Cement News tagged: International
Kazakhstan: Steppe Cement 1Q volumes down
In the first quarter of 2015, Kazakhstan-based producer Steppe Cement reported a three per cent decline in sales volumes to 192,884t from 198,607t a year earlier. The company said in a statement that the Kazakhstan cement market rose by eight per cent over the corresponding quarter of last year. However, Steppe Cement’s market share fell from 17 per cent in 1Q14 to 15 per cent in 1Q15. Cem...
Spanish watchdog includes Lafarge and Holcim in cartel proceedings
Spanish competition regulator CNMC has included Lafarge and Holcim in the proceedings for alleged cartel agreements brought up against a number of sector players at the end of 2014. Additionally, the CNMC has extended the proceedings to Materiales y Hormigones and Hormibusa. The move was based on information gathered during several inspections carried out in September for alleged exchange o...
Hope launch search for new recruits to join their Apprenticeship Academy
Hope Construction Materials is once again on the lookout for top young talent to join its business in Derbyshire, Yorkshire and the northeast UK. The firm’s Apprenticeship Academy has reopened for its second year, with Hope searching for three new apprentices at its quarries at Holme Hall near Rotherham, Coxhoe in County Durham and its cement works in the Hope Valley. Current apprenti...
PCA forecasts growth trend to continue, imports to increase rapidly
US cement consumption will continue its growth trend in 2015, with cement and clinker imports forecast to grow rapidly in 2017 and beyond, according to the Portland Cement Association (PCA). During the 2015 PCA Spring Meeting, PCA chief economist and Group VP Edward J Sullivan projected that total cement consumption would increase by 7.5 per cent from last year, and continue to grow in 2016 b...
Savanna Diamond Cement launches new Ghana plant
Savanna Diamond Cement Co Ltd (SDCL) launched operations of its 0.44Mta cement factory in Buipe, in the northern region of Ghana. The new US$90m project was officially inaugurated by President John Mahama of Ghana. SDCL's new 0.44Mta integrated factory is officially launched in the presence of President John Mahama of Ghana. (Picture source: Flickr) The SDCL plant is a fully ...
National Cement plans expansion into Uganda
National Cement, which currently operates a grinding plant in Kenya, plans to invest KES18.5bn (US$199m) in a new factory in Uganda, according to local news reports. The new plant marks the company's first foray into Uganda, and its first venture outside Kenya. With a capacity of 1Mta, the new cement facility is expected to be completed by the end of next year, the report by Ventures Africa ...
Semen Padang posts 1Q sales decline, Indonesia
PT Semen Padang, part of the Semen Indonesia group of companies, reported a 6.8 per cent decrease in sales volumes in the first quarter of this year to 1.5Mt. "The poor sales of cement were attributed to the sluggish domestic demand," said Semen Padang president director Benny Wendry told local press on Monday. However, the company does not intend to rein in production levels and maintains ...
Indonesia first-quarter sales down 3.2%
Indonesian cement consumption fell by 3.2 per cent YoY in the January-March period, latest figures from the Indonesia Cement Association (ASI) show. Over the first three months of the year, consumption dropped to 13.63Mt compared to 14.08Mt in 1Q14. Year to date consumption was down in Java (-1.3 per cent), Sumatra (-3.9 per cent), Sulawesi (-2.5 per cent), Kalimantan (-1.4 per cent) and Nusa...
Nomura expects Indian demand recovery in FY16
Nomura expects Indian cement companies to see demand recover in the current fiscal year, after a weak ending to fiscal 2015 in March. The broker expects Indian cement companies' revenues and operating profit to stay flat for the January-March period, owing to falling volumes. Cement volumes fell by about five per cent YoY during that period – the weakest in any quarter in the past couple of ...
Mumbai Port Trust allots land for cement handling terminal
The Mumbai Port Trust has allocated allotted 25,000m2 of land at Petroleum Godown to UltraTech Cement for 30 years, to build a fully-automated cement handling terminal. The terminal will be used to ship in cement in from other states and distributed to users across the city, according to trust chairman and managing director Ravi Parmar. The facility will be equipped with portable unloaders, 3...
French cement demand hits 50-year low
Cement consumption in France fell a further 5.5 per cent to 18.2Mt in 2014, a level not seen since 1964, according to SFIC, the French cement association. In addition, the latest figures indicate that the downward trend is continuing. In 1Q15, demand decreased 10 per cent when compared with 1Q14. For the full-year 2015, the association forecasts consumption to contract by 3.5 per cent YoY t...
GCC expects declining growth on low oil prices
Grupo Cementos de Chihuahua (GCC) expects sales growth to decline this year after record revenue last year as low oil prices constrict demand in the United States, the company's top market. GCC Treasurer Luis Carlos Arias told Reuters in an interview that after a nearly 20 per cent sales spike in 2014, the company projects only single digit growth in the US, which accounts for about 70 per ce...
Saudi cement sales see annual gains
Saudi cement sales for the month of February 2015 were 6.5 per cent higher than in February 2013 and 9.7 per cent higher than February 2014 when the market was impacted by a labour shortage caused by a government immigration crackdown, according to new research from NCB Capital. Sales were 3.3 per cent lower than in January 2015, but this was due to the shorter working month. NCB Capital ...
Pakistan nine-month shipments up 4%
Pakistan cement dispatches increased by four per cent to 25.65Mt in the first nine months of the current fiscal compared to 24.78Mt in the same period of the previous year, according to data released by the All Pakistan Cement Manufacturers Association (APCMA). Local dispatches increased by eight per cent YoY to 20.22Mt in 9MFY15 compared to 18.76Mt in same period of last year. However, cem...
1Q15 Swiss dispatches down 16%
Domestic deliveries by the Swiss cement industry fell 16 per cent in 1Q15 as the construction industry experiences a cooldown, according to cement association Cemsuisse. Dispatches fell from 980,721t in 1Q14 to 823,375t in 1Q15.
Russia: Gornozavodsktsement to raise output
Gornozavodsktsement, based in the Volga region of Russia, plans to produce 1.55Mt of cement worth RUB4.49bn (EUR74.01m) in 2015). The company, which has a capacity of 2.2Mta, produced 1.578Mt in 2014 (+3 per cent against 2013). Revenue amounted to RUB4.472bn (+3.5 per cent). Net profit totalled RUB941m against RUB 838m in 2013.