660 Million EUR Invested In Holcim Romania Cement Plants

Alina Toma Vereha

Overall investments made by Holcim Romania until the end of 2008 amounted to 660 million EUR, including 150 million EUR invested in 2008. The investment budget for this year is 33 million EUR. The cement plant in Turda, acquired in 1997, has received overall investments of 49.7 million EUR. The plant in Campulung, which joined Holcim Group in 1999, received investments of 253.8 million EUR, while the plant in Alesd, acquired in 2000, received 139.1 million EUR in various investments.

Upon releasing the Sustainable Development Report 2008, Holcim Romania General Manager Markus Wirth said the company was planning to invest in finalizing projects focused on modernizing production technology, environment care and business development, as well as in new projects on occupational health and safety and outstanding maintenance of production installations.

Holcim Group has committed to reduce specific NOx, SO2 and dust emissions by 20% from the Y2004 level until Y2010. Holcim Romania has already rolled out the investments required to achieve this target set for next year. After the cement plant in Alesd was retooled, site emissions decreased by 80% for SO2 and dust and by 30% for NOx. The plant in Campulung also took steps to reduce emissions and entered the final phase of a major modernization programme last year. Holcim Romania representatives stressed that the company had been below the legal emissions limit for a long time and would manage to exceed the Group target to cut emissions by 20%.

The reduction of the national greenhouse gas emissions limit imposed on Romania prompted Holcim Romania to buy emissions certificates for 2007 in order to comply with the new quotas. The company explained that the purchase of the certificates had had no impact on the price of cement because the Group first balanced the need to sell or buy certificates across Group companies and only then would trade on the free market. The price of one emissions certificate was 1 cent in 2007-2008.

Regarding the quota for 2008, Holcim Romania is confident that the revision of the internal strategy according to the new allocation plan, especially towards increasing the ratio of alternative fuels within the overall quantity of fuel, developing low-clinker cement, importing clinker etc. led to notable improvements last year. Additional uncertainties about conformity with the new quotas is linked to the increase in the production capacity of the plant in Campulung and the delayed publication of the methodology for new installations.