Cement News tagged: International
Hillhead 2018 sets record attendance
Unprecedented crowds descended on Hillhead 2018, which took place over three days last week at Tarmac's Hillhead Quarry, near Buxton, in Derbyshire, UK. According to the official figures, a record-breaking 19,687 unique visitors attended this year's event, surpassing the show's previous highest attendance record set in 2005. This year also saw more exhibitors (527+) in attendance than ever be...
Vietnamese consumption rises 30% YoY in June
Vietnamese cement consumption has increased 30 per cent YoY to 8.71Mt in June, according to the Construction Materials Department of the Ministry of Construction. Approximately 6.91Mt was sold domestically (up 29 percent YoY), while 1.8Mt was exported (up 35 per cent YoY). Consumption in the country rose 25 per cent YoY in the Jan-June 2018 period, rising to 51.42Mt. Exports reached 15.42Mt ...
Ghana's cement manufacturers form association
Several of Ghana's leading cement manufacturers have formed the Cement Manufacturers Association of Ghana (CMAG) to protect and accelerate the development of the industry, according to Modern Ghana. Currently, membership extends to Ghacem Ltd (Tema, Takoradi), Diamond Cement Group (Aflao, Buipe and Takoradi) and CIMAF Ghana Ltd (Tema). Raju Baddharaju, Diamond Cement, has been appointed as t...
Cemex UK closes old Thorpe HQ building
This week Cemex UK's former office headquarters in Thorpe, Surrey, closes after 28 years and Cemex UK's HQ will now be run from Cemex House Rugby. The company has had close links with Rugby for nearly 150 years and today operates one of the most modern cement plants in the world located in the town. The new HQ was the former global head offices for the Rugby Group plc until 2000 and today, th...
Argentine domestic dispatches down 4% YoY in June
Argentina’s cement market contracted by 3.5 per cent to 970,978t in June 2018 from 1.007Mt in June 2017, according to the latest data from AFCP, the country’s cement association. Output from the country’s cement plants slipped 2.8 per cent to 973,743t from 1.002Mt in June 2017. Of this total, 968,676t was delivered to domestic customers, down three per cent when compared with 998,478t in Ju...
Tighter margins forecast for Malaysian cement producers in 2H18
Malaysia cement players are receiving warnings from financial analysts that margins are expected to come under more pressure in the coming months, while a contraction of cement demand is forecast for the second half of the year. According to CIMB Research, this is a potential negative for the earnings outlook of cement companies in the second half of the year. "This makes it unlikely for any...
Saudi cement sector expected to record revenue decline in 2Q18
Saudi Arabia’s cement sector is expected to record a fall in revenue in the 2Q18, according to Al Rajhi Capital. The companies monitored by Al Rajhi are expected to announce a revenue decline of around six per cent YoY for the period, while earnings could decrease by approximately 10 per cent. The sector’s sales volume fell 16.7 per cent in the first two months of the second quarter. Across ...
Colombian dispatches slip 2% in May
Grey cement dispatches in Colombia edged down 1.6 per cent in May 2018 to 0.984Mt from 0.999Mt in May 2017, according to the country’s statistics office, DANE. Cement sales were particularly strong in Valle del Cauca, where they rose by 8.3 per cent. However, in Bogotá they declined by 7.5 per cent and in Bolívar by 17.2 per cent. In Antioquia, another key domestic market, dispatches fell b...
Pakistan: positive expectations for FY18
The Pakistan cement industry is likely to wrap up FY18 on a positive note. Provisional data show that cement dispatches for June 2018 increased three per cent YoY to 2.81Mt, when compared with 2.73Mt in June 2017, according to a report of IGI Finex Securities Ltd. This brings FY18 dispatches to date to 45.72Mt, up 13 per cent YoY. In the equivalent period of FY17, deliveries reached 40.32Mt...
Vietnam’s cement market expands 29% in June
Vietnamese cement producers have sold 8.71Mt in June, up 30 per cent YoY, said the Vietnam Building Material Association. Domestic demand reached 6.91Mt, representing a 29 per cent increase when compared with June 2017, including 2.18Mt sold by Vietnam Cement Industry Corp (Vicem). Exports surged by 35 per cent YoY in June to 1.8Mt. In the 1H18 Vietnam’s total cement sales are estimated to...
ICRA: India’s FY19 cement output to rise 6% YoY
With a recovery in the affordable and rural housing markets and infrastructure construction picking up, India’s domestic credit rating agency ICRA expects cement production in India to rise by six per cent in FY19. However, rising input costs will continue to dampen company profits. Output from India’s cement plants reached 298Mt in FY18, a 6.3 per cent rise when compared with the 280Mt. T...
Pakistan Cement industry export revenue rises 9% in May
According to Pakistan's Federal Bureau of Statistics, the Pakistan cement industry earned a foreign exchange revenue of US$20.78m by exporting 446,741t of cement in May 2018 compared to US$19.147m on 404,898t of cement in previous month. This represents a MoM growth of 8.6 per cent and 10.3 per cent in terms of value and quantity, respectively. When compared with the figure of May 2017 – earni...
Vietnam's Ministry of Construction develops 2030 industry strategy; country targets 5Mt annual growth
In his keynote address at Cemtech Asia 2018, Dr Nguyen Quang Cung, President of the Vietnam National Cement Association, highlighted the road ahead for the Vietnam cement industry The government in Vietnam has initiated a comprehensive industry review in an effort to kick-start a step change in efficiency and environmental performance of the industry, as the country targets a dome...
Ukrainian cement output up 13% in May
Ukraine’s cement producers increased their production by 12.9 per cent YoY in May, reports the Ukrainian News Agency. Output reached 1,024,000t and when compared to April, this represents a rise of 42.2 per cent. In April cement production reached 720,000t, a decrease of 12.5 per cent YoY. However, in the first five months of 2018, cement production fell 6.2 per cent YoY to 2.985Mt. ...
Cemtech Asia 2018 off to successful start
The Cemtech Asia conference and exhibition has opened at the Meliá Hanoi, Vietnam, with delegates from 35 nations participating in this annual meeting of cement professionals. Thomas Armstrong, managing editor of International Cement Review, inaugurated the conference by observing the importance of the Asian cement sector, where 75 per cent of the world’s cement is consumed. Mr Armstrong de...
Uruguayan producers sees 18% rise in sales
Total cement sales in the 1Q18 in Uruguay totalled 219,000t, representing an increase of 18 per cent YoY. Of this total, 74 per cent were sold in the domestic market while some 26 per cent were exported, according to the Chamber of Industry (CIU). The rise represents the fourth-consecutive quarterly increase in total cement sales following a market contraction that lasted from 2013 to 2...