Cement News tagged: International
Lafarge bullish on Philippine outlook
Lafarge Republic sees sustained cement demand growth in the Philippines through the year as the company prepares to lift capacity to meet future requirements. While demand in the first half of the year is traditionally stronger for the local cement industry, the company remains bullish for the remainder of the year. “I think because of the continuing projects of the government, continuing pro...
Ecebol to cover 22% Bolivian cement demand
Ecebol, the state-owned cement project, is expected to cover 22 per cent of Bolivia’s cement demand when it is completed in 2018, announced the Bolivian president Evo Morales. The new plant will cost US$306m and have a cement production capacity of 1.13Mta. As reported earlier, the government authorised the release of US$244m for the implementation, operation and commissioning of the wor...
Fabrica Nacional de Cemento experiences bagging shortage
Venezuela’s Fabrica Nacional de Cemento has halted bagging cement at its key Pertigalete plant, the country’s largest cement plant. During normal operation the works bags around 105,000 bags per day. The stoppage has been attributed to a lack of available bags and will be affecting national cement distribution, according to Luis Chaparro, secretary general of the Pertigalete union. He added...
HeidelbergCement looks to increase Indian capacity
HeidelbergCement India is looking to raise its capacity in India over the next few years to 15Mta including acquisitions. Speaking to the Financial Express, CEO of the India-based cement producer said: “We have plans to raise capacity to 15Mta in the next three-four years from the current level of 5.4Mta. We will be pursuing both organic and inorganic acquisitions. According to local pre...
Israel opens Gaza for cement imports
After six years of closing the border with Gaza to cement, gravel and iron imports, Israel has decided to allow such deliveries to take place again via the Kerem Shalom border crossing, said a representative of the Palestinian Authority. The move, which is expected to strengthen the private sector in Gaza and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, was confirmed by Israeli government circles. (S...
Japanese cement producers hike prices
Prices for building materials in Japan, including cement, are being hiked on the back of post-earthquake reconstruction projects, and robust demand for condominiums and other buildings. According to reports by the Nikkei, some of Japan’s leading cement producers Taiheiyo Cement Corp, Ube Mistubishi Cement Corp and Sumitomo Osaka Cement Co, have announced price hikes of about nine per cent nex...
Vicem eight-month sales rise 9.5%
Vietnam Cement Industry Corp (Vicem), domestic market leader, said cement and clinker sales rose by 9.5 per cent YoY to 14.38Mt. Domestic sales accounted for 13.64Mt of the total while 742,000t was exported. The group produced 10.89Mt of clinker and 11.13Mt of cement, up 12.5 and 11.8 per cent YoY, respectively. However, in August 2013 alone, sales fell 9.47 per cent to 1.76Mt from the ...
Bolivia authorises Ecebol new plant spend
The government of Bolivia has authorised the release of US$244,928,439 to Empresa Pública Cementos Boliviana (Ecebol) for the implementation, operation and commissioning of a cement works in Oruro. The Banco de Desarrollo Productivo is making the resources available in the form of a 20-year credit with three years grace. The loan will have a fixed annual interest of one per cent with annua...
British Columbia industry reaching milestone
Just two years after its launch in Canada, a new cement type that results in 10 per cent lower CO2 emissions is rapidly becoming the preferred standard for the majority of new concrete construction projects in British Columbia, according to the Cement Association of Canada. The BC cement industry reports that Contempra now accounts for nearly 50 per cent of the domestic cement consumed in t...
Semen Indonesia sees 16% YoY rise in Jan-Aug 2013 cement sales
Semen Indonesia reported a 16 per cent increase in cement sales for the first eight months of this year to 16Mt, as the country's largest producer sees market share increase on the back of new volumes. Domestic shipments increased by 15 per cent YoY to 15.8Mt while exports rose 373 per cent to 191Mt. Dwi Soetjipto, president director of Semen Indonesia, said the rise in sales was also su...
Mangalam Cement enhances capacity of Kiln Line 1, India
Mangalam Cement has resumed operations of Kiln Line 1 which has been undergoing a renovation project to expand capacity. The company informed the Bombay Stock Exchange that the clinker line, which had been halted for upgrades on 6 May 2013, recommenced operations on 16 September 2013. The overall clinker manufacturing capacity has now been enhanced from 1.71Mt to 2.21Mt. The company has als...
Yguazu Cementos to enter operations in October
Paraguay’s Yguazú Cementos is expected to light the kiln at its Villa Hayes plant in October. The initial production of the works is estimated at 100,000-150,000 bags per month – all destined for the local market. "We estimate that in the second half of October all will be set to inaugurate and start production," said the company's general manager, Cleber Ceroni. He said production will inc...
Caribbean states look to monitor trading activity
East Caribbean states are looking to implement a cement trade monitoring mechanism in the region due to frequent supply shortages which are reportedly hampering construction activity in the sub-region. According to reports by The Guardian, the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) Secretariat’s Trade Policy Unit (TPU) is encouraging talks among Member States to develop a positio...
Iraq bans white cement imports from Iran
Iraq has placed a ban on imports of Iranian white cement from the Shalamcheh and Chazabeh borders, Sadeq Sava'edi, the deputy head of Khuzestan's Cement Exporters Union said on Tuesday. "The ban has been in effect for three months now," the ISNA News Agency quoted Savaedi as saying. "This while the Iraqis are importing white cement from other borders," Savaedi said. However, he noted that Ir...
Cimpor outlines Latin America spend
Cimpor is to invest some BRL3bn (US$1.319bn) over the next four years which is expected to include new factories in Brazil and Argentina. Company CEO Ricardo Lima said the main objective is to reinforce Cimpor's position in Brazil where it operates in all regions except the north. The company is therefore gong to invest in a new unit in northern Brazil, probably Belem or Manaus, he told ...
Tanzania Portland optimistic on 2H turnaround
Tanzania Portland Cement Company expects a recovery in second half net profit thanks to reduced production costs. In the first six months of the year, net profit fell by over one-third to TZS19bn (US$11.8m) due to unregulated imports, power shortages and problems with its electric transformer, the HeidelbergCement group company had previously said. However, TPCC managing director, Pascal...