September 2024
Iran: Abdul Reza Sheikhan, the secretary of the Cement Industry Association, has warned that an increase to maritime shipping rates is further restricting exports in conjunction with US-backed trade sanctions. He said that the country has a production capacity of 87.5Mt/yr, that 48Mt is consumed domestically and that less than 15% is exported, according to the Islamic Republic News Agency. He also identified ‘negative’ competition between cement producers over exports has damaged the industry. To counter this, export teams in the east, west and south of the country have been formed.
The country exports cement to 17 countries including Iraq, Afghanistan, the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) region, Bangladesh and countries in Africa. It is the sixth largest exporter in the world.
China Resources Cement forecasts profit rise in 2018 14 January 2019
China: China Resources Cement (CRC) says that its profit will rise ‘significantly’ in 2018. It has attributed this to a 29% rise year-on-year in the average price of cement in the first 11 months of 2018.
Steppe Cement’s sale rise by 32% to US$74.8m in 2018 14 January 2019
Kazakhstan: Steppe Cement’s sales revenue rose by 32% year-on-year to US$74.8m in 2018 from US$56.6m in 2017. Its cement sales volumes rose by 6% to 1.72Mt from 1.63Mt. Its exports grew by 50% to 0.22Mt from 0.15Mt. Overall, the cement producer said that local cement consumption fell by 4% to 8.6Mt.
Saudi Arabian cement production drops by 10.5% to 42.1Mt in 2018 14 January 2019
Saudi Arabia: Data from Yamama Cement shows that national cement production fell by 10.5% year-on-year to 42.1Mt in 2018 from 47.1Mt in 2017. Cement production fell at the majority of local producers with the notable exceptions of Saudi Cement, Southern Cement and others. Clinker production dropped by 3% to 48.3Mt from 49.9Mt. Local deliveries of cement decreased by 13% to 41Mt from 47.1Mt. However, exports of cement rose to 1.1Mt from 0.16Mt and exports of clinker increased to 3.2Mt from no exports in 2017.
Swiss cement deliveries remain stable in 2018 14 January 2019
Switzerland: Deliveries of cement rose slightly to 4.29Mt in 2018 from 4.27Mt in 2017. CemSuisse, the local cement association, said that it was expecting lower imports in 2018 due to reduced cement demand. Over half of the deliveries were made by rail at 51.5% but the share of road deliveries increased. Over 70% of local cement production was delivered to ready-mix concrete plants and around a further 20% was sent to in-situ concrete plants at major construction projects.
Tajikistan exported 1.44Mt of cement in 2018 14 January 2019
Tajikistan: Tajikistan exported 1.44Mt of cement in 2018 with a value of US$65.4m. This marks a rise of 48% year-on-year from 0.97Mt in 2017 with a value of US$45.9m, according to the Azernews newspaper. Tajikistan exports cement to Uzbekistan, Afghanistan and Kyrgyzstan.
Nuvoco Vistas laboratory gains accreditation 14 January 2019
India: Nuvoco Vistas’ Construction Development and Innovation Centre (CDIC) has been granted accreditation from the National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories (NABL). It is the third cement producer after Ambuja Cement and RMC (India) to receive the accreditation, according to the Hindu newspaper. CDIC can now conduct more than 100 mechanical tests, out of which 55 tests come under the NABL accreditation covering a range of materials including cement, fly ash, ground granulated blast-furnace slag (GGBS), concrete, aggregates, bricks, blocks, and construction chemicals.
Sweden: LafargeHolcim has been named by Sasja Beslik, the head of sustainable finance at Nordea, as the second worst company for increasing CO2 emissions in the five years between 2011 and 2016. Other cement companies in the list that Beslik published via his Twitter account include CRH, HeidelbergCement and Shree Cement. The list, entitled ‘The CO2 Culprits Top 100’, was assembled using data from financial services company MSCI.
Cemex fined Euro52,000 for quarry emissions in Spain 14 January 2019
Spain: The Department of the Environment has fined Cemex España Euro52,000 for emissions from two of its limestone and marl quarries in Valencia. The cement producer is being penalised for dust emissions from the sites, according to the El Mercantil Valenciano newspaper.
China to further reduce new cement plant projects 11 January 2019
China: Miao Wei, the minister of industry and information technology, says that the government will ‘strictly prohibit’ the production capacity of new cement plants. The ban will also apply to the iron, steel and glass industries, according to Reuters and Xinhua. This latest ban will add to capacity restrictions already imposed upon the cement industry in 2018.