Standard Order for cement manufacturing, distribution and usage in the country.

SON, had three weeks ago published a public notice restricting the application of 50kg 32.5R grade of cement to plastering only in syndicated adverts in some national newspapers.

The three aggrieved companies are challenging this order, which they believe will, in no distant future phase out 32.5 cement grade, which has been widely known and used as general purpose cement from the market.

The cement manufacturers are seeking the court to establish whether or not the respondents (SON) have complied with the mandatory provisions of the law for establishing new industrial standard in the introduction of the Commodity Composition and Conformity Criteria for Common Cements and Specification of Mandatory Industrial Standard NIS 444-1 2014.

BOLIVIA: Fancesa ya perdió Bs 20 millones y la disputa política continúa

Según el último reporte de la Gerencia, FANCESA ya dejó de percibir Bs 20 millones por el paro del transporte pesado sindicalizado. Los propios transportistas perdieron ya Bs 6 millones por dejar de trabajar. Lo peor es que casi ya no hay cemento FANCESA en Santa Cruz. Y hay algo mucho peor: la competencia ya comenzó a aprovechar la escasez de cemento FANCESA en el mercado cruceño. En las últimas horas, llegaron 50 camiones con cemento COBOCE a Santa Cruz. Entretanto, continuó ayer la pulseta entre los tranpostistas y el alcalde Moisés Torres, esta vez, en el Concejo Municipal, donde sólo se escucharon quejas y amenazas y no soluciones.
“Algunas agencias tienen cemento en piso para unos dos días y tenemos algunas existencias para nuestros clientes VIP, pero cuando se acabe todo eso, ya no habrá cemento Fancesa en Santa Cruz”, advirtió ayer el encargado de cartera de FANCESA en la capital cruceña, Pastor Villarpando.
Ayer no llegó un solo camión con cemento FANCESA a Santa Cruz. Los camiones que se encontraban en tránsito, apenas tres, para colmo, se plantaron a mitad de camino, por problemas climatológicos.
“Estamos muy preocupados porque la competencia ya se ha enterado. Esta mañana (ayer) llegaron 50 camiones de COBOCE (Corporación Boliviana de Cemento, con base en Cochabamba). La situación no es sencilla, se enteran, despachan y se entran al mercado, rescatar el mercado ya es difícil”, avisó Villarpando.
El gerente de FANCESA, Mirko Gardilcic, en Sucre, estimó ayer en Bs 20 millones las ventas que dejó de percibir FANCESA en este periodo de paro del transporte pesado –hoy se cumplen seis días–, de los cuales Bs 6 millones corresponden a ese sector del transporte.
Gardilcic, en entrevista con medios televisivos, denunció además que los transportistas movilizados estarían impidiendo que algunos transportistas independientes lleven cemento a Santa Cruz, afectando a esos motorizados.

SI NO SOLUCIONA, HABRÁ JUICIO

Mientras tanto, la disputa política entre oficialistas y opositores continuó ayer. Los transportistas volvieron a presionar a Torres, esta vez, en el Concejo Municipal, donde fueron recibidos por el nuevo presidente del Concejo Municipal, Germán Gutiérrez, que alcanzó el cargo gracias a un acuerdo con el MAS, partido que respalda las movilizaciones de los choferes.
Tras escuchar a las partes en conflicto, el pleno del Concejo se limitó a conminar a Torres a solucionar el conflicto, tal como lo establece una reciente resolución del ente deliberante. Incluso, los concejales amenazaron al Alcalde con activar acciones legales en su contra, algo que fue aplaudido por los transportistas, que insistieron ayer en que la única salida al conflicto es la destitución de Luis Ayllón, representante de la Alcaldía en FANCESA.
“Hemos sido mellados en nuestra dignidad, no sólo ahora, sino hemos soportado todo un año; nos han tratado de maleantes, de delincuentes, peces gordos, y ya basta”, manifestó el dirigente de la Unidad del Transporte Pesado Chuquisaqueño, Maguiver Rosales, refiriéndose a Ayllón.
Rosales fue director de Desarrollo Social de la Alcaldía en la gestión de la alcaldesa Verónica Berríos (MAS) y también fue funcionario después del Concejo de la Magistratura. Apareció recientemente de manera sorpresiva como dirigente de una facción del transporte.
“He escuchado con mucho pavor que se manifieste que al director, a los síndicos se nombra en cualquier rato. No es así. Y como legisladores, como fiscalizadores, como concejales, ustedes conocen más que nadie que hay instancias donde se toman decisiones, no es nombrar en un medio de comunicación, en la calle, por presión, en una marcha, en un cabildo, no es así”, manifestó, por su parte Torres, que insistió en que el conflicto tiene móviles políticos que buscan desestabilizar su gestión.
Durante sus intervenciones, los concejales de PAIS y MAS dejaron entrever su apoyo al sector movilizado, dirigieron dardos contra Torres y le exigieron soluciones. “De seguir persistiendo el conflicto (...), nos veríamos obligados a tomar algunas medidas de carácter legal”, dijo el presidente del Concejo Municipal, Germán "Chunka" Gutiérrez, en franca actitud de presión al Alcalde.

LIBYA: Third Siwertell Road Mobile Cement Unloader Order Helps With Libyan Reconstruction

The Turkish construction services company Mussa Insaat Dis Ticaret Ltd of Istanbul has ordered a further road-mobile Siwertell 10 000 S cement unloader from Cargotec. The trailer based, diesel powered unit will have a rated discharge capacity of 300t/h and will be equipped with a dual bellows system and dust filter. Delivery is scheduled for the end of September 2014.

"This is the third road mobile cement unloader order for the same customer within a very short period," says Jörgen Ojeda, Director for Siwertell mobile unloaders. "It will take its place in our customer’s cement unloading operations at several sites along the Libyan coast, helping to meet the demand for cement needed for the country’s extensive rebuilding programmes. The customer ordered this third unloader to further strengthen its position on the Libyan market.

Siwertell mobile unloaders are ideal in these circumstances, because they have the flexibility to unload cement at the most convenient port for the work in hand, cutting road transportation to a minimum. Not only is a mobile unloader easy to move from one port to another but once at its new location, the unloader can be prepared for work very quickly by just one person.

"This repeat order indicates a very satisfied customer that appreciates the well known reliability of Siwertell mobile unloaders, along with their high unloading capacity and low operational and maintenance costs," adds Mr Ojeda.

IRAN: 2-month cement, clinker exports near 3.5m tons


Iran exported over 3.468 million tons of cement and clinker in the first two months of the current Iranian calendar year, which began on March 21, an Iranian cement industry official announced on Tuesday.

He said that Iran exported over 1.411 million tons of cement and 625,393 tons of clinker in the second Iranian calendar month of Ordibehesht (April 21-May 21), the IRIB quoted Abdolreza Sheikhan as saying.

In the manufacture of Portland cement, clinker is lumps or nodules, usually 3–25 mm in diameter, produced by sintering limestone and alumino-silicate (clay) during the cement kiln stage.

Domestic industries have used over 8.739 million tons of the cement produced in the two-month period, he added.

Iran exported around 18 million tons of cement in the previous Iranian calendar year, which ended on March 20, 2014.

In the past Iranian year, Iran exported cement to 24 countries, including Iraq, Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Pakistan, Qatar, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, Georgia, Oman, India, and China.

The country ranked first in the Middle East and third in the world in terms of cement exports.
  

SPAIN: La industria cementera evitó la emisión de 850.000 t de CO2 en 2012

La valorización energética de residuos en fábricas de cemento evitó el envío a la atmósfera de 850.000 toneladas de CO2 en 2012, lo que supone un ahorro de casi 390.000 toneladas equivalentes de petróleo, energía comparable al consumo anual de 550.000 hogares. Estos datos se recogen en la última actualización del Informe sobre reciclado y valorización de residuos en la industria cementera en España, elaborada por el Instituto Cerdà y presentada por la Fundación Laboral del Cemento y el Medio Ambiente (CEMA). Además, el informe refleja que durante 2012, en las 28 de las 35 fábricas de cemento que operan en España, se valorizaron cerca de 795.000 toneladas de residuos, lo que equivale a un 25% de sustitución de la energía empleada por los hornos de cemento.

Esta última edición del estudio, que se ha presentado en la Delegación Territorial de la Junta de Castilla y León, responde a la iniciativa creada en 2009 de contar con un observatorio permanente sobre la evolución de la valorización de residuos en fábricas de cemento, incluyendo además, información exhaustiva por comunidades autónomas.

Las plantas de cemento son una alternativa para la gestión de residuos, ya que por las características de su proceso productivo, pueden reciclar y valorizar energéticamente residuos en condiciones técnicas y ambientales óptimas, con las máximas garantías de seguridad y salud , ha explicado el director de proyecto del Instituto Cerdà, Albert Bel. España, según datos de la Unión Europea correspondientes al mes de marzo de este año, envía a vertedero el 63% de los residuos que genera, en contraposición a países como Alemania, Bélgica u Holanda, donde los vertederos prácticamente han desaparecido. Establecer limitaciones al vertido de residuos no reciclables con alto poder calorífico, ha hecho que Alemania, por ejemplo, haya reducido hasta un 24% las emisiones de gases de efecto invernadero provenientes de sus residuos urbanos, ha declarado el director gerente de la Fundación CEMA, Dimas Vallina. La utilización de residuos no reciclables como combustible en hornos de cemento se está incrementando en todos los países del mundo, siendo precisamente los más avanzados en protección ambiental donde más se lleva a cabo esta práctica. España no puede ser una excepción, añade Vallina.

AFRICA: Lafarge Consolidates to Compete Effectively

Goddy Egene writes that last week's announcement by Lafarge Group to consolidate its African businesses is a good move that will improve its market share, deliver better returns to investors and most importantly make its presence felt as the second largest cement manufacturer in the world

Dangote Cement Plc and Lafarge Cement WAPCO Nigeria Plc are the leading players in the cement industry in Nigeria. At the Nigerian stock market, Dangote Cement leads in terms of share price and market capitalisation.

For instance, the market capitalisation of Dangote Cement as at last Friday stood at N3.919 trillion, while that of Lafarge WAPCO stood at N345 billion.

Lafarge WAPCO is the eight most capitalised on the stock market while Dangote Cement is most capitalised stock. Dangote Cement has 17 billion outstanding shares, compared to 3.0 billion shares of Lafarge WAPCO.

Also, in terms of product capacity, Dangote Cement is the leader having operations across many countries in Africa.

However, in order to narrow the gap, deepen its operations and expand its market share, Lafarge Cement last week announced plans to consolidate its businesses in Africa.

The consolidation plan
Lafarge said it will consolidate its holdings in Nigeria and South Africa into a new entity to be known as Lafarge Africa. The consolidation is expected to be completed in second half of this year and is subject to shareholders’ and regulatory approval.

Upon consolidation, the new entity, Lafarge Africa, will be 73 per cent owned by Lafarge Group and will remain listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE). The transaction is expected to be concluded through a cash consideration of $200 million and the issuance of 1,402,575,984.

Lafarge Africa shares to Lafarge Group.
The company explained that under the proposed transaction terms, Lafarge Group will transfer its direct and indirect shareholdings in Lafarge South Africa Holdings (Pty) Limited (100 per cent - representing 72.4 per cent of underlying companies in South Africa), United Cement Company of Nigeria (UNICEM) Limited (35 per cent), Ashaka Cement (58.61 per cent) and Atlas Cement Company Limited (100) to Lafarge WAPCO.

Implication of transaction
The new company will have a combined upon consolidation. The capacity, is in addition to operations in aggregates, ready-mix and fly ash.

It is expected to have a leading presence leveraging on the two largest economies in sub-Saharan Africa with a combined cement capacity of around 12 metric tonnes per annum (mtpa) as well as operations in aggregates, ready mix concrete and fly ash.

It will have increased product range and services in order to answer the growing building materials demand in sub-Saharan Africa. Lafarge Africa will be the sixth largest on the NSE by market capitalisation, from the eight position that Large WAPCO is currently occupying.

Executive Vice-President Operations/Country CEO Nigeria, Lafarge Group, Mr. Guillaume Roux said the announcement marked a key milestone.

“It adds momentum to our push for differentiation in order to deliver innovation that increases and improves our product portfolio. Our objective is to bring more housing and ever better solutions to contribute to building better cities that are more beautiful, more compact, more connected and more durable,” he said.

Also commenting on the development, Chairman of Lafarge WAPCO, Chief Olusegun Osunkeye said: “I am proud to be part of the creation of this leading African building materials platform. It will provide access to growth in two of the largest economies on the continent. It will mean that our shareholders are invested in a larger and more geographically diverse business; and it will contribute significantly to the economic growth of both our nations."

Analysts’ assessment
Analysts at IBTC Stockbrokers Limited said they see the move by the Lafarge Group to consolidate its interests in Nigeria and South Africa as positive.

“We believe this represents a show of commitment to key markets on the African continent. We think the consolidation of Lafarge Group’s interest in Nigeria is long overdue.

However, we expect this proposed consolidation to provide the investment community with a more centralised communication channel, which has been elusive especially in the case of Ashaka Cement.

In addition, Lafarge Africa will offer investors exposure to the infrastructure growth story of the two largest economies in Africa. On consolidation, we estimate an installed market share of 30 per cent for the Nigerian operations of Lafarge Africa by 2018,” they said.

They explained that a minimum of 7.5mtpa is expected from Nigerian operations, adding that they estimate that the combined entity will have a combined installed capacity of 20mtpa by 2018E.

“We had previously highlighted additional capacity of 2.5mtpa each for Lafarge WAPCO and Ashaka Cement. We also understand that UNICEM is planning to double its capacity to five mtpa by 2016,” they said.

Rating the equities, the analysts said they have upgraded their recommendation on Lafarge WAPCO to a buy (previously sell) on the back of anticipated capacity expansion.

“We also have a Buy rating on Ashaka Cement with a target price of N23.0 hinged on internal efficiencies. We believe both names are well positioned to benefit from the technical expertise and heritage of the Lafarge Group in Africa,” they said.

Higher returns expected
The planned consolidation of the Lafarge Group’s businesses in Africa, which is expected to boost its operations is generating excitement among stakeholders because the development will eventually lead to higher returns for investors. 

The company has already given indication for higher returns going by its 2013 financial results. The company recommended a dividend of N3.30 per share for the year ended December 31, 2013, showing a jump of 175 per cent above the N1.20 paid the previous year. 

The high dividend followed an impressive profit growth of 92 per cent for the year.

The company grew its revenue by 12 per cent from N87.9 billion in 2012 to N98.79 billion in 2013. Profit before tax rose by 30.3 per cent from N21.2 billion to N27.7 billion.

Profit after tax jumped from N14.7 billion to N28.26 billion. The company ended the year with earnings per share of N9.42 and the board recommended a dividend of N3.30, indicating a pay-out ratio of 35 per cent.

Generally, Lafarge WAPCO has witnessed increased returns, a development analysts at Dunn Loren Merrifield have hailed. Driven by strong profitability, operational efficiency and less leverage, Lafarge‘s returns on asset (ROA) and shareholders‘ equity(ROE), have beaten 2008 peak levels of 15.56 per cent and 27.97 per cent to reach new multiyear highs of 17.55 per cent and 30.40 per cent in 2013.

According to DLM, the company‘s ROA which was last in double-digits in 2008 has -reverted to double-digits in 2013 after four years of being in single digits.

“Quite remarkable about Lafarge‘s ROE and ROA is the fact that they have, over the years, relied less on financial leverage, due to shrinking equity multiplier, and have thus become less risky.

"In recent times, they are driven increasingly by improving profitability – as measured by net profit margins – and growing operating efficiency – as measured by total asset turnover. In 2013, they reached high levels when operating efficiency was highest, profitability was highest and financial leverage was least,” they said.

They said in the years ahead, Lafarge WAPCO’s ROE and ROA to remain less risky, as the firm continually deleverages, and improve on the back of strong operating efficiency and healthy net margins.

Another positive item on the company’s financials in 2013 was its cash flow, which grew by 77.9 per cent. Lafarge WAPCO generated a positive net operating cash flow of N36.94billion, up from N24.97billion posted in 2012.

“Lafarge has been generating positive net operating cash flows since 2011, at the minimum, on the back of improving profitability, favourable tax position, strong activity ratios and optimal credit policy.

"It is our opinion that Lafarge‘s strong and stable operating cash flow puts it in good stead and will provide support for its free cash flows in the event that the company embarks on massive capital expenditure,” the analysts said.

Tuesday, June 10, 2014

NIGERIA: Dangote dismisses fear of price hike

Dangote Cement Plc has dismissed claims by some manufacturers of cement that the recent upward review of the quality standard by the Standard Organisation of Nigeria (SON) will lead to price increase.

The management of Dangote Cement allayed the fears of the consumers that the upgrade of cement quality and the new classification of grades had nothing to do with the price.

Group Managing Director of Dangote Cement, Devakumar Edwin, said in Lagos, at the weekend, that those making such claims were doing so to blackmail the regulatory authorities into backing down on the new quality standard.

He explained in an interview with journalists that for any patriotic manufacturer with consumer interest at heart, there was no relationship between the new standard review and the price of the product except for profiteering.

To buttress his point, Edwin noted that his company started producing 42.5 grade for the past eight years at its Obajana plant and the Ibese plant for about three years at the same price of the lower grade of 32.5 produced by some other competitors.

According to him, the switching over to a higher quality cement shouldn’t be a difficult process that would necessitate increase in price of the product.

The Dangote Cement boss added that his company had even gone ahead to produce 52.5 grade of cement and that it would be uncharitable for anyone to claim that the new standard would lead to price hike for the product.

Edwin then pledged that much as his company would continue to cooperate with government and authorities in the regulation of the cement industry, it would ensure the price was not hijacked by profiteers.

It will be recalled that SON, in the wake of the building collapses across the country and the attendant controversies on the quality of cement being produced in the country, summoned a meeting of stakeholders in the building and construction industry.

The meeting undertook a review of standard of quality of cement and came out with a classification of cement types and their appropriate uses.

FRANCE: Green Cement Reduces Carbon Footprint by 40%

A new form of green cement developed in France has the potential to reduce the carbon footprint of concrete by as much as 40 per cent.

Cement, a vital ingredient in modern concrete, accounts for nearly a tenth of humanity’s carbon dioxide emissions. The replacement of the Portland cement most commonly used in the manufacture of concrete is considered a key means of reducing greenhouse gas emissions, particularly given that the production of single ton of the material releases as much as 800 kilograms of CO2.

While a number of materials are already used to adulterate concrete mixtures in order to reduce their cement content, such as the fly ash produced as an industrial residue by coal-fired power plants, they do not exist in sufficient abundance to serve as a fully viable alternatives.

Researchers in France believe they may have stumbled upon the solution, however, in the form of a new cement comprised of readily available materials which can be added in large amounts to concrete mixtures without compromising the performance of the final product.

According to Karen Scrivener, head of the Construction Materials Laboratory at France’s Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne (EPFL) and principal investigator of the project, the cement consists of a mixture of calcined clay and ground limestone. When the two materials are combined together the aluminates from the calcined clay interact with the calcium carbonates from the limestone to produce a cement paste which is less porous and thus significantly stronger.

In the past, both calcined clay and ground limestone have been used as adulterating materials for cement in mere fractional amounts. The research team led by Scrivener has discovered, however, that these materials can comprise up half of the cement mixture without having an adverse impact on the physical properties of the final product.

The robustness of LC3 has already been demonstrated by a pair of industrial scale pilot projects, one in India and one in Cuba, both of which saw the material readily integrated into pre-existing cement production lines.Scrivener’s team believes the Limestone Calcined Clay Cement (LC3) they have developed has the potential to become the benchmark material for low-carbon concretes. Unlike the materials currently used to adulterate concrete, supply shouldn’t be an issue, given that clay and limestone exist in ready abundance around the planet. Should the material be adopted on a global scale, it result in a significant reduction in CO2 emissions.

The Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) has now lent its support to the project, providing funding for the further development and testing of the material.

INDIA: UltraTech Cement Ltd. in Talks for Jaiprakash Cement Assets

Indian billionaire Kumar Mangalam Birla’s UltraTech Cement Ltd. (UTCEM) is in talks to buy cement assets from Jaiprakash Associates Ltd. (JPA), people with knowledge of the matter said.

The two companies are in discussions about projects including Jaiprakash’s Rewa cement-making complex in central India, said the people, who asked not to be named as the talks are private. Rewa has an annual capacity of 7 million tons, according to a May presentation posted on Jaiprakash’s website.

The Rewa complex could be sold for at least 73.5 billion rupees ($1.2 billion), Anubhav Gupta, a Mumbai-based analyst at Kim Eng Securities Pvt, said by phone. Selling additional assets would help Jaiprakash reduce debt that jumped more than fourfold in the five years through March to 611 billion rupees.

“The Rewa unit is a very large and profitable unit,” said Gupta, who has a buy rating on Jaiprakash. If it sells the Rewa complex, Jaiprakash will lose its position as one of India’s top cement producers, he said.

Shares of Jaiprakash rose 3 percent to 88.25 rupees in Mumbai, the highest close since January 2013. UltraTech shares declined 0.2 percent.

Jaiprakash, the builder of India’s only Formula One race track, is also seeking buyers for cement assets in Himachal Pradesh, one of the people said. It owns two factories in the northern Indian state with a combined 3.5 million tons annual production capacity, according to the company presentation.
Gujarat Sale

Askari Zaidi, a spokesman for Jaiprakash, declined to comment in an e-mailed response to questions from Bloomberg News. Pragnya Ram, a spokeswoman for UltraTech, also declined to comment.

UltraTech agreed last year to buy a Jaiprakash cement unit based in Gujarat state for an enterprise value of 38 billion rupees. Jaiprakash deserves a higher valuation for the Rewa complex than the loss-making Gujarat plant, which was sold for the equivalent of $125 per ton, Kim Eng’s Gupta said.

Birla is seeking to purchase more cement plants in India and abroad, he said in an interview with Bloomberg TV India in September.
Jaiprakash sold its 74 percent stake in Bokaro Jaypee Cement Ltd., a joint venture with Steel Authority of India Ltd., to Dalmia Bharat Ltd. for 11.5 billion rupees in March.

After its recent divestments, Jaiprakash has cement making capacity of 26.4 million tons a year, according to the May company presentation. It plans to sell assets valued at about 80 billion rupees by March next year, the presentation showed.

USA: Holcim to invest $100 million on Ada cement plant modernization

Holcim US Inc. has plans to invest $100 million in a modernization of its Ada cement plant, Robin DeCarlo, vice president of Holcim corporate communications, told The Ada News exclusively Friday.

The company, one of the largest suppliers of portland, blended cements and related mineral components in the United States, submitted an application for a permit to the Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality earlier this week and expects to begin upgrading its facilities in Ada between October and December 2014.

“We can’t start without a permit from DEQ,” DeCarlo said. She didn’t release many specific details about the modernization but indicated it would include upgrading the kiln line. DeCarlo said the company will release more details once the permit hurdle has been cleared.

“We are expecting there will be approximately 250 temporary jobs during the modernization phase, which will have a direct and positive impact on the Ada economy,” said DeCarlo. “The modernization will increase our plant’s capacity in Ada by about 20 percent.”

Ada business leaders have indicated this will be one of the largest projects — if not the largest — in Oklahoma this year. Holcim US Inc. has facilities across the country, with its corporate headquarters located just outside of Boston, Massachusetts.

DeCarlo noted the modernization of the kiln line will meet “all known environmental regulations and reduce all major regulated emissions,” even with the increased plant capacity. Holcim’s plant in Ada currently employs about 120 people.

State Rep. Todd Thomsen said, “The significance of what Holcim is proposing to do would be a significant long-term investment in Ada and in the state. It would really place Ada in the forefront of their operations for this part of the nation. If they are able to do what they want to do, they would basically restructure, modify and upgrade their system that would make it a state-of-the-art facility.”

Thomsen also noted that the plant would exceed EPA regulations, making it an “environmentally friendly and efficient facility.”

The modernization of Holcim’s kiln line in Ada would make it “one of the key producers of cement in this region and the primary producer of cement in the state of Oklahoma,” Thomsen said.

“Holcim has been a quality employer in Ada and with them making such a significant contribution to the Ada economy, it represents a huge win for Ada, which is already known as a business-friendly community,” said Thomsen.

The Ada area has significant limestone deposits that are used to make the cement. Thomsen said the stone is easily accessible, and “the life expectancy of that natural resource is pretty significant and it’s close by.”

State Sen. Susan Paddack said she was “thrilled about the plant expansion” and that the modernization will be “good for Ada, good for our area and good for the state.” It is one of the most significant investments in the state this year, she added.

Mike Southard, CEO of Ada Jobs Foundation, said, “We’ve been talking about this modernization and upgrading of the Holcim plant since I came here almost seven years ago. I have been to their corporate headquarters three years ago and we talked about it then, and the U.S. head of their operations was here last year. The CEO brought it up at dinner when he was here. A $100 mllion capital investment anywhere in Oklahoma will be huge, from temporary construction jobs to what I take the most pride in — and this is the long-term sustaintability of the facility.”

Southard said if Holcim is going to make that investment, the plant is obviously not going to close in 10 or 20 years.

“Employees and future employees can see this as a stable investment in the community,” Southard noted. “Holcim has invested a lot in the community that is not business related. Holcim on Wednesday nights sponsors an ACT prep course for area high school students. They have been very active in Boys and Girls Club. They are active in the Career Discovery program (for Grade 8-11 students). Holcim has scholarships at East Central University. They work with the Latta DECCA program. Holcim’s footprint is on a lot of things within the community.”

Southard said Holcim projects the quarry, which is located about 15 miles south of town, has about a 100-year supply of limestone. The Holcim plant is located on the west side of Ada where the big smokestacks are.

“For a number of years, the conveyor belt that stretched from the quarry to their facility was the longest continuous conveyor belt in the world,” said Southard.

The Holcim plant reuses more than 3 million old scrap tires a year to power its facility as a supplemental fuel, in addition to coal and natural gas, according to Southard.