Cement News tagged: International
French cement market expands despite housing start drop
Cement demand in France rose by an estimated 2.5 per cent to 18.6Mt in 2018, according to SFIC, the country’s cement association. In 2017 the market expanded by 4.5 per cent. The positive result comes despite a drop in housing starts. Housing accounts for around a third of cement demand, with a further third supplied to public works and the balance for the renovation of existing buildings an...
India records cement price increase in February
Cement prices across India rose by around INR25/50kg (US$0.35/50kg) last month on the back of increased demand, reports The Hindu Business Line. The southern region recorded the steepest rise per bag at INR52 in Bengaluru, INR62 in Chennai and INR77 in Hyderabad. In comparison, price hikes in other regions were more moderate at INR26 in the west, INR12 in the east and INR7 in the central are...
Oficemen predicts slower market expansion in 2019
Cement consumption in Spain expanded by eight per cent in 2018, resulting in a domestic demand of 13.4Mt, according to the country’s cement association, Oficemen. For 2019, the association predicts a 3-6 per cent rise in cement demand. "2018 has been an atypical year, with ups and downs in growth, which has gone from the two digits with which it started the year, touching 12 per cent, to clos...
Chilean cement demand edges up in December 2018
Cement consumption in Chile increased 2.8 per cent from 359,116t in December 2017 to 369,291t in December 2018, according to the Chilean Chamber of Cement and Concrete (CCHC). In terms of full-year 2018, domestic demand remained largely stable at 3.993Mt in 2018 when compared with 3.995Mt reported in 2017. Consumption levels in December, as in May, June, August and October, increased YoY, he...
Pakistan's utilisation levels expected to keep falling
Current downward trends in Pakistan's domestic cement demand are expected to impact capacity utilisation. Overall cement sales in the country declined by 12 per cent YoY in February 2019 to 3.3Mt, according to Intermarket Securities Ltd, quoting APCMA data. This decline was driven by local cement sales, which fell by 19 per cent YoY to 2.8Mt, with a major drag seen in sales of the north region...
Colombian market sees modest dispatch growth in January
National dispatches in Colombia edged up by one per cent to 918,300t in January 2019 from 909,400t in January 2018, according to the country’s national statistics office, DANE. Ready-mix companies and the retail sector increased their off-take by 3.5 and 1.2 per cent, respectively. Bulk sales slipped 0.4 per cent YoY while bagged cement sales advanced 1.6 per cent. In terms of geographical...
Pakistan's domestic sales continue to slide in February
The cement industry dispatched 3.325Mt in February 2019 against dispatches of 3.78Mt in February 2018, according to data released by the All Pakistan Cement Manufacturers Association (APCMA). Therefore, domestic consumption contracted by 19.1 per cent YoY. However, total exports from the country increased by a healthy 69.1 per cent YoY in February. The industry exported 0.508Mt of cli...
Payra Port Authority reschedules pre-bid meeting for coal/bulk terminal
Payra Port Authority (PPA), under the Bangladesh Ministry of Shipping has issued a notice to reschedule a pre-bid meeting for development of a coal/bulk terminal at Payra Port ,Kalapara, Patuakhali, in southern Bangladesh. The pre-bid meeting will now be held on 12 March 2019, says the port authority. The port authority earlier announced it was seeking the expertise of international experts...
White cement market to expand by 3%
The global white cement market is forecast to grow by 2.8 per cent CAGR by 2022 on the back of rising construction activity in emerging economies, according to Radiant Insights. In addition, more flexibility in government standards in developed countries is also expected to lead to additional use of white cement in the construction of commercial spaces. Planned projects in North America and ...
LafargeHolcim secures EUR100m Grand Paris Express project
LafargeHolcim announced the conclusion of a supply contract for the Grand Paris Express project worth EUR110m, where LafargeHolcim will supply 260,000t of cement. The GPE is the largest transport infrastructure project in Europe and represents a total investment of about EUR38.5bn. The project will meet the growing city’s needs for an improved transport infrastructure and will prepare Paris f...
South Africa's construction sector unlikely to recover before 2021
Following Finance Minister Tito Mboweni's first budget, economist Dr Azar Jammine has raised hopes for a "major recovery" in the South African economy, but he warned it was unlikely to happen before 2021. Speaking at AfriSam's 2019 National Budget Breakfast in Sandton on Thursday, Dr Jammine told a diverse audience of more than 200 people from the construction sector that 2019-20 would remain...
Construction industry booming in Bangladesh
The demand for cement, steel, bricks and other construction materials recorded a good growth in Bangladesh during 2018 and looks to perform even better this year implementation of major infrastructure projects is accelerated, according to local media reports. According to Munir Uddin Ahmed, president of the Bangladesh Association of Construction Industry (BACI), 2018 was good for the indust...
Vietnam expected to record 8-9% cement sales increase
Vietnam is expected to record an 8-9 per cent YoY rise in cement sales to 98-99Mt in 2019, according to a forecast by the country’s Ministry of Construction. Of this, domestic sales would consist of 70Mt while the additional 29-30Mt would be exports. Two more production lines are also expected to push cement output to 101.74Mt from a total of 84 lines. The country produced 90.2Mt of cement i...
Kazakhstan’s Alacem to launch KZT49bn cement plant
Kazakhstan-based Alacem plans to launch a cement plant in the Kerbulak rural district of the Almaty reigon in 2019, according to the regional administration’s press office. The new plant will have a capacity of 1.2Mta and represents and investment of KZT47bn (US$125m).
Georgian Cement Association: 15 of 29 cements tested meet EU standards
A total of 15 out of 29 cement types in Georgia checked for quality meet the European EN197-1 standard, according to the Georgian Cement Association. The remainder use cheap and inappropriate materials, says the association, who coordinates quality control of cement on the Georgian market since 2017. "We checked 36 samples of cement in November 2018 and only 13 of them met European standards,...
Saudi megaprojects unable to halt cement demand decline in 2019
Saudi Arabia’s high-profile large-scale project will be unlikely to halt a fall in cement demand in 2019, according to Al Rajhi Capital. The third-quarter of 2018 saw sales volumes decrease by 13 per cent YoY with average sales prices remaining week despite the price hike in the fourth quarter experienced by some cement producers. In 2019 this decline in demand is expected to continue as t...