Cement news highlights: 8 – 12 December 2014

Mergers and acquisitions

• Brazil’s competition authority has approved the LafargeHolcim merger proposal on the condition of a number of asset disposals; Colombia’s Cementos Argos has announced that it will no longer participate in the bidding process for divested Lafarge and Holcim operations in Brazil.
• Continental’s acquisition of Veyance Technologies cleared in US and Canada.
• CRH plc has announced that it has reached an agreement to divest its clay and concrete businesses in the UK and its clay business in the US to funds managed by Bain Capital Europe LLP.
• Peru’s Union Andina de Cementos has completed the purchase of Lafarge’s cement operations in Ecuador after acquiring 98.57% of shares in Lafarge Cementos via Public Stock Offering.
• AfriSam proposes merger with PPC: the merger would give the combined entity an ~60% market share in the cement industry, which would likely give rise to competition concerns.

News from North America

• Holcim Canada has formed an agreement with Van Houtte Coffee Services Inc., which will see it process used K-Cup^® packs as an alternative fuel at the Joliette cement plant in Quebec.
• Lafarge NewCem^® slag cement and Agilia^® self-consolidating concrete are helping to build better-connected cities in Virginia.
• The Portland Cement Association has drawn attention to the need for tighter building codes.
• Cement Association of Canada applauds Ontario’s commitment to LCF.

Not to be missed articles…

• Peter Sand asks ‘Will the plunging oil prices facilitate stronger economic performance?’ in this abstract from BIMCO’s latest Shipping Market Overview and Outlook Report.
• In this abridged article from the December 2014 issue, Ryan Grevenstuk, Flexco, USA, outlines the top ten belt conveyor challenges that can be identified with a simple visual inspection, what problems they can cause, and how to fix them in a short period of time.

Written by Louise Fordham

Read the article online at: https://www.worldcement.com/the-americas/15122014/cement-news-highlights-8-12-december-2014-12/