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This week we heard news of two potential bidders for Lafarge and Holcim divestments. However, for a change it was where they will not be bidding that was of interest: Brazil. India's UltraTech Cement and Colombia's Cementos Argos now seem to have no interest in developing their positions in South America's largest cement market, having both previously stated their interest.

The Brazilian assets to be sold are three integrated cement plants and two grinding plants that share a capacity of 3.6Mt/yr (as well as a one ready-mix plant). Cementos Argos came out and said that it would not be bidding. UltraTech's position is more of a rumour, given by 'a source close to the company' that was not revealed by local media. However, both stories suggest that Brazil is currently not a good place for cement producers to buy up assets.

The reasons for these decisions are related to the state of the Brazilian economy, which has seen sub 2% growth in the last 11 quarters. The economy actually contracted by 0.9% in the second quarter of 2014 and by 0.25% in the third quarter of 2014. A 0.2% rise in the fourth quarter will be negated by a fall of 0.28% in the first quarter of 2015. Over the course of 2015 the IMF forecasts growth of 1.4%.

Although Brazilian cement production has risen from around 40Mt/yr in 2006 to around 70Mt/yr in 2013, it has been growing by lower and lower amounts each year. In 2013, it rose by 1.5% year-on-year, down from a 6.7% rise in 2012, an 8.3% rise in 2011 and a near 16% rise in 2010. Taken along with the IMF's GDP growth forecast, there is a genuine chance that Brazilian cement sales could plateau in 2014 or 2015. There will certainly be better places to try to sell cement over the next couple of years, hence the eagerness with which Cementos Argos declared its position.

One country that Cementos Argos has said it's looking at Lafarge and Holcim assets in is Mexico. Its economy is anticipated to grow by 3.5% in 2015, more than twice as quickly as Brazil and far more than the Americas as a whole (2.2%). Another anticipated strong performer in 2015 will be the US (3.1%), where Cementos Argos acquired assets in 2013. This week also saw the news that the Portland Cement Association's 8.1% cement consumption forecast for 2014 will be met.

Taking this all together, it appears that economic growth, and hence cement demand growth, will return to North America in earnest in 2015. Meanwhile South America's largest market is starting to lag behind. How will the rest of the two continents fare in 2015 and beyond?

Switzerland: Holcim Group has announced that Jacques Bourgon, its current head of occupational health and safety, senior advisor to the CEO and senior manager has decided to resign from the group to pursue challenges outside Holcim. He will leave on 31 December 2014. Holcim thanked Jacques Bourgon for his valuable contributions over his 24 years at the company.

Brazil: Colombia's Cementos Argos has decided not to 'do battle' for cement-sector assets in Brazil that currently belong to the European giants Lafarge and Holcim. The Colombian multinational has informed the Superintendencia Financiera that it does not see such a purchase as being likely to generate the value its investments would expect.

Thus, Argos puts an end to three months of expectation regarding a possible debut in Brazil for the company. The assets in Brazil's Sudeste region are up for grabs so that the merger can meet with anti-monopoly requirements and amount to some US$1bn. Argos had been in consultation with local financial giant Itau concerning a possible bid. The Colombian cement group's foreign eye will most likely focus now on Mexico, another nation mentioned fondly by company president Jorge Mario Velasquez.

Pakistan: Cement sales grew by 8.9% to 8.2Mt during the first four months of the current Pakistani fiscal year, according to data from the All Pakistan Cement Manufacturers Association (APCMA). In July to October 2014, exports of cement decreased by 4.4% to 2.8Mt.

Cement factories in the north of Pakistan despatched 6.9Mt to the domestic market during the four month period, 10.4% more than the same period of last fiscal. Exports from the north dropped by 12.3% to 1.7Mt. Cement factories in the south sold 1.3Mt, 1.4% more than in the same period of 2013. Exports from this region, however, rose by 12.5% to 1.0Mt.

India/Brazil: UltraTech Cement is re-evaluating its decision to bid for the Brazilian assets of Holcim SA, according to local media. The Aditya Birla group company had submitted non-binding bids for the cement assets in October 2014. Any binding bids are due in January 2015.

The Brazilian assets on sale include three integrated cement plants and two grinding stations that share a total capacity of 3.6Mt/yr. There is also one ready-mix plant. Now, rather than investing in those assets, the UltraTech plans to focus and expand its domestic cement production, according to local media, but an UltraTech spokeswoman said that company does not comment on market speculation.

The decision to re-think the Brazilian investment may stem from weak demand conditions in the market. The Brazilian economy has seen sub 2% growth in the last 11 quarters. For the three months ending 30 September 2014, the Brazilian economy actually contracted by 0.24%.

Mexico: Multinational cement giant Cemex has announced that it will invest US$200m in an expansion project at its Tepeaca plant in Puebla. The expansion will allow the company to increase its Mexican capacity by 16.7% up to 30Mt/yr. Cemex is confident national cement demand will go up thanks to projects seen in the Plan Nacional de Infraestructura (PIN), energy reform and civil construction.

Nepal: Arghakhanchi Cement, based in Bhairahawa, is set to begin commercial production from 13 December 2014. The plant has a total capacity of 1200t/day of clinker and will employ 600 locals.

Siddhartha Group, Murarka Group and Kediya Group hold large stakes in the cement factory, with a minority stake held by a foreign investor. Rajesh Agrawal, director of Arghakhachi cement, said, "Targeting large-scale construction projects, we will produce OPC."

It has been reported that the plant will operate at 90% capacity utilisation, made possible by the installation of a captive high capacity diesel plant.

Arghakhanchi cement has set up three mines for limestone in Narapani and Khanchikot, both in Arghakhanchi district and Jonchha, Palpa district. According to Murarka, the plant was readied for operation five months ago and is only awaiting Nepal Standards accreditation from the Nepal Bureau of Standards and Metrology before operation can begin.

With cement plants rapidly coming online, Nepalese media reports that the country is steadily becoming self-reliant in terms of cement supply. The total consumption in 2013 was 4Mt but this is expected to rise along with large-scale infrastructure developments in the coming years.

US: Despite a late start to the construction season and weaker than expected housing start numbers, a recently released report from the Portland Cement Association (PCA) shows that cement consumption in the USA will meet 2014 forecast expectations.

The PCA's cement forecast remains essentially unchanged since the September 2014 forecast. "The United States' cement market is expected to grow by 8.2% in 2014, followed by similar rates of growth in 2015 and 2016," said PCA Chief Economist and Group Vice President Edward Sullivan. "However, minor adjustments have been made regarding the construction sub-sectors. Housing starts, for example, have been trimmed slightly compared to forecasts released earlier in 2014."

While single-family housing starts are not reaching projected levels, the report indicates a new emphasis on multi-family starts. Demographic trends and strict mortgage standards are pushing more potential homebuyers into rental units.

Additionally, the oil price environment has changed significantly since summer 2014 and these new impacts have been integrated into the forecast projections for the paving sector. Going forward, Sullivan noted that the underlying economic fundamentals are strengthening and are reflected in the labour market. Sustained gains in monthly job creation, stronger state and local tax receipts, more favourable return on investments for commercial building and stronger household formation can lead to stronger construction spending in 2015.

Vietnam: Cement sales in Vietnam jumped by 16% year-on-year to 64.46Mt in the first 11 months of 2014, fulfilling the government's full-year target, according to its own data. Of the sum 46.16Mt were sold to the domestic market, an 8% year-on-year rise and meeting 94% of the year's plan. 18.30Mt were exports, a year-on-year rise of 43%, 22% higher than the year's target.

In November 2014, Vietnam's cement sales rose by 1% year-on-year to 6.2Mt, including 4.52Mt of domestic sales, up by 3% month-on-month and 25% year-on-year and cement exports dropped by 50% month-on-month and by 35% year-on-year to 1.5Mt.

The country is expected to put into operation four cement plants including Cong Thanh, Dong Lam, Thach My and Trung Son with a combined capacity of 7.5Mt in 2014, raising the country's total

Nigeria: Nigerian police officers and soldiers repelled an attack on 4 December 2014 by gunmen on Lafarge's Ashaka Cement plant in northeast Nigeria, where security forces are battling an Islamic uprising, according to a police official.

The gunmen tried to shoot their way into the Ashaka Cement compound. The same plant in Gombe State was attacked in November 2014 by gunmen suspected of being Boko Haram extremists. A Lafarge spokeswoman in Paris said that no one was wounded in the latest attack. Boko Haram has been blamed for numerous deadly bombings and has taken control of around 25 towns and villages along the northeast border with Cameroon in recent months.