Cement News tagged: International
India: local tax on coal mines to hit cement firms
India's coal ministry has tabled a proposal that cement, steel and sponge iron companies that have captive coal mines have an undue advantage, and this could be offset with a new tax. The rationale behind the coal ministry's proposed increase in taxes on cement and steel companies that own coal mines is that, while they are insulated from the market vagaries as far as this key input is conce...
Senegal cement battle looms
Aliko Dangote, Nigeria's powerful industrial conglomerate owner, is facing a battle to get his Senegalese cement plant up and running due to legal action and stiff competition. Vicat and its Sococim subsidiary in Senegal are ready to protect market share in west Africa by taking on Aliko Dangote. Dangote's Senegalese plant, one of the largest in Africa, is scheduled to start operation "w...
India: ACC lined up to buy into two cement joint ventures
ACC (Holcim) is likely to buy Jaypee Group 74 per cent stake in two separate cement joint ventures with state-owned steel maker Steel Authority of India Ltd, according to the Business Standard. The two joint ventures are located at Bhilai (Chhattisgarh) and Bokaro (Jharkhand) with a total capacity of just over 4Mta. Jaypee Group has been struggling with debts and has been in talks with ACC ...
Congo Rep opens Dolisie cement plant
Denis Sassou Nguesso, President of the Republic of Congo, inaugurated a new cement works in Dolisie, located in the south west province of Niari, on Saturday 22 March. The 0.3Mta works was financed and built by China-based Forspak International, who invested XAF34bn (US$71m). Forspak CEO, Pen An Ping, said the plant will contribute significantly towards satisfying the country’s demand for c...
Lafarge Pakistan donates to drought-affected Tharparkar district
Rizwan Jamil (second-left), Lafarge Pakistan country marketing director, presents the donation to the Edhi Foundation Employees of Lafarge Pakistan have donated towards helping drought affected children and families in the Tharparkar district, Sindh province. A number of children have died in the Tharparkar desert due to the effects of the drought. The Edhi Foundation will us...
Ecuador’s monthly sales return to growth
Ecuador cement sales in February rose by 14.3 per cent YoY to 511,794t, latest data from domestic association INECYC reveal. For the first two months of 2014, sales advanced by four per cent to 1.024Mt. The February advance follows a 4.6 per cent YoY decline in January sales, the association’s statistics show.
Algeria sees decline in January imports
Algerian cement imports fell 13.6 per cent YoY during January 2014 as the value of imports fell from US$26.79m to US$23.16m. In terms of volumes, January saw cement imports contracted from 326.79t to 266.87t. Algeria expects to cease cement imports in four years’ time as it develops its national production capacity, said the country’s Minister for Industrial Development and Investment Pro...
Morocco: Anwar Invest to enter cement industry
The Anwar Invest Group is entering the cement industry with its first production plant in Laayoune, Morocco. The company has scheduled construction to start in September. Anwar expects to expand at a later date in other parts of Morocco and Africa. At present, the group is mainly active in the real estate market, but has also interests in the food, logistics and distribution sectors. The com...
Spanish demand falls short of forecasts
Cement demand in Spain fell 9.8 per cent YoY in February 2014 to 773,293t, according to the latest data released by domestic cement association, Oficemen. Over the first two months of 2014, consumption was down by 11.8 per cent, declining more than Oficemen’s forecast of eight per cent. However, the association said it expects consumption trends over the coming months to be more in line ...
Sagar denies Vicat buy-out talks
Sagar Cements Ltd has denied reports that it is in talks to sell its 47 per cent stake in its Vicat Sagar joint venture. The Economic Times newspaper earlier reported, citing unnamed sources, Vicat had started talks with Sagar to buy out its Indian partner in the joint collaboration which started production last year. "We wish to deny the contents relating to our company in the said news i...
Bolivia expects to cease cement imports in 2017
In 2017, Bolivia will no longer require cement imports following the launch of production at the Ecebol plant, according to Patricia Ballivian, general manager of the Productive Public Enterprises Development Service (Sedemp). "We will stop importing cement with our plant and will capture more than 20 per cent of the market. We expect plant construction to take three years, ie we will be sta...
Indocement outlines capex to raise capacity
PT Indocement Tunngal Prakarsa, the second-largest cement producer in Indonesia, plans IDR4-4.5trn (US$349m-393m) in capital expenditure to increase capacity and lift market share. Updating stakeholders on the company’s 2013 performance at a public presentation earlier this week, Indocement said it sold 18Mt of cement last year, just 0.5 per cent more than 2012. Its market share dipped to 30...
Chile: Cementos BioBio to use fly ash
Cementos BioBio’s Antofagasta works in the north of Chile and E-CL have signed a contract to use fly ash in the production of cement. After a long development and testing process, ash from the Central Térmica Andina and Central Térmica Hornitos thermal power stations in Mejillones will replace natural pozzolans use in the cement production process. The project will bring considerable en...
Spenner Zement commissions slag cement mill
Spenner Zement has started production of slag cement from its new blastfurnace slag grinding plant at Hüttenheim, Germany. At the end of February, the first truck with blastfurnace cement, produced with slag from the Krupp Mannesmann metallurgical plant and cement from Spenner’s Erwitte works, set off to deliver the product to customers. "We are in the commissioning phase," said Dr Heinrich...
Bamburi relaunches Powercrete, Kenya
Lafarge’s Kenyan subsidiary Bamburi Cement has announced it will relaunch its Powercrete cement for use in large infrastructure works and in the private and public sector. The relaunch comes after increased competition in the Kenyan market following the arrival of Dangote Cement. In 2013, Bamburi has seen its profits fall by nearly a quarter and closed the year with sales of KES33.9bn (US$3...
Ecebol opens tenders for Oruro project, Bolivia
Empreso Pública Productiva Cementos de Bolivia (Ecebol) has opened the tenders for the design, equipment supply, construction and commissioning for its greenfield Oruro cement works. Nine companies are bidding for the BOB1.7m (US$246,033) project. This process is important as it starts a project which is much-needed in the country as it not only generates economic and employment opportuniti...