24 April 2023

Peru: Data from Asocem, the Peruvian Cement Association, shows that national cement dispatches reached 958,000t in March 2023, a 17% decrease compared to March 2022. Asocem members made 894,000t of cement, a 20% decrease. They produced 770,000t of clinker, a fall of 18% year-on-year.

Asocem members exported 13,000t of cement, a 27% decrease compared to March 2022. They exported 36,000t of clinker, a 19% decrease. Peru imported 8000t of cement and 44,000t of clinker, year-on-year falls of 85% and 72%, respectively. Most imports came from Vietnam, Chile and South Korea.

Senegal: Cement production in Senegal by Sococim, Dangote Cement and Ciments du Sahel fell by 5.6% month-on-month in January 2023. According to the National Agency for Statistics and Demography, this drop was due to weaker exports, which fell by 7.0% month-on-month. In contrast local cement sales improved by 6.5%.

Compared to January 2022, January 2023 saw an 11.1% increase in cement production volumes. Exports rose by 58.2% year-on-year, while local sales rose by +7.5%.

India: Dalmia Bharat's wholly owned material subsidiary – Dalmia Cement (Bharat) has commenced commercial production at its second cement line at its Bokaro, Jharkhand Cement Works 2 (JCW2). The JCW2 line has a capacity of 2.5Mt/yr, bringing the total capacity of DCBL and its subsidiaries to 41.1Mt/yr.

Oman: Oman Cement, which is undergoing a change of ownership to China-based Huaxin Cement, reported a revenue of US$50.7m in the first quarter of 2023. This represented a 15% rise year-on-year compared to the first quarter of 2022, when its revenue was US$43.2m.

The company reported net profit of US$5.2m, a 126% year-on-year jump due to one-off earnings, as total expenses increased by 7% year-on-year US$44.2m.

Democratic Republic of the Congo: A trailer truck filled with bags of cement crashed into a ravine in the Kitokimosi district of Kinshasa on 21 April 2023, causing significant material damage. The vehicle had begun its journey in Kongo Central province and crashed at about 05:00. It is thought that brake failure may have been to blame. One person in the vehicle was taken to hospital with serious injuries, while the driver appears to have absconded. There have also been reports that the truck was looted in the aftermath of the incident.