Cement News tagged: International
Pakistan: 13% YoY surge in cement sales boosts producers' profits
Pakistan's cement industry's profit rose 30 per cent to PKR45.169bn (US$431.6m) in the first nine months of the current fiscal year as there was a surge in sales, supported by soft oil and 11-year low coal prices, according to the Topline Securities Ltd brokerage. In the July-March period of the last fiscal year, the local industry earned PKR34.847bn. The profitability growth was supported ...
Industry guidelines launched for dust-free paper sacks
The European Sack Group, a collaboration between CEPI Eurokraft and EUROSAC, have published the first Industry Guidelines for dust-free paper sacks online. The document provides guidance and best practices for manufacturers of sacks for the building materials market and their clients. Elin Floresjö, secretary general of CEPI Eurokraft, said: “With the Industry Guidelines, we aim to provide ...
Argentina: cement sales fall by over a quarter
Argentina’s cement market contracted 27.6 per cent YoY in April 2016, according to the latest data from Asociación de Fábricas de Cemento Portland (AFCP). Total cement sales, including exports, fell 31 per cent during the period. The fall in domestic sales has been attributed to the economic recession and the decision by the government to delay key infrastructure works. As a result, the co...
Indonesia: cement sales up 5% in 1Q16
Indonesia's domestic cement sales rose to 14.43Mt in 1Q16, up five per cent from the same period last year of 13.84Mt. The rise appears to be driven partly by the development of government infrastructure projects, power plants and smelter projects. The Head of Indonesia Cement Association (ASI), Widodo Santoso, was quoted by Investor Daily as saying that the rise of cement sales was as expec...
Ethiopia: 32 mining licenses revoked
Ethiopia’s ministry of mines, petroleum and natural gas has revoked mineral exploration and production licenses of 32 companies due to lack of financial capacity and for failure to fulfill their duties, a top government official said. Due to a lack of results and financial capacity, nine of the companies returned their licenses voluntarily, Mr Gebregziabher explained. However, licenses of t...
Afghanistan: workers at Ghori cement plant kidnapped
Two armed men have kidnapped 15 workers at Ghori cement plant and Afghan Coal in Baghlan, northeast Afghanistan, according to Tolo News. The incident took place on Sunday morning. The men also took military equipment from the companies and planted green flags on the buildings. Ghori cement works is the country's one of two operating cement plants and is estimated to produce around 0.04Mt ...
Pressure put on HeidelbergCement to close West Bank quarry
Germany's HeidelbergCement is looking for a new site in the Israeli-occupied West Bank following long-standing criticism from investors about its operations in parts of the territory that are fully under Israel's control. HeidelbergCement excavates sand and gravel in the West Bank's resource-rich Area C, which is administered by Israel and is home to the vast majority of Jewish settlements. ...
Cemex develops fire-resistant and explosion-proof concrete
Cemex Mexico announced today that its developed a fire- and explosion-resistant concrete designed specifically at first to safeguard data processing centre, Proyecto Q, of the Santander Group, in Querataro, Mexico. Located only 20m away from a petrol station, the centre was vulnerable to the effects of potential thermal radiation (fire) and overpressure (explosion). The Santander Group turn...
India: mining law changed to assist cement mergers
The upper house of India’s parliament on Monday approved an amendment to the mining law, allowing the transfer of mines from sellers to buyers in a victory for the State Bank of India (SBI) that had lobbied for the change. Mines Secretary, Balvinder Kumar, told Reuters the changes were mainly aimed at helping companies sell limestone mining licences along with their cement plants. It could...
Pakistan: Cement exports rise to 0.53Mt in March
The All Pakistan Cement Manufacturers Association (APCMA) has welcomed the news that cement exports rose to 0.53Mt in March 2016, up 20.6 per cent YoY. Exports have risen for two months in a row, bringing to an end a long run of disappointing figures, including a YoY fall of 34 per cent in September 2015. Despite the present turnaround, exports for the year to March are down 19 per cent on ...
Vietnam sees output rise 16% in Jan-Apr 2016
Vietnam cement producers have produced 24.4Mt of cement in Jan-Apr 2016, up 15.8 per cent YoY, according to estimates from the government-run General Statistics Office. In April 2016 output is expected to have risen 12.5 per cent when compared to April 2015, said the organisation in a report. It also revised upwards 1Q16 production from an earlier estimate of 11Mt to 17.3Mt. The country ...
Growing pains: southeast Asia's looming overcapacity
Positioned between the two most populous nations on Earth, the emerging economies of southeast Asia have ridden the wave of economic growth in the early years of the century. Between 2000 and 2014 the 10 ASEAN countries saw their collective real GDP grow at 5.7 per cent annually and look set to continue this trend over the next five years. Cement demand has kept up with this brisk pace of expa...
Siam Cement has plans to fully enter Vietnamese market
Industrial conglomerate Siam Cement Group is looking at operating its first cement plant in Vietnam as the next step in the company's expansion abroad, claims Nikkei Asian Review. President and CEO, Roongrote Rangsiyopash, told reporters in Bangkok on Wednesday that a joint venture or merger with an existing plant would be the best way to enter the Vietnamese market because of the country's...
Caribbean Cement 1Q16 revenue up but exports down 53%
Caribbean Cement Limited (CCL) reported that, on the back of an increase in domestic sales, 1Q16 total revenue increased by 11 per cent or US$398m to US$3.98bn over the previous year, when they reached US$3.58bn. However, in the 1Q16 the company also noted declines in exported cement and clinker sales volumes of 53 per cent and 56 per cent respectively, said the Jamaican Observer. In Mar...
Sri Lanka: Kankasanthurai Cement Factory to reopen
The Kankasanthurai Cement Factory (KCF) in Sri Lanka is to be reopened following its closure some years back due to unrest in the north of the country. Previously, UAE-based Ras Al Khaimah Cement Co expressed interest in reviving the Kankesanthurai Cement Factory with a US$100m investment. In 2011-12 a high-level decision was taken to amalgamate Sri Lanka Cement Corporation (SLCC) with Lan...
India: government approval for new UltraTech plants at Nawalgarh and Jaitaran
The Jaipur government cleared the construction of a new 3.3Mta cement unit at Nawalgarh (Jhunjhnu) by UltraTech Cement Ltd. "Investment of worth INR3000 crore [INR30bn/US$451m] will be made and around 1000 people will get direct and indirect employment in this project. It will also set up new cement unit of 2.2Mta capacity and captive power plant at Jaitaran (Pali). The company will invest ...