Displaying items by tag: Bangladesh

Tanzania: Elsawy Ahmed has resigned as the manager of Twiga Cement’s Wazo Hill plant. He had been in post at the subsidiary of Heidelberg Materials since 2017. He is now working as a technical consultant.

Elsawy started his career as a Quality Control Supervisor for Assiut Cement in Egypt. He later worked for Cemex Egypt and became a plant manager for Cemex in Bangladesh in the early 2000s. He joined Italcementi in 2006 becoming Maintenance & Project Manager for subsidiary Suez Cement in the mid-2010s. Elsawy holds a degree in chemistry from Assiut University.

Bangladesh: LafargeHolcim Bangladesh has reported a strong financial performance in the second quarter of 2025 and first half of 2025. The company recorded a 4% year-on-year growth in revenue in the first half, supported by strong market dynamics and ‘sustained trust’ in its brands. Its consolidated profit after tax for the second quarter increased by 20%. However, profitability was impacted by rising energy costs and falling cement prices, prompting cost-efficiency measures and strategic pricing reviews. It also noted that a specialised cement product, Water Protect and Fair Face, recorded 28% growth. The company reported that its diversification drive continued to yield results, including co-processing over 21,000t of waste via Geocycle, which replaced 11% of fossil fuels.

Bangladesh: The Bangladesh Cement Manufacturers Association (BCMA) has elected Mohammad Amirul Haque as its president for the 2025 - 2027 term. He will succeed Alamgir Kabir in the post, according to the Daily Observer newspaper.

Haque is the managing director of Premier Cement Mills. He holds over four decades of management experience in sectors including cement, liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), petrochemicals, shipping, agro-processing, edible oil refining and real estate. He is the founder and managing director of Seacom Group, and currently works as the president of the LPG Operators Association of Bangladesh (LOAB). Haque has also held directorial roles at both the Chittagong Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI). He is an alumni of the University of Chittagong.

Bangladesh: Chhatak Cement’s plant in Sunamganj remains idle despite construction completing in March 2023, with production suspended due to unresolved gas and limestone supply issues, according to the Prothom Alo newspaper. The plant project began in 2016. New details confirm that the Bangladesh government has approved subcontracting of a cross-border ropeway to import limestone from India. Local firm Komorah Limestone Mining Company (KLMC), which already supplies limestone to Chhatak Cement, is in talks regarding the role. China-based contractor for the project, Nanjing Sea-Hope Cement Engineering, has agreed ‘in principle’ to this handover as of 18 March 2025, according to Chhatak Cement managing director Abdur Rahman.

Project officials stated that, once the new plant begins operations, it will be capable of producing 1500t/day of clinker and 500t/day of cement, triple its previous capacity. Reporters conducted a site visit on 8 April 2025, observing that a jetty had been constructed on the riverbank to unload clinker from the plant for grinding elsewhere. A conveyor system has been set up to move cement bags directly from the plant to transport, and a new conveyor belt has also been installed alongside the existing belt.

Bangladesh: Holcim has reaffirmed its commitment to the Bangladeshi market and expressed interest in ‘expanding sustainable operations’ in the country, BD News 24 has reported. The remarks arose in a meeting between Martin Kriegner, Holcim Executive Committee member and Regional Head for Asia, the Middle East, and Africa, and interim government Chief Advisor Muhammad Yunus on 9 April 2025.

"We are thankful to the government for providing continuous support to enable us to produce world-class products in Bangladesh," said Kriegner. He suggested that ‘ongoing carbon capture initiatives’ in other countries may form the basis for the local introduction of carbon capture technologies in Bangladesh.

Holcim, the parent company of LafargeHolcim Bangladesh, has been operating in Bangladesh since 2000 and runs the country’s only integrated cement plant in Sunamganj Districts’s Chhatak Upazila.

Bangladesh: The Bangladesh Cement Manufacturers Association (BCMA) has requested that the National Board of Revenue (NBR) lower an import tax on clinker to US$1.7/t. The lobbying is taking place ahead of the upcoming budget for the 2025 – 2026 financial year, according to the Financial Express newspaper. The association also expressed concern that a 10% duty was levied on limestone imports, but it expects this to be relaxed in the upcoming budget. The BCMA has urged the NBR to simplify customs regulations and impose a tariff system on value-added tax (VAT) calculations.

Bangladesh: Chhatak Cement Factory has ceased production due to severe gas and limestone shortages, despite a modernisation project having reached 91% completion.

The Bangladesh Chemical Industries Corporation (BCIC) began a US$54.7m project to convert the plant’s production process from wet to dry in 2016, in order to increase capacity to 1500t/day (0.45Mt/yr). The project cost rose to US$116m, with US$68m spent by November 2024. However, the plant remains idle despite the completion of construction works over a year ago, due to the lack of a new gas pipeline and ropeway to import limestone from India. This ropeway was supposed to transport limestone from the Komorrah Limestone Mining Company in Meghalaya.

The project's committee has proposed extending the deadline to June 2026 and allocating an additional US$25m for a 43km gas pipeline from Sylhet to Chhatak. Trial runs are now being conducted every 15 days in order to prevent the plant’s machinery from rusting.

Project director Abdur Rahman Badsha said that the Chinese contractor responsible for the ropeway construction, Nanjing C-Hope Cement Engineering Group, is awaiting a subcontracting agreement with KLMC to begin work in India.

Vietnam: The General Department of Vietnam Customs recorded exports of cement and clinker of 29.7Mt in 2024, down by 5% year-on-year from 2023 levels. Producers and exporters generated US$1.14bn in revenues from the exports, down by 14% year-on-year.

Việt Nam News has reported that the Philippines topped the list of importers of Vietnamese cement, with 8.01Mt (27%), down by under 1%. Bangladesh imported 5.49Mt (19%), up by 11%, and Malaysia imported 1.68Mt (6%), down by 3%.

Bangladesh: Heidelberg Materials Bangladesh has appointed Saikat Khan as its secretary with effect from 1 November 2024. Khan also serves as the director of the company's legal division, according to the New Nation newspaper. He succeeds Emdadul Haque in the post, who has resigned.

Other recent personnel changes include the appointment of Terence Ong Kian Hock as managing director. He assumed the role from 1 September 2024 and succeeded Jose Marcelino Ugarte. Emdadul Haque has also been appointed as chief financial officer from 1 January 2025. He will follow Jashim Uddin Chowdhury in the role.

Bangladesh: Confidence Cement is building a new 1.8Mt/yr cement grinding plant at Narsingdi. The project has an investment of US$68m, according to the Daily Star newspaper. Germany-based Loesche is reportedly supplying equipment for the unit, which is scheduled to start operation in early 2025. Around two-thirds of the project cost is being supplied by loans with the rest coming from company equity.

Confidence Cement currently operates a 1.2Mt/yr grinding plant near Chattogram.