Cement manufacturers may lose their anti-dumping case against Taiwan Cement Corp. due to their association's reported delay in submitting additional documents to the Bureau of Import Services, the government agency which investigates and rules on anti-dumping cases.

The Philippine Cement Manufacturers Corp. (Philcemcor), as far back as March 2, 2000, had filed an anti-dumping case against Taiwan Cement Corp., which is owned by businessman Jeffrey Kho.

Philcemcor, an organization of 19 local cement manufacturers, however, decided in September 2000 to amend its anti-dumping case against Taiwan Cement. It wanted to include data to show that imports from Taiwan increased by 1,700% to 472,400 mt in the first half of 2000 from only 27,800 mt in the first half of 1999.

The case against Taiwan Cement is the first test case under the Anti-Dumping Law passed in 1999. Philcemcor claimed that its members lost about US$280 million in potential revenues due to the unfair competition presented by the dumped cement. It estimates that the US$280 million would be on top of the US$106.5 million the cement companies lost in 1999.

If Philcemcor fails to beat the deadline to submit the additional data and documents, the BIS will make a decision based on the data and documents covering imports for 1999 only.

Lafarge to set up plant in Bangladesh

Lafarge and the local Islam Group will set up a $240 million cement plant in Bangladesh to feed growing demand, especially in the infrastructure sector, reports the Daily Khaleej Times Dubat.

The new plant will be named Lafarge Surma Cement Factory and it will be the country's first integrated, state-of-the-art cement manufacturing plant, located at Chhatak in Sunamganj district, according to Syed Nazre Asghar Naqvi, a director of the Lafarge subsidiary in Bangladesh.

Naqvi said Lafarge will invest $120 million in the plant, which will produce 1.2 million tpy. The remaining $120 million would provided by the Islam Group and other financiers.

Lafarge is also investing $5.2 million to establish a bulk cement terminal and bagging plant near southwestern Mongla port and a modern distribution terminal at Kutubpur near Dhaka, Naqvi said.

The construction of the basic cement plant is expected to be completed by the end of 2002, with production starting in 2003.

Heidelberger Cement buys Indocement

Heidelberger Cement reached an agreement with the Indonesian government and three other Indonesian parties to acquire the country's second-largest cement producer PT Indocement Tunggal Prakarsa TbK.

The agreement was also with Indonesia's IBRA, the state-run agency in charge of restructuring financial institutions, as well as two companies PT Mekar Perkasa and PT Kaolin Indah Utama.

The acquisition will take place in three stages, which comprise the sale of shares held by IBRA, Mekar, and Kaolin; the exercise of a rights issue; and the conversion of Indocement debts to be absorbed by Heidelberger. The acquisition will increase Heidelberger's cement capacity by 25%.

Ciments Francais finalizes acquisition of Zuari Cement

Ciments Francais, controlled by Italcementi Group, has become a 50% shareholder of Zuari Cement. The joint venture will be a platform for the Group development in India.

The acquisition was finalized when the Bombay court approved the transfer of the cement activities of Zuari Industries Ltd. to Zuari Cement.

Lafarge to invest in Moroccan cement plants

Lafarge will invest US$230 million in extending and modernizing its Moroccan cement facilities. The three-year investment program will be undertaken by Lafarge's subsidiary Lafarge Ciments-Maroc.

The Moroccan government will facilitate Lafarge's purchase of land as well as off-site infrastructure costs and fiscal benefits.