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Cement imports are back on the agenda this week in the Philippines with the news that the Tariff Commission has backed repealing the duties currently being implemented. If it’s anything like what happened last time, back in 2019, the commission’s opinion will once again be passed back to the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) for the final decision. The safeguard measure the commission wants to cut covers Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC) and Blended Cement. It summarised the situation as follows, “There is no existence of an imminent threat of serious injury and significant overall impairment to the position of the domestic cement industry in the near future.”

The commission reviewed the sector between 2019 and 2021 and concluded that the domestic cement industry maintained its market position, increased its mill capacities, stabilised its manufacturing costs and improved its profitability. It found that local producers recovered their profits in 2021, following the coronavirus pandemic. It also noted that imports continued to rise whilst the safeguard measure was in force. Volumes of imported OPC and blended cements increased at levels above 10% year-on-year in both the 2019 – 2020 and 2020 – 2021 periods. They also rose by 7% year-on-year to 3.51Mt in the first half of 2022 compared to the half-year average from 2019 - 2021. In the commission’s view, relaxing the duties on imported cement would slow price rises for both locally produced and imported cement leading to an overall national economic benefit.

Local cement producers in the Philippines are likely to be unhappy with the Tariff Commission’s recommendation. The Cement Manufacturers Association of the Philippines (CEMAP) spent the summer of 2022 lobbying for the safeguard measure to be extended past October 2022. It too pointed out that imports of cement had continued to grow even whilst the increased duties had been levied from 2019. A few days before the commission’s decision was published, APO Cement said that it had temporarily suspended operations at its Davao terminal. The subsidiary of Cemex Philippines blamed imports of cement, particularly from Vietnam, for the decision.

Yet, the local sector has been active over the last year with a number of capacity upgrades being launched or underway. In January 2022 the government gave tax breaks to San Miguel Equity Investments for the construction of a 2Mt/yr cement plant in Mindanao. In February 2022 San Miguel subsidiary Southern Concrete Industries said it was doubling the capacity of an upgrade to its grinding plant at Davao del Sur, with initial commissioning planned in mid-2022. Meanwhile, Solid Cement’s upgrade of a new production line at its integrated plant in Antipolo, Rizal, has been ongoing since it officially started in 2019. The current commissioning date for the subsidiary of Cemex is now expected in early 2024. In August 2022 Taiheiyo Cement Philippines held a groundbreaking ceremony for the start of construction of a new production line at its integrated San Fernando plant in Cebu. The US$85m project is due to be commissioned in mid-2024. Finally, importer Philcement revealed in late September 2022 that it had taken out a US$1.73m loan for an expansion and upgrades to its Mariveles cement terminal in Bataan.

Holcim Philippines’ president and chief executive officer Horia Adrain told local press in July 2022 that the cement sector was continuing to recover in 2022, following the coronavirus pandemic in 2020, but that the pace would be slower. And so it proved, with reduced revenue, earnings and profits reported by Holcim for the first half of 2022. Costs rose due to higher fuel and energy prices like elsewhere in the world but a construction ban in connection with the presidential election in May 2022 didn’t help either. Both CRH and Cemex Philippines reported a similar situation in their financial results. However, Eagle Cement did manage to raise its revenue in the same period.

The Tariff Commission has been explicit with its opinion about the impact of imports upon the local cement sector. Investment by the local producers has been forthcoming with a number of new plants and upgrades on the way. Finally, despite the market recovering since 2020, there has been less growth in the first half of 2022 due to global energy prices and the country’s elections. This last point has handed a gift to the cement producers as any further reductions in growth can be blamed on imports, whether it is connected or not. One thing is certain, if or when the safeguard measures are lifted, then the regular calls to restrict imports will resume just like they did prior to 2019.

France: Monitoring systems producer ENVEA Global has appointed Trevor Sands as its chief executive officer (CEO). He succeeds Christophe Chevillion in the post.

Sands worked recently as the Global President of Servomex Group, a company in the gas analysis sector. Prior to this he ran the Control Valves business for IMI, he was the CEO of Cosalt and also spent 13 years with Emerson, including leading the Fisher Valves European business and later running the Daniel Measurement and Controls Division. His early career was spent with Invensys, Unitech and Arthur Anderson in various finance roles. Sands graduated from the University of Bristol in the UK with an undergraduate science degree.

ENVEA Global is a manufacturer of on-line monitoring solutions for industry, laboratory and local and government institutions. It was founded in 1978 and became a public company in 2006. Carlyle Group is its majority shareholder.

India: JSW Cement has announced a planned US$389m investment in the construction of a new integrated cement plant in Madhya Pradesh and a grinding plant in Uttar Pradesh. Together, the plants will have a cement capacity of 5Mt/yr.

The Economic Times newspaper has reported that JSW Cement's acquisition of Springway Mining has given it access to 106Mt of new limestone reserves, with a mining lease until 2065.

India: Vicat Cement subsidiary Bharathi Cement has inaugurated its 750,000t/yr Coimbatore cement terminal in Tamil Nadu. The Deccan Chronicle newspaper has reported that the terminal will serve Tamil Nadu and Kerala. The facility has dedicated container wagons and a 24-hour loading facility with end-to-end logistical automation.

Vicat India chief executive officer Anoop Kumar Saxena said "With its rapid infrastructure development and urbanisation, India proves to be a key market for our business. By investing in the new terminal we align with our commitment towards India's progress and growth. The Coimbatore terminal is Vicat India's second terminal after the Mumbai terminal, which was set up in 2018.

France: Vicat has revised its full-year 2022 earnings forecast. The group now expects to record a drop in its earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA). In France and Switzerland, rapidly rising energy costs have outstripped the producer's sales growth so far in 2022, while, in the US, its upgraded Ragland, Alabama, cement plant only entered production following a 'very gradual start-up' in mid-late 2022. Vicat also carried out debottlenecking work on its Kalburgi, India, cement plant during the year to date.

Vicat said that all other markets in which it operates are developing in line with the expectations detailed at the time of the publication of its first-half 2022 results in August 2022.

Germany: Heidelberg Materials has reaffirmed its 2030 CO₂ emissions reduction targets and submitted them to the Science-Based Targets Initiative (SBTi) for review. These include a reduction in Scope 1 emissions per tonne of cementitious material of 47% between 1990 and 2030. The initiative will now ensure that the targets conform to a 1.5°C climate change scenario.

Heidelberg Materials chair Dominik von Achten said “We have been actively supporting SBTi’s efforts to develop a 1.5°C roadmap and impactful criteria for the cement industry. With the industry's most ambitious CO₂ reduction targets and a steadily growing portfolio of CCUS projects, we are eager to continue leading the way.”

Colombia: BBVA has extended a sustainable line of credit to Cemex Colombia customers for purchases of the producer's Vertua reduced CO₂ cements range. The line will enable them to extend their payment term on invoices for the products.

Portafolio News has reported that Cemex's Colombia and Peru president Alejandro Ramírez said "Within the framework of our Future in Action strategy, which seeks to develop products, solutions and processes with lower carbon emissions with the aim of becoming a company with zero CO₂ emissions, we seek synergies with high-level partners such as BBVA to encourage our customers to buy products that reduce their carbon footprint, as well as to work hand in hand with our stakeholders to generate shared value.”

El Salvador: Holcim El Salvador plans to invest up to US$50m over the next three years to help it generate 70% of the energy it uses. It plans to build a 17MW solar plant and a wind farm to enable this, according to La Prensa Gráfica newspaper. The investment will also help the subsidiary of Switzerland-based Holcim to progress towards its net-zero sustainability goals. The solar project has a budget of US$19m and will be built in agreement with AES Corporation. It will be located at Holcim’s integrated El Ronco cement plant. It will supply 21% of the energy used at both the El Ronco and Maya cement plants.

The investment has also included the installation of a solid waste shredder earlier in 2022. Its official inauguration is planned for mid-November 2022. Holcim El Salvador reached a 30% alternative fuels substitution rate in October 2022.

Ivory Coast: The local cement sector is preparing to reach a production capacity of 20Mt/yr by the end of 2022. Albert Kouatelay, director of deputy cabinet of the Ivorian Minister of Trade, Industry and Promotion of SMEs, made the comment at the launch event for LafargeHolcim Côte d'Ivoire's new white cement product, according to the Agence de Presse Africaine. The country has 13 cement plants and the latest boost is expected once a new cement unit starts operation. Domestic production capacity was reportedly 2.4Mt/yr in 2011, 12.5Mt/yr in 2019 and 17Mt/yr in 2022.

Libya: Zliten Cement Company, part of the Gulf Cement Group, started production at its Zliten plant in late September 2022. The Libya Herald reports that the company will market its cement products under the trademark ‘Zliten Cement Company’ according to Libyan Standard Specifications No. 340/2009 and Portland cement CEM 42.5N.