Cement News tagged: International
Morocco: 5M16 sales up 4%
Cement sales in Morocco advanced four per cent in the first five months of 2016, according to the Department of Financial Forecast and Research of the country’s Ministry of Economy and Finance. During the same period, capacity utilisation in Morocco’s cement plants has improved by three percentage points to 64 per cent.
DR Congo: Cimentkat to be relaunched
There are plans to relaunch Cimenterie du Katanga (Cimentkat), according to the governor of Lualaba province, Muyej Mangez. The cement works, which is located in Lubudi, 300km from Lubumbashi, Democratic Republic of Congo, was shut down due to a lack of finances. However, South African investors are expected to invest in the plant, which has outdated equipment and still is required to pay 1...
USA: cement demand stable in April
Total Portland and blended cement shipments in the USA and Puerto Rico remained stable at 7.692Mt in April 2016 when compared with the previous year when 7.678Mt were delivered, according to the US Geological Survey’s latest data. Texas was the leading consumer with 848,730t, followed by California, Florida, Ohio and Georgia (in descending order). Together they accounted for 39 per cent of ...
Dem Rep Congo: cement price jumps 50%
Despite assurances to the contrary by the country’s economics minister, Modest Bahai, following the suspension of cement imports in the Democratic Republic of Congo less than a week ago, the price of cement has rocketed. In the capital, Kinshasa, the price of a 50kg bag of cement has jumped from CDF10,000 (US$10.37) to CDF15,000. Various sources, including the national SME commission of...
Israel: Ashdod Port workers refuse to unload cement
A petition has been filed by the management at Ashdod Port, Israel, against its workers, who refused to unload shipments of cement due to claims that they are understaffed. Port management is trying to enforce conditions laid out in a long-standing agreement which says shipments can be unloaded by just two workers. The workers union has claimed that this is unfair as the agreement was drafted ...
Peru cement market contracts 3.5% YoY in June
In June, Peruvian cement demand fell by 3.5 per cent YoY to 0.756Mt from 0.781Mt, according to Asocem, the country's cement association. Domestic sales were supplemented with 23,000t of export sales, which slipped from 24,000t in June 2015. However, the country also imported 28,000t of clinker and 44,000t of cement. Cement output from Peru’s cement plants decreased three per cent in June...
Panama cement production falls 6.1% 12M ending May 2016
Cement production in Panama fell 6.1 per cent in the last 12 months ending May 2016, when the country’s cement plants produced 812,616t, according to the General Controller of the Republic of Panama. In the corresponding period ending May 2015, output reached 864,570t. The decline has been attributed to the malaise in the country’s construction sector.
Indonesia: Consumption rises 3.1% in year to June 2016
Cement consumption in Indonesia reached 29.48Mt for the first six months of 2016, according to Indonesia Investments, but sales in Java – the largest market – recorded a decline in June. Overall, cement consumption for 1H2016 was up 3.1 per cent YoY. In June, Indonesia consumed 5.1Mt of cement, up by 1.8 per cent YoY. For the whole six-month period, only the Kalimantan region recorded a dec...
Nigeria: Lafarge Africa launches logistics academy for truck drivers
Lafarge Africa Plc has established a logistics academy for truck drivers in an attempt to lower the level of reckless driving in Nigeria. According to the company the academy will educate drivers on the fundamentals of safety and fleet management. Michael Puchercos, group managing director, explained that the academy follows up on a road safety project also established by the company to ens...
Algeria: new cement plant in Sigus
Algerian Prime Minister, Abdelmalek Sellal, laid the first stone of a cement plant operated by the Industrial Group of Cements of Algeria (GICA) on Thursday in Sigus (Oum El Bouaghi). The Prime Minister said that large investments for the construction of cement plants across the country had been made available in an attempt to contribute to sustainable economic growth. He noted that Algeria...
Ghana: government blamed for Diamond Cement downsizing
The Afloa Youth Association in the Volta region have accused the Ghanaian government of being insensitive towards the downsizing of local cement manufacturer Diamond Cement as a result of competition with Dangote Cement. Diamond Cement has repeatedly voiced concerns regarding Dangote’s involvement in the retail of cement in Ghana, saying it is unfair competition. Dangote’s presence in the c...
Sri Lanka: Tokyo Cement Company calls for end to price controls
Tokyo Cement, the largest cement producer in Sri Lanka, has called on the government to end controls and allow the market to set prices, Colombo’s Daily Mirror reports. In 2015 the government introduced a price ceiling of LKR870 (US$6.00) for a 50kg bag of cement, at a time when local prices were LKR930-940. Since last year the Sri Lankan rupee has depreciated in value, raising the cost ...
India: Kerala businesses protest high cement prices
The Government Contractors Association (GCA) in Kerala has hit out at the state government’s failure to control cement prices, which have reached INR430 (US$6.40) for a 50kg bag, the Deccan Chronicle reports. The head of the GCA in Kerala, Varghese Kannampally, noted that production costs for a bag of cement are about INR70 (US$1.04). Mr Kannampally observed that in neighbouring Tamil Nadu,...
Gabon moves towards self-sufficiency
In line with the aim of many west African countries, Gabon is quickly establishing itself as a self-sufficient producer rather than a prominent importer. This week, Moroccan company Ciments de l'Afrique (CIMAF) formally inaugurated a new 0.5Mta plant at Owendo as more foreign investment into domestic cement sector is rapidly converted into new capacity. The current cement players The es...
Conch offer shows price just one factor in Lafarge deal
China’s Anhui Conch lost out in the race to acquire Lafarge India despite the fact that its offer of INR95bn (US$1.4bn) was higher than the INR94bn bid submitted by Nirma Group, the eventual winners. In an article published today, Mint examines some possibilities behind Anhui’s failure. The paper dismisses suggestions that the Competition Commission of India intervened directly to block its...
Mozambique is on course to more than double its cement capacity
Three new factories are due to open before the end of the year in Mozambique as the country's cement capacity is expanded from just over 2Mta to around 5.3Mta. Greenfield plants are being built by CIF-Moz, owned by the China International Fund, and Limak Cement of Turkey, in the southern province of Maputo. Meanwhile, Fabrica Cimentos de Cabo Delgado is establishing a new plant in the nor...