13 April 2023

Kazakhstan: Steppe Cement recorded sales of US$10.9m in the first quarter of 2023, down by 22% from US$14m during the first quarter of 2022. The producer sold 215,000t of cement during the quarter, down by 22% from 282,000t.

Steppe Cement said that Kazakh cement demand fell by 13% year-on-year in the first quarter of 2023. Its market share was 13%, compared to 14% in the corresponding quarter of 2022.

Ethiopia: China-based China National Building Material (CNBM) and its engineering subsidiary Sinoma International have expressed interest in investing in the local cement sector. The comments were made in a meeting with Tefera Derbew, Ethiopia’s ambassador to China, and Liu Yan, an executive director of CNBM and the chair of Sinoma International, according to Fana. During the gathering Derbew noted Sinoma’s contribution so far towards helping build cement plants in the country. CNBM has accepted an invitation to participate in the Invest Ethiopia forum taking place in Addis Ababa in late April 2023.

Kenya: A court has prevented the takeover of a US$47.8m parcel of land belonging to East African Portland Cement Company (EAPCC) by the government. The court found that the government had not followed proper consultation processes. The East African newspaper has reported that the government had already concluded a deal with China and Oman-based investors for affordable property developments on the land.

EAPCC says that it now plans to use the site to build its own green smart city. The cement producer says that this will help to diversify its income streams.

Russia/Uzbekistan: The US Department of State has imposed sanctions upon USM Holding including its subsidiaries Akkermann Cement and USM Cement in Russia, and Akhangarancement in Uzbekistan. The action is intended to target company owner Alisher Burhanovich Usmanov and his various business interests. Other USM companies in the iron, steel, copper, gold, telecommunications and real estate sectors are also affected.

The US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control noted that Usmanov was, “one of Russia’s wealthiest billionaires, with vast holdings across multiple sectors of the Russian Federation economy as well as internationally.” It added that he was linked to multiple senior Russian officials, including Russian President Vladimir Putin as well as Dmitry Medvedev, current Deputy Chairman of the Security Council of Russia and former President and Prime Minister of Russia. Usmanov has also been sanctioned by Australia, Canada, the European Union (EU), Japan, New Zealand, Switzerland and the UK.

These latest US sanctions are in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Companies on the sanction list are forbidden to conduct business transactions with any US citizens.

Akkermann Cement operates two cement plants and a network of 12 terminals in Russia. It acquired a majority stake in Uzbekistan-based Akhangarancement in early 2022.

Paraguay: Industria Nacional del Cemento (INC) is investigating the large-scale theft of cement from its plants involving company employees. Company president Ernesto Benítez told local radio that at least 10 workers had been stealing around 600 bags of cement on average five times a week to a value of around US$21,000/week, according to the Ultima Hora newspaper. They had been using the company computer system to hide their activities. However, the theft was discovered when company officials noticed that the number of trucks recorded leaving the plant concerned did not match CCTV footage.

Staff members so far found to be part of the fraudulent activity include those working in cargo dispatch, bagging, security and refuse collection. They have all been removed from duty. However the investigation continues and more perpetrators may be found.

Russia: Cemros has started a US$3m upgrade project on cement mill five at its integrated Katavsky plant near Chelyabinsk. The work will see the introduction of a new closed-loop system with a separator. Following its installation, the mill will have a cement output of 114,000t/yr. The upgrade should also deliver an energy saving of up to 30%. Just under half the funding for the project was supplied in the form of a loan from the government. The upgraded mill is expected to be operational in September 2023.

India: JSW Cement was among 20 companies from various industries in attendance at a roundtable discussion on the subject of leveraging clean energy to journey towards net zero on 13 April 2023. The discussion covered a broad range of ways to end the use of fossil fuels, including energy storage and the use of electric vehicles. Press Trust of India News has reported that advanced batteries developer Log9 Materials hosted the event in partnership with networking platform Blue Circle – not to be confused with the former cement producer of the same name. Executive director and chief risk officer Arvind Bodhankar represented Dalmia Bharat, while chief sustainability and innovation officer Manoj Rustagi represented JSW Cement.

India: JSW One Platforms, JSW Group’s online business-to-business sales platform, has raised US$25m through an investment from Japan-based Mitsui Bussan. The business will use the funds to strengthen its market presence and further enhance technology capabilities. It also plans to expand its operations in Northern India, and to invest in credit, logistics and new technologies to improve customer experience. The platform stocks JSW Group subsidiary JSW Cement’s range of cement products. The Times of India newspaper has reported that Mitsui Bussan valued JSW One Platforms at US$336m.

JSW One Platforms CEO Gaurav Sachdeva said “There is a lot of distrust in the space and it’s highly fragmented. We want to be a one-stop shop for micro, small and medium-sized enterprises, with defined service level agreements and deliverables. We will be the fastest in the space to touch US$1bn in gross merchandise value.” Sachdeva added that he expects the platform’s sales to more than double to US$91.6m in the current, 2024, financial year, from US$36.6m in the 2023 financial year.