International Cement Review articles tagged under : Market Reports
Russia’s new dawn
Growing construction activity, a recovering economy and stabilising cement production – 2017 marks something of a turn-around year for Russia after years of recession. But the situation is still fragile with much of the economic growth fuelled by oil prices, which remain volatile, and construction increasing in less obvious sectors such as agriculture and healthcare. By Alexey Semenov, GS-Expe...
A banner year ahead
Following several challenging years with cement demand declining, the year ahead promises a turnaround of fortunes for China. With domestic cement consumption and export demand expected to rise and new supply to mode...
Central Asia: the Chinese way
Central Asia stands at the brink of an economic and trading revolution as China looks west and implements its ambitious Belt and Road Initiative to reach across into Eurasia and Africa. To drive this transformation, ...
Israel: closing the gap
A stable economy and renewed commitment to infrastructure spending by the government bodes well for Israel’s cement producers, although rising cement imports are making for a more competitive environment that has cha...
Facing an oversupply challenge
Indonesia’s cement market saw a significant expansion in 2017 despite economic woes. While the country’s property market performs below par, cement producers are pinning their hopes on the government’s ambitious infr...
North Africa: mixed fortunes
ICR takes a look at the current economic and political challenges facing cement producers in Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco and Tunisia, and how they are responding to this rapidly-changing landscape. As Alger...
Less-troubled waters
After years of austerity, the governments of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) are adopting expansionary budgets as oil prices begin to recover, infrastructure spending ramps up and the cement sector looks forward t...
India’s turning point?
The July-September 2017 quarter saw the Indian cement market fare mildly better when compared with the general malaise of the past year. Has a turning point been reached? Meanwhile, government initiatives such as the...
Philippines: a clean bill of health
More than a year has passed since President Rodrigo R Duterte took office in the Philippines and the country’s cement market continues to see strong growth. However, incumbents face challenges in the form of increasi...
Mexico: a tough year ahead
The slowing housing sector and constraints to the public purse have impacted Mexican cement demand in the past two years. The year ahead will present further uncertainties as the country goes to the polls to elect a ...
Ready to serve
Africa leads the charge for recently-commissioned cement plants. Although orders may be down on previous years, there is a more diverse geographical spread of newly-completed cement facilities and ICR highlights some...
Gaining momentum in 2018?
The positive outlook predicted at the start of 2017 has not entirely materialised as emerging markets (EM) have failed to see the widespread recovery that was anticipated a year ago. However, momentum for a recovery ...
Gambia's turning point
Leaving behind a past of political unrest and financial mismanagement, Gambia is at the start of an exciting new chapter. Led by a new, democratically-elected government and witnessing an upturn in construction, the...
West Africa looks to exports
While lower oil prices, Ebola and civil unrest have impacted west African economies, the region’s cement market has continued to expand with further growth forecast for the next few years. However, as domestic produc...
From far-away lands
The United States of America has been the world’s largest cement importer by volume for decades. However, the Great Recession saw imports plummet and while they are currently picking up, progress is slow as they rema...
India: the long game?
As the slowdown in India’s key housing sector largely persists, hopes are on the government’s infrastructure plans to bolster domestic cement consumption and narrow the gap between demand and production capacity. Wh...