Displaying items by tag: Kazakhstan

Kazakhstan: The Kazakh Vice Minister of Investment and Development of Kazakhstan Albert Rau has met with President of Vicat Group Guy Sidos and honorary president of the group Jacques Merceron-Vicat to discuss the operation and possible extension of Vicat's existing production plant at Zhambyl. The meeting also announced the construction of a US$10m terminal in Astana in 2016. The terminal will also act as a packing plant, research and testing centre.

Kazakhstan: According to Dow Jones, Steppe Cement said that it sold more cement, but at a lower price, in the first half of 2015 due to the unfavourable exchange rate between the Kazakhstan Tenge and the Russian Ruble. The company sold 717,654t of cement for US$44.4m in the first half of 2015, compared to 709,459t of cement for US$48.9m in the same period of 2014.

Kazakhstan: International Cement Kazakhstan (ICK), an indirect wholly-owned subsidiary of Compact Metal Industries, has entered into a joint-venture agreement with Nurzhan Shakirov to establish a joint-venture for the construction of a cement plant in Almaty, Kazakhstan and thereafter, for the production and sales of cement.

Kazakhstan: Steppe Cement's Malcolm Brown will retire as the non-executive chairman on 28 May 2015 due to health reasons. He does not intend to stand for re-election in the forthcoming AGM. He has served on the board for more than six years, since December 2008 and is a member of the audit and remuneration committees. Brown remains as a shareholder of Steppe Cement. The company is currently searching for an appropriate candidate to replace Brown.

Kazakhstan: Steppe Cement Ltd has swung to a large pre-tax loss for 2014. The company said that its results were affected by the depreciation of the country's currency, the devaluation of the Russian Ruble and lower oil prices.

For the year ended on 31 December 2014, Steppe Cement reported a pre-tax loss of US$8.1m, compared with a pre-tax profit of US$13m in 2013, on revenues of US$117m and US$128m, respectively. Steppe Cement produced 1.6Mt of cement in 2014, up by 18% from the year ago period. It expects the overall Kazakh market demand for cement in 2015 to increase by 3% to 8.8Mt.

Kazakhstan: The Semey cement plant has been expanded to 1Mt/yr of cement production capacity. In the frame of the Nurly Zhol programme, the most of the cement will be utilised for road construction. The contracts for cement delivery have been already signed.

Kazakhstan: Steppe Cement produced 1.61Mt of cement in 2014, up by 18% from 1.37Mt in 2013. Its revenue was US$114m in 2014, up by 7% from US$106m in 2013.

In 2014, cement consumption in Kazakhstan was estimated to have increased to 8.5Mt, 4% higher than in 2013. Steppe Cement's market share increased from 17% in 2013 to 19% in 2014, broadly in line with its expectations. Kazakhstan imported 1.1Mt, a 26% fall on 2013, while exports amounted to 500,000t, 150% higher than in 2013.

Devaluation of the Kazakh Tenge combined with reduced cement prices helped local cement producers to gain market share. Steppe Cement's margins fell due to lower cement prices, the devalued Tenge and inflation. However, some of the cost increases should be compensated by the reduced operating costs of the plant's Line 5 following upgrades to increase its capacity.

Kazakhstan: Kazakhstan intends to meet its domestic demand for cement, according to Albert Rau, Vice Minister for Investments and Development and local media.

"Given that at the start of 2015 a cement facility capable of producing 500, 000t/yr will be launched in Rudny, production capabilities of 2Mt/yr will be launched at Kokshe-Cement Enterprise, BI Cement facility is to be started in Akmolinsk Oblast and a number of cement making facilities based in Shymkent are to be modernised, we are ready to meet the domestic demand for cement," said Rau.

Rau added that Kazakhstan had imported over 1Mt of cement in 2013. "Most of the issues geographical. All the production facilities are concentrated in the east, in Karaganda and in the south. The west of Kazakhstan relies on imported cement." He explained that President Nazarbayev had set a target for the country to meet 80% for all types of construction materials by 2014. In 2014 this figure was 74 – 75%.

Kazakhstan: Steppe Cement Ltd has reported third quarter 2014 revenues of US$4.21m, higher than the US$39.8m it reported in the same period of 2013. Cement sales volumes of 582,429t were achieved during the third quarter 2014, up by 16% from the third quarter of 2013.

A group of news stories from Central Asia and Azerbaijan this week present a good opportunity to look at the cement industry in this part of the world.

Uzbekistan

Eurocement has announced that it plans to build a 2.4Mt/yr cement plant near to Tashkent. Chinese contractors have been signed for the work in line with the Russia-based cement producer's other plant builds in 2014. Eurocement also operate a subsidiary in the country, the 1.6Mt/yr Akhangarancement cement plant, that reported a criminal investigation and financial audit following various misdemeanours in April 2014.

Also in April 2014 the Almalyk Mining-Metallurgical Combine (AMMC) proposed building a 1.5Mt/yr cement plant in the south of the country and then commissioning of a white cement plant in the central Jizzakh Province. Both the Eurocement and AMMC projects show that organisations are investing in the local market of the region's most populous country at around 30m.

Turkmenistan

In neighbouring Turkmenistan the TurkmenCement Production Association has issued a tender this week for the construction of a 1Mt/yr clinker plant in the central-south of the country in the Baharly District of the Akhal Region. If realised, the new plant will raise Turkemistan's cement production capacity to 4Mt/yr. Currently the country has three state-operated plants. The most recent, the 1.4Mt/yr Garlyk plant, was commissioned in February 2013.

Kazakhstan

An investor has stepped forward to finance the completion of the delayed Khantau cement plant in Zhambyl region in southern Kazakhstan. The 0.5Mt/yr plant was originally started in 2007 before being mothballed part-way through construction.

The reignition of this project follows a couple of stories from Kazakhstan including a report on testing at the HeidelbergCement Caspi cement plant in Mangistau region and the start of operation on Line 5 of Steppe Cement's Karaganda Cement. Kazakhstan has more western international cement producers, unlike the generally state-run companies in Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan. HeidelbergCement will join plants run by Italcementi and Vicat.

Azerbaijan

Finally, on the other side of the Caspian Sea, Azerbaijani local media has reported that cement production for the first half of 2014 has risen by 40% year-on-year to 1.1Mt. Following the opening of the Gazakh cement plant in mid-2013 the country has three cement plants with a combined cement production capacity of nearly 5Mt/yr.