Cement News tagged: International
Semen Indonesia plans Padang power plant
State-run cement producer, PT Semen Indonesia, is considering building a 100MW coal-fired power plant to supply its facilities in Padang, West Sumatra, the construction of which is expected to start next year. Semen Indonesia president director, Dwi Soetjipto, said the company was undertaking a study on the plan, particularly on the capacity level of the power plant. Once the plant is comple...
India: NMC plans second phase of cement roads
Following directives from India's Minister for Shipping, Road Transport and Highways, Nitin Gadkari, Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) has started to plan the second phase of cement concrete roads at an expense of INR1250m (US$207.5m) despite the fact that over 80 per cent work on the first phase is yet to be taken up. NMC sources say work on 4.5km of total target of 26km concrete roads has b...
India: Telangana Government seeks cement price cuts
On Monday, the Telangana Government in southern India asked local cement companies to reduce prices. Chief Secretary to the Government, Rajiv Sarma, had asked the firms to rationalise the price in line with the demand. It may be noted that cement prices rose sharply after the formation of the new government in the centre and the two states and is hovering around INR280/bag (US$4.7) at present...
HeidelbergCement outlines Georgia investment strategy
Georgia's Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development recently signed an agreement with HeidelbergCement which will see the German multinational invest US$100m in the country during the next five years. The value of investments made by HeidelbergCement after the start of its operations in Georgia in 2006 exceeds US$270m to date. In particular, the company will expand production at its coa...
Lafarge and Holcim to make portfolio decisions in India
Holcim Ltd and Lafarge SA may sell some assets in India to clear the competition hurdle and are considering units in Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh where the two companies have common presence. Holcim operates in India through Ambuja Cements Ltd and ACC Ltd, and Lafarge through Lafarge India Pvt Ltd. Lafarge runs units in Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Rajasthan and West Bengal while ACC and Ambuja Ce...
Semen Indonesia to fund Thang Long expansion
State-run cement producer Semen Indonesia is planning to spend US$300m to establish a new plant in Vietnam as part of its business expansion in southeast Asia. The new facility will be in the south of the country, near the company’s limestone mine. Semen Indonesia's president director, Dwi Soetjipto, said Semen Indonesia hopes to expand the production capacity of TLCC, its Vietnamese subsidi...
Nigeria: authorities urged to sanction slow regulation compliance
Cement distributors and block makers in southeast Nigeria have urged the regulatory authorities not to back down on the recently-reviewed quality standard and grading of cement. They called on government to sanction product manufacturers that fail to comply within the stipulated period of time. The distributors, however, commended Dangote Cement for complying, saying it has shown that it ha...
Holcim's Fontana walks into a barrage of problems in Sri Lanka
Bernard Fontana, Holcim CEO, arrived in Sri Lanka to formally open a grinding facility in Galle, but found Holcim being accused of various charges by the local press. Communications staff at Holcim Lanka had to block attempts by The Sunday Leader and the Irudina to attend a press briefing at the Taj Hotel in Colombo. Mr Fontana faced anger when the investment of US$22m in Ruhunu Galle was b...
Vietnam sees cement demand pick up
The Vietnam National Cement Association (Vicem) says domestic cement consumption in the first five months of 2014 reached 20.42Mt, up 9.3 per cent on the same period last year. In the last month alone, cement consumption in the country was estimated at 4.87Mt, increasing 12 per cent against May 2013. The association chairman, Nguyen Quang Cung, predicted that domestic cement consumption this...
India: Cargotec enters partnership with Citec
Cargotec and Citec are forming a partnership in India, where Cargotec transfers its local engineering centre and its 110 employees in Pune to Citec. "This is a significant step for our operations in India, and it also provides great business opportunities elsewhere. We are ready to serve Cargotec proactively according to our strategic intent, with smart engineering solutions and a wide com...
UK: Hope chairman wins regional Institute of Directors award
Amit Bhatia, chairman of Hope Construction Materials, has been crowned Young Director of the Year for London and the South East, alongside Ross Williams, CEO of Global Personals, at the Institute of Director’s (IoD) Director of the Year awards. Amit Bhatia fought off stiff competition from a number of high-profile nominees to claim the joint accolade. He will now go through to the national f...
Armenia: Mika Cement finds buyer
Russia-based Armenian businessmen are said to be poised to buy Mika Cement plant, according to the Zhghovurd newspaper. The cement plant was owned by Mikhail Baghdasarov but was mortgaged to VTB Armenia Bank last November having been pronounced bankrupt in June 2013. Serob Sharoyan, the plant's technical department manager, is expected to be appointed the new director of Mika Cement, said th...
Recovery in Indonesian monthly cement sales growth
Indonesian cement sales growth picked up pace during May following a slowdown during the month before on the back of legislative elections. Last month cement sales advanced by 7.7 per cent to 5.2Mt, latest data from the Indonesia Cement Association shows. This follows just a 0.4 per cent increase in April before as elections led to projects being put on hold. Cement sales in May increased...
Iran’s exports surpass 3Mt mark in first two months
Iran exported over 3.47Mt of cement and clinker in the first two months of the current Iranian calendar year, which began on 21 March, an Iranian cement industry official announced on Tuesday. In the second Iranian calendar month of Ordibehesht (21 April - 21 May ), Iran exported over 1.411Mt of cement and 625,393t of clinker, IRIB quoted Abdolreza Sheikhan as saying. Over 8.739Mt of the ...
French market regulator clears Italcementi tender offer
French market regulator Autorité des Marchés Financiers (AMF) has cleared Italcementi's tender offer on French unit Ciments Francais, paving the way for the operation aimed at strengthening the Italian cement maker. Italcementi is expected to launch the offer priced EUR79.5 per share by the end of the month. Italcementi owns 84.48 per cent in the French producer and 91.38 per cent of vo...
Maple Leaf signs rail transport agreement, Pakistan
Pakistan Railways has signed an agreement with local cement producer Maple Leaf to transport cement from Daud Khel to Karachi. Railways GM (Operations) Anjum Pervaiz and Maple Leaf representative Saeed Sehgal signed the agreement on Monday. Initially, the agreement has been signed for a period of three years. The freight trains utilised for carrying cement would bring coal on the way back ...