September 2024
Vietnam: Nguyen Quang Cung, chairman of the Vietnam Cement Association, has predicted that the country will face an oversupply of nearly 50Mt in 2020. The local industry’s cement production capacity was nearly 88Mt/yr in 2016. It is expected to reach 108Mt/yr in 2018 and up to 130Mt/yr in 2020, according to comments made by the association to the Saigon Times. Domestic demand is estimated to be 82Mt in 2020 thereby creating the shortfall. The association is also lobbying for a two-year delay in regulation changes made in 2016 that are expected to make exporting cement more expensive for producers.
US: Drake Cement has applied to the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ) to revise its air quality permit in order increase its clinker production at its Paulden plant by 10% to 0.73Mt/yr from 0.66Mt/yr at present. The cement producer is required to make the application as the increased production could increase its emission of particulate matter. The plant is also requesting a removal of the rolling three-hour clinker production rate limit of 83.3t/hr and an increase in the allowable hours of quarry crushing operation. The ADEQ will be holding a public hearing on the revision on 19 January 2017.
US: The Center for Biological Diversity, a non-government agency, has described plans to give Mitsubishi Cement a 120-year permit to mine limestone from a new quarry in San Bernardino National Forest in southern California as ‘unreasonable.’ Ileene Anderson, a senior scientist with the Center for Biological Diversity, made the comment on the basis that local flora and fauna would be adversely affected by the decision, according to the San Bernardino Sun newspaper. The US Forest Service and the County of San Bernardino are seeking comment on the proposal until 1 February 2017.
The new quarry will be located on public land abutting Mitsubishi Cement’s existing quarries at the site. It will serve the nearby Lucerne Valley cement plant.
Indian credit ratings agency says that demonetisation to reduce cement growth by 2% in 2016 – 2017 financial year 04 January 2017
India: The India Ratings and Research credit ratings agency has said that demonetisation of the economy is likely to reduce growth in the cement industry by 2% to 4% in the 2016 – 2017 financial year that ends on 31 March 2017. Previously it had predicted growth of up to 6% in this period. The agency reported that cement production grew by 0.5% in November 2016 following rates of 5.5% and 6.2% in September and November 2016 respectively. It added that all India volumes fell by up to 25% in November and December 2016. The agency expects demand for cement from the housing sector will to decline further from its current contribution of 65% of all demand.
Eduardo Ferraz appointed as chief financial officer of Magnesita 04 January 2017
Brazil: Eduardo Ferraz has been appointed as the chief financial officer and Investor Relations Officer of Magnesita with immediate effect. Ferraz is currently the finance director for South America, a role he will continue to hold. He replaces Eduardo Gotilla who has resigned from the roles following the on-going merger between Magnesita and RHI with the transfer of some executive officers of the company to the UK.
Gotilla will continue to be an officer for Magnesita International and lead finance and investor relations globally for the Magnesita Group, but will no longer hold an officer position in the company, principally due to Brazilian legislation requiring statutory officers to be residents in Brazil.
McInnis Cement to use Gaspesian Rail for distribution of cement 03 January 2017
Canada: McInnis Cement has signed an agreement with the Gaspé railway corporation (SCFG) to distribute cement from New Richmond, Quebec to various Canadian and US markets. The agreement covers the transportation of 140,000t of cement over a five-year period.
“The use of rail combined with the efficiency of maritime transport provides McInnis the flexibility and competitiveness needed for the distribution of cement that will be produced by the company commencing in the Spring of 2017,” said McInnis Cement chief executive officer, Hervé Mallet. He added that the company might increase its volumes when conditions permit.
The cement will be loaded onto trucks at the plant site in Port-Daniel–Gascons, transported to New Richmond, and then trans-shipped onto tenders through a weight bin to be installed by SCFG. The first shipments are expected to start a few weeks after the plant becomes operational.
India: Ambuja Cement has launched a ‘Go Cashless’ campaign encouraging its business partners – retailers, contractors and masons - to adapt to cashless business transactions. The campaign follows the country’s decision to remove circulation of certain high denomination bank notes in November 2016. The campaign went live on 7 December 2016 and it is aimed to create awareness on various available cashless options amongst the cement producer’s business partners. Ambuja Cement is also working with ICICI Bank to launch a helpline to assist stakeholders open current accounts for regular business transactions.
“The ‘Go Cashless’ campaign is yet another endeavour empowering the construction community through knowledge transfer. We are successfully seeding innovative thinking at the grass-roots level and bringing information and technology to the forefront of all our esteemed business partners,’’ said Ambuja Cement’s managing director and chief executive .
The campaign has included sending out over 1,000,000 text messages, 200,000 Whatsapp messages and an educational radio campaign across 17 different stations in New Delhi, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Maharashtra and West Bengal. Ambuja Cement estimates that it has contacted 42,000 business partners via media channels and over 4.5 million via radio.
Yamama Cement raises US$267m to build new plant 03 January 2017
Saudi Arabia: Yamama Cement has signed two finance agreements to raise US$267m towards building a new cement plant. It has signed a deal to raise US$200m from the National Commercial Bank and US$67m from the Samba Financial Group. The deals are both for three years.
Mineral Products Association welcomes new UK procurement guidelines 22 December 2016
UK: The Mineral Products Association (MPA) has welcomed the government’s publication of new procurement guidance including construction materials like cement. The government plans to use local construction materials in infrastructure projects across 18 separate projects by 2020, including rail and roads, and construction such as building and housing refurbishment.
This announcement also follows the new National Infrastructure and Construction Pipeline, which set out nearly Euro600bn worth of planned private and public investment, and changes to procurement guidance announced by the Department for Business Energy and Industrial Strategy to make it easier for UK producers to plan and bid for upcoming government contracts.
The MPA is working with the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy and the Crown Commercial Service to develop government guidance for local procurement for cement and concrete. This will extend beyond the current guidance for designers which advises the use of BES6001 to specify responsibly and ethically sourced concrete and masonry.
“Cement and concrete are essential for UK infrastructure development and housing, and contribute significantly to the UK economy. We welcome this announcement from Greg Clark MP, which re-confirms the government’s commitment to infrastructure capital expenditure, and supports the future of a local cement industry. The cement and concrete industries employ 18,179 people across the regions, including in rural areas, and are key enablers for the Industrial Strategy,” said Nigel Jackson, chief executive of the MPA.
Cement sales and production continue to fall in Puerto Rico 22 December 2016
Puerto Rico: Cement production has fallen by 30% year-on-year to 756,000 bags in the first eleven months of 2016 from 1.08M bags in the same period in 2015. Cement sales fell by 13% in the same period, a faster rate of decline than 8.5% in 2015 and 9.8% in 2014, according to local press. The decline has been attributed to a lack of funding supporting infrastructure projects and a slowdown in the residential construction sector.