Clinker appetites increasing in Bangladesh

Bangladesh's clinker imports have been growing in the last five years, apart from in FY15-16, According to the Economic Survey of Bangladesh 2018. The country's cement producers imported US$615m of clinker in FY13-14, which rose to US$766m in last fiscal year of 2017-18. It translates to a growth of about 25 per cent in half-a-decade.
 
Some 80 per cent of the clinker used for cement production in Bangladesh is imported, according to a local cement producer's report. Due to a lack of mineral resources, the country has to import an estimated 15-20Mt of clinker and limestone every year and is regarded as the largest importer of clinker and other raw materials for cement production. Most cement manufacturers import clinker, gypsum, fly ash and iron slag from the neighbouring countries such as China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Thailand, Japan, Korea, Malaysia and the Philippines.
 
There were around 125 cement-manufacturing companies in the country, out of which 44 were in commercial production. The total production capacity of the cement mills of the country during the 2017 was almost 42Mta.