International Cement Review articles tagged under : Market Reports
Gaining momentum in 2018?
The positive outlook predicted at the start of 2017 has not entirely materialised as emerging markets (EM) have failed to see the widespread recovery that was anticipated a year ago. However, momentum for a recovery is expected to arrive in 2018 as demand in the EM picks up and the USA experiences robust growth. By John Fraser-Andrews, HSBC Global Research, UK. Figure 1: emerging marke...
Gambia's turning point
Leaving behind a past of political unrest and financial mismanagement, Gambia is at the start of an exciting new chapter. Led by a new, democratically-elected government and witnessing an upturn in construction, the...
West Africa looks to exports
While lower oil prices, Ebola and civil unrest have impacted west African economies, the region’s cement market has continued to expand with further growth forecast for the next few years. However, as domestic produc...
From far-away lands
The United States of America has been the world’s largest cement importer by volume for decades. However, the Great Recession saw imports plummet and while they are currently picking up, progress is slow as they rema...
India: the long game?
As the slowdown in India’s key housing sector largely persists, hopes are on the government’s infrastructure plans to bolster domestic cement consumption and narrow the gap between demand and production capacity. Wh...
Egypt's juggling act
Despite the Egyptian government’s focus on infrastructure investment, the country’s cement producers have had a difficult year so far with energy prices rocketing, competition intensifying and a currency crisis play...
India: glimmers of hope
The Indian cement sector appears to have shrugged off the impact of demonetisation but 1QFY18 figures suggest recovery will be slow. However, confidence is starting to build on the back of a pick-up in demand from ru...
Turkey's time for growth
Turkish cement producers faced a challenging year in 2016 as geopolitical and domestic events impacted on the country’s economy. However, domestic cement demand potential remains sound and going forward, relatively ...
Germany's wave of success
With the German economy continuing its growth trend, these are good times for the country’s many cement producers. Housebuilding dominates demand as the population rises and construction investment remains strong. Th...
Signs of improvement
Following an abrupt fall in 2009 and a continued decline in subsequent years, the central European cement market picked up in 2014 and has since shown a modest but stable expansion in recent years. However, while pro...
East Africa: time to shine?
East Africa’s future appears significantly brighter as economic growth accelerates following the recent challenging years. Increased construction demand is expected to fuel cement consumption and producers are gearin...
Open for business
South America has been hit by the global economic slowdown, although some countries are showing signs of recovery. Much of the region has a huge infrastructure gap to close, leading to the arrival of a number of new ...
Cemex leads the Caribbean
With varying levels of economic growth across the region and reliant on overseas investment and trade with the UK and USA, these are uncertain times for the Caribbean. As a new player emerges in the regional cement m...
After the perfect storm
Sluggish cement demand and oversupply have led to slow sales and low prices in South Africa. The cement sector’s low profit margins have not deterred new entrants with state-of-the-art plants providing plenty of comp...
Asia prepares for new capacity
As ICR rounds up the latest capacity projects from around the world in its July 2017 issue, CemNet focusses on cement plants currently under construction and recently-announced projects in Asia as it prepares for Cem...
Shaping southeast Asia
Ahead of Cemtech Asia in Singapore, 9-12 July 2017, ICR takes a moment to consider the changing make-up of southeast Asia’s cement capacity. The region has been at the forefront of cement industry growth for the last...