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EC rejects request by Germany to review deal

07 January 2014, Published under Cement News

The European Commission (EC) has rejected a request from Germany to refer the planned acquisition of Cemex West by Holcim to the German competition authority for assessment under national competition law. The EC concluded that the geographic scope of the affected cement markets is wider than national and that therefore the Commission cannot refer the assessment of the transaction to Germany. The commission has until 31 March 2014 to take a final decision. In the proposed transaction Holc...

Pakistan exports fall in 5MFY13

07 January 2014, Published under Cement News

During the first five months of FY13-14, Pakistan exported 3.749Mt of cement on foreign exchange revenues of US$225.30m, down 0.44 and 8.03 per cent YoY in terms of volume and value, respectively. However, on a more positive note, in local currency terms, Pakistan producers and exporters saw growth of 0.93 per cent to PKR23.48bn. The average price fell 7.63 per cent to 7.63 per cent to US$60.09/t from US$65.05/t in the same five months of the previous fiscal. According to Pakistan’s B...

Saudi slowdown set to continue

06 January 2014, Published under Cement News

The current slowdown being seen in the Saudi Arabian cement market due to labour shortages is set to continue in the short-term, NCB Capital has cautioned. Saudi cement sales declined by 15 per cent in November 2013 YoY following the expulsion of 2m illegal expatriate labourers. The crackdown led to suspension of construction projects and delays in the transportation of cement and as a result, NCB expects the market to be affected over the next 4-6 months Last week, Zamil Al Mugren, chairm...

Pakistan: quarterly gains expected

03 January 2014, Published under Cement News

Pakistan cement dispatches during the second quarter of the current fiscal are expected to have increased by 5.13 per cent on a QoQ basis to 8.2Mt compared to 7.8Mt in the first three months of the year. According to a report by InvestCap, domestic sales are anticipated to have increased by 14 per cent over the October-December period on a QoQ basis but exports are seen declining 16 per cent. Total dispatches increased by four per cent in December compared to 2.73Mt in November, the re...

Colombia: market expands 6.9% in November

02 January 2014, Published under Cement News

Grey cement production in Colombia during November 2013 totalled 1.02Mt, a 9.6 per cent increase when compared with the same month of the previous year. In addition, the domestic cement market expanded by 6.9 per cent to 978,000t. This was less than the 14 per cent consumption growth noted in October. Norte de Santander saw a 38.5 per cent rise, the largest in the country, followed by Antioquia (+13.7 per cent), Bolívar (+19.5 per cent) and Cundinamarca (+8.6 per cent). On the other ha...

Oman seeks anti-dumping measures

30 December 2013, Published under Cement News

UAE cement producers have defended their export levels to Oman after Raysut Cement Company calls for anti-dumping measures to be put in place to restrict imports from the neighbouring country.  Raysut Cement is now urging the Omani government to put a "ceiling" on the amount of imports from UAE producers, stating that they " are offloading a large amount of cement in Oman, which has pushed prices down to a low level, especially in northern Oman," according to Samidh Mukhopadhya, CFO of O...

AVIC completes takeover offer for KHD

30 December 2013, Published under Cement News

AVIC International Beijing Company announced on Friday the successful completion of a voluntary public takeover offer for shares in German equipment supplier KHD Humboldt Wedag. The takeover offer was conducted jointly by an indirectly wholly-owned subsidiary of AVIC International Beijing Company Ltd and three other bidders.  AVIC International Beijing said it bought a 40.465 per cent stake in KHD via a voluntary public takeover offer and acquired an additional 19.03 per cent from indi...

Vietnam full-year output seen 4.7% higher

30 December 2013, Published under Cement News

Vietnam is estimated to have produced 57Mt of cement in 2013, up from 4.7 per cent a year ago, the government's General Statistics Office (GSO) has said. During December, output is estimated to have increased by 7.54 per cent from the previous month, and nine per cent YoY to reach 5.5Mt, according to the latest GSO estimates. The office, however, revised down November output to 5.3Mt from a previously-estimated 5.5Mt. Cement sales are expected to have risen by 4-5 per cent this year t...

Sharp slowdown in Saudi demand

30 December 2013, Published under Cement News

Cement demand in Saudi Arabia has considerably slowed through 2013, effectively boosting clinker stocks to a record high level. After recording a high growth rate of some 10 per cent in 2012, expansion of Saudi’s cement market decelerated to around three per cent in 2013, according to Zamil Al Mugren, chairman of Saudi committee for national cement companies, quoted in the daily Aleqtisadiah.  He said sales by the country’s 15 cement companies were cut by almost 30 per cent after the gove...

Bangladesh: cement businesses disrupted by political unrest

20 December 2013, Published under Cement News

Bangladesh's cement industry is being affected by political unrest in the country with blockades and disruption to transport routes. The supply of raw materials from port and cement exports to India have also been disturbed. The main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP)-led 18-party alliance has called number of times for the blockade of roads, rail- and waterways to press the government for its demands. The last blockade programme was ended on 19 December while the alliance has a...