13 September 2017
Cambodian government to cap cement production licences 13 September 2017
Cambodia: The Cambodian government is planning to cap the number of cement production licences after the opening of two new cement plants that are expected to start operations by the end of 2017, according to Hort Pheng, director of the Industrial Affairs Department at the Ministry of Industry. Pheng made his comments to the Phnom Penh Post newspaper in relation to Chip Mong Insee, a joint venture between Chip Mong Group and Thailand’s Siam Cement Group, and Battambang Conch Cement, a joint venture between Battambang KT Cement and China’s Anhui Conch. The new plants will join the country’s three existing plants operated by Kampot Cement, Cambodia Cement Chakrey Ting and Thai Boon Roong in Kampot province.
“Despite investors coming to ask us for potential locations for cement plants, the ones in Kampot and Battambang are enough. The other provinces lack the quality of limestone needed for cement production,” said Pheng. He added that, once all five plants were operational, they would produce almost enough cement to meet local demand. However, the local construction industry is expected to still need to import cement. Cement plants will be allowed to expand to meet this excess demand.
The 5000t/day Chip Mong Insee cement plant in Kampot is scheduled to open in October 2017. It had a budget of US$262m. The 5000t/day Battambang Conch Cement plant in Battambang has reportedly encountered delays in its construction and it is uncertain whether it will be completed by December 2017. Once open the plant plans to supply the domestic market first, before considering exports to Vietnam, Laos and Thailand.
LG International trials production at cement plant in Myanmar 13 September 2017
Myanmar: South Korea’s LG International has started test production at its plant in Myanmar. The plant is a run as a joint venture operation with local company Blue Diamond, according to the Korea Economic Daily newspaper. LG International spent US$40m to buy a 51% stake in the business in 2015.
Emami Cement to commission Jaipur grinding plant by March 2018 13 September 2017
India: Emami Cement plans to commission it 2Mt/yr Jaipur grinding plant in Odisha by March 2018. It has spent US$94m on the unit. Once completed the new plant will bring the company’s cement production capacity to 6Mt/yr, according to the Press Trust of India. It operates an integrated plant at Risda in Chhattisgarh and a grinding plant at Panagarh in West Bengal. The company also plans to increase the market share of its Emami Double Bull Cement product by 10% in all the regions of its operations by March 2019.
Public Investment Corporation backs Fairfax offer for PPC 13 September 2017
South Africa: PPC’s largest shareholder, the Public Investment Corporation (PIC), has supported an offer from Canada’s Fairfax Financial Holdings and local cement producer AfriSam. PIC views the bid as an opportunity to build a larger cement producer in sub-Saharan Africa, according to sources quoted by the Cape Argus newspaper. The investment body also hopes to make cost savings from the merger. PIC owns about 11% of PPC and it is the biggest shareholder of AfriSam with a 60% stake.