Cement, Energy and Environment

Director of Cheung Kong Infra s tructure Holdings and Timothy Nechvatalli, Executive Vice President ofMinergyy Corp., 'Latest on US Cement Demand', by John Rohrer, President of Rohrer & Associates, and 'Availability of Vessels & Freight Cost for Global Cement Movement' by Jens Fa ber Andersen , President, Ferber Shipbrokers. Courtesy: World Cement May 2002 P 54, Enquiry No: 6, Fax: +44(0) 1252718992 Email: mail@ worldcement. com Web: www. worldcement.com UNDER NEW MANAGEMENT The integration of Blue Circle and Malayan Cement with Lafarge and the establishment of a technica l centre for Asia, based in Kuala Lumpur will foster and support the industrial performance of all the Group's cement business units across this region. At present, Lafarge has cement opera tions in nine Asian countries; Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia Philippines, Ban gladesh, India, China, South Korea and Japan. Expected to be fully operational by the middle of this year, the technical centre will open up even more opportunities for research and development in the country. The Group 's objective is to introduce new technologies and products and expedite the sharing of technical knowledge and expertise among the Asian countries. A major milestone achieved las t year was the certification of Malayan Cement's Langkawi Works to OHSAS 18001 (Occupational Health & Safety System) , joining the Rawang and Kanthan Works which we re certified in December 2000. This certification was part of its endeavour to provide its employees with a safe and h ealthy en vironment and ensure continuous improvement in these areas. Courtesy : WorldCementMar.2002Pp 40-41, Enqui1y No. 3 Fax: +44(0)1252718992 E-mail: mail @worldcement.com Web: www. worldcement.com FUNDS INTRODUCED TO ENCOURAGE EMISSIONS TRADING ·German state owned credit institution KFW recently said that it plans to introduce two hmds to encourage carbon dioxide (C0 2 ) emissions trading to help the country meet its target to cut 45 million tonnes a year of the greenhouse gas emission by 2010. The target is part of a wider comrni tment under the UN-sponsored protocol agreed in Kyoto in 1997 to help indus tri ali sed countri es cu t greenhouse gases that have been linked to climate change. Germany's existing environmental tools include a voh.mtary commitment by the energy industry to cut emissions and a renewable energy law that supports producers of electricity from green fuels such as wind, solar and biomass. The first fund w ill help companies finance environmental projects in developing countries as part of the Kyoto-suggested Clean Development Mechanism (COM). "Com panjes will be able to pay back the financing for COM projects by submitting the credits they receive for C0 2 reductions to the fund for sale to other firms," KFW's economics expe rt Klaus Oppermann said. The role of the government in the fund will be to provide a guarantee for the investment while the actual financing will be drawn for capital markets. " The fund could issue bonds that guran tee a minimum return, in addition to variable remuneration from the sa le of the credits." Oppermann added. A second fund would aim to encourage small to medium sized firms to take part in emissions