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A few news stories in recent weeks have emerged concerning falling cement sales in Central Asian countries. Steppe Cement reported in mid-April 2016 that its cement sales had fallen by 12% year-on-year to US$5.98m in the first quarter of 2016 from US$6.79m in the same period in 2015. The cement producer noted an overall drop of 16% in the cement market in Kazakhstan, with a slowing reduction in March 2016 compared to the preceding four months. It forecast that the domestic cement market would contract by 1.1Mt in 2016 to 8.5Mt. The country has a cement production capacity of 11.85Mt/yr according to Global Cement Directory 2016 data. So on average this would see a drop in the capacity utilisation rate to 72% from 81%.

Likewise, Italcementi reported a fall in cement consumption in the fourth quarter of 2015 although overall in 2015 it reported consumption up by 9%. It is currently upgrading its Shymkent cement plant to a dry kiln with testing planned for early 2016. Meanwhile, HeidelbergCement – the other multinational present in the country, reported cement sales growth of over 9% due in part to the ramp-up of its new CaspiCement cement plant. How this will turn out after HeidelbergCement takes control of Italcementi remains to be seen.

Then, Holcim Azerbaijan reported that its sales had fallen by 37% to US$56m in 2015. It blamed the resultant loss it made on not being able to cut its production costs fast enough to match the falling revenue. The parent company LafargeHolcim blamed it on a ‘significant’ decline in public and private construction. Elsewhere, the World Bank reported a 13% drop in the construction sector in the second half of 2015 as the government cut investment.

Tajikistan may have broken this pattern as it reported that its cement production volumes rose by 33% to 373,000t in the first quarter of 2016. Over half of this output came from the 1Mt/yr Huaksin Ghayyur Cement plant that was commissioned in March 2016. The same news source reported government estimates that local demand will be 3.5Mt/yr in 2016. Similarly, Turkmenistan reported growing cement production in 2015 due to the opening of the 1.4Mt/yr Polimeks cement plant in Lebap. Otherwise there has been little reported recently from the cement industries in Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan although the World Bank has reported that their economies are in reasonable shape.

The multinational cement producers all noted the economic problems caused by low oil prices in the Central Asian countries in which they operate. In February 2016 this was reinforced by the International Monetary Fund after its latest visit to Azerbaijan. The World Bank also expects little growth in gross domestic product (GDP) in the region in 2016. Low oil prices have followed economic problems in Russia that have also impacted upon the region due to its economic ties with that country and membership of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS).

This is bad news for the local markets but it is especially bad news for the Chinese cement industry. As China has faced production overcapacity and falling prices at home, its suppliers and producers have sped off down the Silk Road to seek expansion prospects elsewhere. With this route blocked, the Chinese industry faces one fewer opportunity to avoid the crunch at home.

For more information of the cement industries in Central Asia read Global Cement's feature on the region from January 2016

India: Wonder Cement has appointment of Jagdish Chandra Toshniwal as its managing director. Toshniwal takes over from DP Somani who was with the company for over seven years.

Toshniwal originally studied at the Birla Institute of Technology and Science in Pilani. He started his career with Udaipur Cement in 1975 before spending nearly 18 years working for Ambuja Cement. Toshniwal joined Wonder Cement in 2015 as an executive director.

Ireland: CRH has reported in a trading update that its overall sales rose by 9% year-on-year in the first quarter of 2016. By region it saw a 22% increase in the Americas, a 12% increase in Asia and no increase in Europe. No specific figures were released in the statement issued ahead of the company annual general meeting.

The Ireland-based construction materials producer’s Europe Heavyside division noted that cement sales volumes grew in the UK and Finland. Cement sales volumes were ‘broadly in line with 2015’ in Poland. In the Philippines CRH reported that cement demand was supported by strong foreign direct investment in the business process outsourcing sector, overseas workers' remittances and increasing government infrastructure spending.

CRH expects demand for its products to grow in the US and the Philippines in its outlook for the second half of 2016. In the US funding for infrastructure is expected to increase moderately with improving state finances and the passing in 2015 of the Fixing America's Surface Transportation (FAST) Act. It also expects residential and non-residential construction to grow.

China: Anhui Conch Cement’s net profit has dropped by 45% year-on-year to US$123m in the first quarter of 2016 from US$233m in the same period in 2015. Its revenue fell by 5.5% to US$1.63bn from US$1.73bn. It attributed the decreases in profit and sales revenue to falling prices.

Argentina: Cementos Molins plans to invest US$189m towards upgrading production at its San Jacinto cement grinding plant according to local press. The upgrade will increase the plant’s cement production capacity to 1Mt/yr from 0.3Mt/yr.

It will also create 130 new jobs. The project is expected to last 30 months. Cementos Molins operates in Argentina via its subsidiary Cementos Avellaneda.

India: UltraTech’s net profit has risen by 8% year-on-year to US$479m for its financial year that ended on 31 March 2016 from US$449m in the same period in the previous financial year. Its net sales rose by 5% to US$3.8bn from US$3.6bn. It reported that its portland cement sales volumes grew by 8% to 46.9Mt in the 2015 – 2016 financial year from 43.4Mt. It noted that its operating costs fell due to improved operational efficiency, a better fuel mix and a fall in fuel prices.

The Indian cement producer commissioned a 6MW waste heat recovery (WHR) system at Chittorgarh, Rajasthan during the January to March 2016 quarter. Overall, it generates 59MW from WHR. Since commissioning cement grinding plants at Jhajjar, West Bengal and Patliputra, Bihar the company’s cement production capacity is 66.3Mt/yr. It also signed a Memorandum of Understanding to buy cement plants from Jaiprakash Associates in late February 2016. The cement plants altogether have a total cement production capacity of 22.4Mt/yr.

In its outlook UltraTech expects cement demand to grow by up to 8% in the 2016 – 2017 financial year. This will be supported by government infrastructure and housing development.

India: JK Cement has stopped clinker and cement production at its Muddapur cement plant in Karnataka. It reported finding cracks in a raw material silo.

Germany: ThyssenKrupp Industrial Solutions has received a contract from HeidelbergCement to supply a new cement clinker production line. The 4500t/day line will be built at the Schelklingen cement plant in Baden-Württemberg as a replacement for an existing older production line. Start of production is planned for spring 2018.

“Although most of the cement contracts we have been awarded recently have been to build new production capacities in growth regions, this order shows that there is also demand in Europe to modernize and expand existing facilities. Our highly efficient technologies, which we continually improve together with our customers, guarantee maximum reliability and allow producing innovative products in an economical and environmentally friendly way,” said Lothar Jungemann, CEO of the Cement operating unit in the Resource Technologies business unit of ThyssenKrupp Industrial Solutions.

For the new kiln line ThyssenKrupp Industrial Solutions will supply components including a five-stage, single-strand DOPOL preheater, a POLRO rotary kiln with a POLGUIDE drive system and a POLYTRACK clinker cooler with roll crusher. The design of the calciner used in the preheater is intended to allow high fuel burnout with low nitrogen oxide emissions. The POLYTRACK cooler also features a highly efficient heat recovery system that minimizes fuel input.

Vietnam: Loesche has signed a contract with Sinoma-NCDRI for three mills to be supplied for Thanh Thang Cement in Bong Lang, Ha Na. A type LM 60.6 Loesche mill with a performance of 520t/hour as a reliable unit has been ordered to grind cement to a fineness of 12% R DIN 0.09mm. The gearbox of this mill has a power output of 4600kW. Two separate type LM 53.3+3 CS Loesche mills with a performance of 200t/hour will be in use to grind clinker to 3400 Blaine. The gearboxes of these two mills each have a power of 4,600 kW.

The scope of delivery for this order also includes rotary feeders, water injection, metal detectors and sealing air fans. All three mills are to be put into operation by October 2016.

Ireland: Irish Cement is planning to cut the amount alternative fuels it intends to co-process at its Limerick cement plant to 90,000t/yr. The cement producer withdrew its initial planning application in March 2016 but has resubmitted a new application with a lower amount of alternative fuels, according to the Limerick Leader newspaper. It now aims to burn half of the original amount that was originally requested.

It originally announced its Euro10m plan to co-process alternative fuels including tyres at the plant in December 2015. The investment is intended to create 40 jobs. However, local citizens have opposed the plans with over 450 people signing a petition against the development.