Cement producers from Russia, CIS countries and Eastern Europe have gathered in St Petersburg, Russia, for the 8th Petrocem international cement conference and exhibition.

Addressing delegates on the first day of the meeting, Mikhail Skorokhod, president of Eurocement Group, the leading cement producer in Russia, heralded the emergence of a modern and more efficient cement industry in the region, where dry-process cement plants utilising state-of-the-art technologies are now becoming the norm for new capacity installed.

In the countries that form the Customs Union, namely Russia, Kazakhstan and Belarus, dry process cement plants account for 50 per cent of capacity installed, although in Russia the figure is only 33 per cent, presenting a key investment challenge for the country going forward.

Speaking about the market, Mr Skorokhod said that cement consumption in the Customs Union countries climbed by eight per cent to 81Mt in 2013, of which Russia alone accounted for some 69Mt. Looking ahead, he is confident that the Russian market will enjoy sustained growth, quoting a recent study by McKinsey, which sees demand rising to 103Mt by 2020. However, he sounded a note of caution, arguing that it was possible supply could potentially reach 107Mta over the same period, potentially tipping the industry into unwelcome oversupply.

Also addressing the 500 delegates in attendance at this conference are Ken Coppenholle, Chief Executive of Cembureau, the European cement association, Martin Schneider of the German cement association, VDZ, and a range of speakers representing cement producers throughout Russia, Belarus, Ukraine and Uzbekistan.

A large exhibition is underway alongside the main conference proceedings. Around 50 companies, all specialist suppliers of cement manufacturing equipment, including KHD Humbold Wedag (Germany), FLSmidth (Denmark) and CNBM (China), are participating in the international exhibition, providing delegates the ideal forum to discuss the latest technological developments with experts and place orders for new plants.

Petrocem, which is organised by leading Russian cement publication, ‘Journal Cement and its Applications’, takes place every two years in St Petersburg. The next event will be held in 2016.

A full conference review of this event will appear in the next issue of International Cement Review.