Cement News tagged: International
Pakistan: Builders hit out against high cement prices
The Chairman of Pakistan’s Association of Builders and Developers (ABAD), Hanif Gonar, has accused the country’s cement manufacturers of keeping prices artificially high. In a report in the Daily Times, Mr Gonar pointed to recent statements by the head of the All Pakistan Cement Manufacturers Association, Muhammad Ali Tabba, who claimed that taxes on gas and coal meant the industry was unab...
Pakistan: Producers to invest up to US$1bn in CAPEX
Cement producers in Pakistan will invest between US$700m and US$1bn in expanding capacity over the next few years, according to Mohammad Ali Tabba, chair of the All Pakistan Cement Manufacturers Association. According to an interview with Mr Tabba in the Nation, four companies have already announced expansion plans: Cherat Cement; Attock Cement; DG Khan Cement; and Lucky Cement. Capacity in...
Indonesia: Widodo to meet with cement plant protestors
Indonesian president Joko Widodo will meet with nine women who encased their feet in concrete in protest over the construction of a cement factory in Java. According to reports in JKT Globe, the women are objecting to the planned construction of a Semen Indonesia plant near Mount Kendeng in Rembang district, Central Java. "The nine women have been promised a meeting with the president, ...
Holcim Philippines forecasts 8-10% volume growth
The head of Holcim Philippines CEO, Eduardo A Sahagun expects the local cement industry to sustain its bullish run this year with sales volume seen growing by as much as 8-10 per cent. This was on the back of increased infrastructure spending by the government and the continuing construction activities of the private sector, said Mr Sahagun. The growth was attributed to higher public spend...
India: Cement stocks rise as demand recovers
Indian cement manufacturers are set to continue the strong performance which has seen their stocks outperform the BSE Sensex by a factor of ten over the past month. In this period, the Economic Times reports, India Cements’ shares are up 23 per cent, ACC is up 18 per cent, JK Cement and JK Lakshmi Cement are up 16 per cent, Ramco Cements is up 14 per cent and Ambuja Cements is up 12 per cen...
CECE report states EU construction equipment industry is transforming
The European construction equipment industry is confidently looking towards the future and ready to embrace the transition into the digital era, with a stronger-than-ever focus on technology leadership and customer needs, according to the latest construction report by McKinsey & Co and CECE. “We are determined to serve our customers well in the midst of multiple trends facing our industry. Be...
Saudi Arabia lifts ban on cement exports as construction sector slows
A senior official in Saudi Arabia has said that the kingdom's ban on cement exports has been lifted. According to reports from Reuters, the ban - imposed in 2008 and renewed in 2012 - has been overturned because of a slowdown in the construction sector, which has led to an oversupply of cement. Dr Ahmed Zugail, director general of Yanbu Cement Company and deputy head of the National Comm...
Vietnam PM approves Thaicement Ha Tien works
Vietnam's Prime Minister, Nguyen Xuan Phuc, has approved the investment in Thaicement's 4.5Mta Ha Tien plant in the Mekong delta province of Kien Giang as part of projects to be implemented during the 2011-20 period with a vision to 2030. The PM assigned the Ministry of Construction and People’s Committee of Kien Giang province to conduct a survey and exploration of limestone and clay asses...
Syria: IS kidnaps 300 Al Badia cement workers
Some 300 employees and contractors of the Al-Badia Cement plant have been abducted by Islamic State (IS) militants in Dumeir, some 30km northeast of the Syrian capital, Damascus. The hostages were taken to a spot where IS had launched an assault against forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad earlier in the week. There have been no successful efforts in establishing contact with any of the...
India: Sagar Cements reports 16% rise in March sales
India’s Sagar Cements Ltd reported a 16 per cent increase in March sales from 170,410t in 2015 to 197,583t. Sales were particularly strong in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, where they rose by 135 per cent to 59,830t and by 119 per cent to 52,101t, respectively. Sales in Karnataka were hit by a 47 per cent decline and in Tamilnadu they fell by 36 per cent. Orissa and Maharashtra recorded decreas...
The BRICs come under pressure
While the cement world has been concentrating on the slowdown in China and the large-scale mergers in India's cement sector, there has been little notice to the plight of other BRIC countries that are underperforming and are not attracting the investment that had previously put them at the top of the growth chart. The Economist Intelligence Unit this week observed that: "It has been clear f...
Pakistan: cement industry excels in March
Pakistan's cement industry has returned an excellent performance in terms of domestic and export fronts during the month of March. It has recorded its highest ever monthly dispatches of 3.584Mt on the back of healthy growth in domestic consumption and turnaround in exports, thus enabling it to utilise more than 90 per cent of installed capacity during March. According to All Pakistan Cement ...
Bharathi Cement wins Asia's 2015-16 most promising brand award
Bharathi Cement Corporation Pvt Ltd, a Hyderabad-based cement producer and member of the Vicat-France Group, has been adjudged as the “Asia’s most promising brand Award for 2015-16” by World Consulting and Research Corporation, reports Business Wire India. Bharathi Cement was chosen from the survey conducted by ibrands 360. For the award, nearly 100 top brands were selected out of a shortlis...
India: cement prices to hold up thanks to merger deals
India's stock researcher Livemint is forecasting that mergers like that between JP Associates Ltd and UltraTech Cement Ltd and also Birla Corp Ltd and Reliance Infrastructure Ltd will rationalise ownership to support cement prices. Meanwhile, with government projects gaining traction in areas like state metros, highways, low-cost housing and dedicated freight corridors, besides irrigation an...
Nigeria: cement standards may need revision
Nigeria's government is expected to revisit the review of cement standards to address restrictions placed on the use of certain classes of the commodity. Nigeria has witnessed at rise in building collapses around the country in recent months. The local Guardian newspaper learnt that stakeholders are awaiting the composition of the board of the governing council of the Standards Organisation...
Israel imposes partial freeze on cement transfers to Gaza
Israel has halted some cement imports to the Gaza Strip after it emerged that parts of the shipments were being retained by Hamas officials. The Times of Israel reports that the freeze on cement imports – which does not affect imports bound for public sector programmes – was imposed on Sunday, 3 April 2016. Israel has previously imposed stoppages on cement imports to Gaza over concerns that...