Cement News tagged under: Ireland

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Lagan Group responds to threat over proposed merger

15 February 2013, Published under Cement News

The Lagan Group has called in the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) to investigate the circumstances surrounding the receipt of a package containing a bullet which was addressed to the company’s Chief Executive, Kevin Lagan, the company said in a statement. Lagan Cement Group recently signed a memorandum of understanding with Quinn Building Products that may lead to a joint venture  between the two groups which would combine their cement and building products businesses based in B...

ABB wins energy optimisation contract from CRH

01 February 2013, Published under Cement News

ABB has recently won a contract with CRH Europe Materials to provide process optimisation solutions for 12 of its plants in Europe and the US. CRH is a member of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) Cement Sustainability Initiative. As such, the company has committed to a set of objectives covering issues such as CO2 and climate protection, emission protection and lower use of fuels and raw materials. Currently the data collection for calculating the required k...

Call for higher tax on Irish cement sector windfall profits

14 January 2013, Published under Cement News

The Irish cement industry is getting tens of millions of euro annually in windfall profits due to anomalies in the EU Emissions Trading Systems (ETS), according to the chief of an Irish producer. Donal O’Riain, CEO and founder of Ecocem, told the Irish Times that the the anomaly occurred because the domestic cement sector had lost 75 per cent of its demand since the peak years, yet the allocation of ETS credits to the sector was based on its historical sales levels. The anomali...

CRH 's development spend reaches almost €630m in 2012

03 January 2013, Published under Cement News

In an update on its spending for the second half of the year, CRH said it had agreed 18 acquisition and investment initiatives of €375m. The transactions completed since the end of June bring full year 2012 development activity for the group to almost €630m. During the six month period, CRH said its Americas division agreed 12 deals worth a total of €256m. This included a majority stake in New Jersey's Trap Rock Industries and and also completed five other bolt-on transactions during the pe...

Quinn to invest EUR15m in alternative fuels usage

21 December 2012, Published under Cement News

Ireland-based cement producer Quinn Manufacturing has today announced a EUR15m investment to upgrade its Ballyconnell cement plant, which, when completed, will facilitate the use of alternative fuels thereby replacing coal as the primary fuel. The use of Solid Recovered Fuel will bring Quinn Cement cost of production more into line with its Irish and European competitors, the company said.

Quinn and Lagan Cement propose merger

20 December 2012, Published under Cement News

Ireland-based Quinn Building Products and the Lagan Cement Group have signed a memorandum of understanding that may lead to a merger of the two groups. The businesses, which will become part of the proposed joint venture, are the combined cement and building products businesses based in Ballyconnell, Derrylin, Kinnegad, Belfast, Cork in Ireland and Benelux. Quinn Therm, Quinn Litepac, Quinn Tarmac and Lagan Sand are not included in this proposal. Commenting on the proposed JV, the CE...

Ireland: Judge steps aside over CRH share dealings

15 November 2012, Published under Cement News

A high court judge has stepped aside from a long-running dispute involving cement giant CRH, after a rival firm raised concerns about the judge's ownership of the company's shares. Mr Justice John Cooke, who returned to Ireland in 2008 after serving for 12 years as a judge in the European Court of First Instance, has been managing the bitter competition law case between Goode Concrete and CRH for two years. Mr Justice Cooke had already handed down three written rulings on preliminary issue...

Ship faces detention in Ireland over claims of unpaid wages

14 September 2012, Published under Cement News

A ship carrying cement was facing detention in Drogheda on the east coast of Ireland last night due to an almost €80,000 in alleged unpaid crew wages, according to reports in the Irish Times. The MV Julia’s nine -man crew from Ukraine, Russia and Lithuania had not been paid since May, International Transport Workers Federation co-ordinator for Ireland and Britain Ken Fleming said. The men were owed US$102,700 (€79,110) in unpaid wages, he added. The vessel is owned by Dutch- based compan...

Irish Cement in restructuring efforts, to cut 55 jobs

04 September 2012, Published under Cement News

CRH subsidiary Irish Cement has announced 55 redundancies at its plant in Limerick as part of restructuring measures due to a considerable downturn in the domestic construction sector. The company said that the restructuring follows five years of decline in Irish construction activity which is now 80 per cent less than 2007 peak levels. “Unprecedented deterioration in market conditions, combined with a sustained decline in the demand for cement products, has led to the need for a sign...

CRH advances strongly in the Ukraine

15 August 2012, Published under Cement News

CRH’s first half turnover improved by 5.2 per cent to €8,588m, but the EBITDA came off by 1.1 per cent to €568m. The better weather conditions in North America were offset by a worse experience in Europe. The trading profit was stable at €184m, while the pre-tax profit improved by 23.2 per cent to €117m, helped by gains on disposal, and the net attributable profit advanced by 36.8 per cent to €104m. Net debt at the end of June was 0.7 per cent lower at €3915m, to give gearing of 37.5 per ce...