Displaying items by tag: Asia

India: Ambuja Cements recorded a profit after tax of US$259m in the second quarter of the 2026 financial year (FY2026), which runs from July to September, up from US$55.8m in the same period of the 2025 financial year. Revenue from operations rose by 18% year-on-year, from US$850m to US$1.03bn.

CEO Vinod Bahety said “This quarter has been noteworthy for the cement industry. Despite the headwinds from prolonged monsoons, the sector will benefit from the tailwinds of several favourable developments including GST 2.0 reforms, the Carbon Credit Trading Scheme (CCTS), and the withdrawal of coal cess (tax). We have upped our FY2028 target capacity by 15Mt/yr, from 140Mt/yr to 155Mt/yr. This increase of 15Mt/yr from debottlenecking initiatives will come at a much lower capex of US$48/t.”Bahety said that debottlenecking of plant logistics infrastructure will also increase the utilisation of the company’s existing capacity of 107Mt/yr by 3%.

Uzbekistan: The Uzpromstroymaterialy Association reported that national cement production was 18Mt between January and September 2025, up by 28% year-on-year. Total installed capacity is now 40.5Mt/yr across 42 enterprises, an increase of 0.7Mt/yr from 2024. The rise in production of high-quality grades such as M-500 and M-600 cement led to an 89% decline in imports, which totalled 66,000t in the first nine months of 2025. Imports for the first half of 2025 were 38,000t, down by 91% from 2024.

Cement exports in the first nine months of 2025 were nearly 1.1Mt, almost four times higher than in the same period of 2024. The association said that the CIS free trade regime is supporting the expansion of foreign markets for Uzbek producers, while imports from CIS countries remain duty-free. It said that the competitiveness of domestic producers, their strong supply to the local market and rising export potential are strengthening Uzbekistan’s economic independence.

Vietnam: Domestic cement sales reached about 18Mt in the third quarter of 2025, equal to 79% of second-quarter levels, according to the Construction Industry Development Centre (CIDC). The decline was attributed to prolonged storms and seasonal factors that disrupted operations and transport. Rising electricity, raw material and fuel costs also put pressure on production costs and profit margins.

By contrast, cement and clinker exports rose to nearly 9.5Mt, up on both the previous quarter and the first nine months of 2024. The increase was driven by efforts to expand into new markets in the Middle East, Africa and Eastern Europe, offsetting lower demand from the US, Taiwan and the Philippines. The Vietnam Cement Market Report noted that export profit margins remain under pressure due to high logistics costs and falling prices. The US’ 20% import tax on Vietnamese cement and Taiwan’s anti-dumping duties (in place until 2030) are also prompting companies to reassess pricing and market strategies.

According to the Vietnam Association of Building Materials, the final months of 2025 will bring ‘continued challenges’ from rising energy and input costs, but improving weather, faster public investment disbursement and signs of recovery in real estate are expected to boost demand for construction materials.

India: FLSmidth has signed a contract with UltraTech Cement to supply two new Cross-Bar coolers with HRBs to upgrade the pyroprocessing lines at its Dalavoi and Sankar Nagar plants in Tamil Nadu. The upgrades aim to increase efficiency and productivity at both facilities.

Vietnam: VICEM Ha Tien Cement has signed an engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract for a waste heat recovery power generation project at its Kien Luong cement plant. The agreement is valued at US$7.5m, and was concluded with a consortium of Sinoma International Engineering, Viet Industrial Construction and Installation, and Viet Tuan Trading Construction Architecture.

The consortium will design, supply, construct and install the system, which will utilise residual heat from the clinker line to generate electricity. The project is set for completion within 16 months, and will meet a ‘considerable portion’ of the plant’s internal power needs, according to S&P Global.

India: Shree Cement has commissioned a 20MW solar power plant in Chitrakoot district, Uttar Pradesh. Phase I has achieved commercial operation, with Phase II expected to be completed by the end of the fourth quarter of the 2026 financial year. The facility will supply renewable power to the company’s Etah grinding unit and is expected to offset about 22,000t/yr of CO₂ emissions.

The project will create 30-40 jobs for the local community. With this commissioning, Shree Cement’s total installed solar capacity stands at 313MW across India.

Managing director Neeraj Akhoury said “Each new plant is an opportunity to innovate, integrate renewable energy and lead the cement sector toward a sustainable, low-carbon future, creating lasting value for both the business and the environment.”

India: JK Cement has commissioned a new 1Mt/yr cement grinding facility at its Prayagraj works, raising the unit’s capacity from 2Mt/yr to 3Mt/yr and the company’s total grey cement capacity from 25.3Mt/yr to 26.3Mt/yr. The project forms part of JK Cement’s 6Mt/yr capacity expansion plan approved in January 2024, which includes brownfield projects in Panna, Hamirpur and Prayagraj, and a greenfield plant in Bihar.

Bangladesh: Most cement plants are operating at less than 30% capacity, far below the global benchmark of 70–80%, according to the Bangladesh Cement Manufacturers Association (BCMA) via The Business Standard. National consumption fell to 38Mt in 2024, less than 40% of total capacity, and has declined further in 2025, forcing producers to cut output and lay off workers.

BCMA president Amirul Haque said “After Covid-19, we began recovering in 2021, driven by renewed construction. But since 2023, the situation has worsened drastically. Entrepreneurs expanded based on government demand. When projects slowed, we faced a severe cash flow crisis. Several small plants have already shut down.”

Bashundhara Cement, which has a capacity of 7.3Mt/yr, is reportedly running at 20% utilisation, while Mir Cement has reduced output to a quarter of capacity. Premier Cement is operating at around 40% capacity and Crown Cement has 60% of its capacity idle. Only Meghna Group of Industries reports growth, though utilisation remains 65%.

North Korea: The Puhung Cement Factory carried out the blasting of 350,000m³ of earth on 22 October 2025, according to Korean News. The blasting allows for increased cement supply to construction sites in order to implement government policies.

Pakistan: The Competition Commission of Pakistan (CCP) has approved the acquisition of Denmark-based FLSmidth’s global cement business by Pacific Avenue Capital Partners Management Company subsidiary ApS as it affects the Pakistani market. Local press has reported that the parties concluded a global share purchase agreement earlier in 2025.

FLSmidth subsidiary FLSmidth (Private) holds a non-dominant share across various cement technologies and services market sub-segments in Pakistan, while ApS has no current operational presence. The CCP’s Phase 1 investigation concluded that the transaction does not result in horizontal or vertical overlaps, raise competition concerns, create entry barriers or enhance the market power of FLSmidth (Private).