China: A new special economic development zone in the north of Hebei province is expected to significantly boost demand for cement in the region. President Xi Jinping announced that that the new development named Xiongan New Area would be built southwest of Beijing, according to the ET Net News Agency. The development will be on the same scale as Shenzhen and Shanghai Pudong. Using these previous projects as a benchmark HSBC Global Research estimated that Shanghai Pudong uses around 6Mt/yr and that the region had used 133Mt since its creation in the early 1990s.
BBMG’s shares spiked following the announcement. The largest cement producer in the Beijing-Tianjing-Hebei area is widely expected to benefit from the project. After its restructuring with Jidong Cement it will hold 57% of cement production capacity in the region.