Cement News tagged: International
BJP government to conduct vigilance probe into land transfer
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in Haryana, India, has decided to conduct a vigilance probe into the transfer of approximately 122 acres of land from Associated Cement Companies’ (ACC) Bhupendra factory to a Mumbai-based builder, reports The Times of India. Latika Sharma, MLA, Kalka (BJP), has stated that, as per the lease deed of the factory, the land could only be used for i...
US cement shipments reach 6.3Mt in December
Total shipments of Portland and blended cement in the USA and Puerto Rico grew by 3.5 per cent YoY to 6.3Mt in December 2017, according to the US Geological Survey (USGS). The largest state markets in the country were Texas, California, Florida, Georgia and New York (in descending order), which accounted for 43 per cent of total US shipments. The leading producing states for Portland and...
Pakistan's capacity utilisation stands 91%
The All Pakistan Cement Manufacturers Association (APCMA) reports that the domestic cement industry's capacity utilisation in the first eight months of this fiscal year ( July 2017-Feb 2018) stood at 91 per cent of the total installed capacity of the sector. In 8MFY17-18 the country's cement industry dispatched 31Mt of cement compared with dispatches of 26.3Mt in the corresponding perio...
Argentina's cement market expands 16% in February
Argentine cement consumption increased 15.6 per cent YoY in February 2018, according to the country’s cement association, AFCP. Total volumes sold on the domestic market rose to 924,075t, up from 799,340t in February 2017 but down 11.5 per cent when compared with January 2018, when sales reached 1,043,732t. Around 908,503t of total domestic consumption was delivered by the country’s pro...
Nepal heads towards self-sufficiency in cement production
Nepal is seeing growing demand for cement in the country, as post-earthquake reconstruction work and construction of public and private infrastructure projects have started gathering pace. Jagadamba Cement, which has a production unit in Lumbini Corridor, is setting up another production plant in the eastern part of Bhairahawa. The new plant, according to the company, will produce 1500tpd o...
LafargeHolcim announces new Middle East/Africa organisation
LafargeHolcim has announced its new organisation for the Middle East and Africa region. "This new organisation will further increase our market focus, our operational performance and support the development and execution of winning market strategies to grow profitable businesses in the Middle East & Africa markets," said Saâd Sebbar, who heads up the company’s MEA Region. The company’s four...
Industry sales in Pakistan grow by 4% in 1HFY18
The profitability of the cement sector in Pakistan has contracted in the 1HFY18, falling 13 per cent YoY to PKR26.85bn (US$258.4m). This has been attributed to both an increase in the international coal prices and a lower cement retention cost. In the 1HFY18, industry sales grew by four per cent YoY to PKR134.03bn, while cement dispatches recorded a growth of 12 per cent to 19.6Mt. However,...
Colombia's cement sales slip in January
Colombia's cement market contracted by 0.5 per cent YoY in January 2018 to 0.908Mt, according to DANE, the country’s statistics office. The drop is attributed to a 3.4 per cent lower offtake by construction companies and contractors as well as a 2.6 per cent fall in sales to ready-mix concrete companies. The prefabricated segment increased its requirement by 41.8 per cent. In terms of ge...
Value chain is being bypassed in Namibia's cement sector
Namibia's cement industry is suffering from oversupply and low protection for the existing domestic producers. Infant Industry Protection (IIP) is afforded to an infant industry for a period of eight years with the rationale being that while protection is afforded to a newly-established industry during the start-up years. However, the IIP granted players have seen new entrants set-up without h...
Spain's demand grows 11% in 2017
Cement consumption in Spain expanded by 11 per cent to 12.3Mt in 2017, according to the latest data from the country’s cement association, Oficemen. However, despite the positive change, civil works, the engine of Spanish cement consumption, remains at historic lows. Demand from this sector has fallen by 75 per cent in the last decade, from 19Mt in 2008 to 5Mt today, says Oficemen. The orga...
Ukrainian cement output up 2% in January
Ukraine’s cement producers increased their cement output by 2.4 per cent YoY to 343,000t in January, according to Ukrainian News. Compared with December 2017, production fell by 22.5 per cent. In 2017 Ukrainian cement production advanced by 2.3 per cent YoY to 9.307Mt. Ukraine's cement industry currently operates 12 cement plants with a total production capacity of 18.3Mta, accordin...
Peru's cement market expands 5% in January
Peru's cement consumption expanded five per cent to 0.861Mt in January 2018 when compared with the previous year, but fell eight per cent MoM, according to the country’s cement association, Asocem. Per capita cement consumption in the Latin American country slipped 0.1 per cent YoY to 321kg but edged up 0.3 per cent when compared with December 2017, when it stood at 319kg. Peruvian cemen...
Cement price surge in Nampula
The price of cement in Nampula, northeastern Mozambique, has soared since the start of the year despite the existence of two cement plants in the port of Nacala, 200km to the west. At the end of 2017 the cement price reached MZN435-470 (US$7.30-7.80) per 50kg bag but by 23 February, this had risen to MZN570-610/bag. Demand in the northern provinces has boomed and the two cement plants can...
Uganda faces cement price hike
Cement prices have risen in Uganda since the start of the year, with wholesale prices now between UGX29,000-30,500 (US$7.90-8.40)/bag. Tororo Cement has announced that prices increased to UGX29,500 from UGX28,500 recorded in the first week of January 2018, according to the Daily Monitor. " There is an increment of UGX1000. At wholesale level, the price is UGX29,500. It is due to the fuel pri...
US Portland and blended cement shipments up 4% in November
Total shipments of Portland and blended cement in the USA and Puerto Rico rose 4.2 per cent YoY to 8.2Mt in November 2017, according to the US Geological Survey (USGS). The leading producing states were Texas, Missouri, California, Florida and Alabama (in descending order). Around 39 per cent of these shipments were sold in Texas, California, Florida, Ohio and Georgia (the leading consumin...
Indonesia cement demand up 9.9% in January 2018
Indonesia's cement consumption rose 9.9 per cent YoY to 5.68Mt in January 2018. The growth of demand is being attributed to rising cement demand on the back of the government-led infrastructure development programmes, particularly the construction of toll roads. Widodo Santoso, Chairman of the Indonesian Cement Association (ASI), said cement consumption rose at similar levels across the co...