Cement News tagged: International
Fire breaks out at Dragon Products' Thomaston plant
US-based Dragon Products Co has incurred damage to its plant in Thomaston, Maine, after a major fire broke out on Tuesday. According to Thomaston Fire Chief, Mikial Mazzeo, a mechanical failure in a building that pumps number 2 fuel to another area caused an oil leak. "The oil found an ignition source, ignited and came all the way back to the floor where the leak originated, and spread throu...
Vietnamese cement sales increase 4% in 1Q19
Vietnamese cement sales are estimated to have reached 23.08Mt in the 1Q19, an increase of four per cent YoY, according to the latest data released by the Vietnam Building Materials Association. This includes 14.5Mt sold in the domestic market and 8.58Mt of exports. In March alone the country is expected to record a 3.5 per cent YoY increase in sales to 9.45Mt of cement. Around 3.4Mt of this w...
Livetouch Investments plans new US$30m plant in Zimbabwe
Livetouch Investments has announced plans to invest US$30m for a new plant in Hwange, Zimbabwe. The facility is expected to be set up by the end of the year and would run alongside the company’s other plant in the area, which was inaugurated in 2017 . "Our medium-term plan is to put another plant in the Hwange area, which will produce 100,000t of cement per year. We are expecting to commit U...
Lehigh Hanson proposes new grinding facility in Canada
Lehigh Hanson has submitted a proposal for a new grinding facility with a marine terminal located next to its existing integrated plant on Tilbury Island, Canada. The 0.65Mta Delta grinding unit would have an operational life of at least 40 years, according to the company. Panamax or Handymax vessels would deliver raw materials to the facility, while the final product would be delivered to cu...
Higher electricity costs to impact Vietnamese cement prices
Vietnam Cement Industry Corp (VICEM) has announced that its electricity costs will increase by VND20bn (US$855,730) per month, and therefore product prices are also expected to rise. Local producers have stated that they will raise prices by VND30,000-50,000/t. On 20 March power prices went up by 8.4 per cent to VND1864, exclusive of VAT, after remaining unchanged for two years. A household...
Iran reports 4% growth in 11M cement exports
Iran has reported a four per cent YoY growth in cement exports at 12,652,000t in the first 11 months of the last Iranian year (21 March 2018-21 February 2019). However, the value of cement exports fell 14 per cent YoY to around US$398.4m, according to the Islamic Republic of Iran Customs Administration (IRICA). Cement imports also declined during the period, decreasing 21 per cent YoY to arou...
Tajikistan boosts output in Jan-Feb 2019
Tajikistan recorded a nine per cent increase in cement production to 482,000t in the first two months of 2019. Exports from the country reached 182,000t in the same period, according to a report by Asia-Plus, however, an annual comparison was not stated. An estimated 5Mta of cement capacity is now operational in the country, with Huaxin Gayur Cement, Chzhungtsai Mohir Cement and Huaxin Gayur...
State Bank of Pakistan reviews performance of cement in 1H19
The State Bank of Pakistan has released its second quarterly report on The State of Pakistan’s Economy for FY19. As stated by the report, the effects of macroeconomic stabilisation measures, taken since December 2017, started to unfold as the economy moved into the second quarter of FY19. The report covered the performance of cement in terms of local and export sales. In line with other con...
Ghanaian cement prices rise for the second time in two months
Cement prices in Ghana have risen by GHS2.40 (US$0.45), which is the second increase for cement prices in the last two months. Cement producers have had to raise their prices as the cost of raw materials increased due to the depreciation of the local cedi currency. Ghacem has raised its prices across the board. Its Super Rapid cement advanced from GHS30.47 to GHS32.47/50kg bag (US$6.1/ 50kg b...
Qassim Cement to export 120,000t of cement to Kuwait
Saudi Arabia’s Qassim Cement Co has signed an agreement with Kuwait-based Al-Arada Building Materials Co to export 120,000t of cement. While no value for the deal has been released, the related financial impact is expected to show later in the year. The deal came into effect on 1 March and will be valid until the end of 2019, according to a bourse statement.
Niger's president inaugurates Malbaza Cement plant
Niger's President, Issoufou Mahamadou, inaugurated the new Malbaza Cement Co plant in the Tahoua region of Niger, on 20 March 2019. Owned by private capital from Niger, the plant currently has a cement capacity of 0.54Mta, but this has the option to be expanded to 0.65Mta at a later date. The construction was financed by a consortium of local banks, the West African Development Bank and prom...
PPC Zimbabwe calls on government to protect local cement production
Zimbabwe’s largest cement producer, PPC Zimbabwe, has called on the government to pass legislation to protect domestically-produced cement from imports. Last year, the government lifted a two-year import bank on some basic commodities, including cement, to reduce the shortages that drove the public into panic buying. This has had a negative impact on local cement producer competitiveness, ac...
New cement facility inaugurated in Iran
Monde Dashti Cement’s new 1.2Mta cement production unit has been inaugurated by Iranian President, Hassan Rouhani, through a video conference, according to the Tehran Times. The plant based in Bushehr province represents an investment of around IRR3.8trn (US$90.48m) and has created over 170 job opportunities.
LafargeHolcim to help build Africa's highest tower
LafargeHolcim will play a key role in building Egypt's new capital, currently under construction 45km outside of Cairo. The city will become the country’s new administrative and financial capital, with around five million inhabitants. Among the buildings using LafargeHolcim's innovative, high-performance materials is the so-called Iconic Tower, which is set to become the highest tower in Afri...
World's largest 3D printer to build two-storey concrete house
The largest 3D printer in the world is being prepared to start printing a two-storey house on the site of Kamp C, the Provincial Centre for Sustainability and Innovation in Westerlo, Belgium. Kamp C is looking to persuade the Flemish construction industry of the merits of this innovative technique with practical examples. "This technique is gradually gaining momentum," says Kai van Bulck, w...
Moroccan demand increases 4% in February
Morocco’s cement market expanded by 4.3 per cent in February to 1,115,641t from 1,069,926t in February 2018, according to the country’s Ministry of Housing and Urbanisation. The latest data indicates a modest deceleration of market growth when compared with January, when demand increased by 5.3 per cent YoY. In the first two months of 2019, domestic consumption advanced by 4.8 per cent to 2,...