September 2024
New CEO at Cementos Bío Bío 03 July 2013
Chile: Cementos Bío Bío has appointed Iñaki Otegui as its new CEO, effective 1 August 2013. Otegui replaces Jorge Matus, who has resigned after 39 years with the company.
Cemex launches Cemex Global Solutions 03 July 2013
Mexico: Cemex has launched Cemex Global Solutions, a service that the company says 'leverages over a century of industry-leading expertise' to provide customers with the best value proposition in a full range of technical services for the cement, ready-mix concrete and aggregates industries.
Cemex Global Solutions is available around the world, with ongoing projects in several countries. By using the best practices and innovations from the company's Research and Development Centre in Switzerland and extracting value from its expertise as a top cement, ready-mix concrete and aggregates company, Cemex Global Solutions is expected to provide state-of-the-art technological support across the entire building materials manufacturing process, from plant design and conceptualisation to expanding capacity and upgrading equipment. This service reinforces Cemex's commitment to suiting its customers' needs by providing them with reliable and cost-efficient solutions.
"We have an unparalleled team of experts with experience throughout the building materials value chain strengthened by our cutting-edge research and development centre," said Hugo Bolio, Cemex Vice-President of Global Technology and Safety. "From feasibility studies to plant management and optimisation, we believe that by offering integrated solutions, we can provide our customers with more reliable and higher quality services."
Nepal: Amid cement manufacturers' claims that Nepal has become self-reliant in terms of cement production, cement imports have actually risen by 15.5% in the first 10 months of the country's current fiscal year, which runs until 15 July 2013.
In the review period, Nepal imported cement worth US$34.6m, against the imports worth US$30.0m in the same period a year earlier, according to the Trade and Export Promotion Centre statistics. Over the period, the country also saw seven new cement factories commissioned or announced.
According to Aatma Ram Murarka, former president of the Nepal Cement Manufacturers Association (NCMA), the imports went up because of the ongoing development projects with foreign investment. "In case of projects with foreign investment, the government has provided customs, tax and VAT waivers on cement imports from India," said Murarka.
Murarka said that domestic manufacturers have repeatedly demanded that the government roll back the provision because they say that local production can meet the market demand. "The government hasn't reviewed it seriously," he said, adding that projects being undertaken by Nepali contractors were, however, using domestic products.
China outlines merger targets for cement sector 02 July 2013
China: The China Cement Association (CCA) has drafted a plan to promote mergers and acquisitions in the cement industry, according to an 'industry insider' quoted by Xinhua's China Economic Information Service. The plan is to help the cement industry to eliminate its out-dated production capacity and increase the concentration ratio of the industry.
According to the plan, the number of cement enterprises in the country will witness a significant drop during the 12th Five-Year Plan period (2011-2015) from that in seen in 2010, with no more than 1000 cement clinker enterprises and no more than 2000 large-scale cement grinding stations, each with annual output of more than 600,000t/yr, left by the end of 2015.
The plan also aims to develop five enterprise groups that each have annual output of more than 100Mt/yr and have a complete industry chain, core competence and international influence.
Raysut making moves in Somalia, Yemen and UAE 01 July 2013
Oman: The board of directors at Oman's Raysut Cement has announced that it will give the green light to the firm's plans for a series of expansion moves, both at home and abroad. As part of the plan, the country's largest cement manufacturer will establish modern state‐of‐the‐art Cement Terminal inside Oman's Duqm Port for storing, packing and distribution of cement. The facilities will include two silos, each with a capacity of 4000t. The port plan is expected to commence operation in the second half of 2014.
The Raysut board has also given approval for the establishment of a modern state‐of‐the‐art cement terminal at Berbera Port in Somalia. The construction, to be undertaken as a joint venture with local partners, will see storage, packing and distribution of cement from three 4000t silos.
Additionally, the board approved the establishment of a grinding plant in Mukulla, Yemen through its sister company Mukulla Raysut. Another joint venture with a local partner, the Yemen grinding plant will have a capacity of 0.5Mt/yr and will pack cement for the Yemeni market.
Finally, Raysut is planning to improve its Pioneer Cement Industries plant in the United Arab Emirates. The expansion will see the installation of an additional cement silo, a cooling system upgrade and the installation of environmental abatement systems.
"This development and expansion will have positive impact on the performance results and profitability of the company in the future," said Raysut in a statement.
Liberia: HeidelbergCement has commissioned a new 0.5Mt/yr, US$14m cement mill at its cement grinding plant in Monrovia, Liberia. The German cement producer operates in Liberia through a subsidiary, Cemenco. It is the only cement producer in the country.
"The construction of the new cement mill in Liberia is in line with our strategy of modernising and expanding clinker and cement capacities in emerging markets," said Dr Bernd Scheifele, Chairman of the Managing Board of HeidelbergCement. "In Ghana, we recently increased the cement grinding capacity at our Tema cement plant and are currently building a new cement mill in Takoradi. Together with our existing plants in this region, the new mill in Liberia strengthens our coastal network in West Africa."
Investment in the new cement grinding facility in Liberia includes a two-chambered 65t/hr ball mill with high-efficiency separator, filter, fan and flow meter. The power supply of the new cement-grinding mill is provided through a 5.7MW generator plant on a rental basis.
HeidelbergCement is currently conducting investment projects in sub-Saharan Africa amounting to almost US$400m. They include expansion projects of cement capacity of about 3Mt and of clinker capacity of 1.5Mt.
South Africa: Sephaku Holdings has reported that it is on schedule to commence production of cement at its associate company, Sephaku Cement, in the first two quarters of 2014. Sephaku Cement is a subsidiary of Nigerian multinational cement producer Dangote Cement. In its nine-month financial report to 31 March 2013 Sephaku reported that construction of the US$320m Delmas grinding plant and the Aganang clinker and cement plant were both at an advanced stage of development at end of 2012.
The Delmas cement milling plant in Mpumalanga will receive approximately 55% of the clinker produced at Aganang for further processing and is on track for completion in the final quarter of 2013, with production due to start in January 2014. The Delmas plant will have annual cement production capacity of 1.4Mt/yr. The Aganang plant in North West Province will commence production in the second quarter of 2014 with the capacity to produce 1.9Mt/yr of clinker and 1.2Mt/yr of cement when fully commissioned.
India: Competition regulator the Competition Commission of India (CCI) has given its approval to the proposed 14% stake sale by Lafarge of its subsidiary Lafarge India to Baring Private Equity Asia, saying that the deal will not adversely effect competition in the country.
"The combination is not likely to have appreciable adverse effect on competition in India and therefore, the Commission hereby approves the combination under... the (Competition) Act," said the CCI in its order on 26 June 2013.
According to the regulator the deal will not cause adverse competition concerns as neither Paris Cement nor Baring or any of its portfolio companies is engaged in the business of manufacturing cement in India. Lafarge and Baring entered their sale agreement on 14 May 2013, which stated that certain actions of Lafarge India cannot be taken without the prior written consent of Paris Cement Investment Holdings.
Nigerian army shuts fake cement plant 28 June 2013
Nigeria: The Nigerian Army has reported that a fake cement production plant has been discovered in Ewekoro, Ogun State. According to a statement made by Captain Adamu Yahya Ngulde of the 35 Artillery Brigade, eight suspects were arrested at the site on 25 June 2013 and four cement trucks were found.
"Based on our preliminary investigation, the suspects get cement from the Dangote Cement Company and Lafarge and adulterate it with sand dust and package it in Dangote cement bags for distribution," said Ngulde. The suspects and the vehicles have been detained pending an investigation.
Vietnam: Vietnam exported nearly 5.2Mt of cement in the first half of 2013, a rise of 63% year-on-year compared to 3.2Mt in the same period in 2012 said the Ministry of Construction. Taiwan, Singapore, Indonesia and Cambodia were the major destinations. The ministry also stated that cement sales have grown by 27.9% year-on-year, reaching 27.9Mt so far in 2013.
Due to reduced demand at home, many cement producers have focused on exports, said Tran Van Huynh, chairman of the Vietnam Construction Materials Association. The cement industry expects to export over 10Mt of cement in 2013, or 15% of the nation's total output. Huynh added that the Vietnamese export price was around 20% below the average global export price.
Exports have helped reduce the June 2013 inventory to around 2.6Mt, according to the construction ministry. The unsold volume of Vietnam Cement Industry Corporation (VICEM) accounts for half of this amount.
There have been no changes in the price of cement in the Vietnam market since January 2013 despite higher coal, power and fuel prices that have pushed up production costs and caused difficulties for domestic producers. The Vietnamese cement industry has a production capacity of 66Mt/yr and consumption for 2013 is forecast to be in the region of 57Mt.