Cement News tagged under: cement demand

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USA: Lafarge to part-close Joppa plant

15 September 2016, Published under Cement News

Lafarge North America has announced it is to close one of the two kiln lines at its Joppa plant in southern Illinois and lay off about 40 workers. The move, reported by local media, has been attributed to weakening demand. A spokesperson for Lafarge said that the cement market had not grown according to its expectations and thus the firm would scale back production. In May 2016 Lafarge scrapped plans to add an extra kiln line at Joppa on the grounds that the two currently in operation ...

Ghana: recovery anticipated after cement sales fall 3.1% in 2015

14 September 2016, Published under Cement News

The Business & Financial Times reports that domestic cement sales in Ghana fell to 4.13Mt in 2015, down by 3.1 per cent on the previous year. Cement imports reached 2.62Mt, up 6.2 per cent on 2014. The decline was not due to falling demand but instead reflects the ongoing issues with electricity supply, that has disrupted production. The newspaper quotes sources at two of the domestic producers who noted that production recovered as politicians moved to improve electricity supplies ahe...

Kazakhstan: Steppe Cement 1H loss falls in dollar terms

14 September 2016, Published under Cement News

Steppe Cement has published its financial results for the first six months of 2016. Losses in dollar terms fell to US$1.5m from US$2.2m in the same period in 2015. However, due to a revaluation of the tenge, losses in the company’s operating currency rose from KZT407m (US$1.2m) in 1H2015 to KZT517.5m in 1H2016. Turnover fell by 1.1 per cent to KZT8.2bn, but sales rose 6.1 per cent in volume terms to 0.76Mt. Revenues were hit by a fall in prices, which were down 9.1 per cent to KZT8781/t, ...

Northern India prices rebound as demand strengthens

30 August 2016, Published under Cement News

Cement prices in northern India have risen by around 25 per cent YoY in the period April-July 2016, driven by rising demand, according to the Economic Times. This performance stands in contrast to other regions, where prices have either remained stable or fallen slightly. In the north, prices stood at INR305-345/bag (US$4.55-5.14), up on the same period last year and also higher than the INR225-240 seen in January 2016. Sabyasachi Majumdar, senior vice president, ICRA Ratings, said, “W...

Argentina's cement demand down 20.7%

09 August 2016, Published under Cement News

In July Argentina's cement demand fell 20.7 per cent YoY from 1,069,622t in July 2015 to 847,684t and slipped 1.1 per cent from the 857,525t recorded in June, according to the country cement association, AFCP. Exports also decreased from 4140t in July 2015 to 3696t one year later. Compared with June 2016, they dropped 26.4 per cent. In the year to date, domestic cement consumption declined 15.2 per cent from 6,946,742t in Jan-Jul 2015 to 5,889,665t in the first seven months of 2016. Argen...

Pakistan: CPEC to generate 3Mta demand

09 August 2016, Published under Cement News

Pakistan’s cement industry will experience growth thanks to the commencement of construction projects under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).  Experts have suggested that the projects will generate an additional cement demand of between 1.5-3Mta for Pakistan. In the first half of this financial year, local dispatches showed a growth of 16 per cent YoY to 15.2Mt. Local dispatches are expected to grow a further 15 per cent YoY in the second half of the financial year, reaching...

Malaysia: cement production down 4.2% in six months to June

01 August 2016, Published under Cement News

Demand for cement in Malaysia looks set to grow but slowly in 2016 as production numbers for the first half of the year indicate. According to reports in the Edge Financial Daily, cement production fell by 4.2 per cent in 1H2016, with demand forecast to grow by just three per cent under the most optimistic projections. In an interview with Edge, Thierry Legrand, CEO of Lafarge Malaysia, said: “[Demand] is likely lower than last year, as whether the expected infrastructure projects can ...

India: ICRA forecasts cement demand to rise 6% in FY17

30 June 2016, Published under Cement News

Indian-based ratings agency ICRA has forecast that domestic cement demand will rise by six per cent in the 2016-17 financial year, the Economic Times reports. It’s assessment for FY18 is for even more rapid growth of seven per cent. Senior Vice President Sabyasachi Majumdar said: "Cement demand growth will pick up to six per cent in 2016-17 and further to seven per cent in 2017-18... during the current fiscal, it is likely to be driven by the pick-up in the infrastructure segment - primar...

UltraTech Cement

29 June 2016, Published under Cement News

UltraTech Cement, along with ACC and Ambuja Cements, have hailed India’s Smart Cities as playing a key role in the medium- to long-term outlook for cement demand in the country. But a meeting this weekend (2 July) raises questions as to just how viable the Smart City concept really is. The Smart City idea is based on overlaying the city’s infrastructure – water supply, sewage, waste collection, urban mobility and other service provisions – with ICT solutions. In June 2015 India’s prime mi...

Pakistan cement industry's US$1bn expansion

03 June 2016, Published under Cement News

The steady growth of Pakistan’s cement industry saw the sector attract investment of US$1bn in the current financial year, an economic survey has revealed. Economic Survey 2015-16, released today by Pakistan’s Ministry of Finance, finds that the cement industry is focussing on capacity expansion in view of ever-growing domestic demand and a focus on exports to African markets. Four companies have already announced further investment plans: Cherat Cement, Attock Cement, DG Khan Cement and ...