Cement News tagged: International
Uganda: MPs set to start debate on Dura cement report
MPs have begun to debate on a highly-billed report about the cancellation of a mining lease that cost taxpayers UGX43.5bn (US$16.4m). The report, which was tabled by the Public Accounts Committee vice chairperson Maxwell Akora, implicates senior government officials, including the president. Central in the report is the decision by the government in 2007 to cancel a mining lease that had...
UK: recovery in Q4 masks longer-term trend
The latest Construction Trade Survey (CTS) published last Friday, shows that the majority of the construction industry endured a difficult 4Q12, due to declining output and orders on the demand side, combined with rising costs on the supply side. Large firms, especially those working in the infrastructure sector, have reported improving conditions, but the bulk of the industry still faces a ...
Nigeria's Flour Mills to borrow to double cement capacity
Flour Mills of Nigeria plans to borrow between US$400m-500m to construct a new cement plant which will double its existing 2.5Mta capacity, its chief finance officer said. Jacques Vauthier told Reuters the conglomerate had appointed financial advisers and banks to raise a term loan from the local market for the construction of the plant. He said the details of the loan were still being finali...
Egypt: signs of stability despite political unrest
Despite recent news reports of political tension in Egypt, there are some positive signs in the country's cement market that demand is recovering after two difficult years. The latest figures indicate that last year cement demand expanded by around five per cent, just surpassing the 51Mt mark, a growth rate not seen since 2009. In 2011, consumption fell 1.7 per cent to 48.69Mt while prices con...
PPC to build new Zimbabwe cement plant
PPC´s Zimbabwe subsidiary, Portland Holdings Ltd (PHL) has announced its intention to construct a new cement plant to service the Harare and central Mozambique markets. The new plant will have a capacity of approximately 1Mta and will coincide with the construction of a separate grinding facility in the neighbouring territory of Tete in Mozambique. Ketso Gordhan, the CEO of PPC said in a st...
Coboce’s Irpa Irpa expansion nears completion, Bolivia
Coboce’s second line at its Irpa Irpa plant is nearing completion as international experts perform final cold tests. Civil works, electrical and mechanical assembly were completed by Bolivian professionals and at present mechanical, electrical and automation control are being fine-tuned. Apart from Polysius, WEG, Boldrocchi and Flender, the plant superintendent Javier Flores said that spe...
Cementos Lima fine US$2.2m for unfair trade practices
Peru’s leading cement producer, Cementos Lima, has been fined PEN5.7m (US$2.24m) for unfair trade practices. The penalty was imposed by Indecopi, the country’s Institute for Competitiveness and Protection of Intellectual Property, as it accused the cement maker of refusing to sell its product to retail outlets that also offer Quisqueya cement, produced by Cemex.
Lafarge Mauritius raises cement price by 7%
Lafarge Cement Mauritius Ltd has announced it will raise the price of a 50kg bag of cement following Holcim's move to increase prices by six per cent at the start of this year. Lafarge said it was raise prices from MUR170/bag (US$5.55) to MUR182 (US$5.94) on Monday. The company said the price increase was necessary due to a number of factors. Import, insurance and freight costs have rise...
Portugal’s cement demand drops 26.9% in 2012
Cement consumption in Portugal fell by 26.9 per cent last year to lows not seen since 1973. According to a report released today by the Portuguese Federation of Construction Industry and Public Works (Fepicop), consumption last year reached 3.3Mt in 2012. The industry body said the crisis in the construction sector has caused significant reductions in cement consumption, the number of wor...
Pakistan's domestic sales rise 10.1% in January
Pakistan’s domestic consumption continues to uphold sales with latest industry data for January show another decline in exports. According to data from the All Pakistan Cement Manufacturers Association, domestic cement sales jumped by 10.10 per cent to 2.135Mt in January 2013. However, exports fell by 11.91 per cent to 522,584t during the month. In the first seven months (July-January) o...
Dangote Cement reopens Gboko plant, Nigeria
Dangote Cement has resumed operations at its Gboko plant in Benue State, Nigeria, due to strong demand. The company closed the plant in December because of a glut in the market caused by cheap, imported cement being sold in the area it serves. “We are reopening Gboko immediately,” Carl Franklin, the London-based head of investor relations, said in a statement. “Demand has been strong sinc...
Five killed in Ambuja Cements industrial accident, India
An industrial incident at Ambuja Cement’s plant in Balodabazar district, Chhattisgarh, has claimed the lives of five factory workers. Local press have reported that the fatalities occurred due to a fly-ash hopper situated on the fifth floor was allegedly overloaded during a maintenance operation and collapsed and crashing four floors below. Police have registered a case against the compa...
Iranian cement production rises 4.6 per cent
Iranian cement production output continues its upward rise, having increased by 4.6 per cent YoY over the past 10 months. A total of 58.62Mt was produced in the first 10 months of the Iranian year (beginning 20 March 2012), according to the secretary of the Guild Association of Cement Producers, Abdulreza Sheikhan. He said 58.634Mt of clinker were produced during the period, showing an in...
UK construction: calls for real activity
Following disappointing 2012 figures, the UK construction sector is braced for another tough year ahead and industry bodies are stressing the need to boost activity across the sector to prevent further declines in the industry and the wider economy. Evidence of a rapid decline in construction activity was confirmed by Mineral Products Association (MPA) sales survey results for 2012, which i...
Indian prices see improvements in January
Indian cement prices have improved through January following a sharp fall in December, the Economic Times of India reports. Delhi, Bangalore and Hyderabad proved to be the only exceptions with prices stagnating in the former two and declining in the latter. Prices improved primarily to compensate for declines in November and December. Demand, however, remained weak in all regions causing an...
Holcim France to close Dannes kiln
As western Europe is faced with overcapacity in cement capacity, Holcim France has announced the closure of its wet-process kiln at Dannes. Citing a 20 per cent decline in the demand for cement since 2008, the management of the cement major said it would close down its clinker production in September 2013. The step would remove 0.3Mta of capacity and is expected to be followed by a further ...