News

Egypt-based South Valley Cement Company (SVCC) has signed an agreement with five local lenders for a long-term syndicated loan facility worth US$178.04 million (EGP 1.27 billion). According to a statement, the facility has a grace period of eight years, and it will be used to fund the company's expansion in energy alternatives, grinding energy and storage among others. The five lenders involved in the deal are Arab African International Bank, Ahli United Bank, Banque Misr, Commercial International Bank-Egyp

Swiss cement giant Holcim said it expected to have chosen buyers for assets it must divest to seal its merger with France's Lafarge by the end of January and to complete the deal by the middle of next year, Reuters News Agency reports.

The planned merger with Lafarge will create the world's largest cement group with over $40 billion in annual sales. The deal is to be accompanied by the sale of assets representing around 12% of combined revenues.

"We expect the final bids somewhere in January 2015," Ho

Indian billionaire Kumar Mangalam Birla is reported to have said he is open to buying overseas cement factories in a deal similar to his US$5.8 billion (€4.65) acquisition of aluminum maker Novelis in 2007.

“We are at some sort of an inflection point, where we are strong in our domestic market and we want to look at investing abroad more aggressively,” Birla said in an interview with Bloombrg News in his office in Mumbai.

“As far as I can see, there’s no Novelis-type of transaction potentially in the

The merger plans between French concrete block and slab manufacturer Alkern and its competitor precast concrete producer Duroux have been finalised.

The new entity will represent turnover of €200 million (US$249.25 million) and will provide Alkern with a national geographical presence.

Chairman of Alkern's supervisory board, Philippe Renauld, said that the acquisition will enable Alkern to accelerate growth for its outdoor solutions branch.

The All Pakistan Cement Manufacturers Association (APCMA) has reported that the sales of cement increased to a total of 8.197 million tonnes in the July-October 2014 period, recording an 8.87% increase year-on-year.

For the period under review, cement exports saw a 4.47% decrease year-on-year to a total of 2.79 million tonnes.

In the July-October 2014 period, cement sales for domestic market by manufacturers in the north and south region saw a 10.4% increase to a total of 6.872 million tonnes and 1.4%

The Commercial Court of the Kemerovo region (Siberia), Russia, has initiated bankruptcy proceedings against Kuznetsk Cement Plant (Novokuznetsk, Siberia), part of United Ce millionent Group).

The claimed debt of the company has not been disclosed.

China Resources Cement Holdings' concrete sales totalled 11.65 million m³ in January-September 2014, up by 10.3% year-on-year. Cement and clinker sales rose by 2.4% to 55.28 million tonnes. Sales in Guangxi and Guangdong accounted for nearly 70% of the company's total sales.

The construction of a new cement plant has started in the Yovon district of Tajikistan.

The works cooperation with the Jung-Say-Mokhir company are to be finished within a year, and the plant's capacity will reach 1.2 million tonnes of cement.

The investments are estimated at about TJS 600 million (€94.96 million/US$118.44 million).

A second cement plant is to be constructed in Kurmenty, Kyrgyzstan.

The project will be implemented under the development of Kurmenty limestone deposit.

The capacity of the limestone will be enough for the production of M-500 cement for some 80 years.

The local administration is soon to allot a plot of land for construction.

In Estonia, the Ministry of the Environment’s proposed surge in environmental taxes, including the tax on the extraction of mineral resources, would increase the cost of the high-speed railway Rail Baltica significantly.

According to a survey commissioned by the Ministry of the Economic Affairs, the 10% hike in the cost of the track ballast for building the trackbed for 211km of rail tracks for Rail Baltica would significantly increase the building cost of the link.

The Ministry of the Environment is

The European Commission has published full details on its decision to rule in favour of the UK Government’s aggregates levy credit scheme (ALCS).
The decision confirms that the scheme was in line with state aid rules, ending uncertainty for quarry operators in Northern Ireland.
The aggregates levy is an environmental tax on commercially exploited aggregates, and the credit scheme gave an 80% tax credit for aggregates originating in Northern Ireland in return for quarries meeting environmental standards.

Elaine Donaghy, marketing manager from Terex Washing Systems, (TWS), has picked up the Marketer of the Year 2014 Award at the Chartered Institute of Marketing’s Ireland Marketing Excellence Awards.
She won the award for spearheading the company’s global marketing strategy, and her award was accepted on her behalf by company colleague Gary Stewart from award sponsor, Mukesh Sharma, managing director of Selective Travel. She was attending another awards ceremony in Amsterdam, Holland.
The CIM Marketer of th