China: The Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in north west China produced 35.1Mt of cement in the first 10 months of 2012, a year-on-year increase of 24.8%, according to the local statistics bureau.
From 1 January 2012 to 31 October 2012, Xinjiang saw the output value of its cement industry output come to US$1.93bn, a year-on-year increase of 0.9%. However, the industry earned just US$170m in profit, a year-on-year decline of 58.6%.
The region's government says that the region's cement production capacity is likely to exceed 90Mt/yr in 2013.
Meanwhile, Japan's Taiheiyo Cement Corp. has announced that it has agreed with a Chinese chemical maker to set up a 1.2Mt/yr cement plant in Xinjiang. The joint venture, to be known as Xinjiang Tianye Taiheiyo Building Material Company, will start cement production in November 2014.
The new company will be owned 40% by Taiheiyo Cement (China) Investment Corp., a Beijing-based unit of Taiheiyo Cement and 60% by the Chinese partner, Xinjiang Tianye (Group) Co.
