Alfa invests in Russia Greek company Alfa-Tsement announced plans to invest over US$40 million in its various Russian cement interests. Speaking at a news conference, Alexander Yevstratov, Alfa's president, said his company would invest US$6 million at cement mills in Volsk in Saratov region, and Sassk, Primorye; US$5.7 million at a plant in Schrov near Moscow; and more than US$5 million in Gorny Zavod.

The money will be spent on the modernization of packaging facilities, the upgrading of laboratory and testing equipment, and various other processing equipment.

Lafarge in Ukraine Lafarge has signed an agreement with the Ukrainian National Privatization Fund, under which the group will acquire a 28% holding in the share capital of Ukrainia's Mykolaviv Cement, which operates a 3.1 million-mtpy plant near Lviv in Western Ukraine on the borders with Poland, Hungary, and Slovakia.

The agreement provides for Lafarge to undertake a modernization program expected to spread over five years and primarily relating to improving the plant as well as reducing costs.

Cement consumption in the Ukraine, population 52 million, has been increasing since the mid-1990s, with production at approximately 5 million mt in 1997.

Yugoslavian production rises Yugoslavia's four cement factories produced 2.2 million mt last year, up 0.7% from 1996, according to a recent reports from the Yugoslav Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

According to a Reuters report, the cash-strapped cement plants of Beocin, Kosjeric, Novi Popvac, and Djeneral Jankovic, with a combined capacity of 3.5 million mt, failed to meet the estimated domestic demand of 2.5 million mt.

France's Lafarge Ciment and Britain's RMC Group Plc are believed to have shown an interest in the plants, the most attractive being Beocin, north of Belgrade, with easy access to the Danube River for regional distribution.

RMC sells lime operation RMC Group Plc sold its 50% stake in Chaufournieres de Hergenrath, a lime producer, for around US$90 million, according to a recent report in the UK Financial Times. The proceeds will be used to fund four recent acquisitions in the German concrete market, the largest in Europe.

RMC sold its stake to Lhoist of Belgium, its joint venture partner in the business.

The new investments, all in concrete businesses in Germany, include the outstanding 10% of Ytong, which produces aerated concrete; TBG Transportbeton of Bayreuth, Bavaria; Kohl, a ready-mixed concrete and aggregates company based in Rhineland-Palatinate; and the ready-mixed concrete business of Raab Karcher, based in Essen.

Powerful pumping survey A large Cegelec inverter is being used to pump chalk slurry more than 54 miles through an underground pipeline at Rugby Cement's Kensworth site in the UK. The chalk, quarried at the site, is processed to a slurry and pumped along the pipeline, originally commissioned in 1964, to its plant at Rugby.

Supplied with a 500-kW induction motor and an 11-kV cast resin transformer, Cegelec's 475-kW Alspa GD2600 inverter replaces a 3.3-kV synchronous induction motor. Prior to the installation, two such motors were used to achieve the pumping duty.

According to Rugby Cement's quarry manager, Joe Pemberton, "The overall purpose of the project was to enable us to achieve tighter control over the operation of the chalk slurry pipeline. This new system has delivered that requirement."

Philips acquires Plasmos Philips Analytical, specialists in cement sampling technology, acquired the German company Plasmos GmbH, a leading semi-conductor equipment manufacturer specializing in ellipsometry.

This acquisition is an attempt by Philips to strengthen its position in the semiconductor metrology test equipment market. The current product range from Philips consisting of wafer analyzers, total X-ray fluorescence equipment, photoluminescence products and high-resolution diffraction systems is now extended with Plasmos's ellipsometer range.

Plasmos has offices in Asia, Europe, and the United States. In the future, the products will be marketed under the Philips brand name.

Hungary-Belpatfalva cement German and Swiss shareholders in the Belpatfalva Cement es Cement es Meszipari RT cement producer in Northern Hungary increased their combined 67% stake in the company to 100%, according to MTI Econews.

The remaining 33% stake in the company was purchased from a Hungarian enterprise. Holderbank of Switzerland now owns 50%, while Heidelberger Cement and Schwenk of Germany each own a 25% stake.

A five-year development plan at the plant will now begin and will include the installation of new production and control equipment at a cost of around US$8.25 million.

Belpatfalva produces 500,000 mtpy, accounting for one-sixth of Hungary's total output of nearly 3 million mt.

However, the company reported that 200,000 mt of cheap Romanian cement was imported into Hungary last year, which meant that the company could not fully exploit the upturn in the Hungarian construction sector. Cement imports from Romania are likely to increase to 300,00 mt in 1998.

Aumund in Turkey Aumund Fordertechnic GmbH is supplying eight bucket elevators with central chain to Goltas Bolgesi Cimento Sanayin in Isparta, Turkey, approximately 150 km from Antalya.

Five identical bucket elevators, with a capacity of 60 to 450 mt, will replace the plant's pneumatic conveyors and be used to convey cement and raw material. The company has already supplied four clinker conveyors to the works at Isparta.

Polish investment Polish manufacturer, Chelm S.A., with plants 200 km southeast of Warsaw, has recently launched a US$66 million modernization program, according to the PAP news agency.

The plan is designed to increase Chelm's production capacity by expanding its existing capacity and building Chelm 111 cement plant, which will be designed in accordance with strict environmental standards.

Chelm, Poland's third-largest cement producer, manufactured 1 million mt of cement and 1.3 million mt of clinker in 1996, of which 20% was exported. Also in that year, the company recorded gross and net profits of US$220,000 and US$38,252, respectively.

The company's largest shareholder, with a 33.5% stake, is Atlas Neeif Holdings Ltd.

Opening up the port Cement will play a major part in the reopening of the dock at Port Talbot, South Wales, in the UK, to be owned and operated by Associated British Ports Holdings (ABP) according to a report in the UK's Birmingham Post.

ABP said it would invest more than US$1.5 million in refurbishing the port, which has been closed for more than 25 years, and which it hopes will be the catalyst for further developments on the dock estate.

ABP indicated that initially the port would handle the movement of 400,000 mt of slag annually to Blue Circle's Purfleet works for Cambrian Stone, a joint venture between Tarmac Quarry Products and British Steel.

Cambrian Stone has invested more than US$12 million in a new slag granulating plant to serve the Port Talbot market.

Investing in Turkey Turkey's Treasury Undersecretariat approved 14 new Investment Incentive Certificates (IIC) for investments in projects in the Turkish cement industry, according to a recent EBA report. The projects involve total investments of TL18 trillion (US$ 9.9 million), including US$2.9 million in foreign currency. The projects are expected to create 936 new jobs.

IICs are given to Turkish companies undertaking production expansion or export-orientated projects. They provide important financial benefits such as tax reductions and exemptions.

Environment on-line UK-based environmental specialists BTR Environmental opened its web site. The group encompasses the DCE, Vokes, Delta Nue, Neotechnik, NAFCO, and REFILCO businesses, which between them produce advanced filtration technologies in the areas of dust control, air and liquid filtration, and waste management.

Information is available on http://www.btrenvironmental.co.uk or by e-mail: environment@btrinc.com

Bulgarian sell off Two more Bulgarian cement plants, Plevenski Tsiment and Vulkan, were put up for sale, according to reports in the Bulgarian press. The terms of the Plevenski sale are expected to fluctuate since part of the plant has been restituted to precommunist owners, according to deputy construction minister Evgeni Chachev. The plants are believe to have attracted 13 and 12 offers, respectively.