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Just one week after Dangote started trial production at its new Mugher cement plant in Ethiopia it announced that it would be doubling capacity at the site. Upgrade work is slated to begin before the end of 2015, according to Nigerian media.

The move shows how much potential Ethiopia is seen to have for the cement industry. With a population of around 90m, it had a cement production capacity of 9.7Mt/yr before the new 2.5Mt/yr Dangote plant comes on line, according to Global Cement Directory 2015 figures. Including the new Dangote plant and even at 100% capacity utilisation this would place cement consumption in the country at 135kg/capita. This is a low figure internationally and hence the continued interest in new capacity. Subsequently, a large number of projects have been rumoured and mooted in Ethiopia over the years. However, many of these publicised projects then fail to make it to construction.

Mebrahtu Meles, the Minister of Industry, said that there were 18 companies engaged in cement production at the 7th Africa Cement Trade Summit that took place in Addis Ababa in April 2015. Meles placed the installed production capacity at 11.2Mt/yr (including the Dangote plant) with the expectation that this will increase to 17.15Mt. However, these cement plants are only producing 5.47Mt/yr, giving the country a capacity utilisation rate of below 50%. This too is low by international standards (60% or more). Cement consumption was placed at just 62kg/capita in 2014.

At the same event, the Ministry of Industry revealed that it was working on a national Cement Industry Development Strategy from 2015 to 2025. The strategy will tackle local industry issues such as unavailability of locally-produced packaging materials, poor transport links, high costs of production and a limited market. Key targets include stimulating cement demand to 12.22Mt/yr by 2020 by moving to concrete road construction and raising capacity utilisation rate to 75% by 2017 and to 80% to 2025.

Despite the publicity Dangote isn't the only player creating new capacity in Ethiopia. Habesha Cement is set to open its 1.4Mt/yr cement plant near to Addis Ababa in 2016. Habesha also has an international angle, given that South African cement producer PPC purchased the majority stake in Habesha Cement in the autumn of 2014 following the project's difficult financial history.

The new Dangote plant predates the country's new cement industry strategy but the upgrade plans demonstrate confidence in both the market and the government's plans. To meet its targets though the country is going to need to increase both its capacity utilisation and build more production capacity. Although muted from previous pronouncements the current target relies on Habesha Cement building its plant and the capacity utilisation rate rising from 50% to at least 75%.

South African weekly newspaper, M&G Africa, has described how Africa faces an infrastructure 'apartheid' whereby 44 of the continent's 58 countries share just 25% of the continent's infrastructure. Building things in Africa costs more because of this infrastructure deficit and it hits cement capacity utilisation rates as well. Ethiopia is one of the region's richer countries in terms of gross domestic product (GDP) but the same issues apply. Hitting its targets for the cement industry may be hard.

US: Ash Grove Cement Company has announced that James P Sunderland, former company chairman and president, died on 27 May 2015. Sunderland joined Ash Grove Lime and Portland Cement Company in 1957 as its corporate secretary in Kansas City. In his 43-year career at Ash Grove Cement, Sunderland held several leadership positions, including serving as the company's chairman and president. During Sunderland's tenure, Ash Grove Cement became one of the largest Portland cement producers in the US.

India: India Cements has appointed P L Subramanian as a non-executive director with immediate effect. Subramanian joined the company in 1986 and has served in various positions. He was serving as its executive director of operations and retired from service in May 2015.

US: FCT, the rotary kiln pyro-processing company, is pleased to announce that Adriano Greco has joined the team at FCT as Global Sales Director, based in the United States.

Mr Greco is known to many in the cement industry through his previous activities as Managing Director of Greco and as Sales Director for Gebr. Pfeiffer. FCT said that his experience and professionalism would be 'invaluable as FCT extends its reach to the markets across the globe.'

FCT already has operations in Australia, United States, Europe, Middle East and Canada and continues to expand with projects in every continent.

Brazil: Reuters has reported that Brazilian industrial conglomerate Camargo Corrêa is looking to sell a stake in Intercement for up to US$1.2bn in order to make new overseas investments, according to a report in newspaper Folha de S Paulo.

Camargo Corrêa plans to sell 10 – 18% of Intercement for between US$648m and US$1.17bn. The industrial conglomerate is one of several in Brazil with executives accused of paying bribes for contracts with state-run oil company Petroleo Brasileiro, known as Petrobras, threatening its access to public works contracts and driving up borrowing costs. Two Camargo Corrêa executives have already pleaded guilty.

Folha reported that Camargo Corrêa 's US$2.66bn of debt had led it to seek a minority partner in order to take advantage of opportunities to grow in countries as diverse as Egypt, Mozambique and Paraguay.

Czech Republic: A reviving building material market has raised Lafarge's sales in the Czech Republic by 5% year-on-year to US$35.2m in 2014, according to company spokesperson Milena Hucanova.

Profits from operations soared by 53% to US$6.55m. Hucanova attributed the growth to rising sales, an extraordinary revenue from the sale of carbon credits and operating savings. About 40% of the company's output was exported in 2014.

Czech cement consumption increased by more than 4% year-on-year to 3.5Mt in 2014 and the same growth rate is foreseen for 2015, said Hucanova. Investments are estimated at US$1.09m this year.

Russia: Russia's cement consumption may fall by 5 - 10% in 2015, according to Eurocement Group forecasts. The cement market contracted by 9% in January - April 2015. The decline slowed to 4 - 5% in May 2015, according to preliminary data.

The situation on the construction market is currently unfavourable for cement production as borrowing is too expensive, which slows new construction and gives developers an incentive to monetise projects at the implementation stage. "Developers are currently trying to complete projects that are already underway, so consumption of finished products has increased and companies are reluctant to begin new construction projects, which takes a toll on cement consumption," said Eurocement president Mikhail Skorokhod.

Eurocement has continued to upgrade its cement plants and all of its plants will switch to the dry-process for cement production by 2020. The programme will boost Eurocement's production capacity to 60Mt/yr from 50Mt/yr. Capital investment in the upgrades will total an estimated Euro1.62bn.

At the start of July 2015, a 1.3Mt/yr capacity plant will be commissioned in Ulyanovsk region's Sengileevsky district, according to Skorokhod. The plant will have the option of shipping product on the Volga river, reducing some of Eurocement's logistical costs.

Spain: Spanish competition regulator CNMC has expanded its probe into cement and concrete producers on alleged cartel agreements. The CNMC carried out inspections at the headquarters of cement and concrete makers on 27 and 28 May 2015 as part of the probe on 14 sector players, the CNMC said in a statement. The regulator said it has 18 months to decide whether it will impose a fine on the companies.

Azerbaijan: Holcim Azerbaijan's net profit fell from US$49.2m in 2013 to US$37.8m in 2014, a 23.2% drop year-on-year. Its revenue fell from US$102m to US$74.4m in 2014. At the same time, production costs fell from US$65.8m to US$53.4m in 2014.

Philippines: According to local media, Cement plants using explosives to extract limestone in the mountains of eastern Bulacan poses a threat that might break the Angat Dam, a large hydroelectric facility that supplies electricity and water to the Manila metropolitan area.

"Years of massive quarrying of mineral deposits in the area had taken its toll. The removal of the mountains in the area is not only ugly, but also appears to be a disaster waiting to happen since the mining area is so close to the Angat dam," said Martin Francisco, chairman of the Sagip Sierra Madre Environmental Society Inc (SSMSI). He added that since Angat Dam lies along the West Valley fault line, the mining of limestone deposits in the area could weaken the structure of the dam and its foundation because cement plants are still using explosives in extracting marble and limestone.

In a report to Bulacan governor Wilhelmino M Sy-Alvarado, the SSMSI said that residents and a cultural minority group, the Dumagats, have complained about the vibrations and noise in the mountains caused by dynamite blasts. "The explosions are causing too much anxiety and could even scare the people out of their wits since the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology has once again confirmed that the West Valley Fault is active. This is another threat to a dam break," said Francisco. He added that several landslides were reported in 2014 and several small sink holes in the mountains have appeared.

Alvarado has formed a team to investigate the matter and has requested that the cement plants refrain from using explosives to extract limestone.