NovaAlgoma Cement Carriers ups stake in JT Cement

Business & Finance

December 20, 2021, by Naida Hakirevic Prevljak

NovaAlgoma Cement Carriers (NACC), a cement shipping joint venture between Luxembourg’s Nova Marine and Canada’s Algoma Central Corporation, has doubled its investment in JT Cement by acquiring an additional 25% of its share equity from KGJ Cement Holdings AS.

This brings NACC’s ownership in the specialized cement shipping company to 50%, with its partner, Swedish shipping company Eric Thun AB controlling the remaining stake.

Norway-based JT Cement operates in Northern Europe with a fleet that comprises eight specialized pneumatic cement carriers of 8,000 dwt or less, three of which are LNG dual-fuel newbuild vessels.

The JT Cement fleet is trading on long-term vessel employment contracts and provides logistics solutions for major cement producers in Northern Europe in support of regional infrastructure projects.

“We are pleased with this opportunity for NACC to double its investment in JT Cement and look forward to continuing to work with the team at Thun,” Gregg Ruhl, President and CEO of Algoma Central Corporation, commented.

“Our goal when we first entered this joint venture in 2018 was to become a key player in the Northern European cement market… Our vision is coming to fruition as we continue to grow from our position of strength in this niche shipping sector and provide reliable, flexible and sustainable logistics solutions to our customers in the region.”

As informed, there will be no changes to the daily operations of JT Cement as a result of this share acquisition by NACC and the fleet will continue to be commercially managed by the same team of logistics professionals based in Bergen, Norway.

NovaAlgoma Cement Carriers’ fleet comprises more than 25 pneumatic cement carriers that utilize a compressor and pump system to load and unload cement powder. This operation is said to be very clean, with essentially no discharge to the atmosphere. Cement shipping is a regionalized market with generally smaller vessels servicing large global manufacturers that support infrastructure investment.