Cement News tagged: International
J K Cement: Indian cement demand to grow 7% in FY17, 8% in FY18
J K Cement expects the government’s infrastructure push to drive cement demand in India in the next two years. “We expect demand to hit seven per cent in FY17 and eight percent in FY18,” said the company’s CFO, AK Saraogi. He added that compared to last year there has been a sizeable change in the real estate and developer market and a turnaround has started to happen. “Railways, metro, ...
US fundamentals remain strong
Should investors be worried about the apparent slowdown of US cement shipments in recent months? The IMF has revised down its US growth estimates from 2.6 to 1.6 per cent for 2016 and construction is expected to see a deceleration. A flow of company warnings have been issued with Buzzi Unicem Inc seeing volumes down by double digits in Texas and down 3-4 per cent in the Midwest. Heidelber...
EC to investigate HeidelbergCement-Schwenk acquisition of Cemex Croatia
The plans of HeidelbergCement and Schwenk to acquire Cemex's Croatian subsidiary will be subject to review by the European Commission (EC). The transaction would result in the merger of Cemex Croatia, the largest domestic cement producer, with Duna Drava Cement, the largest importer and a subsidiary of the two German cement producers. After a preliminary analysis, the EC concluded that ...
Indonesia: September figures weaker
Due to a lower demand from the domestic housing industry, Indonesian cement sales for the month of September fell 3.3 per cent to 5.64Mt compared to September of 2015, according to the Indonesian Cement Association (ASI). Cement sales fell in Java, Sumatra and Kalimantan, while eastern parts of the country including Sulawesi, Maluku and Papua saw growth, reports Widodo Santoso, ASI chairman...
Kazakh cement consumption shows signs of slowing
Cement consumption growth in Kazakhstan is expected to decelerate in 2016, breaking with the decade-long trend of demand expansion of 15-30 per cent annually. Only in 2009, consumption dropped. "We anticipate cement demand nationwide to decline by up to five YoY this year, from two per cent growth last year," Javier del Ser, CEO of London-listed Steppe Cement, told the Nikkei Asian Review...
Indonesia: minister to bring in regulation to stop capex expansion
In an effort to curb Indonesia’s burgeoning overcapacity, the government has announced that it is working on a regulation banning the issuance of new permits for cement plants, the Jakarta Post reports. “We’ve been talking about the moratorium as well as some other ways to accommodate existing oversupply”, Industry Minister Airlangga Hartarto said. Other sources in government say that the regu...
UK: Tarmac launches new packaging machine at Tunstead
Tarmac has unveiled a new, state-of-the-art cement packing facility at its Tunstead cement site, near Buxton, Derbyshire, UK. The launch comes as the site celebrates its 50th anniversary of cement production. The bespoke Haver and Boecker 10-spout Adams 2000 plant is the first of its kind in the UK. The plant will manufacture Tarmac’s leading range of plastic packed and tubbed cement produ...
Uganda: Government to construct plant in Karamoja
It has been reported that the Ugandan government has plans to construct a cement plant in the Karamoja sub-region through a public-private partnership with Moroto Ateker Cement (MAC). MAC is formed by the Uganda Development Corporation (UDC) and Savannah Mines, a local Karamoja firm, with a shareholding of 51 and 49 per cent, respectively. According to the Uganda Bureau of Statistics, cemen...
Pakistan: cement sales rise by 3.6% in September
The All Pakistan Cement Manufacturers Association (APCMA) has announced that cement sales in the month of September rose by 3.55 per cent, reports the Tribune Newspaper. While domestic demand was relatively stable – accounting for around two per cent of the growth – exports, particularly to India, played a key role in sales growth. The APCMA recorded domestic dispatches rose two per cent...
Ghana: cement companies cut prices to win market share
Improving economic conditions and Dangote’s aggressive pricing policies have been blamed for what looks to be a developing price war among Ghanaian cement companies, Ghanaweb reports. Following Dangote Cement’s decision to reduce its price by GHS1.00/bag (US$0.25) in September, Ghacem and others have followed suit, driving down prices throughout the country. The Ghanaian market is domina...
North Korea: cement production rises in response to flooding
North Korean state media have reported that workers at the Sangwon cement plant have increased production by 50 per cent as part of efforts to send aid to the flood-stricken north of the country. The plant has sent over 70,000 tonnes of cement to North Hamgyong Province to help it recover from the floods. The increased output has enabled Sangwon to supply several thousand tonnes of cement a...
India: production to resume at Malabar Cements
Minister of Industry, E P Jayarajan, announced that Malabar Cements will resume operations his month. Production was halted on 10 September 2016 as a result of raw materials shortage. Mr Jayarajan said that laterite would be sourced from Kasaragod and limestone purchased from Rajasthan. Production at the company suffered after the then Managing Director, K Padmakumar, was removed from his p...
Kazakhstan: struggling economy hits cement industry
With a slump in oil prices, geopolitical tension between Russia and the West, and a slowdown in the Chinese economy, Kazakhstan’s GDP grew just 0.1 per cent YoY in 1H16. Following the decision of the central bank to partly float the currency, the tenge has fallen from KZT140 to the US$ to KZT340 over the past 30 months. Despite these struggles, construction activity is frenetic in Astana, t...
DR Congo: new plants to fight imports
This week it was announced that the Cementerie Kongo (CIMKO) greenfield cement plant project, a joint venture between Lucky Cement Ltd and the local Groupe Rawji, would be completed this October. While it will take a short while for the plant to be optimised, its targeted cement capacity of 1.2Mta is expected to be pressed into action as soon as possible to serve the country's 3Mta cement dem...
Vietnam: 9M16 cement sales reach 55.25Mt
According to the Ministry of Construction, Vietnam's cement sales reached 55.25Mt for the period January-September 2016. No YoY comparative figures were given. Of the total, 43.55Mt were sold domestically, a 7.7 per cent increase on the previous year, and 11.7Mt of cement and clinker were exported, representing a -1.3 per cent YoY change. In the month of September Vietnamese companies sold ...
Ethiopia: protesters start fires at Dangote plant
A Dangote cement plant in the Ada Berga, Oromia region, was set alight by angry protesters on Tuesday. The protesters were angered by the death of at least 55 people in a stampede triggered by clashes between police and demonstrators at a religious festival held by the Oromo people on Sunday. Protesters claimed the stampede was a result of violence by the security forces, but the Prime Mini...