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One of the comments on the Global Cement LinkedIn group about last week's column posted the US Geological Survey's (USGS) estimated cement production list for 2012.

John Kline commented that the report highlighted the increasing weight of developing countries. There is nothing surprising here, but it is worth noting the implications of this in Lafarge's financial results for 2012, which we report on today. 27% (Euro4.28bn) of the group's sales came from its Middle East and Africa region.

By cement volumes sales 63% or 89.5Mt came from its Middle East/African and Asian regions. Lafarge CEO Bruno Lafont explicitly acknowledged this in his statement accompanying the announcement saying, "Emerging markets continue to be the main driver of demand and Lafarge benefits from its well-balanced geographic spread of high-quality assets".

One of the other commentators remarked on the massive difference between the estimated productions of China (2.15Bnt) and India (250Mt). India was second in the list but has only an eighth of China's production!

Talking of India, our recent article 'The incredible Indian cement industry' in the February 2012 issue of Global Cement Magazine presents a good overview of the situation there. This week's news item on Madras Cements' third quarter results picks out a couple of threads from the complex Indian Picture. Firstly, Madras Cements was fined US$48m by the Competition Commission of India (CCI) for alleged price-fixing. Although the producer is growing its sales, this fine hangs ominously over the balance sheet.

Secondly, the producer's transportation and handling costs grew by a massive 37% year-on-year in the quarter. Rail freight prices increased in India in 2012. These kinds of increase cannot be welcome on cement producers' balance sheets. Unsurprisingly a 'marginal' reduction for cement is under consideration by the Indian Railways.

The Global Cement India Conference, was held in Mumbai this week on 18-19 February 2013, will update us on situation in India. Look out for the report soon.

India: The Chettinad Cement Corporation has appointed SK Prabakar to the board of the company as the nominee director of Tamilnadu Industrial Investment Corporation (TIIC). Prabakar is already the chairman and managing director of the TIIC. He replaces MD Nasimuddin.

Peru: Peruvian cement producer Cementos Pacasmayo has reported that it more than doubled its net income in 2012, to US$61.6m from US$26.2m in 2011. Fourth quarter income was reported having increased by 41% year-on-year to US$15.5m from US$11m in 2011. Cementos Pacasmayo sold 617,500t of cement in the fourth quarter of 2012, a 14% rise from 540,800t sold in the same period in 2011.

"The strength in public and private investment, favourable financing conditions and the creation of high quality jobs resulted in higher cement sales volume," the company said.

Cementos Pacasmayo supplies cement to northern Peru, where about 22% of the population lives and which accounts for approximately 15% of Peru's national gross domestic product.

India: The Indian Cement Manufacturers' Association (CMA) has demanded a reduction in the excise duty for building materials from 12% to 6-8% in the next Indian Union Budget.

"To encourage cement industry and to bring it at par with other core and infrastructure industries, the excise duty rate be rationalised from 12% to 6-8%," said the CMA in a budget memorandum to the Finance Ministry. The CMA added that the excise duty rates on cement are amongst the highest, beaten only by the rates on luxury goods such as cars. It admitted that the Indian industry suffers from an 'excess of surplus capacity'.

"The levies and taxes on cement in India are far higher compared to those in countries of the Asia Pacific Region. Average tax on cement in the Asia Pacific Region is just 11.4%, with the highest levy of 20% being in Sri Lanka," said the CMA. According to the CMA the Indian cement industry had a production capacity of around 340Mt/yr in March 2012.

The CMA also pitched the idea of levying basic customs duty on imports of cement. Alternatively, it suggested that the import duties on goods required for manufacture of cement be abolished.

At present, the import of cement into India is freely allowed without having to pay basic customs duty. However, all the major inputs required for manufacturing cement - such as a limestone, gypsum, petcoke - attract customs duty.

France: Multinational buildings materials producer Lafarge has shown signs of improved profitability in 2012 as its operating income rose by 12% to Euro2.44bn. Chairman and CEO Bruno Lafont has attributed the turnaround in the group's fortune's to cost reduction measures and continued growth in emerging markets. However the group's net income continue to fall in 2012, by 27% to Euro432m in 2012 from Euro593m in 2011.

"We have delivered on our objectives for 2012 and our results grew for the fifth consecutive quarter, driven by strong operational performance and growth in emerging markets, which generated close to 60% of our sales," said Lafont.

Sales rose by 3% to Euro15.8bn from Euro15.3bn. Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBIDTA) rose by 7% to Euro3.45bn from Euro 3.22bn. The group reduced its net debt 5% to Euro11.3bn.

The overall volume of cement made by Lafarge fell by 3% in 2012 to 141Mt compared to 145Mt in 2011. Lafarge attributed this to the continued construction slowdown in Europe, increased local supply in Egypt, the current situation in Syria and the impact of the US divestments, mitigated by growth in Asia, Latin America and most countries of Middle East and Africa. EBIDTA for Lafarge's cement business rose by 6% to Euro2.96bn from Euro2.73bn. Overall results for the fourth quarter of 2012 were broadly similar to the year although both volumes and sales of cement fell suggesting that Lafarge's recovery remains fragile.

By region, in North America volumes of cement fell by 5% to 12.8Mt in 2012 from 13.5Mt in 2011. However volumes were down by 7% to 3Mt in the fourth quarter of 2012 due to tornadoes and bad weather.

In Western Europe cement volumes fell by 11% to 16.4Mt in 2012 from 18.4Mt in 2011. Notably sales volumes fell significantly in Spain and Greece, by 26% and 37% respectively. In Central and Eastern Europe cement volumes fell by 6% to 13.2Mt from 14.1Mt. Poland was singled out in this region, where sales volumes fell by 21% in 2012, following the completion of construction projects for the European Cup games in June and lower EU funding.

In the Middle East and Africa cement volumes fell by 3% to 45.2Mt from 48Mt. Sub-Saharan Africa, Algeria and Iraq were singled out for strong performance. Egypt's volume sales of cement fell by 5% and Syria reported 'sharp' declines. In Latin America cement volumes rose by 4% to 9.2Mt from 8.8Mt, led by Brazil, Honduras and Ecuador. In Asia cement volumes rose by 4% to 44.3Mt from 42.5Mt, led by strong gains in India, Indonesia, the Philippines and South Korea.

In its outlook Lafarge stated that it expects to see cement demand continue to rise by 1-4% in 2013 driven by emerging markets. The group also plans to reduce its net debt below Euro10bn as soon as possible in 2013.

Tajikistan: Tajik-Chinese joint venture Huaxin Gayur Cement is building a 1Mt/yr cement plant in the Yovon district of Khatlon province, according to the Ministry of Energy and Industries (MoEI). The budget for the coal-powered plant is US$110m.

Elsewhere in Tajikistan a 50,000t/yr plant being built at Vahdat Township by Tajik-Chinese joint venture, Vahdat Hualun is nearing completion. It is expected to start operation during the first quarter 2013. A plant with a cement production capacity of 20,000t/yr in the northern city of Konibodom will start operation in the first half of 2013. Two cement plants funded by foreign investment in Danghara and Shahritous districts are also nearing completion. A 100,000t/yr plant in the Mastchoh district, Sughd province that opened in 2012 has plans to increase its capacity to 1Mt/yr.

According to data from the MoEI, eight cement plants with a capacity of 1.5Mt/yr currently operate in Tajikistan. The country's largest cement plant is OJSC Tojikcement (Dushanbe cement plant) with a capacity of 1.1Mt/yr. However it has not been in operation since the start of January 2013 due to a lack of natural gas.

Tajikistan's annual demand for cement has sharply increased in connection with construction of the Roghun hydroelectric power plant (HPP), highways and other facilities of the nationwide significance. Currently Pakistan is the main supplier of cement to Tajikistan.

Egypt: Alexandria Cement continued producing cement during a recent hostage scenario. In a release to the Egyptian Stock Exchange the producer announced that on 14 February 2013 some subcontractors trapped a number of their management officials and Alexandria Cement's management, including the factory manager. The subcontractors were calling for permanent contracts.

Alexandria Cement informed the authorities. The hostages were freed on 17 February 2013. All of the accused workers were arrested. Throughout the situation Alexandria Cement continued to produce cement, although deliveries were halted during this period.

India: Madras Cements has reported increased net sales of 18% in the third quarter of its 2012-2013 financial year. The Indian cement producer made US$137m in the quarter ending 31 December 2011 which rose to US$162m in the same quarter in 2012.

'Sustained focus on containing costs' and improving efficiency were responsible for the positive results according to the CEO of Madras Cements, A.V. Dharmakrishnan. The growth in sales revenue came despite a sixteen day strike by dealers in Kerala which constitutes nearly 25% of the company's market.

Net profit for the quarter ending 31 December 2012 rose year-on-year by 9% to US$15.6m from US$14.2m. Revenue for the company's cement segment rose by 18% to US$159m from US$135m.

Also of note in the producer's results was that transportation and handling costs rose by 37% year-on-year in the quarter to US$33.3m due to higher railway freight charges and a diesel price hike.

Cameroon: The government of Cameroon and the German group GPower Cement has signed a partnership agreement to build a cement plant in the south-western town of Limbe. US$60.9m has been invested in the project with a target annual production capacity of 800,000t/yr. Construction of the plant will begin in June 2013 and is expected to produce its first cement bag by late 2015.

The initiative joins other projects underway such as those of Nigeria's Dangote Group (1Mt/yr) and Addoha from Morocco (500,000t/yr) in the commercial city of Douala. Cameroon's local producer and Lafarge's subsidiary Cimenteries du Cameroun (CIMENCAM), which has two factories in Douala and Figuil, has begun plant construction works on the outskirts of the capital, Yaoundé, to supply the Central, Southern and Eastern regions of the country.

Cameroon, which has been facing recurrent cement shortages for more than a decade, has opted for massive imports, with potential domestic demand being 8Mt/yr, while domestic production is currently estimated at just 1.6Mt/yr.

Turkmenistan: Turkish company Polimeks Insaat Taahhüt ve San. Tic. A.Ş. has commissioned a 1.4Mt/yr cement plant in the east of Turkmenistan, an official Turkmen source has said. President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov of Turkmenistan and President Viktor Yanukovich of Ukraine flew by helicopter to the venue for the opening ceremony of the cement plant.

The plant in Garlyk in the Lebap region will produce Portland cement, oil well cement and sulphate-resistant cement. Raw materials will be taken from a nearby quarry and when operational the plant is expected to employ 800 people.

In October 2011, Polimeks launched a similar plant in the west of Turkmenistan, in the area of the city of Jebel in the Balkan region. Its cost is estimated at Euro180m.