Cement News tagged: International
Semen Padang: 2016 Indonesia sales forecast up 6%
Cement demand in Indonesia is expected to rise by 5.5-6 per cent in 2016, according to Semen Padang's marketing director, Pudjo Suseno. Sales on the island of Sumatra, where Semen Padang is headquartered, are forecast to advance 16.6 per cent in 2016. In the first 10 months of 2015, dispatches reached 10.4Mt, up 2.3 per cent YoY. Semen Padang also expects to maintain exports at 4-5 per ...
Nepal approves Chinese US$140m cement plant
Nepal has endorsed a foreign direct investment (FDI) proposal by China’s Huaxin Cement Co to establish a cement plant in Nepal. The US$140m cement works project is in partnership with Narayan Cement Co. In July, the country also approved a US$360m FDI proposal by China’s Hongshi Holdings Ltd to build a domestic cement works in partnership with Nepal’s Shivam Cement.
Pakistan gypsum shortage concern
As Pakistan’s cement consumption rises, the country’s cement producers have voiced their concerns about dwindling reserves of gypsum and unchecked exports of the raw material to India. “We believe that gypsum reserves will be exhausted in about seven years, which will pose a challenge to the cement manufacturers in the future,” said Khalid Mahmoud, general manager of the DG Khan Cement plan...
CEMBUREAU: recovery continues in 3Q15
The third quarter of 2015 saw no GDP recession anywhere across the EU, according to the European cement association, CEMBUREAU, which published its Quarterly Economic Report for the 3Q15. Moreover, recovery is accelerating in Spain and at moderate levels elsewhere. "However, the macroeconomic picture remains uneven as recovery appears to be uncertain and conditional to many potentially hind...
Optimism returns to US and wider markets
This week saw the first rise in US interest rates in seven years as the US Federal Reserve signalled its belief that the economy was getting back on its feet and that the financial recovery was gaining momentum. The renewed optimism for the US economy and the prospects for greater cement consumption in the coming year is based on a more vigorous uptake of construction and housing projects. T...
US cement prices to see 8% growth in 2015
Following the Great Recession when US cement prices contracted for five years, they appear to be back in the lift. In 2013-14 domestic prices increased by five per cent YoY. In 2015, the rise is accelerating to eight per cent, according to analysts at IHS. The last time growth approached these levels was in 2005-06, when the price of cement advanced by 13 per cent. The reactivation of id...
Fiji's construction sector is thriving
Construction activity continues to thrive as revealed by partial indicators of the Reserve Bank of Fiji. The central bank revealed that up to September 2015 domestic cement sales rose by 46 per cent (to 130,522t) YoY. In the first half of 2015, the total value of work put in place by the construction sector rose by10.9 per cent YoY to US$226.3m. This, according to RBF was in comparison with...
CMA consults on cement price announcement order
The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has said it is consulting on a further draft order to prohibit Great Britain cement suppliers from sending price announcement letters to their customers. The CMA consulted on the proposed order in September and following changes made as a result of responses received to the first consultation, is now consulting on an amended version. The order ...
Peru's cement market contracts 4.8% in November
Cement dispatches in Peru fell 4.8 per cent YoY in November 2015, according to Asocem, the country’s cement association. Some 0.884Mt of cement was sold, down from 0.929Mt in November 2014. Total sales saw a 3.4 per cent drop to 0.923Mt. Output fell five per cent YoY from 0.973Mt to 0.924Mt in November 2015.
Vietnam output up 10.3%, exports to miss target
Vietnam produced 61.2Mt of cement in the first 11 months of this year, up 10.3 per cent from the same period of last year, the government-run General Statistics Office said. The country's cement sales increased 10.2 per cent YoY to 6.5Mt in November. The Ministry of Construction predicted that Vietnam’s sales of cement and clinker to rise to between 72-74Mt this year. Domestic sales are e...
CIMAF to start up Rep Congo works in January
January 2016 will see the start of operations at CIMAF’s Hinda works in southern Republic of Congo, according to the country's Industrial Development and Private Sector Promotion Minister, Isidore Mvouba. He reported the construction work at the new plant is now finished and the 0.5Mta facility is now ready for its official inauguration by Congo's President, Denis Sassou Nguesso.
Sika opens new mortar plant in Philadelphia, UK
Sika has opened a state-of-the-art new mortar products plant in North America. The new facility is an extension of Sika's existing concrete admixture plant, the capacity of which has also been increased. Christoph Ganz, Regional Manager North America: "We are continuing the expansion that has taken place in the past two years by investing in Sika’s growth drivers such as mortars. This means t...
CPA: ONS construction figures highlight growth in private housing but sharp falls in public housing
Latest figures from the UK’s Office of National Statistics (ONS) state that total construction output rose by 0.2 per cent in October compared with September and was one per cent higher than a year ago. The Construction Products Association (CPA) underlined that these figures, released on Friday, clearly highlight the rise in private housing and the sharp fall in public housing. Dr Noble Fran...
New Kazakhstan cement plant agreement signed
Huaxin Cement Co of China has signed an agreement to invest US$150m in the construction of a 1Mta cement plant in the Aktobe region of Kazakhstan. The deal was signed by Berdybek Saparbayev, governor of the Aktobe region, and Xu Yongmo, chairman of the board of Huaxin Cement. The agreement was concluded during Kazakh Prime Minister Karim Massimov's official visit to China. Construction of ...
Egypt: Beni Suef Cement starts SRC production
Beni Suef Cement has started to produce sulphate-resistant cement (SRC) for use in tunnels and other special projects. The Egyptian cement producer is aiming to boost sales by selling 200,000t of this new product in 2016, in addition to sales of ordinary Portland cement.
BofAML forecasts 2H16 oil price recovery; downside risks prevail as OPEC meeting ends in acrimony
Brent crude oil prices are expected see a recovery in the second half of next year, leading to average price of US$50/bbl in 2016, according to Bank of America Merrill Lynch (BofAML). However, the "deep sense of acrimony" that emerged from last Friday's OPEC meeting creates downside risks to BofAML's 2016 pricing assumptions, it cautions. BofAML highlighted that its expectations for next year...