Cement News tagged: International
South African market challenges
Full-year data for South African cement sales released this week show that dispatches edged ahead in 2012, but the growth rate remained tepid. Producers will hope that the government's new infrastructure plans will deliver a new growth impetus to the market. Meanwhile, the country's leading cement producer is pursuing additional opportunities across sub-Saharan Africa to bolster profits. ...
Indonesia's multi-billion dollar capacity drive continues
Indonesian cement capacity is expected to reach 100Mta by 2017 from the current 60.5Mta with domestic producers and new investors earmarking an estimated US$6.68bn over the next four years to build new and expand existing plants. Local producers have already announced plans to invest some US$4.83bn over the next four years to expand capacities by an aggregate total of 35.3Mt. These include ...
South Africa sales rise by 3% in 2012
South African cement sales edged ahead 2.9 per cent in 2012 to reach 11.6Mt from 11.23Mt the year before, data from the Cement and Concrete Institute (C&CI) shows. For the final quarter of the year, sales were just over 3Mt, also representing an increase of 2.9 per cent on the same period of 2011 when fourth-quarter sales were 2.944Mt. The C&CI will be closing down at the end of April, ...
Ube Industries prepares for further growth in domestic demand, Japan
Japanese cement producer Ube Industries is to develop a limestone mine in Yamaguchi Prefecture to prepare for further expected increases in cement demand. This will be the company’s first mine development in 35 years and production is expected to start in 2017, according to a Nikkei Report. The mine has estimated reserves of some 300Mt and Ube Industries plans to operate the mine for about ...
UltraTech Cement production at 4Mt in March
UltraTech Cement said that the company’s total production for March 2013 was 4Mt. Dispatches were 4.01Mt, the company said in a filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange. India’s largest cement company recently announced that it had commissioned two new cement facilities as part of its ongoing expansion drive to raise cement capacity by 9.2Mta to 62Mta. The recently-commissioned plants are a 3.3M...
Akmenes Cementas reports encouraging start to 2013, Lithuania
Lithuania’s sole cement producer Akmenes Cementas reported a 13 per cent rise in revenues for the first two months of 2013 to LTL15.2m (EUR4.4m) Sales volumes rose by 16 per cent to 65,000t from 56,000t in the same period of last year, company spokesperson Giedre Kundrotiene told Baltic News Service. Domestic cement consumption is likely to have shown a five per cent decline in 2012 to 0.6...
Vietnam first-quarter cement sales rise 15% YoY
Vietnam cement producers have reported a 15 per cent YoY rise in sales in the first quarter of 2013 to 7.55Mt, the Ministry of Construction (MoC) has reported. The double-digit quarter rise comes despite a 30 per cent drop in March sales to 2Mt. Thanks to the increase in cement sales between January and March, the country’s cement inventory dropped by 45 per cent YoY to 40,000t, according o...
Valderrivas names new President and CEO
The Board of Directors of Cementos Portland Valderrivas has agreed to appoint José Luis Sáenz de Miera as Chairman and CEO. Sáenz de Miera replaces Juan Bejar, who was recently appointed Vice Chairman and CEO of FCC. Among other positions, Saenz de Miera has been head of Cemex in southern Europe, Africa, Middle East and Asia, and Vice Chairman and CEO of Cemex Spain. Saenz de Miera repla...
Colombia’s cement demand down 2.7% in February
Cement consumption in Colombia slipped 2.7 per cent YoY to 823,700t in February, according to Dane, the country’s national statistics bureau. Retail dispatches fell 5.7 per cent and were the key factor in the falling demand. Construction companies and contractors, on the other hand, increased their use by three per cent. Cement production fell 4.8 per cent YoY to 823,700t in February. ...
New Nepalese factory begins production
Araniko Cement Industries has started production from its new plant in Jitpur, Bara, Narayani Zone of Nepal, as the cement industry gears up for further infrastructure and housing developments. “We have started production and distribution of Advance brand of cement from our new plant in Jitpur,” Bijaya Kumar Nidhi, general manager of Araniko Cement, told Republica press. “Our old plant at A...
Indian cement price hikes fail to hold in March
Cement price hikes initiated during February in the Indian market have failed to stick during March as demand remains subdued across the country. The Economic Times reports that a number of producers have been forced to reduced prices in several areas to meet year-end targets. As a result, the nationwide average was INR300/50kg bag – the same as in February. Prices in the central region...
Vietnam first-quarter production rises 2.1%
Vietnam is estimated to have produced 12.4Mt in the first quarter of 2013, representing a rise of 2.1 per cent YoY, the latest data from the General Statistics Office (GSO) shows. The government-run office has revised down its figures for January and February 2013 from an earlier estimate of 8.3Mt to 7.4Mt. During March alone, the country's output is likely to have fallen by two per cent Yo...
Pakistan cement producers deny cartel
Pakistan cement producers have denied the existence of a cement cartel, telling the Ministry of Industries that they are operating at the lowest rate of return. The Express Tribune reports that during a meeting with the ministry, the producers in question countered the claims by stating they have passed on the minimum impact of inflation to end-users over the past few years. They highlighte...
Lafarge Malayan Cement mulls expansion
Lafarge Malayan Cement may expand capacity in a bid to maintain market share as local rivals increase capacity amid rising domestic demand. The company is the country's leading cement producer and currently occupies a 40 per cent share of the market. Its major rivals are YTL Cement and Cement Industries of Malaysia (CIMA) both of which have planned capacity expansions. New entrant Hume Indu...
ASEC signs training programme initiative with Minya University, Egypt
ASEC Minya and ASEC Ready Mix, two subsidiaries of ASEC Cement have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Minya University to help prepare students with the skills they need to seek meaningful employment in their fields. The Governor of Minya, D. Mostafa Eissa, Minya University President, Dr Mohammed Sherif and ASEC Cement Chairman and CEO Giorgio Bodo were in attendance at the s...
Vietnam market remains sluggish
The Vietnamese Ministry of Construction said that cement consumption was estimated at 3.7Mt in February, accounting for 7.4 per cent of this year’s plan. The cement market remained subdued though producers continued to offer 3-5 bags of cement for free on 100 bags of cement. The Ministry’s plan foresees a cement demand of around 56-57Mt, of which the domestic market is expected to abso...