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As this is the last issue of Global Cement Weekly before the Christmas 2013 break, once again we will look at some of the major news stories of the year. This is a subjective summary of the year so if readers feel we have missed anything major let us know via LinkedIn, Twitter or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

China tackles pollution and overcapacity
2013 has been the year that China's central planners took action against cement production overcapacity and pollution. Consolidation plans for the industry followed falling profits for cement producers in 2012. However, record air pollution levels in Beijing in early 2013 shut the city down, raised public awareness and gave the government a strong lever to encourage further industry consolidation through environmental controls. By the middle of year profits of major producers were up but production was also up. Finally in December 2013, China started to launch its emissions trading schemes (ETS), led by Guangdong province, to create what will be the second largest carbon market in the world after the EU ETS.

India faces a sticky wicket
Meanwhile, the world's second largest cement producing country has faced poor profits and growth for cement producers blamed on paltry demand, piddling prices and proliferating production costs. Compounding that, the Indian Rupee fell to a historic low relative to the US Dollar in mid-2013, further putting pressure on input costs. Holcim reacted to all of this by releasing plans to simplify its presence in the country between Holcim India, Ambuja and ACC.

Sub-Saharan Africa draws up the battle lines
Competition in sub-Saharan Africa is set to intensify when Nigeria's Dangote Cement opens its first cement plant in South Africa in early 2014. It is the first time Africa's two largest cement producers, Dangote and South Africa's PPC, will produce cement in the same country. Future clashes will follow across the region as each producer increasingly advances toward the other.

The Kingdom needs cement... and workers
Saudi Arabian infrastructure demands have created all sorts of reverberations across the Middle Eastern cement industry and beyond as the nation pushes on to build its six 'economic' cities amongst other projects. Back in April 2013 King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud of Saudi Arabia issued an edict ordering the import of 10Mt of cement. Then some producers started to report production line shutdowns in the autumn of 2013 as they buckled under the pressure, although they consoled themselves with solid profit rises. Now, cement sales have fallen following a government crackdown on migrant workers that has hit the construction sector.

Competition concerns in Europe
Europe may be slowly emerging from the economic gloom but anti-trust regulators have remained vigilant. An asset swap between Cemex and Holcim over units in the Czech Republic, Germany and Spain has received attention from the European Commission. In the UK the Competition Commission has decreed that further action is required for the cement sector following the creation of new player Hope Construction Materials in 2012. Lafarge Tarmac may now have to sell another one of its UK cement plants to increase more competition into the market. Elsewhere in Europe, Belgium regulators took action in September 2013 and this week we report on Polish action against cartel-like activity.

Don't forget South-East Asia, Brazil or Russia!
Growth continues to dominate these regions and major sporting tournaments are on the way in Brazil and Russia, further adding to local cement demand. Votorantim may have cancelled its US$4.8bn initial public offering in August 2013 but it is still has the highest cement production capacity in Brazil. Finally, Indonesia may not have had any 'marquee' style story to sum up 2013 but it continues to regularly announce cement plant builds. In July 2013 the Indonesian Cement Association announced that cement sales growth had fallen to 'just' 7.5% for the first half of 2013.

Global Cement Weekly will return on 8 January 2013

Australia: Martin Brydon has been appointed the Chief Executive Office (CEO) of Adelaide Brighton, effective from May 2014. He will succeed the Managing Director and current CEO Mark Chellew who will retire at this time. Previously Brydon was the company's Executive General Manager for Cement and Lime.

"Investment in the reliability and sustainability of our key cement and lime production assets has delivered significant results," said Chairman Les Hosking in tribute to Chellew.

India: Dalmia Bharat has appointed Mahendra Singhi as Group CEO for Cement. Singhi previously worked for Shree Cement as the Executive Director.

Currently, Singhi is the co-chair of the Cement Sustainability Initiative in India. He is also on the Board of Governors of the National Council for Cement & Building Materials (NCB), besides being a member of the Central Expert Technical Committee on the Cement Sector on PAT (Perform, Achieve and Trade) scheme of the Bureau of Energy Efficiency. Other positions held include tenure as president of the Rajasthan Cement Manufacturers Association and executive committee member of TERI BCSD. He was also leader of the Indian Cement Sector Task Force for Energy Conservation, constituted by the Bureau of Energy Efficiency, at the central ministry of power.

US: Vulcan Materials has announced a series of leadership changes effective from 1 January 2014.

Tom Hill, previously Senior Vice President of the company's South Region, has been promoted to the position of Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer for Vulcan Materials. John McPherson, previously Senior Vice President of Vulcan's East Region, has been promoted to the position of Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer.

Danny Shepherd, previously Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of Vulcan Materials, has been promoted to the position of Vice Chairman of the company. Dan Sansone, previously Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, has been named as Executive Vice President of Strategy. He plans to retire from the Vulcan Materials at the end of 2014.

"These are key steps in our succession planning process, which is an important and ongoing focus of our Board of Directors," said Don James, Vulcan's Chairman. "We are blessed with great talent and experience at Vulcan and these appointments position us well for future growth opportunities that will further enhance shareholder value. Tom, John, Danny and Dan have played immensely important roles for Vulcan and will continue to do so in their new positions. We are excited about our future and about their roles in helping shape it."

Myanmar: Citic Heavy Industries has signed a 5000t/day cement production line EPC general contract with Maylamyine Cement, a Myanmar-located subsidiary of Thailand's Siam Cement Group. The contract is valued at US$197m.

Indonesia: Minister of State-Owned Enterprises Dahlan Iskan has said that he expects that Semen Kupang, a local cement company in East Nusa Tenggara that went bankrupt in 2008, will re-open and build a third plant to meet demand for cement in the region.

In 2008 Semen Kupang formed a joint operation scheme with Sarana Agro Gemilang (SAG) to cope with its debts. Dahlan explained that all of Semen Kupang's debt has been paid and that the company 'must' expand its business by developing the national cement industry to meet national demand.

China: Shijiazhuang, Hebei province has started the demolition of its first batch of 18 cement plants on 17 December 2013 to fight air pollution. 74 cement plants in the suburbs of Shijiazhuang are targeted for deconstruction by March 2014 according to China Daily. The planned demolition is planned to include all the western areas of the city by 2017.

"The cement companies have been a major source of dust pollution, making them a priority for demolition," said Niu Yongzhi, the official from the Bureau of Industry and Information in Shijiazhuang who is in charge of the project.

Demolition of the first 18 cement plants will be completed in January 2014. Removal of these cement units is expected to significantly reduce dust and nitrogen oxides emissions. More than 3500 cement plant employees will lose their jobs in the demolition.

The government will pay compensation to the companies whose plants are being shut down. Seven plants in Pingshan county will receive an average of US$1.5m each and tax breaks will be given to the companies when they start other businesses. The other 11 cement plants in Luquan will receive similar compensation.

The 18 cement plants, scattered throughout the northwestern area of Shijiazhuang produce 9.4Mt/yr or about 21% of the city's annual output. By 2014 cement production capacity in Hebei will drop to 61Mt/yr, half of the province's cement production in 2012.

Indonesia: Loesche has opened an overseas subsidiary PT Loesche Indonesia (LND) in Jakarta. The new subsidiary will be managed by Detlef Blümke, who has been head of the company's commissioning department and deputy-director of Loesche's technical field service.

"Blümke's strong technical background and experience in developing new markets for our service activities has made him an excellent choice as managing director of PT Loesche Indonesia," said Dr Joachim Kirchmann, Loesche's joint CEO. Blümke will establish PT Loesche Indonesia in the Asian market and developing the company's presence as a new regional service hub for the Loesche Group.

Blümke took up his new role at the start of October 2013 and PT Loesche Indonesia is scheduled to be fully operational from 1 January 2014.

New Zealand: Holcim New Zealand intends to invest US$80m towards building two cement import terminals at Primeport Timaru, South Island and Waitemata Auckland, North Island after abolishing plans for a new integrated cement plant in New Zealand earlier in 2013.

Each site will store up to 30,000t of cement and will take two to three years to build. The Timaru terminal will include a ship unloader and conveyor system leading to an enclosed storage facility on leased land. There will also be pumping equipment allowing cement to be fed back from storage on to coastal ships.

This story was amended on 19 December 2013

Colombia: Colombia's Superintendent of Industry and Commerce (SIC) has launched an investigation into possible anti-competitive behaviour within the cement industry. According to the regulator, the investigation relates to alleged 'sustained and unjustified increases in the price of cement since January 2010.'

In 2008 the regulator issued fines in excess of US$1m to cement firms for involvement in a market sharing agreement. Cementos Argos has denied involvement in price fixing or market sharing.