Buzzi Unicem, Unical and Betonval, have been awarded a prize by SINCERT as “excellent” companies for holding three management system certifications issued by an accredited certification body such as ICMQ (quality, environmental, health and safety).
Our entities received the SINCERT award because of their compliance to requirements established by SINCERT to appoint “excellent” companies.

Luigi Buzzi, VP R&D and Process Technology (middle), and Andrea Bolondi, VP Quality and Large Projects of Unical (right), have received the award certificate last 10th of November  in Rome, together with Lorenzo Orsenigo, ICMQ Managing Director (left), that has been awarded as well by SINCERT 's President Lorenzo Thione.

As of  last evening we have made contact with 54 of our 55 employees and all of them are safe. The other employee lives 20 miles north of New Orleans, in Mississippi, which was not flooded so we believe that he is also safe. Approximately 13 or 14 employees lost their homes and everything they had, while others suffered varying degrees of damage. We are making arrangements to help them as we determine their needs.
The entire area remains without power, water, phone service, sewage etc. and it will be some weeks or months before these are restored and people can even get back into the area. It is estimated that it could be several weeks before the water is pumped out of the city so that clean up can start.
Two of our managers were able to reach our plant of New Orleans by tugboat accompanied by the Coast Guard on Sunday. About 75% of the plant is still under 3 feet of water which is down from 8 feet last week. As you might expect, it will be some months before we are back in operation at this plant and we won’t have a full assessment until our people can get back in to review the damage.
Both our Burnside, La. e Natchez, Miss. terminals have power back on and are loading out cement. Brandon, Miss. terminal is still without power.
Ocean ships are now permitted into the Mississippi River and we will unload our next import ship this week directly into barges which will be sent to our Orange, Texas terminal.
I will keep you informed as we get further information.

D. A. Nepereny

Hurricane Katrina has had a major and devastating impact on our employees in and around the New Orleans area. We anticipate that many employees will have suffered severe property damage and that some may have lost their homes.

Our immediate efforts are focused on establishing contact with each employee to ensure that they, and their families, are safe. This is a difficult task. All landline phone service is out in New Orleans and the surrounding area. Cell phone service is nearly the same.

At this moment we have made contact with, or received information about, 32 of our 55 New Orleans Plant employees and Sales personnel. A toll-free phone line has been established. The number is 1-888-405-4014. We ask that employees and anyone with information about employees call the toll-free line.

All employees are continuing to be paid and we are taking extraordinary measures to try to get money to people who cannot access their accounts. A special bank account is being established in Baton Rouge for this purpose.

The New Orleans Plant, located just east of downtown, is currently under several feet of water. Access roads and bridges have been severely damaged or destroyed. We are making preparations to reenter and repair the plant as soon as practical. We recognize it is too early to determine when that might be. We will be ready.

We have three terminal locations within the hurricane's broad path. In order of closest proximity to New Orleans, the reported status of each is as follows:

• Burnside - Located 40 miles north of New Orleans toward Baton Rouge - Both the employees and facility ok. There is no power yet.
• Natchez - Located 60 miles north of Baton Rouge - Employees and facility ok. Power was restored yesterday.
• Brandon - Located in the Jackson, Mississippi area - Employees and facility ok. No power.

We know everyone in the Company is concerned about their fellow employees, many of whom have become friends over the years. We are of course considering various ways to provide help to them both financial and otherwise. After we determine the actual needs we will finalize a course of action and communicate it to you. In the meantime, we will continue to keep you advised as developments unfold in upcoming days.

D. A. Nepereny

On July 22, 2005, the Technical Committee of SINCERT and ICMQ awarded the Environment Certification to the Augusta cement plant (Siracusa) which has thus become the sixth Italian plant in Buzzi Unicem Group to be certified according to UNI EN ISO 14001/2004.
The Environment and Safety Integrated System was implemented in little just over a year, thanks to the eagerness and dedication of all people in the production unit who enthusiastically shared the targets and readily realized the few improvements required.
The early analysis and the ICMQ inspections have since the beginning ascertained the constant compliance with existing rules and limits for water drainage and noise immissions. The good monitoring system for kiln emissions, the proper management of waste and related aspects show once again Buzzi Unicem’s continuous attention towards environmental protection.

The plant occupies approximately 1240 acres, and is located on the southeast edge of the city of Independence. The east property line is the Verdigris River.
An advertisement placed in the local newspaper, on August 8, 1904, by the Western States Portland Cement Company, said: "The company is seeking men with teams of horses to begin construction of a new cement plant in Independence, Kansas". That cement plant, now the Buzzi Unicem USA Independence Plant, is still producing cement one hundred of years later.
By January 11, 1905, the plant had completed construction of a hotel, and 25 houses for its workers to live in. Just a few months later, on July 12th, the steam was turned on, and the plant started producing cement. By September, cement was being shipped to customers. The plant had a horse barn, since horses and mules were the heavy equipment of the time. There was also a company store to supply groceries for the employees, and a electric street car provided transportation from the plant to the city.

The Western States Portland Cement Company sold the Independence plant to Atlas Portland Cement Company in 1923. In 1930 Universal Atlas Cement (a subsidiary of United States Steel) purchased the plant, and operated it for 50 years. Lehigh Cement bought the plant in 1980, and then sold it to Unicem S.p.A. in 1986.
There have been many types of cement made at the Independence plant during the past 100 years. From 1940 until 1960, a low heat cement was made for all the dam construction going on during the time. In 1990, the plant produced Type I, Type II, Type III, Block, Masonry, and Type S Masonry. Presently the plant produces Type I, Type II, and a very fast setting cement called Ultimax. Annual cement production is about 340,000 tons, and there are 110 employees.
Larry Hooper, who has been an employee at the plant for 38 years, is the plant manager.

On June 15-16, 2005 Robilante cement plant (Cuneo) hosted the "Burner Technology for Multi-Fuel Combustion" workshop, organized by ECRA - European Cement Research Academy ( www.ecra-online.org/ ).
The event focused on the technology and operation of multi-fuel burners, especially the burner of kiln 3 at Robilante, which represents the avant-garde of alternative fuel use among the Group's plants in Italy.
In almost nine years of operation, this main burner has achieved a sequence of good results: more stable burning conditions (better flame control) with lower free lime and higher annual clinker production, lower consumption of refractories in the kiln and NOx emissions reduced roughly by 15%. The progressive upgrade of the main burner and the continuous implementation of new installations (e.g. feeding system for fluffy alternative fuels and chlorine by-pass) have led this kiln to an increasing thermal substitution with alternative fuels, with significant economic profits due to the low cost, reduced input of sulfur to the kiln and the possibility of credits on CO2 emissions (Kyoto's protocol).

Unioncamere National Prize
On the occasion of the presentation of the “2005 Italy Report” on Economy organized by the Chambers of Commerce, Buzzi Unicem was awarded the National Prize for the longlasting company that has stood out for its continuous and worthy commitment to Social Responsibility. The prestigious award was made official in Rome on May 9, 2005 during the third Economy Day. The prize was presented by Marcello Pera, Senate President and Carlo Sangalli, Unioncamere President. Among the reasons for the award “...the commitment in the human resources field, towards stakeholders and in the relationship with suppliers and communities. (The Company) is very focused on environmental issues and has adopted management systems in all required fields...”.

SAM Rating
As a confirmation of its commitment to sustainable development and corporate social responsibility, Buzzi Unicem has further improved its rank in the Corporate Sustainability Assessment by SAM, one of the world's leading institutions in the rating of listed companies included in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index.
The total score of 66 (62 in 2003, 50 in 2002) is equal to the best score in the Building Material Sector.

Everyone in the company has contributed to this achievement and is committed to continue on the same path for the future.

The Buzzi Unicem USA cement plant in Greencastle, Indiana, has received the Governor’s award. Each year the Governor selects a plant that has voluntarily achieved appreciable and measurable reductions in environmental pollution or waste production.
In 2000 the Greencastle plant converted its long wet kiln to a semi-dry kiln. This innovative, advanced technology has been a great success, both by greatly increasing clinker production, from 720,000 tons to 1,340,000 tons per year and by achieving significant reductions in emissions without costly new air pollution control equipment.

Compared to the wet kiln emission levels, in the past four years actual SO2 emissions have been reduced by an average of 89% and NOx emissions by 38%, and there were reductions in particulates, dioxin-furans and hydrocarbons. The technology used at Greencastle has also received another award: in 2002 the American Portland Cement Alliance, the Portland Cement Association and American industry magazines awarded the same plant the Cement Industry Environmental Award for Environmental Innovation.