Displaying items by tag: Asia

Türkiye: Medcem has shipped its first 20,000t of CEM I 52.5 N cement to its new terminal in Antwerp, Belgium, with discharge scheduled for 8 December 2025, according to Platts, part of S&P Global Energy. A second shipment of 5000t to the company’s new terminal in Trieste, Italy, will discharge during the week of 15 December 2025. Business development and investment director Enver Celikbas said that the company has three terminals in the UK, and that it plans to send its first vessel to Glasgow at the beginning of 2026. Medcem plans to export 70,000-100,000t of cement to Antwerp and 60,000-80,000t to Trieste in 2026.

Celikbas said “We are looking to become a more vertically-integrated company, which helps us manage our costs, operations, and supply. It's like a hedging strategy that we initiated after commissioning our new 9000t/day kiln.”

He added that an upgrade to Medcem’s clinker kilns will be completed by the end of 2026 and that the company is seeking new sources of supplementary cementitious materials to boost supply. All supply will continue to come from Medcem’s plant in Türkiye unless otherwise required.

Celikbas added “We are continuously searching and negotiating various projects and hope to sign for our third terminal in Europe very soon.”

Kyrgyzstan: Cement production reached 3.6Mt between January and October 2025, up by 32% year-on-year or 0.89Mt, according to the National Statistical Committee. The entire increase was driven by higher output in the Chui region, which produced over half of the country’s total. Cement output in the Chui region doubled from 0.9Mt to 1.8Mt, accounting for all national growth over the period.

India: Sagar Cement has ordered a MVR 5000 C-4 vertical roller mill for cement grinding at its Dachepalle plant in Andhra Pradesh. The new unit has a drive power of 3870kW, and will produce 210t/hr of ordinary Portland cement. The investment follows the installation of a mill of the same size at the site in 2018. The project is being executed in collaboration with Gebr. Pfeiffer (India) and Gebr. Pfeiffer (Germany), with Pfeiffer’s Noida-based engineering team providing full design and support.

India: Ambuja Cements has commissioned a 4Mt/yr brownfield expansion of its clinker unit at Bhatapara, Chhattisgarh. The company confirmed the new capacity is fully operational, raising its consolidated clinker capacity to 66Mt/yr. Ambuja Cements has also increased its 2028 financial year capacity target to 155Mt/yr, up from 140Mt/yr, with the additional capacity to be achieved through debottlenecking.

The company will install 13 blenders across its plants over the next 12 months to optimise product mix and raise its premium product cement share. Planned logistics infrastructure upgrades are expected to improve capacity utilisation by 3% over the next two years.

New Zealand: Holcim New Zealand has confirmed it will sell its cement carrier MV Buffalo, a source of local employment, to Switzerland-based NovaAlgoma Cement Carriers (NACC) at the end of 2025.

A Holcim spokesperson said “Holcim has decided to sell the MV Buffalo and source a replacement vessel. The 27-year-old MV Buffalo is too large, inefficient and costly to run, requiring in excess of US$4.5m in repairs and maintenance over the next four years in order to remain seaworthy. The decision follows a comprehensive review of Holcim’s shipping requirements and operational costs. The review identified the need for a more modern, smaller and cost-effective vessel to maintain supply of cement to the South Island and lower North Island.”

The company began consultation to retire the MV Buffalo in February 2025, and has since confirmed future shipping will be managed by NACC. However, NACC must obtain a government exemption to operate the Panamanian-flagged NACC Vega in domestic waters.

The Maritime Union of New Zealand (MUNZ) has opposed the move and urged the government to reject NACC’s flag waiver application. Holcim has reportedly issued formal termination notices to the MV Buffalo’s 32 New Zealand-based crew, effective 28 December 2025. Union negotiations remain unresolved since October 2025 and have been referred to the Employment Relations Authority.

Southeast Asia: The ASEAN Federation of Cement Manufacturers (AFCM) has launched the 2035 AFCM Decarbonisation Roadmap, which it says is the world’s first regional decarbonisation strategy for the cement sector. The roadmap was announced during the 46th AFCM Council Meeting in Brunei Darussalam, chaired by Dr Chana Poomee and attended by cement association leaders from all eight AFCM member countries.

The roadmap sets a shared framework for systematic CO₂ reduction aligned with national climate policies and global environmental goals. Supported by the Global Cement and Concrete Association (GCCA), it is built upon four pillars: expansion of low carbon cement, transition to renewable energy across production processes and enhancing efficiency to reduce energy consumption, deployment of decarbonisation technologies such as carbon capture, utilisation and storage (CCUS), and development of new supplementary cementitious materials.

Member associations from Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam said that national implementation will vary depending on local energy mix, policies, industrial maturity and material availability. The strategy could reportedly cut regional CO₂ emissions by up to 38Mt by 2035.

Pakistan: Since the closure of the Pakistan-Afghanistan border on 11 October 2025, Afghan coal imports and cement exports have been halted, raising prices and prompting northern cement producers to shift to coal imports from South Africa, Indonesia and Mozambique. The move follows rising tensions between the two countries, with the cement sector among the most affected.

A manufacturer said Afghan coal is no longer available and ruled out using Iran as an alternative route due to the lack of banking channels and the impracticality of transporting coal. It said Afghanistan accounts for about 7% of Pakistan’s cement exports. Topline Securities reported that DG Khan Cement will continue using imported coal, while some producers have begun importing RB2 grade.

Insight Research has reported that Cherat Cement, Fauji Cement and Maple Leaf Cement are among the most exposed, with Afghan exports accounting for 9.8%, 5.8% and 3.1% of their sales, respectively.

China: Huaxin Building Materials Group will change its company name and logo from 4 December 2025. It said that the change reflects the company’s broader focus on building materials beyond cement.

Bangladesh: The Coast Guard arrested nine suspected smugglers and seized 450 bags of cement during an operation southeast of Cheradia. The cement, valued at around US$2000, was allegedly being transported to Myanmar to evade customs duties and taxes. Coast Guard Siam-ul-Haq intercepted a ‘suspicious’ fishing trawler at around 9:00am local time, according to local press, resulting in the arrests and seizure of the vessel and goods.

Indonesia: Cement sales fell by 2.5% year-on-year to 51.9Mt between January and October 2025, amid a reduction in the national IKN capital city construction budget to US$889m. Cement production also saw a decline of 6%, reaching 52.9Mt. The Indonesian Cement Association (ASI) said weakening demand occurred in Kalimantan, where sales dropped by 828,356t to 3.88Mt, and Java, where sales fell by 556,468t to 27.1Mt.

Secretary general Ari Wirawan said “Domestic cement sales from January to October 2025 continue to show a negative trend, affecting nearly all regions with a 2.5% decrease compared to the same period in 2024.”

Sales in Sumatra and Nusa Tenggara rose by 2% and 3% respectively due to toll road and tourism infrastructure projects. Exports rose by over 20% to 1.11Mt, with shipments going to Bangladesh, Taiwan, Australia, Timor Leste and Sri Lanka. Production dropped by 6% to 52.9Mt, with utilisation reaching 53%.

ASI chair Lilik Unggul Raharjo said a proposed increase in the home renovation programme budget to US$2.6bn could lift annual cement consumption by 6.2Mt. He said “A 4Mt increase in demand is admittedly somewhat optimistic. Nevertheless, our fervent hope is that the increased budget for home renovations will indeed come to fruition.”