Displaying items by tag: Government
Tanzania: Minister for Industries, Trade and Investments Charles Mwijage has confirmed that the government’s investment arrangement with Dangote Cement that were granted by former President Jakaya Kikwete's administration are still in place. He said that the government would do nothing to compromise Dangote Cement’s investment in the country and described its entry as a ‘game changer’ by reducing the price of cement, according to the Citizen newspaper. The comments were made in response to media speculation regarding a production shutdown at cement producer’s Mtwara plant.
Mwijage said that Dangote Cement could cut its production costs by using local coal or gas. The Tanzania Petroleum Development Corporation has been in negotiations since October 2016 to supply gas to the cement producer. He also added that another cement producer, Engro, is considering building a cement plant and that the government is willing to offer it the same incentives as those given to Dangote Cement.
Colombia: Cemex Latam, the Latin American subsidiary of Cemex, intends to enter dialogue with the Regional Autonomous Corporation of Antioquia (Corantioquia) to revoke its environmental permit for Maceo cement plant project. Corantioquia has requested that the permit from Central de Mezclas, a subsidiary of CHL, be returned to the CI Calizas y Minerales, according to the El Colombiano newspaper. The government agency has removed the clearance on procedural grounds and over the mining rights in the area.
Telangana state government signs deal for 2.7Mt of cement
25 November 2016India: The Telangana state government has signed an agreement with 32 cement companies to procure 2.73Mt of cement to build residential housing. The government plans to build 260,000 double-bedroom houses for disadvantaged residents in the state, according to the Indo-Asian News Service. The Telangana Housing Corporation will implement the scheme.
India to take 20% hit in cement demand due to demonetisation
22 November 2016India: Demonetisation policy is expected to reduce cement demand by 15 – 20% until the end of 2016. It will then reduce growth by 3% in the last quarter of the Indian financial year that runs until the end of March 2017, according to a report by Deutsche Bank Markets Research. It added that investors forecast the drop in short-term demand to be ‘severe.’
Research Analyst Chockalingam Narayanan said that he expected demand from infrastructure projects to partially offset weakness in the residential sector. However, investment towards these projects may be impaired where the revenue comes from state government. These bodies rely on up to 10% of their revenue from the property sector that may be adversely effected by demonetisation. Local bodies are responsible for projects such as rural roads, urban development projects, affordable housing, irrigation and more. Larger road and railway budgets are mostly controlled by central government agencies and are expected to be less effected.
Like him or loathe him, Trump will boost the US cement industry
09 November 2016In June 2016, the polls said that the UK would remain in the European Union (EU), but now we have the prospect of Brexit. Democrat supporters in the US now know how the UK's 'Remainers' feel. The unthinkable has happened: the so-called 'Deplorables' have taken over the asylum. Donald Trump has won the US presidential election and he will be the 45th US president, after confounding all the polls, the media, the analysts and the commentators. He'll be able to appoint a swathe of right-leaning office-holders, including a crucial replacement for the late Antonin Scalia on the US Supreme Court. This will change the direction of US law-making for years, possibly decades, towards a less-liberal and more conservative outlook.
Trump will also be aided by having Republican majorities in both the Senate and the House of Representatives and will actually be able to get things done. President Obama had to fight hard for eight years to achieve anything, and finally had to fall back on enacting laws by presidential dictat or 'Executive Orders.' 'The Donald' will not have to stoop so low, and once he takes office will effectively be 'sweeping with the wind.'
Trump looks set to change US policy in a number of areas, including being less conciliatory towards America's foes ("I'm going to bomb the s••t out of ISIS"), taxing imports and tearing up trade agreements and rolling back US environmental efforts (he has promised to abolish the US Environmental Protection Agency, to cancel the Paris climate change deal, to sanction more drilling for oil and to approve the Keystone XL oil pipeline the fourth phase of which was recently rejected by President Obama). Who knows what else he has planned?
Well, one thing that we do know is that Trump's election is very probably great news for the US cement industry.
Early on in his victory speech, moments after receiving a telephone call from Hillary Clinton conceding defeat, Trump laid out the first step of his plan to 'Make America Great Again:' building US infrastructure. Trump said: "We are going to fix our inner cities and rebuild our highways, bridges, tunnels, airports, schools, hospitals. We’re going to rebuild our infrastructure, which will become, by the way, second to none. And we will put millions of our people to work as we rebuild it." He didn't actually mention cement (nor did he mention a 'big beautiful wall'), but all of these projects will require plenty of cement and concrete. Whether they voted for him or not (and Trump noted that there are those 'who have chosen not to support me in the past, of which there were a few people'), workers in the cement industry will be celebrating the prospect of fuller order sheets, higher prices, better profitability and more overtime. From a current GDP growth rate of around 1%, some have suggested a surge past 3%/yr and beyond during a Trump presidency. The crucial question, often overlooked, is "How are we going to pay for all this investment?" With the US debt heading towards US$20Tn, perhaps Trump's history as a Democrat - and all the tax-raising territory that comes with that position - might come in handy after all.
Trump has indicated that he's already looking to a second term ("I look very much forward to being your president, and hopefully at the end of two years or three years or four years, or maybe even eight years...") based on what he might achieve in his first term. Well, let's see. Donald Trump's deeds now need to speak louder than Donald Trump's words.
Bolivian government to build US$306m cement plant at Cutara
09 November 2016Bolivia: The government plans to build a 1.3Mt/yr cement plant at Cutara in the Potosí department with an investment of US$306m. The government will spend US$245m on plant infrastructure and US$61m on road, electricity, water and natural gas connections, according to the ABI news agency. The new plant will join the state’s 1.3Mt/y cement plant being built in Oruro for US$244m.
Algeria to stop importing cement in 2017 says minister
01 November 2016Algeria: Abdessalem Bouchouareb, the Minister of Industry and Mining, has said that his country will stop importing cement in 2017. He made the comments at a visit to the China Triumph International Engineering (CTIEC) cement plant being built at Adrar, according to the Algeria Press Service. The plant is nearly 90% complete and due to be commissioned at the end of 2016.
"The year 2017 will mark the end of cement imports in Algeria, with the commissioning of all cement plants across the country, whose total annual production capacity is expected to reach 6Mt," said Bouchouareb. He added that industrial projects will allow the country to achieve self-sufficiency in cement and begin to export it.
Bangladesh Chemical Industries Corporation and Al Rajhi Group to upgrade Chhatak Cement plant
21 October 2016Bangladesh: The government owned Bangladesh Chemical Industries Corporation (BCIC) has signed a memorandum of understanding with Saudi Arabia’s Al Rajhi Group to build a new production line and a captive power plant at the Chhatak Cement plant. The project is a joint venture between the companies and it will be run as a public-private partnership, according to the Financial Express newspaper. The new cement line and power plant will have a production capacity of 1.5Mt/yr and 330MW respectively. Industries minister Amir Hossain Amu, BCIC secretary Hasnath Ahmed Chowdhury and managing director of Al Rajhi Company for Industry & Trade Yousif Al Rajhi signed the agreement in Bangladesh on 20 October 2016.
Jaypee Cement to return coal blocks to ministry
20 October 2016India: Jaypee Cement is seeking approval from the Ministry of Coal to return two captive coal blocks, which it previously won by auction in 2015. The company has told the ministry that it does not require the coal blocks as it has sold off the attached cement plants, a ministry official told the Economic Times newspaper. The official added that Jaypee Cement could be barred from bidding for other coal blocks for one year and that bank guarantees equivalent to a year’s revenue from the mines could be seized. The two blocks are Majra in Maharashtra and Mandla South in Madhya Pradesh.
Orient Cement agreed to purchase three cement plants from Jaiprakash Associates for US$292m in early October 2016.
India: The East Singhbhum district administration has asked for guidelines from the government of Jharkhand regarding the purchase of the Jojobera cement plant by Nirma from Lafarge India. There are no provisions for transfers of leased land to any third party without the prior approval of the state government with relation to agreements struck by Tata Steel, the plants previous owner, said East Singhbhum deputy commissioner Amit Kumar to the Hindustan Times.
"We are seeking state government's guideline on action to be taken over the reported transfer of management and bank accounts of Jojobera Plant here by Lafarge Holcim to Nirma Limited even though they are yet to respond to our notices from July 2016," said Kumar.
Lafarge India has said that the transfer of management and accounts for the Jojobera plant was completed on 6 -7 October 2016 following approval by the Competition Commission of India for the sale. It agreed to sell five cement plants to Nirma for US$1.4bn in July 2016.