Cement News tagged under: international

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Heracles to permanently close Halkis cement works, Greece

27 March 2013, Published under Cement News

Heracles Cement, the largest cement producer in Greece, is to permanently close the doors on its Halkis cement plant as the company restructures its business to adjust to the struggling domestic construction and cement sectors. The 2.6Mta Halkis plant has been idle since July 2011 and management have now made the decision to officially cease operations, as of 26 March 2013. The closure will result in job losses for 236 members of staff. The company stated that: “This decision comes afte...

South Africa cement project secures loan

27 March 2013, Published under Cement News

South Africa-based Nedbank and Bank of China have agreed to provide a ZAR800m (US$86m) loan for a 1Mta  greenfield cement plant in Limpopo. “A master finance agreement was entered into between Nedbank Capital and Bank of China and a special-purpose vehicle known as Mamba Cement Company,” said Nedbank head of infrastructure Brett Botha. Mamba Cement Company is made up of Jidong Cement Company and the China-African Development Fund, Wiphold — which is led by Gloria Serobe — and developer ...

Ecuador February cement sales rise 13.4%

26 March 2013, Published under Cement News

Cement sales in Ecuador in February 2012 increased 13.4 per cent YoY to 447,928t compared to 395,047t in the same month of last year, data from the Ecuadorian Institute of Cement and Concrete (Inecyc) showed. Accumulated sales for the first two months of 2013 reached 985,320t compared to 847,694t in the Jan-Feb period of last year, representing a rise of 16.2 per cent YoY. Last year, the South American reported its second consecutive rise in annual sales which reached a record 6Mt in 2...

Indian producers struggle with flat market growth

26 March 2013, Published under Cement News

Indian cement companies are experiencing challenging market conditions as subdued demand during the peak season is preventing producers from raising prices. Speaking to local press, M Ravinder Reddy, head of marketing for Vicat Group in India and director of marketing at Bharathi cement, said: “The primary reason, I’m told, is that the government has stopped payments to control fiscal deficit, as a result of which infra projects have taken a beating. The retail end also hasn’t grown due t...

Semen Indonesia to begin Myanmar construction next year

26 March 2013, Published under Cement News

PT Semen Indonesia is set to start construction of a new plant in Myanmar next year as part of the country's regional expansion drive. Citing the company’s president director Dwi Soetjipto, the Jakarta Post reported that operations at the 1Mta would begin in 2017. The plant would mainly serve the growing market of Myanmar which is modernising its economy after decades of military rule. Domestic cement consumption, which in 2012 is expected to have increased by 16.7 per cent to 7Mt, is ...

Lafarge Cement Zimbabwe pledges funds towards community development

26 March 2013, Published under Cement News

Lafarge Cement Zimbabwe has pledged US$3m towards the Mashonaland East community share ownership fund to meet the requirements of the country’s economic and empowerment regulations. The cement producer has also pledged US$70 000 towards the preparations and hosting of the community share ownership fund launch, NewsDay reports. Speaking at the Mashonaland East stakeholders’ meeting for the launch of the scheme in Uzumba-Maramba-Pfungwe last Friday, Lafarge managing director Johnathan Shon...

Dangote forays into to oil and gas sector

26 March 2013, Published under Cement News

Aliko Dangote, CEO of the Dangote Group, is moving into the oil and gas sector as he eyes up Chevron and Shell oil fields to feed the group’s planned US$9bn refinery, the largest privately-owned refinery facility in the country. He intends to acquire the oil companies’ blocks of oil-rich swamp – formerly intended for the Olokola LNG project, which was expected to supply two trains of 6.3Mta of LNG, with a final capacity of up to 35Mta. To realise his plans, he has put in the highest bid f...

Pakistan exports rise 24% YoY in value

25 March 2013, Published under Cement News

Pakistan has reported flat growth in export sales in terms of volume for the first eight months of fiscal 2012-13, but a strong advance has been reported in terms of value thanks to improvements in the price per tonne of cement. During the July 2012 – Feb 2013 period, Pakistan exported 5.59Mt of cement with a value of US$376.85m compared to 5.589Mt at US$303.71m in the same period of last year. This represents a growth in volumes of 0.03 per cent but a rise in dollar value of 24.08 per ce...

Asia Cement (China) net profit falls 70%

25 March 2013, Published under Cement News

Asia Cement (China, a subsidiary of Taiwan-based Asia Cement, has reported a drop in annual net profit and revenue due to declining prices. The company posted net profit of CNY395m (US$63.71m) in 2012, down 70.53 per cent YoY while revenues were down 18.55 per cent from a year earlier, reflecting a fall in prices. Cement production totaled 2.85Mt while cement sales reached 22.71Mt, the company said. The company sold 3.8 Mt of cement in the Nanchang-Jiujiang district of Jiangxi Province...

TPI Polene to construct new kiln line, Thailand

25 March 2013, Published under Cement News

Thailand-based cement producer TPI Polene is to construct a new line at its Saraburi cement works as steady growth on the local market is expected to continue. The Bangkok Post reported that company plans to spend THB10bn up to 2016, half of which will be on the clinker line and the balance on a renewable energy project. The new kiln line will lift capacity at the 9.07Mta Saraburi cement works by 33 per cent. The fourth kiln is a project that has been postponed since the 1997 Asian Finan...